False dragon-slayers

[Quickleaf]

What kind of funny quirks would you give false dragon-slayers?

A side adventure I'm finishing up has a scene with some false dragon-slayers who've been hired by a village to get rid of a non-existent dragon. They have pooled village resources together (about a year’s worth of work) to hire a team of “professional” dragon-hunters. In actuality, these quacks are natural scientists who were expelled from Oxford University for their dubious behavior. Fleeing university debt collectors, the three students successfully scammed a bishop by using an amber gem (which generates an attractive static when rubbed) to convince the old bugger that they were pulling evil spirits from his house. Realizing that their knowledge of science put them leagues ahead of most commoners, and even some nobility, the three geologists set themselves up as “dragon-slayers.” It’s up to the PCs to foil their plan and save their village’s hard work from going down the drain.

 

[Phaedrus]

Have one of them always talk with big words and technical jargon, then another one "translates" for him, making fun of his partner's high-falootin' ways to ingratiate himself with the commoners. A take on good cop/bad cop, if you will. This could be either an intentional ploy on their behalf, or the way things really are.

 

[shilsen]

Have them hit all the standard cliches about dragon-slaying, esp. the D&D versions, such as carrying a color coded book about dragon types, being worried about wear and tear on virgins (oops, that's for unicorns!), have a special "hoard-carrying" cart, claim that they don't accept a job unless it comes with half a kingdom and the princess' hand, etc.

 

[eris404]

What's a false-dragon?



Actually, the trick with the amber is really neat. I think more of the same would be very fun: passing off natural occurances/chemical reactions/etc. as major magic. Some links for inspiration:

http://www.google.com/Top/Science/Educational_Resources/Experiments/

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

Make one really paranoid. "Dragons are shapeshifter... they could be anyone or anything?" Then give him a lame Wisdom score and no ranks in Sense Motive. He'll believe anything the PCs tell him.

And then, the real dragon comes

 

[Quickleaf]

Thanks! High falootin' -- now there's a word that's fraught with danger. And "you can't argue with a word like fraught" to quote Tigger.