Grey Dragon Player Character

[Grimmjow]

So as a pass time me and my brother are going to play a 1v1 game, im DMing and he will be a grey dragon. Grey dragons live in badland areas so what kind of creatures and civalizations would he encounter? What kind of "adventures" would fit into a grey dragon's life? Am i spelling Grey right, or is it gray?

He will be starting from hatching so the game will start with him only being a little bit old?

Any idea's?

 

[Mengu]

Grey (BrE) and Gray (AmE) are both correct.

I don't really have an answer to the more pertinent question. I assume you are reskinning a dragonborn or some such? How do you imagine this badland area to be populated? Is it arid? Is it a swamp? Is it a tundra? What kind of campaign do you want to run? Is it a dash for survival? Do you want a dragon hero settling disputes between primitive tribes? What motivates this dragon? Gathering a treasure hoard? Helping people? Making friends? Hunting dragon hunters who killed mommy? We need some more information before we can help you.

You might also want to consider a companion character. In 4e, 2 characters make for more interesting encounters, than 1.

 

[Grimmjow]

thanks ^.^

anyway, no he will be a dragon not a dragonborn. it'll be one on one though so i don't see it as being "unbalanced".

As for the badlands it will be sorta like the badlands in ND. Towers (if you can really call them that) of rocks with grass on tops and bottoms of the rock "towers"

 

[the Jester]

Hmm. Low level creatures, huh?

Kruthiks.

Orcs; from the old Roger E. Moore article on the orcish POV in an ancient, 1e-era Dragon, I recall that when the gods of the races went to divide the world between their creations, Gruumsh got screwed; everyone else drew lots first and then there were none left for him. So he screamed, "Here is where my people live!" and jammed his spear into the world, creating dank caverns, twisted badlands and the like. "Here only MY people are tough enough to make it!"

Some kind of birds? I think blood hawks are in the MM2, IIRC.

Hyenas roaming in packs.

Drakes.

***

One problem I see with your campaign setup is that, as a dragon, the pc can just fly out of reach of a lot of monsters and attack them from afar. He can keep his distance. You might want to deny him flying for a couple of levels until he "grows up" enough.

What's his alignment like? Is there a town nearby? An interesting adventure might be one where the townsfolk send a representative to negotiate for rights of passage; maybe they are trying to trick him so the local dragonslayer can "take care of" him for them.

 

[Grimmjow]

Good creatures thanks!

Anyway yes I'm going to let him fly his speed but no honor for a while, more like a jump using his wings to gain some height.

Human and orc (half-orc too!) are the humanoid races he'll come into contact with, along with kolbolds and other weaker humanoid races.

Thanks for the help!

 

[Unwise]

I think it is easy enough to fill a place full of monsters to fight, but finding meaningful RP interactions will be the challenge. I have a few ideas:

1) An older bigger (but still small) dragon who beats him up and rummages through his lair stealing all his good stuff. Do this early so that he does not lose too much loot, but is always afraid of the guy coming back. Have the bully dragon travel through his lands again later, so he has to hide himself and his horde. A few instances of bullying later and you have made a great rival that the PC cannot wait to grow up and beat.

2) A Kobold clan, particularly their evil Tiamut cultist shaman. The Kobolds know that dragons are above them, but they have a plan. They want to nicely 'control' the dragon and train him up in the ways of Tiamut and fight for them. That way when he grows up, they will have a protector who is loyal to them and sees them more like family than minions. The sense of family will be tempting, but the Kobolds want the dragon to do some horrible stuff. The Kobolds act as guards to the lair etc, but it is clear they take orders from the shaman and the dragon could find himself under unofficial house-arrest.

3) A group of wandering want-to-be heroes who think that all dragons can be killed for glory and loot. They are not evil, but have read way too many fairy-tale books. This could be used to inject some comedy, but if handled poorly they are a match for the dragon. If the dragon is violent to them, more people from the village/nomads will come hunting.
If the dragon talks them down, they share that their village is under threat and they are out to prove themselves heroes to the shaman. The dragon might even want to help them and end up with some allies.

4) A ratbag noble on his errancy quest. He does not care that the dragon is not evil, he just thinks its head will make a fine trophy. He is a coward and a woose, but has brought some very mean mercenaries with him (breaking the rules of the errancy quest). If he is hurt much, daddy who is a powerful baron will be most displeased.

5) A run-away princess who fell in love with a charming bandit, but he took off and she has been left alone in the badlands. If the dragon rescues her, he better watch out, noble knights are coming hunting for her. To complicate matters, her evil step-mother would prefer she was not ever found and has sent some people of her own. Can the dragon tell the difference?
Will the dragon end up with a friend in the princess? Will she be insufferable? If he goes out to hunt to feed her, then what if the bully dragon comes back? Maybe it will steal the princess. Then when the tracks lead the knights to the PCs lair, how the heck will he explain that, would they bother to even listen? What if one of them is the princesses' brother? She might not like it if he is beaten up