Mercurius
Legend
Short background: My game group has been playing a 4E campaign on and off again since late 2008, although we've been on hiatus since May (game sessions are really hard to coordinate during the summer and then I've been busy in the fall). Anyhow, what I'm hoping to do is run a late Paragon tier adventure (they're 17th level now) to finish off the campaign and then start something new in the summer.
So the basic idea I have is for a dragon slaying quest. The PCs have encountered one dragon, but was a young fellow - way back in 7th level or so. What I'm looking for from the dear folks of [notranslate]EN World[/notranslate] are resources to design such an adventure - either an already existing adventure to get ideas from or anything that might reduce some of the leg-work. These are the basics of what I have:
Background: About a hundred years ago the dwarven city of Caladur, known for its isolation and independent spirit, lost contact with the rest of the world. It was soon discovered--after a few survivors straggled in to the nearest towns--that the city had been destroyed by a massive dragon, Xzillioth, killing the thousands of inhabitants, and making the dwarven city its home. Over the last century numerous adventurers have sought the fabled treasure of Caladur, now known as "the Burnt Mountain," but few have survived and none have found Xzillioth's horde. It is, in many ways, the "great quest" of the region - one that all adventurers dream of, especially dwarves. Yet none have succeeded...
Adventure Overview: The PCs are somehow hooked into trying to reclaim Caladur. Perhaps its the enormous bounty that another dwarven king has offered for the lost crown of Caladur's dead king, or perhaps the dwarven PC inherits a map of the city, or perhaps they just heed the Call of Adventure...or all of the above and more. Regardless, the general outline would be as follows: After consulting an oracle of some kind, the PCs head to some location - perhaps on another plane - to claim a mythical dragon-slaying weapon which they feel is their only hope against Xzillioth. After retrieving this item, they set off for the Burnt Mountain.
As they approach the gates of Za'Dur, they are attacked by an elder blue dragon, who they assume to be Xzillioth (but later find out is her lesser consort; Xzillioth is actually an ancient red). After (hopefully) defeating or at least wounding the blue, the party enters the city. Through various trials and tribulations--including facing undead dwarven warriors and various other critters--they come to the resting place of Xzillioth, who has been sleeping for a couple decades and is hungry...
....
OK, so that's what I have so far. As you can see, it is a "classic dragon quest" - that's what I'm going for. I'm looking for any resources that would be useful in fleshing this out - maps of dwarven cities and dragon lairs, ideas for what's in the Burnt Mountain, anything else to make this an awesome (and perhaps deadly) experience for the players. I want the adventure to be very difficult, but possible. But it should be designed with the likelihood that some, if not most (or all!) of the PCs don't make it.
They're 17th level now and would be 18-19th after the first part (retrieving the dragon-slaying weapon), and probably 19-20th when they face Xzillioth...even so, I still want to make her an ancient dragon - the dragon-slayer would help equalize that a bit (any ideas on what that artifact could be? I'm thinking a sword or other weapon made out of one of Bahamut's teeth or claws; or maybe the artifact is actually the blood of a gold dragon which augments their weapons...or both).
What do you have for me, [notranslate]EN World[/notranslate]? We're playing 4E but I'm happy to look at stuff from any edition.
So the basic idea I have is for a dragon slaying quest. The PCs have encountered one dragon, but was a young fellow - way back in 7th level or so. What I'm looking for from the dear folks of [notranslate]EN World[/notranslate] are resources to design such an adventure - either an already existing adventure to get ideas from or anything that might reduce some of the leg-work. These are the basics of what I have:
Background: About a hundred years ago the dwarven city of Caladur, known for its isolation and independent spirit, lost contact with the rest of the world. It was soon discovered--after a few survivors straggled in to the nearest towns--that the city had been destroyed by a massive dragon, Xzillioth, killing the thousands of inhabitants, and making the dwarven city its home. Over the last century numerous adventurers have sought the fabled treasure of Caladur, now known as "the Burnt Mountain," but few have survived and none have found Xzillioth's horde. It is, in many ways, the "great quest" of the region - one that all adventurers dream of, especially dwarves. Yet none have succeeded...
Adventure Overview: The PCs are somehow hooked into trying to reclaim Caladur. Perhaps its the enormous bounty that another dwarven king has offered for the lost crown of Caladur's dead king, or perhaps the dwarven PC inherits a map of the city, or perhaps they just heed the Call of Adventure...or all of the above and more. Regardless, the general outline would be as follows: After consulting an oracle of some kind, the PCs head to some location - perhaps on another plane - to claim a mythical dragon-slaying weapon which they feel is their only hope against Xzillioth. After retrieving this item, they set off for the Burnt Mountain.
As they approach the gates of Za'Dur, they are attacked by an elder blue dragon, who they assume to be Xzillioth (but later find out is her lesser consort; Xzillioth is actually an ancient red). After (hopefully) defeating or at least wounding the blue, the party enters the city. Through various trials and tribulations--including facing undead dwarven warriors and various other critters--they come to the resting place of Xzillioth, who has been sleeping for a couple decades and is hungry...
....
OK, so that's what I have so far. As you can see, it is a "classic dragon quest" - that's what I'm going for. I'm looking for any resources that would be useful in fleshing this out - maps of dwarven cities and dragon lairs, ideas for what's in the Burnt Mountain, anything else to make this an awesome (and perhaps deadly) experience for the players. I want the adventure to be very difficult, but possible. But it should be designed with the likelihood that some, if not most (or all!) of the PCs don't make it.
They're 17th level now and would be 18-19th after the first part (retrieving the dragon-slaying weapon), and probably 19-20th when they face Xzillioth...even so, I still want to make her an ancient dragon - the dragon-slayer would help equalize that a bit (any ideas on what that artifact could be? I'm thinking a sword or other weapon made out of one of Bahamut's teeth or claws; or maybe the artifact is actually the blood of a gold dragon which augments their weapons...or both).
What do you have for me, [notranslate]EN World[/notranslate]? We're playing 4E but I'm happy to look at stuff from any edition.
