D&D 5E Quest: Test of Lawfulness

[plancktum]

Hi,

My players will encounter a silver dragon and they need s.th. from him (Knowledge, an Item, ...).
But before he helps them, they must prove themself worthy, i.e. they must pass a test of lawfulness. I'm not sure wether or not they know if they are tested.

My problem is: I have no idea how such a test could look like. So I'm asking here for Inspiration.

Should they be send into an ancient dungeon and recover something only the lawful ones will get? (I'm thinking about Indiana Jones and the holy grail at this moment ).

Or they are send into a moralic dilemma and must make the right decision?

I'm happy for all inspiration and ideas

best regards

 

[Saeviomagy]

A test of law is a test of following the rules or ones word above all else.
One thing that springs to mind is the classic
"1. read all the instructions
2. Travel to the cold wind mountains
...
...
323. Do not follow any other instruction, simply say sassafras and the door will open."

Alternately have them give their word on some topic and then be forced to perform good and evil acts to keep it.

 

[I'm A Banana]

Have them quell a rebellion.

The rebellion is being led by well-intentioned people who just want the king's guard to relax the taxation they're being forced to pay.

The taxation isn't unreasonable, and the money collected is going to paying for orphanages for the abandoned children in the kingdoms.

If the party successfully gets the peasants to pay their taxes, the dragon considers the test fulfilled - they've united people to work for a greater good (even if they're not exactly thrilled about it). Their main obstacle will be a CN war veteran with a grudge against the nobles that led him to the war that gave him a horrible physical (and mental) scar. He won't go quietly, and he's initially entirely hostile to the idea, and has a cadre of commoners and bandits (some bought with the coin of local nobles who also don't want to be taxed, but mostly out of greed). He can perhaps be talked out of deadly violence - but it would require a lot of diplomacy.

Quest seeds include...
- There's a healing MacGuffin held by some monsters in a dungeon that will repair the physical scars...allowing the party to work on the mental ones.
- Fight against the rabble....but maybe don't kill anyone?
- There's some monsters preying on some of the trade lines or farm fields, and if they're dealt with, the pinch of taxation would be less, and the war vet would lose some support.
- One of the nobles has an illegitimate child in one of the orphanages - and is seeking to kill them, to preserve their public image. Party needs to save the orphan!


You could probably think of a few more. The idea is that rather than some mental puzzle, the dragon gives them a quest that will truly improve law and order in the area for the good of the people, and if they do it - well, they're at least viable allies.

 

[iserith]

The dragon appears before the PCs as an ill-prepared and revenge-seeking human who is there to slay the dragon. He tells a tale of a great silver dragon that came down out of this very mountain and ravaged his village, killing scores of helpless villagers, freezing children and elderly folks in their own beds. He is obviously no match for even a wyrmling, but is steadfast in his desire to bring justice to the dragon on behalf of his people. Really play up the tragedy of the event and the man's desire for justice. At no time does he ask for the PCs' help.

If, however, the PCs offer to help the man exact justice on the dragon despite their need of the dragon's help, the man shifts into the mighty silvery dragon and tells them they have passed its test. For it is only those who uphold the ideals of law and goodness that would set aside their own needs to do the right thing. The dragon offers its favor to the PCs.

If the PCs send the man packing, he leaves and the dragon is nowhere to be seen in the lair. They find the place empty save for a chilly fog.

The dragon has presented this test for centuries now and has perfected its delivery. Thus the DC for discerning the ruse is DC 21, if the players offer a method of detecting the trick which has an uncertain outcome. The dragon is similarly impressed by those who can see through its disguise and test and offers its favor if they can help it improve upon its delivery.

 

[The Grassy Gnoll]

Something whereby the pcs have to lay judgement on one of their own - much like a case whereby they are forced to sentence a pc to losing a hand for theft or choose to bend the rules to suit themselves. Perhaps a clan of goblins whose caves theyvraided petition the ruler for redress for the theft of their clan religious icon?

 

[GMMichael]

The silver dragon has written a codex measuring about 12 inches in thickness. It explains to the PCs that the way to get what they need is in the book (patience).

Problem
1) It's in a different language that they'll need to translate.
2) It's horribly boring, requiring some sort of stamina check to make it through. (Maybe it's an indy RPG? )
3) Once they've translated it, the dragon tests their patience with several "one more question"s about it. If they fail this test, they fail the campaign.

3) Okay, maybe a little more fail-forward: fail the patience test, and the dragon sends them to the world's oldest (and slowest) linguist for the "proper translation."

 

[pukunui]

First, what iserith said.

Second, I find it helps me to think of a lawful character as being left brain dominant, while a chaotic character is right brain dominant. That is, being lawful isn't just about following the law. It's about living a structured and orderly life. It's about fairness. It's about respecting authority.

My point is that a test of lawfulness doesn't necessarily have to involve some grand quest or moral dilemma. Maybe the dragon has an orchard filled with magical fruit trees. He's put up a fence and signs that say things like "keep out" and "don't pick the fruit". The PCs have to go past this orchard to get to the dragon's lair. If they obey the signs and don't go into the orchard or pick any of the fruit, they pass the dragon's test. If even one of the PCs disobeys, they'll have failed ... although, since this might be a no-win situation given that there's always that one person who deliberately disobeys signs, the dragon might be willing to give them a second chance if they sweet-talk him enough or something.

 

[Sunseeker]

Dragons are full of misconceptions, and Silver Dragons while generally thought of as champions of the law are in reality champions of lawfulness. A good test would be for your players to be placed in a situation to determine what is right as opposed to what is the law. Silver dragons, like all dragons are creatures of ego and therefore what the dragon thinks is right may be far flung from what the local law says is right but they are, unlike their cousins, aware of the stark difference in the way mortals view the world and the way dragons view the world.

This leaves your party with three obvious positions:
Follow the law of the land.
Follow the potentially ephemeral thinkings of the dragon.
Follow what they think is right.

The answer to the puzzle should be somewhere in between, demonstrating the ability of the players to recognize the authority of the law, even when it wrong, the "big picture" thinking of a dragon on what should be right and their own immediate needs in the right now.

Following the law is easy. Why the law exists and how the law can best be served is not. To demonstrate true lawfulness the party should have to demonstrate they can understand the law, why it's necessary and how it can best serve the people and the people serve it, not simply pass or fail.

I imagine that's quite possibly more than you intended for the players to bite off, but set up a small town nearby with a "Sheriff of Nottingham" sort of situation. The taxes exist for a reason (to get good King John back from the French), but the people don't understand this and the Sheriff hasn't tried very hard because he's not really good at talking to people. Meanwhile the lack of taxes is leaving the town in disrepair, which further upsets the people, but part of the problem is the Mayor is incompetent and isn't investing the money well. The party must step in and raise awareness that the law is necessary for the good of all, and help the sheriff find less aggressive methods of getting the taxes and perhaps locate some contractors to help fix up the town.

The players must demonstrate undersanding of how the law works. Proper implementation of the law, and general goodie-goodieness of a real desire to help others. All traits Silver Dragons are fond of. This quest of course, cannot be given by the dragon(in dragon form at least), because then it would all be done out of self interest of the party to get the dragon's stuff. Fortunately, Silver Dragons love to be cooky old men and beautiful babes, both great motivators for quests.

 

[plancktum]

Hi.

Thanks to all of you for your ideas!

Have them quell a rebellion.

Nice idea! I will definitely use this, but maybe not as the test from the dragon.

The dragon appears before the PCs as an ill-prepared and revenge-seeking human who is there to slay the dragon.

I've already said that the PCs meet an old man instead of a dragon. Before that they must overcome an ugly-looking monster, which in fact is an enchanted person and a good friend of the dragon.
There are multiple hints that the old person is indeed a dragon, but not which kind of dragon.
If the PCs just slay the monster (which does not attack the PCs) they fail this first test and the dragon will not converse with them. Maybe they could sweet talk themselves into it, but it's unlikely.

The silver dragon has written a codex measuring about 12 inches in thickness. It explains to the PCs that the way to get what they need is in the book (patience).

Very cool idea!

Dragons are full of misconceptions, and Silver Dragons while generally thought of as champions of the law are in reality champions of lawfulness. A good test would be for your players to be placed in a situation to determine what is right as opposed to what is the law. Silver dragons, like all dragons are creatures of ego and therefore what the dragon thinks is right may be far flung from what the local law says is right but they are, unlike their cousins, aware of the stark difference in the way mortals view the world and the way dragons view the world.

Yeah, I think the dragon want the PCs to do what is right. Lawfulness is not about obeying the local law, but instead obey the law of goodness, i think. I did not want to start a discussion about what lawful means, but this is how I want it to be interpreted.
So the dragon's intention is to test the characters, if they are capable of doing good within the world and restore some kind of good order.

I really like many ideas and I think the dragon will give the PCs this thick book. To translate this (useless) book they need to overcome different challenges and at the End they find out that this particular book is complete nonsense and does not help them. Maybe they realize that the challenges they've overcome to translate the book were the solution. The challenges made them stronger, wiser and brought them closer to their goal.

Thanks to all of you
And yeah, I'm still open for further ideas

 

[Quartz]

There's an adventure in an early edition of Dungeon which would suit. The adventurers have to cooperate with a LE party to rescue an artefact of Law. Unfortunately, I've forgotten which one.