Running a dragon encounter

[SilvaDragon]

Aquatic options?

If the story line supports it, how about something aquatic, like a
dragon turtle or a giant squid?

Personally, I love DMing giant squid encounters. I like to start with a
great crash that can knock people off their feet (you set the Balance DC),
then grapple and pull a crew member or two over the side.

Amp up the squid's stats to reach the CR you need.

 

[NewJeffCT]

If the story line supports it, how about something aquatic, like a
dragon turtle or a giant squid?

Personally, I love DMing giant squid encounters. I like to start with a
great crash that can knock people off their feet (you set the Balance DC),
then grapple and pull a crew member or two over the side.

Amp up the squid's stats to reach the CR you need.

Not a bad idea - and welcome to enworld.

 

[Animal]

good ideas so far. here's my 5 cent.
you could make this dragon a recurring NPC. for example, he is extremely greedy and cunning so his motivation is to receive the maximum gain from the PCs. he hovers over the ship and demands PCs to surrender and hand over all valuables. they refuse and battle ensues. if they win - great. if they don't and it's an obvious pre-TPK situation, the dragon offers them to surrender again. if they don't surrender, this TPK is not your fault. if they do, he lands and tells them that they fought well, despite of the odds. and actually he might use their skill to help him a bit. on an island nearby made his lair a powerful and extremely rich dreaded pirate/evil sorcerer/outsider researcher/secluded lich or somesuch who is well trained in killing dragons. if PCs agree to kill him or steal his treasures (or probably some potent artifact) the dragon might let them leave with their posessions intact and maybe more than that.
after they secure the artifact for him, he might change his mind and attack them again. but this time PCs will be better equipped (if they killed the dragonslayer and looted his gear)

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Hmmmm, building on some of the previous stuff...

Perhaps the ship has entered a harbor for repairs and restocking of supplies. Unbeknown to them, the island is home to a nesting Black Dragon female whose clutch hatched earlier that year. (Break down the dragon you were planning to use into a clutch of equal or 150% of the mother's HD.)

Mama is either dead or called away for some reason, leaving the juveniles alone to fend for themselves. The largest of the bunch is tired of hunting down the local fauna and has an itch to test herself against more challenging prey...and maybe just see one or two of her fellow hatchlings get offed in the process.

Because of their youth, they don't have the experience to use top-notch tactics, though one or 2 may stumble upon something good. Because there are several baby drakes, attacks could come at any time from any direction. At least one of the drakes should be smart enough to try to escape once the encounter goes south for the scaly side.

A TPK is extremely unlikely.

In addition, if the PCs slaughter the dragonets and Mama isn't dead, you suddenly have a BBEG...er...BBEM with a motive to kill them. A personal motive.

 

[akbearfoot]

I've been in this encounter before....same scenario, except with a white dragon. Basically everyone on board was massacred and the PCs had to totally focus on saving their own lives by running away and leave most of the other NPCs to their fates. Fortunately, there was at least some land nearby for the lucky to swim to.

White dragons are the WEAKEST dragon...This was back in 2nd edition when dragons were way weaker than they are now. And the PCs were around 9th level. So we had access to 5th decent spells, but no magical flight. We were so outmatched we didnt even look for the dragon afterwards, we just tried to sneak through its territory unnoticed.


Although the PCs wield much more power in 3.x, so do dragons. I would expect the same outcome from a stronger dragon type of already higher CR than the ECL. Unless several PCs have access to water breathing, flight, and Freedom of Movement, it's a TPK. Unless you make the dragon an R-tard and land him on the ship.

 

[Shin Okada]

Well, the basic problem is that a 10th-level party is relying on mundane ship and 16 1st-level NPCs for surviving environment and for traveling. Thus, dragon or not, if they meet some encounter of appropriate EL for their level, they will either lose their ship or crews, sooner or later. This is like 10th-level characters using ordinary camels to travel across dangerous desert.

This kind of adventure simply don't work well IMHO. If characters are at higher level, they should use better vehicle or spells for traveling. Say, adamantine-clad magic ship which automatically sail, flying carpet, some magic item which enables them to breath water 24 hr/day (thus they can walk on sea-floor) and such.

Or, they can be a "special trouble shooter team" for a bigger fleet. When a monster attacks the fleet, a ship or two, or several crews may be lost unless PCs can stop that monster quickly. But at least, that will not cause TPK and the story continues.

 

[NewJeffCT]

Well, the basic problem is that a 10th-level party is relying on mundane ship and 16 1st-level NPCs for surviving environment and for traveling. Thus, dragon or not, if they meet some encounter of appropriate EL for their level, they will either lose their ship or crews, sooner or later. This is like 10th-level characters using ordinary camels to travel across dangerous desert.

This kind of adventure simply don't work well IMHO. If characters are at higher level, they should use better vehicle or spells for traveling. Say, adamantine-clad magic ship which automatically sail, flying carpet, some magic item which enables them to breath water 24 hr/day (thus they can walk on sea-floor) and such.

Or, they can be a "special trouble shooter team" for a bigger fleet. When a monster attacks the fleet, a ship or two, or several crews may be lost unless PCs can stop that monster quickly. But at least, that will not cause TPK and the story continues.

Well, the psion has teleport, but they are journeying to a destination they have not been before, so he would be using the "viewed once" line - at best. And, he would have to teleport himself and 3 party members there, then teleport back (from a location where they have only spent a few days), pick up the other 3 party members and teleport back.

And, my campaign is not that high in magic where there are flying ships built of adamantine... a flying carpet is a good idea, though.

I've already decided against the dragon at sea encounter, though it may happen on land.

I was using the size Huge black dragon because the "sorcerer on black dragon" miniature that I have is too cool to resist using much longer (just like the Reaper marilith miniature I have, as well as the Pit Fiend mini...)