[Shackled City] What would you do? [SPOILERS!]

[SteveC]

Hi everyone,
I am currently running the Shackled City adventure path for my group, and we are in the middle of Zenith Trajectory. The group set out to speak with Crazy Jared, and along the way, they had a random encounter, which I rolled as a half dragon.

Well I decided to use the character right out of the MM, which is a black dragon, and I also decided to tie things up a little bit and have him be a servant the black dragon the group will be meeting up with later on in the adventure.

So the group goes on to meet with Jared, and runs into the red dragon encounter. The bard in the group promptly casts charm monster, boosting the DC with an action point and using his luck bonus from the Improvisation spell. One roll of a "4" later, and the dragon is charmed!

Now the bard knows how to handle dragons very well, and is quite charming. "Mighty lord," he says, "your humble servant is but here to help. How may we assist you with this trivial peasant?"

The dragon considers, and then says: "I hunt an old enemy, who has fled from me. I tire of our constant battles, and wish to end them. He dwells deep within the earth. If you would serve me, find the entrance to his home, so that I might smoke him out. This fool knows the way."

The bard asks the nature of his foe, and when he discovers that it is a black dragon, he pulls out the helmet of the black half-dragon they have just slain. "My lord! See how well we serve your purposes already! Is this not the servant of your foe! Already slain he is!"

Well the group goes on to negotiate with Jared very well, and gets the information from him with little effort. The group is used to dealing with crazy people by now. The group also strongly suspects that the hole in the ground that they're looking for and the hole that this red dragon wants are one and the same.

So now the group has given the dragon the information as to where his enemy is, has slain one of his servants, and offers to accompany him to deal with this insolent dog. The dragon will be charmed for seven days. Should to group have a powerful ally with them for the duration? Or is there something else that is more appropriate?

The question for you is: how would you handle this? I know how I intend to do things, but I always enjoy hearing from all of you how you would handle it.

--Steve

 

[Olaf the Stout]

I would have the Dragon either:

- Decline the PC's offer to accompany him. (Possible reasons could include: The PC's are too slow and he wants to go straight away. The PC's will only get in his way. It is a personal dispute and he wants to settle this matter on his own.)

- Accept the PC's offer but he want to go straight away and won't stop for anything until he reaches his goal. I imagine a lot of creatures will let the party through when they are accompanying a Large Red Dragon. However these challenges might still be waiting for them on the way back when the LRD isn't with them.

If the second option makes life easier for the PC's in accomplishing their own mission then good luck to them. It will show them that sometimes it is better not to kill everything that they encounter. The dragon may even be on somewhat friendly terms with them once the charm wears off. I don't imagine he would be particularly pleased about being charmed in the first place but he might think that he can manipulate and use the PC's to his advantage.

Olaf the Stout

 

[Nightfall]

eh...it's a tad overpowered but it would be worse if it lasted long. Certainly in Zenith Trajectory , it couldn't hurt...for a while.

 

[Venator]

Its very, very cool and a great way to kick off that part of the adventure. I can't help but think about the idea of helping / working with *THE* Chaotic Evil monster though... What kind of impact does that have on the parties alignment, especially since they have no real idea what the dwarf they are looking for is up to.

I think the way I'd handle it would be to have the dragon refuse the PC's help for a number of reasons. I'd have him barrel off into the Underdark in search of the Koa-Toa(sp?) Temple and "do his thing." To be fair though, he would probably lose in a straight up fight vs. the Cryohydra at the bottom of that first stairway though...

If the Cryohydra does not choose to challenge the LRD I think it would be pretty bad-ass to have the PC's stumble upon the LRD attacking the Koa-Toa whips in that massive room that summons the Erinyes devil.

After seeing a trail of dead Koa-Toa left by the LRD, the PC's would have quite the choice to make... continue to help the LRD kill "innocent" Koa-Toa and a Devil, or try and confront all the evil in the temple for the sake of "good."

Any way you slice it its going to be cool, tough, and potential for massive alignment shifting.

 

[Nightfall]

I agree there. CE beings generally don't work well in groups unless they are in charge.

 

[haakon1]

I'd say they earned it, so let them have the dragon as a friend. A chaotic evil, selfish, and high intelligent friend . . .

 

[Nightfall]

And one that will probably come back and burninate them the next chance it gets.