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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Stik" data-source="post: 2131997" data-attributes="member: 30335">One important thing that many people forget about dragons, especially old dragons, is that they are DRAGONS.  A dragon is pretty much a living billboard for a huge treasure hoard: you see a dragon, there is gold nearby.  So a dragon must stay on his toes if he is going to reach Old age.  He must be strong, smart, tough and crafty.  After all, this is probably not the first time that adventurers have attempted to take his hoard. So, how does a dragon protect itself?Start with the entire environment around him.  Given that Black Dragons typically live in swampy areas, you can go one of two ways:  a deep, dark, impenetrable swamp, where getting to the dragon's lair is fraught with dangers like alligators, snakes, quicksand, ROUSes, etc. or you can go with a wide open area, like the meadowlands in New Jersey (no, not the football stadium, the swamp surrounding it) a vast area of low-lying flat or gently undulating land covered in marsh grasses and reeds to a height of about six feet where there is little cover from aerial attack.  A dragon settled for any length of time in a given area will know it like the back of its hand.  All safe paths through the swamp will be monitored and/or trapped to make them unsafe, or will lead somewhere other than to the dragon's actual lair. The dragon may in fact have more than one lair and more than one hoard.  Imagine a dragon fighting fiercely to protect what appears to be its lair, and then retreating and leaving the party thinking that they have won.  They enter what seems to be the lair, and spend time working their way in to eventually find a small cache of treasure.  All the while the dragon has been using the time to gather his minions and prepare an ambush, this time on ground he and his minions know well and which may have traps or prepared hazards the minions know about but the players do not. Intelligent local monsters will be loyal to the dragon (if for no other purpose than self preservation) so as the characters attempt to approach the lair, they should expect to be fighting an almost constant guerilla war against numerous low-level foes: lizard men, orcs, etc.  This will be a drain on their resources, spells, healing, etc.  By the time they arrive, they should be feeling somewhat drained both physically and mentally.  Ideally, such attacks should come from all directions, so that the party does not know where to expect trouble.  Alternately, they could attack every time from the same direction, with the goal of driving or luring the characters into a particular area, one in which the minions and/or the dragon will have a tactical advantage, or in which they can play a dirty trick (such as an area downhill from a dam.  The dam can be destroyed, thereby subjecting the party to a flash flood, for example). Also remember that dragons live a long long time.  They are unlikely to throw their lives away over something as insignificant as money, especially if they have a very good chance of getting it back later.  The dragon can simply withdraw, lick its wounds, and then return to hit the party again later.  Imagine trying to cart a dragon's hoard out of a swamp, all the while being harassed by the dragon and his minions.   Also remember that a live dragon with a thirst for avenge can be your worst nightmare.  Clever, experienced and immensely patient, a dragon can go to great lengths to ruin a person's life without a single bit of contact.  Imagine a dragon following a party, then setting fire to every village, town, or city the party stops in.  Imagine the dragon finding out where the PCs are from, and then destroying every building and every person in town while the PCs are out adventuring. In a well-crafted campaign there are dimensions to the baddies that go far beyond what they can do in combat.</blockquote>

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