The Ethics of Slaying half-fiendish silver dragons

[Steverooo]

But right now, she doesn't want to kill the PCs... yet. They seem much more interesting than the orcs that had kept her company so far, and she is also a bit wary about their potential power (though what she has seen so far hasn't impressed her much). Instead she will follow them around in disguise, observe them, and try put them through a variety of "tests" and situations to see how they react. Remember, though she doesn't know much about the world, she is highly intelligent and perceptive, and will quickly figure out just how far she can go until the PCs will react to her. Her being around means a constant source of small provocations for the PCs...

So, what kinds of behaviours and "tests" do you suggest for her? What should she do to get some kind of reaction from the PCs - what will upset the PCs without neccessarily making them want to kill her immediately?

WRONG questions, IMHO...

No child, after all, SEEKS to ANGER her "parents". Many act negatively to get ATTENTION, but they don't try to make their parents angry unless they can't get any POSITIVE attention!...

The way that I see... What's-her-name, she has decided that she has obeyed Dad. She has stayed with the Orcs until she is bigger and stronger than them, and is now ready to move on! The PCs were tolerant of her, even nice. They listened, when she talked, and were more "fun" (and smelled nicer) than the Orcs... They have some strange ideas (not take things apart?), but they are CERTAINLY more powerful (and fun, and nice smelling!) than the Orcs! Maybe they would make better New Parents? Let's test that theory...

(Now, here, I need some information... What's her name? Do the PCs know it? How limited is her Shapechange ability? Can she Teleport? Dimension Door? At will? What ELSE can she do? What's her age bracket? Wyrmling? Young?)

Anyway, if she can teleport, have the snakes found just outside camp, in the morning, along with a note that says: "Like this?" If she has magic, tell the PCs that they detect a magical scrying window... They may not know, but she is watching their reactions, through it!

If they react badly, she will respond like a kid who gets yelled at for drawing (which is usually praised) on the walls (which usually isn't)! She will pout, sulk, and maybe even cry, but return later, for more information: "Okay, THAT didn't work! Why NOT?"

Also, on the "taking things apart"/"putting them back together" deal, she'd probably "engineer" a situation with a living creature with valuable inside (Xorn, Giant Purple Worm, etc). Do the PCs kill it, to get the treasure? (Now, at this point, she has probably never had the concept of Self-Defense explained to her, so she probably won't understand killing the Xorn (or whatever), since it is attacking... The PCs might bring this up, next time they meet and discuss "taking things apart").

If Self-Defense comes up, she will "engineer" another encounter wherein a defenseless creature has the treasure inside... Something that can't attack, or even defend itself... Something with VALUABLES inside. She wi;; then Scry to watch what the PCs do. Do they kill the "Innocent"?

She will also be very interested in just how "big and powerful" the PCs are, so she will be testing them, as well. How much does she know? Is she a kid, or over a century old? If she's old, then she is wise in the ways of the (Orcish) world, and will hire an Orcish Assassin who is capable of besting HER, and send him out to test the PCs (ALL of them as a team). The Assassin will probably not live long, thereby proving to her that the PCs are eligible as "New Parent material". Now to test their limits...

After all the deadly encounters, the PCs will be a little paranoid... If (What's-her-name) has teleport, she will scry on them (unless someone uses Dispel Magic to close the portal) to determine when they are going to town, then find a local female street-urchin (someone about her apparent age), and tell them about her "nice friends", who are coming to town, today... They are REALLY nice, and LOVE little girls, and give them CANDY, and buy them things, and such! When the urchin-girl sees the PCs, she will run over and ask them for candy! Naturally, the Dragon-girl will be shapechanged into an old alley-cat, hidden nearby, and watching the whole thing... If the girl is treated well, she will latch on to the PCs, seeing them as "permissive parents", nicer, less smelly, and easier to manipulate than the Orcs. The urchin-girl won't ask for much, just the candy, and maybe some food, if the PCs treat her well. Dragon-girl will ask for the moon, initially, and be quite the Diva, until the PCs disabuse her of this idea...

Meanwhile, the Orcs will be taken apart and put back together, again, until and unless the PCs stop her from "running off to play with her friends"!!!

 

[yennico]

IIRC a silver dragon has or had back in 3.0 the subtype: air.
The orcs held her in caves so she could not fly. Perhaps she does not know how a silver dragon really behave. But now, she can fly under the sky and she will love it.

With Int 20 and Wis 15 she has higher attributes as child. If you play her as a child IMHO you betray her high intelligence and wisdom. She lacks life experiences but with Wis 15 she will automatically do the right things.

Living in a cave under the control of an orc leader is probable not her favorite place to stay.
She could persuade some orcs, that these orcs equip a dungeon, perhaps some kobold slaves constructing some traps, so the skills of the Pcs could be tested in the dungeon. If the Pcs do not survive the dungeon they are to weak. If the PCs survive the dungeon and kill many orcs, they are good for the dragon´s plan to get rid of her "orc slavers" or to get the control of the entire orc clan.

 

[PapersAndPaychecks]

The Ethics of Slaying half-fiendish silver dragons

Personally I'm struggling with the concept of a half-fiendish silver dragon in the first place. Quite aside from trying to avoid imagining the scene in which this presumably very acrobatic demon actually did the foul deed, wouldn't the silver dragon simply refuse to incubate the corrupted egg?

 

[Jürgen Hubert]

Personally I'm struggling with the concept of a half-fiendish silver dragon in the first place. Quite aside from trying to avoid imagining the scene in which this presumably very acrobatic demon actually did the foul deed, wouldn't the silver dragon simply refuse to incubate the corrupted egg?

I'll leave the details of how it actually happened to the fevered imaginations of my player. I'll just mention this:

During the first encounter with a half-fiendish dragon (a green one) the party had, they leaned that the resident mage of the castle had purchased a large, greenish egg from a group of adventurers. They had plundered it from the lair of a female green dragon - the corpse of the dragon was still there, and had apparently died of some sort of illness. Apart from the corpse and the treasure hoard, they found a bunch of egg shells, and the single intact eye.

And the mage thought that the egg wouldn't hatch without incubation. Later events proved him wrong. Dead wrong.

Thus, I'll make a couple of points:

1) Demons in general are exceptionally virile, and their children throughly unnatural. Thus, they do not neccessarily conform to any natural life cycles.
2) The Father of Wyrms is one scary entity. The PCs won't encounter him until they have reached really high levels - only his spawn. The fact that he was able to sire half-dragon children at all should make them terrified of him.

 

[Warehouse23]

I just imagine the Father of Wyrms as a really laid back demon fella, wearing a comfy plush robe, with his raptor-like feet up on an ottoman and a mint julep in his claw-like hands. "Yeah, I once sired a dragon. Sired quite a few as a matter of fact. Yep. Ye ain't lived if you ain't sired a dragon. Whew. Once you go scaly, you never go back."

 

[Hawkeye]

Is she truly evil or just amoral? Sounds a bit like she might be insane and might not be able to tell right from wrong. Interesting character.

Hawkeye

 

[Jürgen Hubert]

Is she truly evil or just amoral? Sounds a bit like she might be insane and might not be able to tell right from wrong. Interesting character.

Well, she definitely enjoys taking things apart to see how they work - and she considers people to be things. Although the PCs have been upgraded to the status of "interesting toys" which she might keep around for a while longer...

 

[Jürgen Hubert]

(Now, here, I need some information... What's her name?

Varannaxa.

Do the PCs know it?

Yup, she told them.

How limited is her Shapechange ability?

She can shapeshift into any humanoid or animal form. So far, she has retained the six eyeballs in each form, but she only does it for effect - she could do it without them.

Can she Teleport? Dimension Door? At will?

Nope.

What ELSE can she do? What's her age bracket? Wyrmling? Young?)

She is essentially a Very Young silver dragon with the half-fiend template attached to it. So no magical powers other than the "innate" ones of a silver dragon her age and a half fiend with her Hit Dice.

Thanks for the ideas, I will consider them.

 

[Nightfall]

I say let the child eat them all. Adventures should know better than to let freaks of unnature run around and kill things.

 

[Storyteller01]

Kudos on the 'Father of Wyrms' idea ...


Hannibal comes to mind for this dragon (intelligent and completely amoral, but what do you expect when you live with the knowledge that your sister was eaten...). Maybe make her a child-like, less agressive version (she'd actually ask her questions out of detached curiosity, not to get a reaction...yet)? Personally, I think most folks would kill her on sight, even in a high magic world.

Here's a thought: don't have a redemption, but let the players believe there was one (yet another experiment...)! When the players kill the BBEG, have her leave a note saying something to the effect of 'this is an interesting world. full of things to observe and take apart. Don't worry, I won't be hunting you. World's too much fun with you in it. Feel free to try hunting me if you like. I could always use a good diversion...'.

Let the Father of Wyrms be a diversion until you bring the REAL BBEG into power. You wouldn't have to change your campaign to do it! Hit them with this after they believe she's turning around. What's worse, killing the Father of Wyrms or the little girl you helped 'raise'?



I can imagine some of the things the party would go through trying to turn her to good:

"Varannaxa... honey... why did you kill everyone in the village?"

"To see how it would effect the local goblins. They have a rather interesting ecological niche. Besides, I was hungry. Human livers go very well with wine. Care for some Waterdehaven Merlot? DR 154, an exceptional year..."