The Magnificent Dragon-Slayers [one-shot idea]

[JPL]

All I get to do these days is a one-shot now and again...DM is responsible for making pre-gen characters. Here's my notion:

1. Run "Green Bones" from the Forgotten Realms campaign book.

2. 16th level characters are recommended, but I might make these guys a little lower because I may have extra players and because I want to make teamwork essential. I'll be leaning heavily on the Draconomicon for crunch.

3. The heroes are NOT an established adventuring party --- rather, they are an eclectic bunch of loners who all wander into town at about the same time on the trail of the same dragon. There's a LG paladin / platinum knight who does it for glory, there's a N rogue / hordestealer who does it for the loot, and there are a lot of guys in between. They realize that they need to work together --- just this once --- because this dragon might be considerably tougher than initial reports indicated....

Sooo....any ideas for a dragonslayer-type character?

 

[Shazman]

Some good characters might be
1) a dwarf dragonborn cleric of bahamut
2) an elf ranger/dragonstalker (There's actually one statted out in a Dungeon magazine as a critical threat)
3) a human sorcerer with draconic heritage feats
4) a half-orc ranger/barbarian/leviathan hunter
5) a human fighter/dragonslayer with a bunch of dragon slaying feats from the Draconomicon.

 

[Evilhalfling]

well you could do a ranger with dragon hunter, and dragon hunter defense feats.
dragon species enemy and lots of archery. Archers give dragons fits.

you may want to make some less specialized characters as well, or make a giant killer, a that has turned his hand to dragons.

at that level you could have a 1/2 dragon fighter, with a meta breath feat or two.


if a play test is possible run a round or two of combat with the finished party,
a prepared group that is designed to kill dragons can put a dragon down in a hurry.

 

[JPL]

Yeah, once you properly trick out a dedicated dragon-slayer, they end up being very good at their job, don't they? I doubt that I'll have time to playtest....I will, however, fudge like crazy in the interest of a good fight.

One wrinkle here ---- SPOILERS --- is that this critter turns out to be a dracolich, which creates some problems when you were hoping to fight something with meaty parts that bleed when stabbed.

Some good thoughts about the builds, but where I really need help is the fluff --- who is this guy? Why is he a dragon slayer? Why does he work alone? Since this is just a one-shot, I need some rather broad hooks for the players to work with.

I was thinking about a young firbolg as a PC --- this works for several reasons:

1. Natural enmity between dragons and giants.
2. Large characters are fun once in a while.
3. Relatively easy build.
4. Can be played with a Scottish or Irish accent. Celtic accents are pure roleplaying gold.

 

[JPL]

Another thought --- a character who is solo because he keeps joining parties where everyone else get killed.

Once his secret comes out, he ends up compulsively talking about the dozens of terrible deaths he has witnessed --- the time poor Redgar was eaten by a phantom weredragon...when brave Milalee was kicked to death by pixie dragons...when mighty Jozan said, "What does this lever do?"....

I also have this idea for a really old character --- maybe the traditional over-the-hill dwarf --- a guy who is so old, he thinks it is still first edition. He thinks that racial class restrictions and level limits are still in effect, he expects halflings to be fat and barefoot, and he cannot distinguish between wizards and sorcerers, and he can name twenty kinds of polearm.