The Red Dragon's lair is where?!

[Freak of Nurture]

Although maybe not quite suitible, i've often wondered about the reflective powers of ice and snow. Have some terrain (bowl type, ravine, mesa etc) where the sunshine is reflected to a particular point (think mirrors and solar panels) to keep the area hot. Artic to desert temps within a short distance.

I have an adventure I like to spring on my players kind of like this with an albino red dragon. Messes their plans up bigtime when they go in prepared to kill the "white dragon".

 

[Pbartender]

In a Mexican cantina.
In plain sight.
His table is in the corner and his hoard is in his room on the upper floor.
They serve really spicy food.
He likes the music and the colorful dresses of the dancing girls, as well as the local spicy style tequila.

This village is the only arable land and only major water source in the area.
He's the mucho grande hombre who walked into town one day and informed the locals that he is in charge and owns the place.

They have no where to go, so it's "Si, Senor Draco Roho"

He is often out of town hunting in the mountains, but when he is home he expects it to be fiesta time except during siesta, and then you'd better not make any noise and wake him.

I think I might have to save this one for later...

 

[Dan Bell]

I think I might have to save this one for later...

I agree. I'm picturing the dragon as an El Guapo type from The Three Amigos movie.

 

[Thornir Alekeg]

Hey all,


Starting up a new campaign, one of the main adversaries is going to be a Young Adult Red Dragon [One that focuses on the fire and physical combat more than the planning and spells.. ahh the energy of youth!]

Anyway, I was thinking about his lair and I started to look at the basic "up in a mountain area, in some deep caves.. maybe some lava.." [No Save]. But then I got bored, so I'm trying to think of a new place such a dragon could be. What other "hot" terrains and locations can you think of that such a dragon might like? This is a real bruiser/bully of a dragon [heck.. I even gave him the Jotunbrud feat], but he is a Red one so fiery is a must.

I was thinking of something with tar pits [they seem interesting, could make some fun terrain encounters.. etc.] but I don't know exactly what kind of terrain they show up in naturally [other than La Brea tar pits..but those are in L.A. and I can't see that as a proper terrain type... yet].

Anyway.. where can this Dragon go?

J from Three Haligonians

First off, tar pits can appear in just about any terrain type, it just is usually a more geologically active area. It is natural asphalt deposits that bubble up to the surface from the heat and pressure deeper in the crust.

As for other locations for your dragon - I like the coal fire idea, but if you want to make the location even more unusual, make it a peat fire instead. Who would suspect a red dragon in the middle of a peat bog which are usually found in cooler climates - even areas of permafrost?

Not sure how it would fit into your campaign, but here is some interesting things that could be used in a D&D game regarding peat:

During prehistoric times, peat bogs had considerable ritual significance to Bronze Age and Iron Age peoples, who considered them to be home to (or at least associated with) nature gods or spirits. The bodies of the victims of ritual sacrifices have been found in a number of locations in England, Ireland, and especially northern Germany and Denmark, almost perfectly preserved by the tanning properties of the acidic water. (See Tollund Man for one of the most famous examples of a bog body).

Peat wetlands formerly had a degree of metallurgical importance as well. During the Dark Ages, peat bogs were the primary source of bog iron, used to create the swords and armour of the Vikings.

 

[Ulrick]

How about a decades-old underground coal fire?

Centralia, PA

Steaming cracks in the ground, sinkholes, choking smoke that erupts from the ground without warning, and that's all before you even enter the caverns with hellish temperatures, treacherous footing, collapsing tunnels.

Just how much damage would you take if a thousand-ton pale of burning coal collapsed on you?

The smoke burns your eyes, there's only ten feet of visibility, breathing is a chore.

And once you slog your way through hellish conditions that would make a Balor feel right at home, then you get to fight a dragon that savors every single grimace if pain and discomfort.

Damn. I could even see villagers claiming that a dragon is in a nearby mine is causing all of this. But there is no dragon. The goal of the PCs changes from slaying the dragon to convincing the villagers to leave. Gee, which is harder? According to that website there's still 44 people living in Centralia in 1997.

 

[Angel Tarragon]

I saw the thread title and read 'hair' instead of 'lair'.

 

[Engilbrand]

I really like the idea of an albino red dragon purposely living somewhere typically cold. The best way is if there's a volcano or something innately hot below where he lives. The illusion of cold with the ability to get into something hot fairly quickly. Maybe he just has a Cloak of Comfort or whatever that lets you ignore the cold and periodically brings large quantities of snow into his lair and quickly heats them into incredibly hot steam.
What about a forest fire that's burned for an inordinately long time? Even better, make it an enchanted place where the forest grows quickly. People might be wondering what happened to their beautiful enchanted forest and are concerned that the fire hasn't gone out.

 

[Three_Haligonians]

Awesome Ideas!

I like the underground fire.. that will probably come into play as the heat source for an otherwise "non-fiery" area. Maybe somewhere rich in oil deposits that the dragon himself ignited - that could also account for the tar pits (good to know they can be just about anywhere).

Speaking of tar pits, does anybody have a source for rules on tar itself? I know Sandstorm has a "petrol" equivalent that I can use for rules concerning it burning but what about the "sticky" quality? Is it just mud with the serial numbers filed off? or is there something more accurate out there?

I figure the Red Dragon has developed a taste for "tar-battered" food. So much so in fact, that his breath weapon has that "burning tire" smell to it. I even gave him the Clinging Breath feat just to finish it off. Imagine learning that not only did the Dragon breath fire, but also bits of tar that stick and continue to burn!

Also,

ps - He's the RDOUS.

You have stumped me, I don't know what this one means..

J from Three Haligonians

 

[Dirigible]

There's a stinkingly hot salt desert called the Danakil that I remember reading about in New Scientist a while back. A salt plain would be pretty flat, and with their keen eyesight would give the dragon a huge amount of warning of approaching enemies and prey. Salt's also a valuable commodity in a medieval style economy, so a dragon squatting in such a vast source of it would cause all sorts of problems for local settlements and traders.

Though I have to say, the hot mudpools idea mentioned earlier is by far my favourite.

 

[Engilbrand]

The Fire Swamp is from The Princess Bride. The ROUSes are Rodents Of Unusual Size. RDOUS would be a Red Dragon Of Unusual Size.