Pika...
2009-10-12, 04:45 PM
So to my amazement the PCs decided to "visit" the most powerful NPC on the planet. A dragon as big as a small city. Oh, and who was not very happy that one of the PCs existed, because he got reincarnated into a Gold Dragon and until then this NPC was the only Dragon known on the planet.
You really need to forget planning as a DM. :smallsigh:
Anyway, I had been planning to introduce 'The Great Game" from the Monster Manual V since the first time I ran my sandbox cosmology where ANOTHER PC managed to mess with my "Dragons are legendary powerful creatures all but extinct" fluff and plot (this one got a hold of a Deck of Many Things...).
So anyway, as a DM having successfully pumped up the player's ego by letting him milk the attention of being "the second dragon" he felt big enough to talk back to a creature who's head I described as being bigger then the building we were in (the rest of it was in a lake of molten gold inside a fortified mountain). So as the DM the only way I figured this NPC would have not killed him for that, and to get rid of the "insulting competition" was if the secret council of Dragons I had made for the former Dragon PC had instructed him not to. So the big NPC proceeds to planeshift them to a demi-plane I rather not spoil.
Anyway, there the PC was given the option of either a) Joining The Great Game Xorvintaal, or b) Be killed. It is needless to say what the PC chose.
After the agreement, and it was shown that the dragon gods favored the decision the following information was given to the player:
-As he could see by the thousands of dragons in the stands around the arena he was standing on the dragons had indeed not died out as the "lesser races" of the Prime Material have believed for ages. In truth, with the exception of a few "rogues", they merely chose to "fade from view" of the lesser creatures.
-The Dragons had grown tired of their constant wars and battles, so they found a way to continue their feuds but without the need of dragon blood being spilled. Hence Xorvintaal was created.
-The other players are now his "pawns" in The Great Game.
My ideas so far for expanding on the rules of Xorvintaal (from the MM5):
1. No Dragon may attack another Dragon, they can not send their Xorvintaal Exarches (see MM5) to attack a Dragon, they may not manipulate pawns to attack another Dragon, nor can they in any way have another Dragon targeted to be harmed in any way.
If a Dragon unwittingly causes pawns to attack another Dragon who has not provoked the pawns he immediately forfeits half his central hoard to the attacked Dragon. Instead he may forfeit a Seed Hoard (see Seed Hoard in MM5) and the surrounding territory to the attacked Dragon if the attacked Dragon agrees to the offer.
If a Dragon unwittingly caused pawns to kill another Dragon his life becomes
forfeit.
2. There are three categories of game pieces a Xorvintaal Dragon may have under his control.
Exarches: These are lesser beings that are aware of the Great Game, and their master's true self. A Dragon is cautioned to be very selective with who he makes an exarch, and how many he keeps, for they are ever monitored and if it is seen that they have revealed a mere word of Xorvintaal or the continued existence of the Dragon race they, their Dragon master, the rest of their master's minions, and often the entire settlement they are in are wiped from existence without a trace overnight.
Notes:
-A Dragon may never take on an exarch who is the ruler of a settlement or kingdom such as a king, queen, All-Watcher, Chieftain, etc. A Dragon's exarch may never accept such a position either.
-If a Dragon has an emotional attachment to a lesser creature he should be careful when choosing to offer it the honor of becoming an exarch and performing the ritual (see Exarch in the MM5). This is because once a Dragon reveals itself to the creature, and the truth of the Dragons' secret, if the creature refuses the Dragon is required to kill it immediately. Due to the Ritual of Xorvintaal a Xorvintaal Dragon may not break the rules of the great game, and therefore has no way to resist this rule.
Pawns: Pawns are game pieces used by a Dragon who are not aware of the forces pulling the strings both on their side, and on that of their enemies. These creatures are secretly used and manipulated by Dragons to fulfill various roles, mainly raiding another Dragon's hoard or lair.
The Dragon Blessed: This term covers a wide range of minions which have been empowered by their Dragon master. Such beings include Dragon Kith (see Draconomican), Dragonfire Adepts, Divine Casters who have made a Dragonpact (see Dragon Magic), etc.
Due to their obvious Dragon influenced natures and/or physical alterations these minions are restricted to only be able to dwell within their Dragon master's lair, or a Seed Hoard (see Seed Hoard) for fear they would reveal the existence of Dragons.
3. The goal of Xorvintaal is to use one's Exarches, or to manipulate unknowing pawns to raid the hoards and/or lairs of their opponents.
4. Definition of a Hoard:
A Dragon's hoard is defined as the location (hidden or otherwise) where the Dragon keeps his collected wealth (gems, precious metals, etc) and personally resides. If the Dragon controls Seed Hoards (see Seed Hoards) he must maintain at least twice as much wealth in his central hoard than as in any one of his seed hoards.
The claimed territory of a Dragon is a radius centered on the Dragon hoard equal in miles to every 5,000gp worth of wealth (gems, precious metals, books, etc) within the dragon's hoard. This amount is constantly monitored and regularly updated in records on the Demi-Plane of Dragons. Any Dragon capable of traveling to to the Demi-Plane of Dragons has free access to the records to see what rival hoards (but not seed hoards) are in his area, and plan his strategies. It is not unheard of for competing Dragons to literally standing side by side trying to look at the same book.
While a Dragon can theoretically eventually posses an entire planet within the radius of his hoard, when the radius of two Dragons' hoards touch at any point they cease expanding regardless of how much wealth is placed within them. Once two hoards' radius touch the owning Dragons are notified telepathically by council members on the Demi-Plane of Dragons that their hoard's size has been capped.
However, an extremely bold or wonderlust filled Dragon may choose to have no central hoard but instead maintain one or multiple seed hoards.
5. Definition Seed Hoard:
A seed hoard is usually used as a very aggressive move in Xorvintaal. They are hoards created and filled by a Dragon, but where the owning Dragon does not personally reside. They are solely guarded by the Dragon's Exarches, and/or unknowing pawns.
Since seed hoards are not public records they are often used as an aggressive move against a rival Dragon's hoard by placing it at the edge of it's hoard radius, causing the hoard's influence to stop dead in it's tracks until the Dragon is able to locate the hidden hoard (if it ever manages to).
6. Taking another Dragon's Hoard:
Taking another Dragon's hoard is basic and simple. One player sends his exarches and/or pawns to the opposing Dragon's lair or seed hoard. There they retrieve the Dragon's hoard by any means short of harming the opposing Dragon, and bring it back to the attacking Dragon's horde. The most common techniques are slaughtering the opposing exarches and pawns, and stealthy thievery. If the opposing Dragon is present he must merely watch, though he may give commands to his minions. The resident Dragon may choose to voluntarily enter combat with his rival's earches/pawns, but at his own risk (see below).
7. A Dragon may choose to take part in combat with his exarches and pawns against those of another Dragon, however; in doing so the exarches and pawns are free to defend themselves against the Dragon from that point on (although exarches and minions who did not participate in the battle do not).
In addition, unless fighting in his alternate form a Dragon must be careful when doing this in fear of exposing the Dragons' secret to the world. If he reveals his true Dragon form he is expected to kill every pawn on the battlefield, this includes his own pawns. These pawns may not be converted to Exarches.
8. Claw Test:
A Claw Test is a sort of "I call you out" for Dragons. Basically both Dragons agree to send out exarches or pawns under their control to a preset location at a preset time to do battle, or on occasion compete in anther way. usually the Dragons agree for both parties to be as fairly balanced powerwise as possible, but if both parties agree one dragon may choose to send weaker numbers/power/etc while on his part wagering proportionally less.
This is done on the Demi-Plane of Dragons, and any Dragon may take part in gambling over a Claw Test.
It is not unheard of for ancient powerful Dragons to manipulate entire armies and kingdoms against each other, nor for entire hoards and seed hoards be gambled off.
9. A Dragon may not directly kill or otherwise a ruler of a kingdom or settlement, especially in an attempt to secretly assert the position of said using it's shape changing abilities.
However, a Dragon is not restricted from manipulating pawns or exarches to kill such a ruler.
10. A Dragon may never assert or otherwise make himself ruler of a kingdom, city state, or other settlement.
PS.
-I believe this game might have just become a fortress/empire building game.
-However, the PC will still need to build his horde to put up for stakes, though, so this might leave some early level adventuring.
-Any ideas for how to handle/run a campaign like this as a DM? I am not really sure where to go from here.
You really need to forget planning as a DM. :smallsigh:
Anyway, I had been planning to introduce 'The Great Game" from the Monster Manual V since the first time I ran my sandbox cosmology where ANOTHER PC managed to mess with my "Dragons are legendary powerful creatures all but extinct" fluff and plot (this one got a hold of a Deck of Many Things...).
So anyway, as a DM having successfully pumped up the player's ego by letting him milk the attention of being "the second dragon" he felt big enough to talk back to a creature who's head I described as being bigger then the building we were in (the rest of it was in a lake of molten gold inside a fortified mountain). So as the DM the only way I figured this NPC would have not killed him for that, and to get rid of the "insulting competition" was if the secret council of Dragons I had made for the former Dragon PC had instructed him not to. So the big NPC proceeds to planeshift them to a demi-plane I rather not spoil.
Anyway, there the PC was given the option of either a) Joining The Great Game Xorvintaal, or b) Be killed. It is needless to say what the PC chose.
After the agreement, and it was shown that the dragon gods favored the decision the following information was given to the player:
-As he could see by the thousands of dragons in the stands around the arena he was standing on the dragons had indeed not died out as the "lesser races" of the Prime Material have believed for ages. In truth, with the exception of a few "rogues", they merely chose to "fade from view" of the lesser creatures.
-The Dragons had grown tired of their constant wars and battles, so they found a way to continue their feuds but without the need of dragon blood being spilled. Hence Xorvintaal was created.
-The other players are now his "pawns" in The Great Game.
My ideas so far for expanding on the rules of Xorvintaal (from the MM5):
1. No Dragon may attack another Dragon, they can not send their Xorvintaal Exarches (see MM5) to attack a Dragon, they may not manipulate pawns to attack another Dragon, nor can they in any way have another Dragon targeted to be harmed in any way.
If a Dragon unwittingly causes pawns to attack another Dragon who has not provoked the pawns he immediately forfeits half his central hoard to the attacked Dragon. Instead he may forfeit a Seed Hoard (see Seed Hoard in MM5) and the surrounding territory to the attacked Dragon if the attacked Dragon agrees to the offer.
If a Dragon unwittingly caused pawns to kill another Dragon his life becomes
forfeit.
2. There are three categories of game pieces a Xorvintaal Dragon may have under his control.
Exarches: These are lesser beings that are aware of the Great Game, and their master's true self. A Dragon is cautioned to be very selective with who he makes an exarch, and how many he keeps, for they are ever monitored and if it is seen that they have revealed a mere word of Xorvintaal or the continued existence of the Dragon race they, their Dragon master, the rest of their master's minions, and often the entire settlement they are in are wiped from existence without a trace overnight.
Notes:
-A Dragon may never take on an exarch who is the ruler of a settlement or kingdom such as a king, queen, All-Watcher, Chieftain, etc. A Dragon's exarch may never accept such a position either.
-If a Dragon has an emotional attachment to a lesser creature he should be careful when choosing to offer it the honor of becoming an exarch and performing the ritual (see Exarch in the MM5). This is because once a Dragon reveals itself to the creature, and the truth of the Dragons' secret, if the creature refuses the Dragon is required to kill it immediately. Due to the Ritual of Xorvintaal a Xorvintaal Dragon may not break the rules of the great game, and therefore has no way to resist this rule.
Pawns: Pawns are game pieces used by a Dragon who are not aware of the forces pulling the strings both on their side, and on that of their enemies. These creatures are secretly used and manipulated by Dragons to fulfill various roles, mainly raiding another Dragon's hoard or lair.
The Dragon Blessed: This term covers a wide range of minions which have been empowered by their Dragon master. Such beings include Dragon Kith (see Draconomican), Dragonfire Adepts, Divine Casters who have made a Dragonpact (see Dragon Magic), etc.
Due to their obvious Dragon influenced natures and/or physical alterations these minions are restricted to only be able to dwell within their Dragon master's lair, or a Seed Hoard (see Seed Hoard) for fear they would reveal the existence of Dragons.
3. The goal of Xorvintaal is to use one's Exarches, or to manipulate unknowing pawns to raid the hoards and/or lairs of their opponents.
4. Definition of a Hoard:
A Dragon's hoard is defined as the location (hidden or otherwise) where the Dragon keeps his collected wealth (gems, precious metals, etc) and personally resides. If the Dragon controls Seed Hoards (see Seed Hoards) he must maintain at least twice as much wealth in his central hoard than as in any one of his seed hoards.
The claimed territory of a Dragon is a radius centered on the Dragon hoard equal in miles to every 5,000gp worth of wealth (gems, precious metals, books, etc) within the dragon's hoard. This amount is constantly monitored and regularly updated in records on the Demi-Plane of Dragons. Any Dragon capable of traveling to to the Demi-Plane of Dragons has free access to the records to see what rival hoards (but not seed hoards) are in his area, and plan his strategies. It is not unheard of for competing Dragons to literally standing side by side trying to look at the same book.
While a Dragon can theoretically eventually posses an entire planet within the radius of his hoard, when the radius of two Dragons' hoards touch at any point they cease expanding regardless of how much wealth is placed within them. Once two hoards' radius touch the owning Dragons are notified telepathically by council members on the Demi-Plane of Dragons that their hoard's size has been capped.
However, an extremely bold or wonderlust filled Dragon may choose to have no central hoard but instead maintain one or multiple seed hoards.
5. Definition Seed Hoard:
A seed hoard is usually used as a very aggressive move in Xorvintaal. They are hoards created and filled by a Dragon, but where the owning Dragon does not personally reside. They are solely guarded by the Dragon's Exarches, and/or unknowing pawns.
Since seed hoards are not public records they are often used as an aggressive move against a rival Dragon's hoard by placing it at the edge of it's hoard radius, causing the hoard's influence to stop dead in it's tracks until the Dragon is able to locate the hidden hoard (if it ever manages to).
6. Taking another Dragon's Hoard:
Taking another Dragon's hoard is basic and simple. One player sends his exarches and/or pawns to the opposing Dragon's lair or seed hoard. There they retrieve the Dragon's hoard by any means short of harming the opposing Dragon, and bring it back to the attacking Dragon's horde. The most common techniques are slaughtering the opposing exarches and pawns, and stealthy thievery. If the opposing Dragon is present he must merely watch, though he may give commands to his minions. The resident Dragon may choose to voluntarily enter combat with his rival's earches/pawns, but at his own risk (see below).
7. A Dragon may choose to take part in combat with his exarches and pawns against those of another Dragon, however; in doing so the exarches and pawns are free to defend themselves against the Dragon from that point on (although exarches and minions who did not participate in the battle do not).
In addition, unless fighting in his alternate form a Dragon must be careful when doing this in fear of exposing the Dragons' secret to the world. If he reveals his true Dragon form he is expected to kill every pawn on the battlefield, this includes his own pawns. These pawns may not be converted to Exarches.
8. Claw Test:
A Claw Test is a sort of "I call you out" for Dragons. Basically both Dragons agree to send out exarches or pawns under their control to a preset location at a preset time to do battle, or on occasion compete in anther way. usually the Dragons agree for both parties to be as fairly balanced powerwise as possible, but if both parties agree one dragon may choose to send weaker numbers/power/etc while on his part wagering proportionally less.
This is done on the Demi-Plane of Dragons, and any Dragon may take part in gambling over a Claw Test.
It is not unheard of for ancient powerful Dragons to manipulate entire armies and kingdoms against each other, nor for entire hoards and seed hoards be gambled off.
9. A Dragon may not directly kill or otherwise a ruler of a kingdom or settlement, especially in an attempt to secretly assert the position of said using it's shape changing abilities.
However, a Dragon is not restricted from manipulating pawns or exarches to kill such a ruler.
10. A Dragon may never assert or otherwise make himself ruler of a kingdom, city state, or other settlement.
PS.
-I believe this game might have just become a fortress/empire building game.
-However, the PC will still need to build his horde to put up for stakes, though, so this might leave some early level adventuring.
-Any ideas for how to handle/run a campaign like this as a DM? I am not really sure where to go from here.