A love affair sidequest - as a player, how would you go about it?

[Dr TPK]

I'm the DM in our game and I have this idea for a very minor side-quest, but I'd like to hear how the playgrounders would approach this quest (?) if they were playing in my game (any non-evil PC, your pick, of 6th level).

On an isolated area there's a mountain range, and on that mountain there's a powerful gold dragon. He has tried to get friendly with the neighbouring tribe of forest elves, but his habit of trying to advice and organise things has insulted - without any real cause - the elven leader, a very temperamental individual, and the dragon has been declared persona non grata. The dragon respects this, and doesn't bother the elves any more, but he wishes that the PCs would restore his welcomed status in the village (located in a forested area near the mountains).

The dragon's only elven ally is an elven female, a member of the tribe and a powerful adept. Since the dragon always appeared in human form, the elven maiden is certain the dragon is a beautiful and lovely human male, who can turn into a dragon (she's not that smart). She will give the PCs a powerful magical item if they can help her to marry with the "dreamy human male". The dragon doesn't really know anything about this, and he's not that interested in the woman.

[Crake]

I would probably first off explain to her that he's actually a dragon, not a human that can turn into a dragon, and then, if she's still willing, encourage her to admit her feelings to the dragon, us telling him would likely not instill any potential feelings in the dragon, but a heartfelt confession of feelings directly from her might. If necessary, I'd escort her to the dragon's lair, if the road there isn't safe, to help facilitate the meeting between the two, and if need be, stand by her to offer moral support as she admits her feelings. I doubt it would result in a marriage proposal right away, so likely no magic item, but then again, I wouldn't really care about the magic item as much as I would seeing her at least confess to the dragon.

I don't think there's really anything more you could do in a situation like this, unless you're looking to exploit it.

[TheIronGolem]

I think trying to get the dragon to actually fall in love with an elf would be a fool's errand. But convincing the dragon that marrying an influential member of the tribe would put him in a position to win back acceptance over the long term - that's doable. Honestly, a gold dragon should have been smart enough to realize this in the first place.

[Dr TPK]

I think trying to get the dragon to actually fall in love with an elf would be a fool's errand. But convincing the dragon that marrying an influential member of the tribe would put him in a position to win back acceptance over the long term - that's doable. Honestly, a gold dragon should have been smart enough to realize this in the first place.

Yes, but a certain level of NPC helplessness is always welcomed in roleplaying games (winkety winkwink) :smallwink:

[Extra Anchovies]

Find out everything about the dragon as we can - what he likes, what he doesn't like, the sorts of things he does in his free time - and relay them to the elf lady so she can impress the dragon by pretending to have similar interests. We also need to spend a lot of time around the dragon talking about how cool and sexy elf girls are. Wait, d20 system isn't a dating sim.

I'd go with what Crake said. Good to be realistic about this sort of thing.

[Honest Tiefling]

I'd probably discourage her. She seems as dumb as a brick, so I doubt the good aligned dragon would really want to settle down with her, and...It wouldn't really be a relationship of equals. I'd probably mention such to the dragon, but spend more effort on convincing her to not try to rush into marriage so readily and to really get to know people before proposing.

And considering that her description of her intended involved 'lovely' and 'beautiful', I am not 100% certain she was really interested in the dude's mind. If her tribe is more conservative then she is happy with, perhaps instead focus on getting her to a human settlement (she might also have a taste for broad shoulders...), with the idea of having her visit the place to foster trade and alliances with it. Perhaps get the dragon to help, because instead of seducing a very dim member of their tribe, he is instead helping their political interests and securing peace in the area. Even if it doesn't get the dragon back into the village, it'll help the general area and perhaps he can make some new friends that aren't led by idiots.

There would also be the issue in that even if the elven maiden was interested in the dragon, she might not be able to handle being exiled and separated from her family while pursuing such. It would take years, especially for many different types of elves, for the rift to mend, during which she might not be able to easily contact her family.

Actually, probably focusing on not having these elves run by a idiot might be a better use of my time. If he's throwing fits left and right, he might not be fit for leadership.

[SinsI]

I could sure use a "powerful adept" as a cohort, so my Changeling Rogue would Disguise as him and take her away with me.
As for village elder - a couple of Suggestions (or just Diplomacy rolls) can fix his attitude. "It would be wise to accept the apologies of a creature that can easily wipe out your whole community" sounds like a very, very reasonable Suggestion.

[Telonius]

Find the closest enemy of the Elves, and disguise yourself as one of them. Instigate an attack on the elf camp. Let the Dragon know that enemies are on the way. Enemies attack, Dragon shows up and saves the day. Elf elder is grateful, Dragon gets the girl, girl gets her "dreamy human," everybody lives happily ever after.

[ZamielVanWeber]

Find the closest enemy of the Elves, and disguise yourself as one of them. Instigate an attack on the elf camp. Let the Dragon know that enemies are on the way. Enemies attack, Dragon shows up and saves the day. Elf elder is grateful, Dragon gets the girl, girl gets her "dreamy human," everybody lives happily ever after.

Unless the dragon TPKs you. Crake is on the money about how to handle this. It literally could not go worse than the time my gnome beguiler met Ehlonna.

[Honest Tiefling]

"It would be wise to accept the apologies of a creature that can easily wipe out your whole community" sounds like a very, very reasonable Suggestion.

Sounds good to me, personally. I would also try "Stop being an idiot" but I doubt that one would work. I would probably try it just in case, however.