Monster/Worldbuilding help!

[Jarmen4u]

Hey all, need some pointers.

In my upcoming game, I'm planning to have young "dragons" raiding and attacking the outer villages of a kingdom. The twist though, is that they're some kind of creature that is somehow pretending to be a dragon. The point of this is that there is a pretty shaky treaty between the kingdom and a nearby old dragon who apparently has offspring, and this third party is trying to break down this treaty by pretending to act on behalf of the dragon. Any tips for what kind of creature/creatures I should use for this?

Bonus plot twist: I was planning to replace the king with another type of creature that can impersonate him, or just a creature who can manipulate/influence the king into doing its bidding unconsciously. Any creature/creature combo ideas here would be wonderful as well.

EDIT: For what it's worth, the "dragons" would end up being low-mid level encounters when/if they fought them, and the king would probably not be revealed until much later, as he would most likely not be targeted until much later in the story.

[ksbsnowowl]

A creature of the Dragon type could use Alter Self to assume the shape of a true dragon of 5 or fewer HD. Something like a Dracotaur Wizard 3 with Practiced Spellcaster. Sixty minutes of being a Wyrmling Green Dragon. (Not the best example, as a Dracotaur can't become Small with Alter Self, but you get the idea.)

A 12th level Druid with Dragon Wild Shape could become any Medium of Small dragon form. That may be too high of a level, but it's an option.

Polymorph is your other best bet.

Make the King impersonator a 15th level Wizard 16th level Sorcerer (the intelligence-affecting effect of PAO on a Wizard turning into a human... not very good) who has used Polymorph Any Object to assume the king's form. He has also used PAO to make the low-level dragons out of brigands or trolls or something.

[Crazysaneman]

As for the king, have him be advised by a vizier that wants the power of a king with none of the blame; so he uses charm person and glibness to "advise" the king. Think Jaffar from Disney's Aladdin.

[Jarmen4u]

A creature of the Dragon type could use Alter Self to assume the shape of a true dragon of 5 or fewer HD. Something like a Dracotaur Wizard 3 with Practiced Spellcaster. Sixty minutes of being a Wyrmling Green Dragon. (Not the best example, as a Dracotaur can't become Small with Alter Self, but you get the idea.)

A 12th level Druid with Dragon Wild Shape could become any Medium of Small dragon form. That may be too high of a level, but it's an option.

Polymorph is your other best bet.

Make the King impersonator a 15th level Wizard 16th level Sorcerer (the intelligence-affecting effect of PAO on a Wizard turning into a human... not very good) who has used Polymorph Any Object to assume the king's form. He has also used PAO to make the low-level dragons out of brigands or trolls or something.

I like the PAO route. The idea was initially that you wouldn't have to worry about long-term shape changing, as it would be minions of the dragons attacking as opposed to the actual dragons, which would only make an appearance once their tentative "dens" were raided by the party.

[Jarmen4u]

As for the king, have him be advised by a vizier that wants the power of a king with none of the blame; so he uses charm person and glibness to "advise" the king. Think Jaffar from Disney's Aladdin.

I was thinking to actually add an adviser who's just in the wrong place in the wrong time, aka a scapegoat. I know these guys would pick up on the suspicious vizier prompt immediately and take pre-emptive action to confront the "Jafar." Other thoughts involved Illithids/Beholders/some other mental superpower.

[DrMotives]

When I first read this, I thought to look for fey, not aberrations that fit the bill. The whole idea of turning dragons and humanoids against eachother is very much like a classic faerie trick.

[Jarmen4u]

When I first read this, I thought to look for fey, not aberrations that fit the bill. The whole idea of turning dragons and humanoids against eachother is very much like a classic faerie trick.

Fey, eh? That's grounds I rarely find myself exploring. I might dig deeper into that. Any particular creature(s) that you might find most suitable for such an escapade? Perhaps they could be trying to weaken both forces as a preamble to an assault in order to reclaim ancient Fey lands that were settled by the humans and dragon.

[General Sajaru]

There's a fairly mediocre PrC from Drow of the Underdark called the Insidious Corrupter that's best entered through sorcerer and allows the IC to control others. Now, as written, it's Drow only, but you could certainly remove the race requirement; or have it actually be a Drow who's controlling the king. Could be a good plot hook, if you're okay with Drow.

As for the dragons, you could have them be summoned creatures who have been PAOed. Alternately, you could use Dragonnels (CR 4), Wyvern (CR 6), or one of the many Drakes, Altered or otherwise changed.

[Endarire]

King: Doppleganger or Changeling

[ksbsnowowl]

King: Doppleganger or Changeling

Ethereal Doppelganger (MM2) would be perfect for the King impersonator. Alternately, a Greater Doppelganger from Monsters of Faerun.

On the Fey front... A Jeabrin (MM4? MM5? would perhaps be good as the "Jaffar" red herring. If the fey thought ahead to plant a red herring that was in on it, to help mask the true impostor king. Jeabrin have an ability that allows them to succeed on a save versus a spell, but the PC caster who targeted him still thinks he failed the save. Could let the PC's think they are getting the real answers via Zone of Truth or something like that, but the Jeabrin could still be lying.

Fey also tend to have higher HD for their CR. This could aid in polymorphing magic, either via Practiced Spellcaster & Alter Self, or via HD limits from another caster's Polymorph effect.