HELP, need suggestions for Quests for my players!!!

[SMac8988]

I am building up my campaign and the grouo is soon to run into an over powered enemy that will attempt to enslave the party temp till they get strong enough to fight back.

The big bad is a blue dragon, whom has started the process of willingly becoming a shadow dragon. He believes himself to be a god, attempting to return to his true form.

The grouo will kill his son, a half dragon, whom has been protecting his father during his transformation.

I am looking for suggestions of things the Blue dragon may want to force the grouo to go do.

I considered have them go clear some hunting grounds for him, killing a giant and his roc which protects a large cattle grove. And maybe have them be forced to enslave or convince a group of lizard men to come work for the dragon. But is what else....

[JNAProductions]

That sounds like it could be a lot of not fun for your players. Are you sure being enslaved by a more powerful force and then forced to work against their wishes is going to be a good time?

[SMac8988]

That sounds like it could be a lot of not fun for your players. Are you sure being enslaved by a more powerful force and then forced to work against their wishes is going to be a good time?

I was thinking of running it as a choice. They could beat the dragon, if they plan in advance and have put themselves in the right situation, but would be a very hard choice. I also may just have the dragon tell them the missions, and see what the decide to do.

I know it could be a bit suckish for them if they are enslaved, but I need a reason for the dragon to keep them alive if they don't go into the fighf, and blue dragons like slaves...

[JNAProductions]

I was thinking of running it as a choice. They could beat the dragon, if they plan in advance and have put themselves in the right situation, but would be a very hard choice. I also may just have the dragon tell them the missions, and see what the decide to do.

I know it could be a bit suckish for them if they are enslaved, but I need a reason for the dragon to keep them alive if they don't go into the fighf, and blue dragons like slaves...

Honestly? I would not put the dragon in front of them before they can reasonably interact with it. Not necessarily beat it, but at least run away successfully.

What do your players know already?

[CantigThimble]

Well, the best villains are ones the players actively hate and there's no better way to make players hate someone than by putting them on a leash. However, the game still needs to be fun so you need to make some compromises. Firstly you should give them a reason to keep the dragon happy, even when they're not directly under threat of lightning-y death. Hostages would be ideal here. The promise of power might also work depending on where they fall on the alignment chart. Second, give them opportunities to covertly work counter to the dragon's interests during the missions. Skim off the top of recovered treasure, plant seeds of rebellion while subduing followers, occasionally assassinate his lieutenants, fake the deaths of people they were supposed to kill etc.

This idea could be a really cool campaign but it could also just leave players feeling frustrated and helpless, so be careful.

As for ideas for missions, you want to look for either things the dragon can't do himself or things the dragon doesn't want to bother doing. An ongoing task could be for them to ensure a steady stream of tribute from surrounding villages, perhaps by negotiating with them or by coercing local bandits into the job. They could be sent to look for rangers from a neighboring kingdom who are investigating a bit too closely and keep them away. They could also just be sent to retrieve treasure from dungeons to make his hoard even shinier of course.

[SMac8988]

Honestly? I would not put the dragon in front of them before they can reasonably interact with it. Not necessarily beat it, but at least run away successfully.

What do your players know already?

The ship they were traveling on was hit by a massive storm, which damaged the ship and caused several members of the ships crew and passenger to fall off. They saved a few and saw a few make it without help. The sister ship they saw sink but people were still swimming to shore. Upon reaching shore they found several people missing, and found scenes of a struggle.

Time on the island they have found signs of a cult worshipping some type of dragon, with dragon skulls and members in purple robes around, and have learned the leader of the cult is a half dragon.

On the island there is a sea hag, which is keeping the storm off the island, and if she is killed the storm will semerge the island in 3 days. If they make a deal with her she will share that information for a relic that a family of harpies had taken from her in the hills to the north. (Also possible for them to find a harpy npc ally that wants to leave the island and travel)

That's about it so far.

[Decstarr]

Myself, I'm a fan of enslaving PCs - if it is caused by their own reckless behaviour aka bad decision making. But I'm sure a lot of PCs won't enjoy that too much.

My suggestion would be to introduce a second and maybe even a third "entity" that is/are competing with your dragon-in-transformation for supremacy on the island. This way, your PCs could either have the "choice" who they'll be supporting - fun thing here would be to make all the "choices" relatively bad, meaning all of the entities are in some way of an opposed alignment than the PCs themselves - OR at least you already get your quests prepared (which would consist mainly of weakening the opposition).

As for specific quests:

- Dragon needs some shrine/building to be built, so basically a typical "lame" gather XYZ ressources type of mission
- Dragon wants more worshippers, so go around and the spread the word/coerce mission
- Dragon wants opposition to be eliminated - find & kill (or ally with them?)
- Dragon wants a feast in his honor - PCs can organize some kind of festival with tournament & games and such (if the PCs are into that type of thing like mine e.g, this can be a lot of fun)

Will the dragon ever let them leave if they do as it demands? Or will they eventually have to fight it? I think, most PCs would assume that there'll be a fight eventually, so I'd say it could be fun if the dragon just let's them leave as soon as they did all he asked for. (And maybe at a later stage show up again in the campagin, maybe to even assist the PCs in a near-impossible quest?).

[Knaight]

Presumably, if the group successfully kills the half dragon son, that removes whatever protection he was providing. I'd also assume that said protection is there for a reason - the dragon has enemies, and they present an actual threat. That leaves an obvious quest, where the PCs are tasked with things that can provide a new form of protection. Doing so also implicitly presents the dragon's other opposition, which makes things interesting. Suddenly it's not about doing what the dragon demands because you have to - it's about the decisions involved in how long to do what the dragon demands before making a defection attempt and joining the dragon's enemies. It's about what sabotage could be done when nominally serving the dragon so that when the dragon is betrayed* the defenses fail. More than anything, this prevents railroading issues.

*Inasmuch as that term even applies.

[Ninja_Prawn]

- Dragon wants opposition to be eliminated - find & kill (or ally with them?)

This one is definitely good. It gives the players latitude to resist the evil of their slavemaster, by faking the target's death. It also gives them a ready-made ally for when they win their freedom.

Other good options are evil vs. evil conflicts, where doing what the dragon wants will actually benefit innocent bystanders, or a task where they have to build defenses for the dragon's fortress (or train its legion of evil), which could allow them them to build in weakness or flaws (or try to convert some of the mooks into agents of goodness).

Maybe give them opportunities to do good 'on the side', such as having a handsome prince get imprisoned in a tower that just happens to be near to the bank they've been ordered to rob. No reason they can't take a little detour!

[SMac8988]

I was considering having like the dragon having been feed by his son and having to have done very little over the past large amount of years, son is half elf, and the dragons wings having begun to wither.

With that I was thinking another island or landmass near by was his old hunting ground, but since he has been gone an "old man" and his "bird" protect the old cattle farms. That way the grouo can go there, and find a storm giant, whom protects a small cattle ranching socitity with his tamed Roc. If the group rps the situation out they can use it as a trap for the nearly flighty dragon, or they can kill him abd have that be one of the tasks.

My group is 3 lawful good, 2 chaotic good, and 1 chaotic neutral. So I feel anything the dragon asks will put them in an uncomfortable situation.

My idea is also that the dragon is aiming to become a dragonlich, believing himself to be the returned Falazure, (spelling). And may send the group to slay a, weakened, lich to retrieve his soul stone and convert it for the dragon.

Just ideas. Love to hear more from everyone

[Specter]

The dragon could come to them in human form and make the proposal as if he was trying to help the land by ridding it of these horrible creatures. By the time the pcs are done with them, he shows up again and says, "you've served your purpose - you may die now!"

Fooled is much better than enslaved.

[Douche]

In the whispers of a society besieged by the cruel blue dragon, there are rumors of a man who studied ancient knowledge & delved deep into forbidden tombs to uncover their secrets. Some claim to have known this hero who dared to catalog the history & lore of the blue dragons, that would invite cataclysm upon their people if the dragon caught wind of his digging. Nonetheless, no one has heard of the man in years, but one wizened old sage knows where he used to live.

Eventually the party follow the trail which will lead them to the expert's laboratory, where he used twisted experiments to try and create a weapon that might bring an end to the dragon. But in the depths of this depraved place, as they think they are about to find the one responsible for this profane corruption of magic & science, they find only a withered, desiccated corpse of the man, surrounded with the scattered notes of his own insanity. He is curled up in his chair, clutching a battered tome radiating with a blasphemous malediction.

He who touches the tome will soon regret it as their consciousness is torn from their body, pulling them into the ethereal realm of the Madman's fantasy. They will explore his own mind & try to retain their own sanity as they are exposed to the very secrets of dragon-kind that cost the Madman his own.

[MarkVIIIMarc]

Depends what your players are like.

Another thread got me thinking about the origin of the compass of all things.

It was known to the Chinese about 200 BC but maybe not to Europeans for 1400 more years. Imagine how important a party transporting that large of traveling / seafaring technological improvement might be.

You can insert any invention you like from between the end of the Roman era to the time of Columbus.

Bad guys galore would love to get their hands on it.

[SMac8988]

The venturing into the mind of a mad wizard could actually be really cool. They are on a psudo time restraint, supposing to be moving to stop a war, so that would put them someplace outside of time for a bit.

Have them be sent to bring back the tome, which holds how to make the dragon into his lich form, and upon touching the book they are moved into the wizards pocket demension, and the half dragon couldn't successfully pass the challenges and lost a little of himself within the tome and could never venture back. If the group succeeds the dragon frees them, and comes back as a later big bad as a shadow dragonlich, j know not allowed via mm but I think it would be awesome.

I really like that idea. I'll need to build that realm and the tower/lab the wizards body is in.

[djreynolds]

I am building up my campaign and the grouo is soon to run into an over powered enemy that will attempt to enslave the party temp till they get strong enough to fight back.

The big bad is a blue dragon, whom has started the process of willingly becoming a shadow dragon. He believes himself to be a god, attempting to return to his true form.

The grouo will kill his son, a half dragon, whom has been protecting his father during his transformation.

I am looking for suggestions of things the Blue dragon may want to force the grouo to go do.

I considered have them go clear some hunting grounds for him, killing a giant and his roc which protects a large cattle grove. And maybe have them be forced to enslave or convince a group of lizard men to come work for the dragon. But is what else....

I love this, you could introduce some skill portions in the game...

The party, unbeknownst to the dragon, are enlisted by a powerful druid and he gives them a recipe to find certain herbs to feed the dragon's cattle---that in the right proportions would halt the dragons transformation.... lots of survival, nature, history, medicine checks

or instead of killing the giant and roc or persuade them to pretend they are dead and enlist them in a final battle with the dragon... lots of persuasion and deception

[SMac8988]

I love this, you could introduce some skill portions in the game...

The party, unbeknownst to the dragon, are enlisted by a powerful druid and he gives them a recipe to find certain herbs to feed the dragon's cattle---that in the right proportions would halt the dragons transformation.... lots of survival, nature, history, medicine checks

or instead of killing the giant and roc or persuade them to pretend they are dead and enlist them in a final battle with the dragon... lots of persuasion and deception

I was thinking tk have the giant be a druid, so that could actually work really well. Have that be the start thing the dragon sends them to prove their "strength", saying his son feared the old man and bird and he was forced to eat the merger scraps on the island.

And after they do whatever, the dragon will start feeding there again. If they have begin poisoning himself he will be weaker for the fight.

Then send them to get the lich stone thing, they will fight him or leave, idk with this party, and he can come back as the big bad again later.