An hour later, you're hungry again ... dealing with a dragon

[KorvinStarmast]

We believe that part of the trouble well to the west of where our party is currently cleaning out a dungeon/ruin is that an adult or ancient dragon has its lair there. The flow of refugees from that area is increasing. We had an idea, since "I know a guy" a couple of days to the east of our current location. A druid gnome who is a retired 6th level PC.

Which means that he knows Conjure Animals.

We are pretty sure that we can't take out an Ancient Dragon at this point in our lives. And adult might be tough but doable, or a potential party wipe, depending on how devilisly clever the DM is.

Here is my idea:
We get our old NPC buddy to head west and set up a bespoke 'food kitchen' for the dragon. This takes pressure off of the livestock raising farms/ranches in the region who apparently are losing their stock at a slow yet inexorable rate to periodic dragonly meal times.

To provide the dragon with food and relieve the farmers/herders/ranchers of that burden, once per day (or once per feeding interval, if the dragon feeds every few days) the druid casts conjure animals. There are a variety of kine/cows/aurochs that would make a tasty snack for a dragon. Giant Goats can be had if the dragon would prefer something like cabrito. Let's say the druid summons up two aurochs: that's some serious beef on the hoof.

The dragon dines - Fresh Meat!1- and is pleased.

An hour later, is the dragon hungry again, or did that fine dining sate his appetite with real food?

Conjure Animals
Duration: Concentration, up to 1 hour
You summon fey spirits that take the form of beasts and appear in unoccupied spaces that you can
see within range. Choose one of the following options for what appears:
• One beast of challenge rating 2 or lower
• Two beasts of challenge rating 1 or lower
• Four beasts of challenge rating 1/2 or lower
• Eight beasts of challenge rating 1/4 or lower
Each beast is also considered fey, and it disappears when it drops to 0 hit points or when the spell ends.
We are concerned that in the course of eating them, they may 'poof' out of existence, though if the dragon swallowed them whole it might be a while before the digestion took its course. We suspect that if the fresh food 'goes away' and does not provide nourishment, said dragon will be very displeased with what looks like deception and perhaps get cranky, and such.

Of course, we'll have our sending stones turned on in case the Arch Fey calls and wants to know just what happened to a few of his spirits yesterday afternoon?

How does this work, or rather, how would you make this work, Playgrounders?

1 Reference to Diablo (original) second dungeon level denizen, The Butcher

[Unoriginal]

We believe that part of the trouble well to the west of where our party is currently cleaning out a dungeon/ruin is that an adult or ancient dragon has its lair there. The flow of refugees from that area is increasing. We had an idea, since "I know a guy" a couple of days to the east of our current location. A druid gnome who is a retired 6th level PC.

Which means that he knows Conjure Animals.

We are pretty sure that we can't take out an Ancient Dragon at this point in our lives. And adult might be tough but doable, or a potential party wipe, depending on how devilisly clever the DM is.

Here is my idea:
We get our old NPC buddy to head west and set up a bespoke 'food kitchen' for the dragon. This takes pressure off of the livestock raising farms/ranches in the region who apparently are losing their stock at a slow yet inexorable rate to periodic dragonly meal times.

To provide the dragon with food and relieve the farmers/herders/ranchers of that burden, once per day (or once per feeding interval, if the dragon feeds every few days) the druid casts conjure animals. There are a variety of kine/cows/aurochs that would make a tasty snack for a dragon. Giant Goats can be had if the dragon would prefer something like cabrito. Let's say the druid summons up two aurochs: that's some serious beef on the hoof.

The dragon dines - Fresh Meat!1- and is pleased.

An hour later, is the dragon hungry again, or did that fine dining sate his appetite with real food?

We are concerned that in the course of eating them, they may 'poof' out of existence, though if the dragon swallowed them whole it might be a while before the digestion took its course. We suspect that if the fresh food 'goes away' and does not provide nourishment, said dragon will be very displeased with what looks like deception and perhaps get cranky, and such.

Of course, we'll have our sending stones turned on in case the Arch Fey calls and wants to know just what happened to a few of his spirits yesterday afternoon?

How does this work, or rather, how would you make this work, Playgrounders?

1 Reference to Diablo (original) second dungeon level denizen, The Butcher

Conjured animals disappear the instant they die, so trying to eat them for food would be an exercise in frustration.

I can even imagine a hunter being punished eternally by a sadistic deity by being stuck in an demiplane only populated by conjured animals, and not being allowed to die of hunger.

That being said, as far as the Druidic powers go, Goodberry can provide a sustaining meal to anyone no matter the size. However, an Ancient Dragon doesn't really need that much food. So they probably want other things than just a sustaining meal.

But that doesn't mean your Conjure Animal plan can't be used for other things. Dragons no matter the age are generally only immune to a few damage types. As such, you could have a lot of conjured animals, feed them vials of some alchemical concoction the Dragon can be damaged by, and then watch as the dragon causes the animals to disappear leaving only the vials behind for the firework (or acidwork, coldwork, poisonwork, etc). Or fill the vials with a sleeping drug. With enough vials, even a Dragon with Legendary Resistance will go down.

Then you bring out as many siege engines as available, plus as many people with ranged weapons you could gather, and aim at the sleeping jerk...

[Imbalance]

The conjurations may be real enough, but the dragon has the perception to notice that they haven't been grazing for long. Even if it might otherwise prefer to swallow live creatures whole, it didn't live to be ancient without killing its food when its suspicions are raised or at least biting it first to make sure it bleeds.

[KorvinStarmast]

The conjurations may be real enough, but the dragon has the perception to notice that they haven't been grazing for long. Even if it might otherwise prefer to swallow live creatures whole, it didn't live to be ancient without killing its food when its suspicions are raised or at least biting it first to make sure it bleeds. Yeah, Dragons are generally quite intelligent, and we are too far south for this to be an Ancient White Dragon ... the least intelligent of their kind ... hmmm, I may need to rethink this.

[Unoriginal]

Yeah, Dragons are generally quite intelligent, and we are too far south for this to be an Ancient White Dragon ... the least intelligent of their kind ... hmmm, I may need to rethink this.

You could try giving it a pile of riches as tribute, with a few cursed magic items under Nystul's Magic Aura in the pile.

Dragons are cunning, but they're always at least twice as greedy as they are cunning.

Or better yet: get a familiar or conjured animal or conjured outsider to be swallowed by the Dragon while carrying a Decanter of Endless Water, then have the creature activate the item to the max setting before it dies.


Even an Ancient Dragon can't handle a river in their stomach.

[KorvinStarmast]

Even an Ancient Dragon can't handle a river in their stomach.
True, but they might be able to stick a finger/claw down their own throat and barf it all up, to include the decanter.

(Don't ask me how I now how to do this, or why I didin't use a toothbrush like the other time)

But it's an intriguing way to apply Decanter of Endless Water shennanigans. All we need to do is find one.

[Xervous]

True, but they might be able to stick a finger/claw down their own throat and barf it all up, to include the decanter.

(Don't ask me how I now how to do this, or why I didin't use a toothbrush like the other time)

But it's an intriguing way to apply Decanter of Endless Water shennanigans. All we need to do is find one.

I’d be wary as I’ve seen the ‘dragons can eat anything’ stretched to include magic items of all colors. Imagine the party’s horror if the ancient black dragon absorbs the effects of the decanter for a day and floods the place in acid.

Is your GM one to entertain clever solutions or do big nasties get vague plot armor until they’re level appropriate ?

[KorvinStarmast]

I’d be wary as I’ve seen the ‘dragons can eat anything’ stretched to include magic items of all colors. Imagine the party’s horror if the ancient black dragon absorbs the effects of the decanter for a day and floods the place in acid. Yep. That's another possible outcome of 'Hey, let's try this and see what happens ..' quick cue to Alec Guinness (Bridge on River Kwai) ... "What have I done?" :smalleek:

Is your GM one to entertain clever solutions or do big nasties get vague plot armor until they’re level appropriate ? He's good with the "counter that clever thing with this clever thing" but if we are clever we don't get whacked with plot armor defenses.

[Unoriginal]

Main advantage when dealing with an ancient dragon is that they're not immune or resistant to non-magical weapons.

So while ancient dragons are terrifying, your group could handle one if you manage to get a lot of people to help.

Just make sure they're not going to kill you/each other for the dragon's hoard once it's over.

[Fable Wright]

Consider introducing the dragon to the concept of feudalism.

That is, he sets up an official area of his personal control, and makes the tribute system official. He doesn't care about taking peoples' grain, only their livestock, so already he's a fairly attractive local lord—definitely look into getting the villagers some pigs, since they're quicker to grow than cattle and they're pretty tasty. He's got a pretty large area he can claim as his local demesne, given how much he can fly, so he can spread the annual offerings of pigs pretty widely across the area.

The peasants are then 'owned' by the dragon—and we all know how dragons treat anyone who messes with their possessions. This can all end up as a pretty symbiotic relationship, and you can explain to the dragon the benefits of having vassals who answer to him and offer him tribute on a wider scale than his usual hungering. As long as he doesn't take too much from the peasants, he'll be able to attract people to his protection, and by offering incentives to build a town with official rights and permits, he can get a pretty nice and regular supply of crafted goods added to his hoard.

It's a win/win, really. The only people losing out are the king (who has proven he can't protect his people) and the local lords (who have likewise failed their duties to their peasants), so... you know. I'm not seeing a downside here.

[KorvinStarmast]

—definitely look into getting the villagers some pigs, since they're quicker to grow than cattle and they're pretty tasty. Of course. As with much else in life, the answer is: Bacon!

Thanks!