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View Full Version : Fun With Xorvintaal (BBEG Advice)



Ascension
2008-03-16, 11:09 PM
Okay, here's the deal... I want to DM someday. As soon as I skimmed the MMV I knew I wanted to include xorvintaal as a major plot element. I love the idea of having the PCs being subtly manipulated by a good-aligned xorvintaal dragon into moving against one of their controller's opponents in the game. Before you say this stinks of heavy railroading, let me say that I won't force them into taking the plot hook, but the dragon manipulating them would also know that it couldn't force them without tipping its hand, so he'll make sure the hook is heavily baited. Only after they've won do they find out that they've been playing the great game.

The problem here is, I don't want to run a really high-level game, and dragons are indeed tough opponents. To have any chance of success in xorvintaal, a dragon has to be supremely good at manipulation, and to get an evil dragon whose intelligence is higher than that of the average adventuring wizard you have to use a powerful one. I didn't think it would be possible to run a low level xorvintaal game, so I just shelved the idea.

Today I had an inspiration. The xorvintaal template doesn't require high intelligence, it's just you're not likely to last long if you aren't smart. Today I realized that you could justify a stupid dragon's success by saying that his moves are so incredibly idiotic that it seems to the older, wiser, more cautious players that there must be some sort of method to the dumb dragon's madness, that some brilliant grand strategy justifies his actions.

I want to make my BBEG a young adult white dragon (CR 8, lowest I can possibly get... possibly with two xorvintaal abilities to represent his completely illogical stunning success, bumping it up to CR 9) who, in his stupidity (INT 8) decided to deal himself into a game which is completely over his head simply to pwn n00bs. He's incredibly aggressive and his "planning" generally consists of "ATTACK!" Essentially he's the xorvintaal equivalent of Leroy Jenkins. The thing is, his opponents (not having access to the MM to see just how dumb he really is) think that his unorthodox strategies must be motivated by underlying brilliance, and they have generally allowed him to make incursions into their territory mostly unmolested. I'm definitely giving it the Draconic Roar ability, and I might tack on Deep Breath.

With the PCs' arrival, his luck has run out. While traveling through the mountains they are drawn into the net of a manipulative dragon (probably silver, but I might go with an evil dragon just for the look on the PCs faces when they realize that one BBEG was playing them against the other BBEG the entire time) who is outraged because Whitey has established what appears to be a seed hoard in his territory. Whitey is not one for subtlety, so it really IS a seed hoard, but silver thinks that it's such an audacious maneuver it must be a bluff. He doesn't want to risk the lives of any of his exarchs in investigating it when he thinks it's probably just an elaborate booby trap, so he tries to bait the expendable PCs into doing the investigation for him.

The PCs, after a good dungeon crawl, find a small dragon-free dragon's hoard, guarded over by one of Whitey's exarchs (who may have levels in the dungeon lord PrC from Dungeonscape). Hopefully they kill him, only to see him disappear immediately upon death (Lair's Rebirth). No, they probably won't have to fight him again, Whitey is likely to pull a "You have failed me" when the exarch shows up unconscious back at base. I just want to broadcast that there's something bigger at work than just the seed hoard.

The PCs' sponsor realizes that Whitey really is an idiot after all, but doesn't want to broadcast that and risk bringing his rivals' attention to Whitey's weaknesses. He won't risk having anyone steal his kill. Because of the need for subtlety, he tries to send the PCs after Whitey's real horde instead of sending his exarchs. An overland journey through the mountains and another dungeon crawl later (don't worry, this one will be built in a significantly different manner, so it shouldn't get too repetitive) they find themselves facing off against Whitey himself. After their victory, their sponsor reveals himself and offers to make them exarchs in return for their service. Their answer is completely up to them. The dragon will probably be pleased enough with their performance that a polite no won't cause him to go into attack mode.

Is this a good idea for a BBEG? What's the lowest level at which I can send them at Whitey with the assumption that, although they may lose a party member or two, they'll probably kill him in the end? I want him to be tough as nails, but I don't want a TPK. Do you have any other suggestions?

Xefas
2008-03-16, 11:25 PM
Is this a good idea for a BBEG? What's the lowest level at which I can send them at Whitey with the assumption that, although they may lose a party member or two, they'll probably kill him in the end? I want him to be tough as nails, but I don't want a TPK. Do you have any other suggestions?

It's a cool idea. And as for this question, I will submit the anecdotal evidence that I sent a party of four level 8 PCs (Cleric, Rogue, Ranger, Scout, all severely to moderately unoptimized and with exactly WBL) against a Young Adult White Dragon (CR 8), and it only knocked one of them unconscious. However, I wasn't gunning to kill any of them. After knocking the Cleric out with his claws, for instance, he moved on to bite the Ranger instead of dealing the finishing blow.

So, adjust for lethality, party composition, and level of optimization. If you want 2 of your 5 gestalt lion-totem power attacking, leap attacking, shocktrooper Warblade//Batman Wizards with Rings of Continuous True Strike to bite it, then obviously you'll need to keep them lower level. But, if you just want to scare your party of 3 kobold samurai, then making them higher level and doing such things as giving them a surprise round, or some special widget of dragon-slaying will do the trick.

FlyMolo
2008-03-16, 11:49 PM
However, I wasn't gunning to kill any of them. After knocking the Cleric out with his claws, for instance, he moved on to bite the Ranger instead of dealing the finishing blow.


This makes sense, if you're the dragon. If you're the dragon, you're trying not to die, not to make a permanent impact on these intruders. The cleric is no longer a threat. As a Dm, you might want to kill off a character.

Oddly, this "uber manipulative godlike benefactor in combat with an evil, equally uber equally manipulative malefactor" is basically the plot summary of my campaign. And if you want a smarter dragon, just up its intelligence. A mite heavy-handed, but effective. Give it that Paramind template that was on these boards a while back. Call it precocious. It's by Vorpal Tribble, so it's gotta be good.

Ascension
2008-03-17, 12:02 AM
I'm a little fond of the big dumb mutt, but I might boost its INT. I probably wouldn't use paramind, though, because I really don't want to give it all those other abilities. I'd just want it juuuuuuust smart enough to scheme convincingly.

Or I can just let Jenkins the dragon blunder stupidly into the PCs open arms full of pointy objects. Hmm... choices...

Death isn't really necessary. I just want him to be tough enough to be able to severely threaten them. Then again, whites are about as aggressive as dragons get, so I probably wouldn't shy away completely from the killing blow.

Your report is quite helpful, Xefas. I'll keep that in mind.

FlyMolo
2008-03-17, 12:16 AM
And in case I wasn't totally clear:

Leeroy Jenkins the accidentally amazing dragon is the best idea I've ever heard of. So more power to you.