The Role Playing Game Thread: Shiny Dice Roll Better!

[Ajidica]

So you want to seduce the dragon?

@MaryKB If your DM is anything like the ones I have experienced, they will look at your request and structure it as an either/or, forcing the players to make, in the lingo of Sid Meier, "interesting decisions".
Given the dragon ripped through your party already, asking it for five tons of gold and its child is unlikely to endear it to you and the DM could very well have it attack you in anger. (How would you react if some wandering murder hobos came into your house, tried to kill you, and then said they would leave in exchange for a bunch of money and your child?)
If I was the DM running the campaign, I would make giving up your treasure and supplication the minimum for escaping with you lives intact, especially if you demand the dragon give you gold and a baby dragon. I also see a small flaw in your plan, you promise to keep its location secret, but you are also going to send knights to guard its lair and have agents scouring the continent to bring it shiny stuff.

If getting a baby dragon is a big thing you want you character to do, I would recommend letting your DM know about it out of session; explaining how it would be a major party of your character's arc, what you want to do with it once you have it (a pet, a mount, a familiar, etc), and so on. This lets the DM take your goals into account, and could very likely make you receiving the baby dragon or a drakeling dependent on you completing quests for the dragon.

 

[MaryKB]

I should clarify: the dragon is wounded. It knows we can kill it, but has stated it will take a few of us down (likely the bard and warlock) with it. So we have some leverage in the negotiation, in that the dragon knows it could be facing its death if we so choose.

The dragon also didn't steal that gold, but rather the thief (former Open Lord of Waterdeep, embezzlement), who hid it in the dragon's lair. I only want the 10,000 lbs of gold that doesn't belong to the dragon.

I also don't want a drakeling or anything like that. I want the dragon to take the form of an elf and mate with me, similar to what my dragon ancestor did with my elf ancestor. I want my character to be pregnant with a child who has the dragon's blood (combined with my Silver Dragon blood) This child would be my heir.

The knights would be high elves who can be trusted to keep the secret. I own a business in Waterdeep, and so I'd have cover for bringing shipments into the city.

I think that's a great idea to contact my dm privately, thank you!

 

[EgonSpengler]

I don't know what your character is meant to know about Sapphire Dragons, but I googled them and the Forgotten Realms website says they're Lawful Neutral. So it should be fine with making a deal, I would think, and would probably honor it.

According to the Forgotten Realms wiki, Sapphire Dragons have a martial bent and like to dig subterranean lairs. It may regard a negotiation as a kind of competition. Don't offer it too much right away. Letting it think that it's "winning" the negotiation might flatter its ego. Also, maybe offer it some kind of mutual-aid deal, rather than just offering the services of your knights. Again, you might flatter its ego if it thinks you'll need its help one day. And, heck, you might actually need its help one day, if your city is ever threatened by something major. If your city has any miners or engineers, it might accept their help in expanding or improving its lair.

If you're playing 5e, Dragonborn and Dragonblood Sorcerers are at least common enough that players are free to select the race and/or class and the townsfolk don't automatically run screaming when they walk into a tavern. So I'd guess that Dragons generally aren't averse to humanoids having dragon blood in them. Maybe they even get a kick out of it. If it's a shapeshifter, it might even enjoy slumming it among the lesser races once in a while. Being your consort, even if it's just for one night, might be something you can offer it, rather than something you ask of it. Throw a banquet, make it the guest of honor, and it might be happy to spend the night. The wiki says they enjoy eating giant spiders. Maybe get some crabs from Waterdeep and tell it they're "giant sea spiders." And if you have any accomplished military people in your city, or nearby nobles you could invite to the banquet, the dragon might enjoy drinking and playing chess with a high-level Fighter or Paladin, someone who has literal war stories to tell.

 

[MaryKB]

I don't know what your character is meant to know about Sapphire Dragons, but I googled them and the Forgotten Realms website says they're Lawful Neutral. So it should be fine with making a deal, I would think, and would probably honor it.

According to the Forgotten Realms wiki, Sapphire Dragons have a martial bent and like to dig subterranean lairs. It may regard a negotiation as a kind of competition. Don't offer it too much right away. Letting it think that it's "winning" the negotiation might flatter its ego. Also, maybe offer it some kind of mutual-aid deal, rather than just offering the services of your knights. Again, you might flatter its ego if it thinks you'll need its help one day. And, heck, you might actually need its help one day, if your city is ever threatened by something major. If your city has any miners or engineers, it might accept their help in expanding or improving its lair.

If you're playing 5e, Dragonborn and Dragonblood Sorcerers are at least common enough that players are free to select the race and/or class and the townsfolk don't automatically run screaming when they walk into a tavern. So I'd guess that Dragons generally aren't averse to humanoids having dragon blood in them. Maybe they even get a kick out of it. If it's a shapeshifter, it might even enjoy slumming it among the lesser races once in a while. Being your consort, even if it's just for one night, might be something you can offer it, rather than something you ask of it. Throw a banquet, make it the guest of honor, and it might be happy to spend the night. The wiki says they enjoy eating giant spiders. Maybe get some crabs from Waterdeep and tell it they're "giant sea spiders." And if you have any accomplished military people in your city, or nearby nobles you could invite to the banquet, the dragon might enjoy drinking and playing chess with a high-level Fighter or Paladin, someone who has literal war stories to tell.

Thank you, that's some really good advice.

I originally thought offering a lot to the dragon would be a good way to win its favor, but I really like your point how it might respond better to more letting it "win" more and more things, I hadn't thought of that.

I definitely know it's a shapeshifter, because when we first me it the dragon was disguised in a humanoid form.

I like your idea of offering it to be my consort ... should I play up my own pedigree? I was thinking perhaps of giving it the offer of its progeny ruling my city, that there would be glory in that for the dragon. Do you think it would work to stroke the dragon's ego that way?

 

[EgonSpengler]

I like your idea of offering it to be my consort ... should I play up my own pedigree? I was thinking perhaps of giving it the offer of its progeny ruling my city, that there would be glory in that for the dragon. Do you think it would work to stroke the dragon's ego that way?

It probably would, but the wiki says Sapphires are territorial, so be careful you aren't giving it a loophole to try to take your city away from you. It might not be enough to have a child who'll rule your city one day; it might want to rule your city itself. Maybe ask your DM what the inheritance traditions and laws are, and whether a parent of a noble child can stake a claim if the other parent, who holds the title, were to meet an untimely end. The Forgotten Realms wiki describes Sapphires as "militaristic and warlike." If the dragon's Lawful, it's unlikely to renege on a deal or do something truly underhanded, but if it's Neutral, it might try to take advantage of obscure precedent or law. And it would relish a legal casus belli; it would probably be thrilled if it could convince itself that you broke the deal while it was being honorable.

p.s. If I was the DM here, I'd want this deal with the dragon to lead to other adventures. At first, I'd probably have the dragon ask the tiny adventurers to deal with something. The [drow/dwarves/orcs] living underneath its lair and giving it a headache, maybe. But I'd probably also want to figure out how the dragon could create more conflict, while technically adhering to the terms of the treaty. As the character, you'd obviously want to avoid walking into a trap; but as the player, maybe giving the DM the seed of something for later could be fun.

 

[Zardnaar]

I want the dragon to give me a baby. I'm not trying specifically to seduce it, but to make that part of the alliance pact.

Fair enough draco intimacy has been a thing since Dragonlance in the 80s.

How determined to get the gold ate you? It's about half a million gp.

How determined are you to get the gold? They are LN which means they tend to keep deals but might not honor it due to duress.

 

[MaryKB]

The 10,000 lbs of gold is the reason we came into that dungeon. It's like the entire focus of our quest (since early August)

During the fight, my knights did a huge amount of damage to the dragon, and I only had two of them. I'm sure it's smart enough to understand I could come back with more if it breaks faith.

 

[Zardnaar]

The 10,000 lbs of gold is the reason we came into that dungeon. It's like the entire focus of our quest (since early August)

During the fight, my knights did a huge amount of damage to the dragon, and I only had two of them. I'm sure it's smart enough to understand I could come back with more if it breaks faith.

Dragon didn't fly or knights used bows?

Depends on how the DM runs the dragon. They usually like flattery, think they're the best and are a bit haughty.

Really depends on the DM though and if they run them traditionally.

Gem Dragons usually a bit more cerebral than chromatics.

 

[MaryKB]

We were in a cavern, there wasn't a lot of room to fly. The dragon did teleport itself once.

 

[Zardnaar]

We were in a cavern, there wasn't a lot of room to fly. The dragon did teleport itself once.

I always design my Dragon lair for mobility.

My last stinker was a blue dragon. Some rooms were big enough to fly in. Floor was covered in sand with tunnels full of sand.

Dragon could pop up, breathe, burrow away to stash of healing potions.

Either grind a big cave or have servants excavate.

 

[MaryKB]

We're level 4, our DM doesn't want to make things too hard.

 

[Zardnaar]

Ah must be a few knights if it's an adult dragon.

If it's a young one idk if you could breed with it even if you convinced it.

I can't recall if sapphire dragons shapeshift.

 

[MaryKB]

It definitely can shapeshift, because when we met it the dragon was in humanoid form. I'm pretty sure it's an adult.

I love my knights.

 

[HEF]

It definitely can shapeshift, because when we met it the dragon was in himanoid form.

"himanoid"

Yet another strange term.

 

[EgonSpengler]

I did a couple of those "What D&D character are you?" quizzes. One of them said I was a Lawful Good Elven Sorcerer, and the other said I was a Neutral Good Human Bard. Both of them said I had average Charisma, though, and Charisma is the key spellcasting attribute for both Sorcerers and Bards, so either way I guess I'm not very good at, or well-suited to, my job. Both of them said my best attributes were Intelligence followed closely by Wisdom. One of them said my physical attributes were poor (8-9), the other said they were average (10-11). One of them said I was 7th level; the other didn't produce a level estimate.

Now that I'm thinking about it, a D&D character who, for whatever reason, is in the wrong line of work could be fun to play. You wouldn't want them to be incompetent, because they probably have to fulfill some role in the group. Likewise, you wouldn't want them to be bitter and angry about their lot in life, 'cause that'd just be annoying for everybody. It would be a fine line to walk, but it's an intriguing idea, if you could pull it off. A Bard with a crummy Charisma could maybe be something like a librarian or an archivist, someone who has a lot of knowledge but is shy or bookish or awkward. A Sorcerer with a low Charisma but a good Intelligence could perhaps be someone who's around Wizards a lot, but isn't a Wizard himself. A janitor or lab assistant who's absorbed a few things over the years - maybe literally, by cleaning up spilled potions and spell reagents and whatnot - but doesn't have the formal education. Their low Charisma could be due to being ignored or maltreated over the years - they're just kind of meek, rather than obnoxious. A Wild Magic Sorcerer could reflect someone who sort of knows how to cast a few spells, but has to improvise and sometimes screws them up.

 

[MaryKB]

Can you please link to that quiz?

 

[EgonSpengler]

Can you please link to that quiz?

I think this is the one that said I'm a 7th-level human bard with decent Int & Wis but average Cha.

http://www.easydamus.com/character.html

I'm not sure where the other one went, but there's trillions of these things around the webs.

 

[AmazonQueen]

Apparently I'm a NG Elf Bard with good INT but otherwise mediocre stats.

 

[EgonSpengler]

http://www.easydamus.com/character.html

Apparently I'm a NG Elf Bard with good INT but otherwise mediocre stats.

I imagine a lot of us will end up getting similar results. If it's trying to turn 21st-century people into D&D characters, most of us will have no qualifications to be a fighter or a rogue or a cleric. Just for fun, I decided to plug in answers for a fictional character and see what it did with them:

Jessica Jones
5th-lvl Neutral Good Human Sorcerer
STR: 20
DEX: 11
CON: 20
INT: 14
WIS: 14
CHA: 13

The Alignment and attributes all seem reasonable, but Sorcerer? It ranks Fighter and Rogue tied as her 2nd-most-likely Character Class, with a score of 14 each, which sounds more appropriate to me. I'd have made her a multiclass Rogue-Fighter. But Sorcerer is way ahead, with a score of 20, not sure why.

 

[AmazonQueen]

I imagine a lot of us will end up getting similar results. If it's trying to turn 21st-century people into D&D characters, most of us will have no qualifications to be a fighter or a rogue or a cleric. Just for fun, I decided to plug in answers for a fictional character and see what it did with them:

Jessica Jones
5th-lvl Neutral Good Human Sorcerer
STR: 20
DEX: 11
CON: 20
INT: 14
WIS: 14
CHA: 13

The Alignment and attributes all seem reasonable, but Sorcerer? It ranks Fighter and Rogue tied as her 2nd-most-likely Character Class, with a score of 14 each, which sounds more appropriate to me. I'd have made her a multiclass Rogue-Fighter. But Sorcerer is way ahead, with a score of 20, not sure why.

I think bard is going to be the default class for vaguely arty people even if like me they are awful singers and can't play an instrument.