# Minions for a Green Dragon?



## Dunjin (Dec 2, 2003)

I am planning an adventure for my campaign in which a society of outcast elves asks the players to do an errand for them. The errand involves placing scrying devices inside the lair of a green dragon without arousing the dragon's suspicion. 

Here are some details about the dragon:

She's a Juvenile green who has just moved into the forest. The forest itself is filled with magical beasts and other creatures, as well as grappling vines and the like. Its magical nature is what led the elves to settle there 130 or so years ago as a response to the large city nearby that doesn't allow elves to enter the city at all. The dragon came to the forest after being chased out of her old territory by an older dragon, and she's just starting to stake her territory. 

She's found a series of caves created by the wanderings of a network of streams in the forest. The streams are believed to be sentient by the elves, and they have a tendency to change course and carve out new beds for themselves every few years. The lair has a main entrance underwater in a fairly large lake, and another entrance under a waterfall cascading over a cliff. 

She's met and made a sort of peace with the elves, but the elves don't trust her to keep the peace once she's found some loyal minions. The elves also don't want her killed quite yet, because they see the dragon as part of the natural order to be dealt with as they'd deal with any predator or threat. Meanwhile, the dragon is out recruiting (read: conscripting) followers and finding minions, and she's been gone for nigh on a fortnight now. The dragon won't necessarily be planning to live in this lair forever, either--she's got her eyes on the elven city and the magical protections the elves have laid there. 

When the players go to the lair, the dragon won't be there, but I don't want the lair to be empty. I'm currently thinking lots of monstrous spiders would be great, as well as the odd evil fey to make things interesting. The dragon is also "negotiating" with a local gnoll tribe, so gnolls could have taken to scoping out the lair and laying claim on parts of the surrounding territory. 

The party is five PCs (Paladin, rogue, fighter/rogue, ranger, and sorcerer) who are all level 2 but will be at least level 3 by the time they get this adventure. Obviously I can't toss tons of gnolls at them, but I need to challenge them.

Any tips on designing this temporary dragon's lair and the minions within?


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## Altalazar (Dec 2, 2003)

Anything comfortable with green clouds of noxious poison gas would be a good match.  For some reason, I think Stinking Cloud when I think of green dragons.

Or perhaps just a creature with a noxious body odor - like Troglodytes.  But then that is more of a "stinky poison gas" theme.


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## Dunjin (Dec 2, 2003)

I'm currently thinking of having the cave's original inhabitants (a colony of monstrous spiders of some sort) that haven't moved out or been forced out, as well as a fey or two that has made a deal to serve the dragon in exchange for, well, the fey's survival. 

I hadn't thought of the dragon breathing green gas everywhere. I forget, is the green dragon breath weapon poison-based, or acid-based? If it's poison-based, spiders have an advantage. If it's acid, well, creating an acid-based spider isn't a tough leap.


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## ArcOfCorinth (Dec 2, 2003)

It sounds overused, but I suggest kobolds.

Kobolds worshipping the dragon. Throw in a sorcerer with the warriors and adepts. It makes sense and they're a perfect encounter for PCs of their level.


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## Pants (Dec 2, 2003)

I recommend Troglodytes with some Kobold slaves.


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## Leopold (Dec 2, 2003)

lizardmen..they rock..then make a bunch of half-dragon/half lizardmen


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## Argent Silvermage (Dec 2, 2003)

I like the Kobold idea. Don't add any "master" race to them. Kobolds on thier own with the Green guiding them would be great. 
To throw the players a loop have the dragon have found an ancient outpost for a dwarven or gnome fortress there and have an abundance of Dwarven/Gnomish items that are used. have some of the items fall into the players attention before they know about the Kobolds so they think Dwarves or Gnomes are working with the dragon.


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## Dunjin (Dec 3, 2003)

Hrmmm. I've used a LOT of kobolds so far, but I think of all the races, they'd be perfect. I like the idea of a gnomish or dwarven outpost, though. I picked gnolls mostly because they live in the forest and are different from the goblins and kobolds the PCs will have slogged through by that point. I suppose a few little green kobolds wouldn't hurt anyone--especially armed with scavenged dwarven artifacts. 

Any pointers on the lair itself?


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## jgsugden (Dec 3, 2003)

Green Dragons breath a cone of corrosive acidic gas. It deals acid damage.

An efficient follower might be a creature that is immune or resistant to acid damage.

Demons have acid resistance 10. Angels and archons are immune to acid, but alignment issues make them a poor choice. Arrowhawks anf tojanida are also immune to acid, but tend to be something that people do not see as followers.

On the other hand, a creature with vulnerability to acid might be easily cowed into service.

A troll for instance, fears few things as much as acid. A green dragon would be a scary foe for a troll. It might bow down and serve the dragon rather than risking being hit by that corrosive gas attack.


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## Pants (Dec 3, 2003)

Yugoloths (Daemons) are immune to acid as well, but most of them are higher CR.  However, if you have the Fiend Folio, the Skulyvn is a CR 3.  It's a weak, cowardly creature so it just might fit in.


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## Dunjin (Dec 3, 2003)

Demons would be cool, but maybe too much. The party are of pretty low level, and they should be challenged but not defeated. The dragon wants to make followers; sheh doesn't have them yet. 

Maybe a troll might work, though that's also way too high a CR for this party. I could work one down to, say, CR 4 or so, perhaps, by halving the hit points and dropping its attack bonus and such, I suppose. 

What's the rule for CR adjustments for <CR 1 creatures? If I make a kobold a half-fiend, would it then be CR 2 1/8? That's an option; the dragon might have come across a band of fiendish kobolds or something. Though honestly,  I think my group might have seen enough kobolds lately, and I'm certainly ready for something new. 

Would leaving pools of acid about effectively lower the CR of a battle with a troll?


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## Epametheus (Dec 3, 2003)

It's only a juvenile?  It wouldn't be _that_ hard for an elven city to kill the thing if it got out of line.  At the moment, anyways.

Evil forest fay and renegade elves could be interesting minions.  The elves are going to notice if the creature starts gathering an army of monsters, but if it plays it subtle and employs local spirits and mercenary groups isntead, then the dragon might be able to get away with a bit more.

Greens are lawful; it could also try working with the elves.  The elves might be a lot more tolerant of L'il Greenie if it's actually helpful.  Also, it's a creature that the elves would _know_ they can handle, and it probably wouldn't be practical to drive it out of the area, and thus make a vacancy for something dumber or more powerful.

Wait, the PCs are level 3?

A Juvenile green dragon would _slaughter_ them.  Seriously.  It might be small fry as far as dragons go, but they're much smaller fry as adventurers.  Unless it fears retribution from the elves, there's no reason that L'il Greenie wouldn't snuff a bunch of newbs that are violating its lair.

Edit: Ah, the point is to not be noticed by the dragon.  Hmmm.  That'd be a pretty good trick.


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## Krug (Dec 3, 2003)

Really big frogs.
Mutated big frogs striking from a distance with their tongues.. poisonous too. And leaping away with the prey in their mouth.


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## Nifft (Dec 3, 2003)

3rd level PCs? The minion of choice is the lowly Kobold. If you want a more interesting variant, check out my PC-strength Kobold (particularly the green one  ):

*Kobold 2.0*
Size: Small (+1 attack, +1 AC, +4 Hide, -4 Grapple, 3/4 carrying capacity)
Speed: 30 ft.
-4 Str, +2 Dex
Darkvision 60 ft.
Natural Armor bonus +1
Daylight Blindness: Dazzled by _Daylight_ spell or natural sunlight, no save vs. _Flare_ spell

Draconic Heritage: Choose one chromatic Dragon type, which is your ancestor. Your scales are tinged with this color, and you have Energy Resistance 5 against damage of this energy type:
- Red: Fire
- Green: Acid
- Blue: Electricity
- Black: Acid
- White: Cold

Skill Bonuses: +2 Climb, +2 Jump, +2 Move Silently, +2 Spot, +2 Search, +2 Craft (Trapmaking), +2 Profession (Miner)

Favored Class: Sorcerer


Special: Kobolds may take a 4-level Racial Prestige Class. (As a PrC, these levels cannot cause an XP penalty.)


*Kobold PrC*
HD: d6
BAB: Half (as Sorcerer)
Good Saves: Reflex, Will / Bad Save: Fortitude
Skill Points: 4 + Int bonus
Class Skills: Balance (Dex), Climb (Str), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Hide (Dex), Jump (Str), Knowlege (any) (Int), Listen (Wis), Move Silently (Dex), Profession (Wis), Spellcraft (Int), Spot (Wis) and Swim (Str).




```
[u]Level   BAB   Fort	Ref	Will	Spellcasting		Special Abilities[/u]
1	+0	+0	+2	+2	--			Energy Resistance 10,
                                                                Elemental Spell Power +1
2	+1	+0	+3	+3	+1 Level Sorcerer	Sneak Attack +1d6, 
                                                                Natural Armor +2
3	+1	+1	+3	+3	--			Draconic Ability, 
                                                                Elemental Spell Power +2
4	+2	+1	+4	+4	+1 Level Sorcerer	Breath Weapon, 
                                                                Natural Armor +3
```

*Special Abilities*:

*Energy Resistance 10* (Ex): This replaces (does not stack with) the racial energy resistance that the Kobold chose at character creation. His scales become more vibrant in color.
*Natural Armor* (Ex): The specified value replaces the Kobold's racial Nagural Armor bonus.
*Elemental Spell Power* (Su): When casting spells with the energy descriptor that matches the Kobold's energy resistance, the character's Caster Level gains the indicated bonus.
*Draconic Ability*: The Kobold gains one ability based on its scale color as follows:
  - Red: Extra +1 Natural Armor bonus (Ex)
  - Green, Black: Water Breathing (Ex)
  - Blue: _Create Water_ (Sp): 3/day, caster level = character level
  - White: Icewalking (Ex)
*Breath Weapon* (Su): The Kobold may use this special attack up to 4/day as a standard action once every minute. The DC is 10 + 1/2 the Kobold's character level + Con bonus, and the breath weapon deals 4d8 damage in the type & shape indicated:
  - Red: 15 ft. cone of Fire
  - Green: 15 ft. cone of Acid gas
  - Blue: 30 ft. line of Electricity
  - Black: 30 ft. line of Acid
  - White: 15 ft. cone of Cold

 -- N

EDIT: made table not so darn wide


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## Dunjin (Dec 3, 2003)

Hey, I really like that kobold! It fits the concept in my world of kobolds of different colors coming from different draconic blood--The PCs have already run into red and white ones, and a half-silver-dragon kobold, as well. I may have to use that.

I'd like to give them a break from kobolds for now, though. Maybe renegade elves would be nice. It'd explain why the elves didn't get a hint of the dragon building an army already, because the renegades were looking for something new to do and consequently have been working for the dragon from the inside. I like that. As soon as they hear the PCs have been sent out to bug the dragon's lair, the elves would head out to stop them--or at least, send spirits and magics to do so. Enter the mischievious nixies and assassin vines. Nice. 

Also, there's going to be some damn spiders in the lair. Because I said so. 

This green dragon is young, yeah, and she's new to the area. And yeah, she'd slaughter a level 3 group, but they're not there to kill her. In fact, I don't plan on having her be there at all for the adventure; She's off to the north negotiating with the Young Adult White who winters in the mountains to the north and making friends with the Lawful Evil city nearby. She's met the elves and they've found a certain peace. The elves serving the dragon might indeed be a faction who believe the dragon is entitled to live in peace as part of the natural order. Only demons and angels in my world are always Evil or Good, after all. You can't point to a Monster Manual entry and try and convict a dragon based on that. 

The elves consist of a lvl 10 cleric, a lvl 8 sorceress, and a level 7 druid, and the rest are largely level 2 ranger-types and commoners. This is a refugee area for elves who are rejected from the aforementioned Lawful Evil city, where the governor-general is frightened of and hates elves. There are maybe 200 elves there in the forest, with the number fluctuating wildly over time. The Juvenile green dragon knows she couldn't kill the elves on her own, but she (and they) knows that she'd take a lot of them out with her, if only through her breath weapon. For now, both sides are content to lay down a non-aggression pact and live and let live. 

Meanwhile, a faction within the elves wants to see the dragon allowed to live in complete peace, happy to have a dragon (a truely magnificent beast) living in proximity. Like a town with endangered wolves living nearby, the wolves might steal cattle or whatever, but the people grudgingly want to protect them. 

At some point, it may come to direct confrontation with the dragon. For now, though, the party's job is to get in, place "bugs", and get out before the dragon gets back. If they uncover an elvish conspiracy while they're doing it, een better. 

I like.


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## Dunjin (Dec 3, 2003)

Blast! Double post!


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