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Countermeasures✦ An adjacent character can attempt to mar the runes on theart, disrupting the magic, with a DC 30 Arcana check. If thecharacter succeeds, the art crumbles 1 minute later.✦ A character can attack the art, which has AC 25, Fortitude 23,Reflex 23, Will 23, and 111 hit points.Upgrade to Elite (4,000 XP)✦ Each target takes a –2 penalty to each of its saving throws toend the immobilized and restrained effects.ADVENTURESAlthough individual encounters with dragons areexciting, an entire adventure based around draconicencounters and themes is even more memorable. Notevery encounter in such a campaign should involvea dragon—that sort of activity could become monotonousand, in most cases, hard to justify. Rather,encounters might share a draconic theme, pit the PCsagainst minions of the dragon they must face at theadventure’s climax, or serve as waypoints on the pathto the party’s eventual meeting with the wyrm.When building a draconic adventure, keep thevarious aspects of the dragon’s persona and goals inmind. Decide what the dragon wants—why it is whereit is—and build the encounter and plot accordingly. Adragon leaving its lair to hunt out of hunger behavesdifferently from one seeking to manipulate twonations into a war so that it might eventually loot thewreckage.Remember that dragon-themed adventures neednot revolve around the PCs fighting a dragon. Anadventure could just as easily place the dragon on thesame side as the PCs, working for mutual benefit oragainst a common enemy (see “Chromatic Patrons,”page 55). The PCs might even find themselves caughtbetween two or more dragons in conflict with oneanother, forced to choose sides or to work against allwith equal fervor.An ambitious DM could mix and match theseideas, having a dragon begin as an enemy and laterbecome an ally, or having a supposed ally betray theparty. This approach can work particularly well inongoing dragon-themed campaigns (see page 57).Adventure Hooksand QuestsThe following hooks and plot seeds can form thebasis for a variety of dragon-themed adventures. Usethem as written, shake up the power levels, or takeportions of the ideas to build your own. For DMs whowish to use these adventure hooks as quests, thissection also provides suggestions on potential motivations,specific goals, and rewards.The level notation in each title refers to the mostpotent dragon in the hook. Use it as a rough guide fordetermining the levels of the encounters you includein your adventure. The XP rewards noted belowassume five PCs.False Witness (Level 5)In the cold north, at the base of a broad mountainsidecovered with thick evergreen forests, a series of smallvillages once thrived. An economy based on lumberpermitted trade with nearby communities and alifestyle that, though far from lush, offered modestcomfort. Now, however, a young white dragon thatdwells on the mountain peak terrorizes the villagesat regular intervals. Livestock and villagers disappearwith alarming frequency, leaving behind nothing butpools of blood and sheets of ice. The villagers growdesperate. Unless the adventurers can save them,they will have to abandon their homes.Although the scenario appears straightforwardenough, the culprit behind these attacks is not thewhite dragon at all, but a mystically inclined younggreen dragon that dwells deep in the woods. Thisgreen wishes to expand its territory into a region currentlyclaimed by the white, but it sees no reason torisk its own well-being in the process.Through the use of some minor deception rituals,the green dragon appears as a white wyrm. Thisdragon has laid siege upon the villagers, hoping thatthey will take action against the white dragon andleave the territory free for the green to claim. Theplan also weakens the human communities, so thegreen might easily enslave them after the adventurersdepart.Quest Hook: The local inhabitants request oremploy the PCs to eliminate the white dragon. Theyoffer to pay some gold—not much, but whatever theycan afford.Alternatively, one of the PCs might have friends orrelatives here and wish to take on the task unasked.Quest XP: PCs who follow their quest to the letterand hunt down the white dragon without learning ofthe deception earn a minor quest reward of 200 XP.Later, they might learn of the green dragon’s subjugationof the villages they thought they saved.PCs who discover the green dragon’s involvementand realize the white is innocent of this particularcrime also earn a minor quest reward of 200 XP.Quest Hook: Upon learning the truth, the villagersask the PCs to go after the green dragon. Theycannot offer any additional reward.Alternatively, after the PCs learn they’ve beenduped, they might take on the task of defeating thegreen dragon without prompting, either out of a senseof justice or out of anger.Quest XP: PCs who unravel the entire scheme andslay or drive off the green dragon earn a major questreward of 1,000 XP.ADVENTURESCHAPTER 2 | DM’s Guide to Dragons51