I always liked black dragons. Swamps, acid-spitting, cool looking forward-angled spiky horns in the pictures. Swooping up out of Xak Tsorath, lurking in the fetid swamps in I8 The Ravager of Time, and menacing from the edges of dangerous territory.
So this description of a black dragon lair from the new Monster Manual grabbed me.
"A black dragon's lair is a dismal cave, grotto, or ruin at least partially flooded [. . .] where its victims can ferment. The lair is littered with the acid-pitted bones of previous victims and fly-ridden carcasses of fresh kills, watched over by crumbling statues. Centipedes, scorpions, and snakes infest the lair, which is filled with the stench of death and decay."
- Monster Manual, p. 89
That and this bit from their "Foes and Servants" section.
"Evil lizardfolk venerate and serve black dragons, raiding humanoid settlements for treasure and food to give as tribute and building crude dragonic effigies along the borders of their dragon master's domain."
- Monster Manual, p. 89
I read that and basically sat up and thought, I need to write up a black dragon's lair. I can picture that in my head, picture the swamp with the lizardfolk lurking on the fringes of vision and you look at their crude, fog-shrouded effigies hoving into view as you walk on a wet "road" that only takes you deeper into some place no one has lived in centuries for reasons that become clearer with each step. A sinister black dragon waiting within, patiently building up its power and wealth, as its servants stalk you and try to end your trip before you reach the half-sunken ruins that house the dragon.
Really evocative stuff.
So yeah, to my players - don't go into any swamps on my map of the area. You already know what lurks there. Don't doubt for a second that I would spraypaint that dragon mini black if I had to.
Please put the artifacts we need to unlock Felltower in that dragon's lair :)
ReplyDeleteI have to do that. That's how Adventure, the game I based the whole campaign on, works. You've got the sword, slew one of the dragons. Now you just need to find the key and get the chalice. ;)
DeleteThe black dragon with a tribe of lizard man servitors -- a sort of reptilian King Kong -- has been been a trope in multiple fantasy campaigns I've contrived over the years. I further embellish that by relating lizard men to Howard's Serpent Men, making them the degenerate descendants of a once advanced empire, with occasional individual atavisms of greater intelligence and knowledge of their former greatness (echoing Enik from Land of the Lost).
ReplyDeleteIt's a great trope, really. It doesn't need to be lizard men, it just feels right with them. It could be orcs, downtrodden semi-human fanatics, warped faerie creatures who changed from sprites and brownies and dryads as their woods sank into evil, decay, and chaos with the coming of a then-young black dragon . . . whatever. It still works.
DeleteLand of the Lost - I watched that as a kid. I'm still fascinated by what a hold it has on so many gamers I've met through blogging. I haven't seen a second of an episode since the 70s, and I never thought in the years between anyone else had. :)