gamegoblin

This is an encounter intended for extremely high level and powerful characters. Perhaps the heroes have heard of him and seek out his lair and hoard, or maybe they must defend a village from his rampage.  Another possibility is that Kaelass has taken a princess captive, and her nobleman father is offering a substantial reward for her salvation- in this scenario, the PCs need not necessarily defeat the dragon, but must successfully enter his lair, get the girl, and get her home safely (challenge enough for mid-level characters, I would say). The dragon presented here is designed for use with the Castles & Crusades game system, published by Troll Lord Games .

Kaelass is a classic amongst RPG adventures, the pinnacle of nasty monsters that any party would want to face. Dragons have always held a special place as the ultimate monster to overcome, the ultimate threat to the land. Great prestige is given to those who can take the appellation Dragonslayer, especially for a wyrm of such great size and cunning.  He is a heavy threat indeed, and could easily serve as the focus of an entire adventure, perhaps even a campaign.

In taverns and inns, many storytellers frighten their listeners with tales of terrible beasts that scourge the land. One of the many tales told is that of Kaelass, the Dragon of Blasted Spire. Centuries ago, the Blasted Spire was a thriving dwarven citadel built on the summit of a mountain range, far away from any other settlements, dwarvish or otherwise. The dwarves there were hardy and successful, if not terribly wealthy, and things went well for them until the day they attracted the attention of a passing dragon. That dragon was Kaelass, who promptly destroyed the small settlement by bathing it in flame. By the time the dragon had finished, the entire peak was covered in black ash and soot, and that is where it got its name of the Blasted Spire. Kaelass made his home there from that time on, rampaging the surrounding lands and sleeping the long sleep of dragons, in turn. He has not been seen or heard from in many years. Rumors come to the surface from time to time of some warrior claiming to have slain the beast, but most storytellers continue to believe that the Dragon lives on, and is only sleeping.

Kaelass

Seasoned Red Dragon (age 10)

Size: L

HD: 26 (d12)

HP: 169

AC: 31

Move: 40ft/150ft(flying)

Attacks: Claws 1d12+10, Tail 2d8+10, Bite 6d10+10

Special: Breath Weapon (26d10, 60ft cone), Locate Object 10x/day, Suggestion 3x/day, Immune to Fire(full), Spell Resistance 4, Deepvision, Speak/Understand Any Language, Tail Sweep, Wind blast, Frightful Presence, Immunity vs Sleep/Paralysis, Keen senses, Dragon magic (6x 1^st lvl, 1x 2^nd lvl)

Spells Known: 1st lvl - Charm Person, Magic Missile, Unseen Servant, Shield, Change Self, Alter Size. 2^nd lvl – Detect Thoughts.

Intelligence: 24

Saves: Mental, Physical (All saves are prime, +32 on the roll)

Alignment: Chaotic Evil

Type: Dragon

Treasure:18 (see below)

XPs: 19,344

Tips on playing Kaelass:

• Kaelass is nearly a thousand years old. He is crafty and cunning to a superhuman degree. He has fought many battles, and been attacked in his lair numerous times as well, so he is familiar with all the tricks. As a Castle Keeper, this is frankly best played out by cheating. If the PCs come up with some strange trick, trap, or ambush, then it is perfectly okay to assume that Kaelass has though of it already and prepared a defense against it, or otherwise knows how to counter it. Remember, he’s a super-genius, even if you are not. Whenever the players try to trick Kaelass (or any dragon of such stature) it is safe to assume that the beast has seen this ploy before.

• Due to such age and experience, Kaelass also loves the opportunity to share his experiences in the form of stories. He considers himself to be the only fit topic of conversation, and can talk about himself almost constantly. He will often take captives, such as young maidens, and imprison them in his lair for days, recanting his countless terrible deeds. It isn’t long before the dragon grows bored with the captives and devours them. This could be a possible weakness for the PCs to exploit. If they feign interest in the dragon’s life and stories, they could at the very least by some time or provide a distraction for others. Of course, they are probably not the first ones to fool the dragon with flattery, so they had better be really convincing…

• Kaelass is like any other red dragon in that he is vain, arrogant, and capricious. In behavior, he can thought of as a very aloof cat, with a mean streak a mile wide. He enjoys hunting, but it’s not enough to kill and eat; prey must be toyed with first. This is not limited to physical torment (although he enjoys that very much), but he relishes in using his powers of suggestion to turn comrades against one another. Kaelass fondly recalls one instance when he caught a thief skulking about his lair. He interrogated the pesky human, and found he was part of a group that had sought out the dragon’s lair to slay him and claim his treasure. He placed the human under his spell, then sent him back to his unsuspecting companions. That night the thief was compelled by the magic to poison his comrades.

• Like all dragons, Kaelass is obsessed with his treasure hoard. He knows every single item by sight, down to the last copper coin. If something is missing, anything at all, then Kaelass will use his magical powers and keen senses to locate the object, kill the thief, destroy everything within miles of where he found it, and return it to his lair. One of the more well known tales is of Kaelass rampaging through a village, bellowing “WHERE IS MY BUTTON? GIVE ME BACK MY BUTTON!” However, Kaelass feels that his hoard is small compared to other dragons, especially his assortment of gems, and seeks any opportunity to expand it. He will target any community or place that is famously rich to plunder their treasures, and often takes captives while hunting to ask about such places.

• As a magic-using dragon, Kaelass has a small selection of spells at his disposal, but his extremely high HD makes them very potent, and hard for characters to save against. In combat, he relies on his great physical prowess, but he retains his magic missile (13 missiles!) as a secret weapon, particularly against spell-casters. He uses his shield spell to protect himself from other magic missiles (the AC bonus doesn’t help him at all). He uses his charm person on captives to get the most information out of them, detect thoughts to glean anything they might try to hide. He can only use his change self to appear as similar creatures in size and form (i.e. other dragons), but can use it in conjunction with alter size to become substantially larger or smaller(anywhere from 25-75 ft long). One of his favorite pastimes is to imitate a metallic dragon and approach a party of travelers as some sort of beneficiary, then pounce upon them when least expected.

The Hoard of Kaelass (total value: 39,396 gp)

Coins: 8400gp total; assuming roughly equal distribution of each- 210pp, 2100gp, 21000sp, and 210,000cp.

12 gems: 3 Opals (10gp each), 5 Pearls (25gp each), 2 Bloodstones (50gp each), Moonstone (100gp), Sapphire (2500gp).

12 Extraordinary Items: Expert Hand Axe(40gp), 2 Antique Books(440gp for both), 2 Wooden Gourds (1gp each), Wooden Coronet (50gp), Jade & Ivory Relic (1000gp), Ivory Collar (500gp), Expert Scimitar (150gp), Antique Banner (250gp), 3 Silver buttons (1gp each), 4 Gold & platinum buttons (1gp each), and a Pewter Goblet (2gp)

6 Magic Items: Broom of Flying (12,750gp), Ring of Friend Shield (6050gp), Heavy Lance +1 (1000gp), Necklace of Adaptation (4500gp), Potion of Remove Paralysis (400gp), Scroll of Symbol (1000gp).

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