"A Game I'll Never Run - Working for a Dragon" Topic

Why would a dragon need to employ adventurers? Some notes for a campaign I'm not likely to find the time to run. Feel free to run with the ideas for your own game!

Working for a Dragon at the Over the Hill Gaming Blog

1. Get the adventurers to draw out a larger force, while the dragon preps for lunch.

2. Those pesky humans, elves, dwarves, etc can get into smaller places than the dragon, and haul out the goodies that they find, so the dragon can scoop them up, right after lunch.

3. It's a PR move, hire someone to sing the dragon's praises to the local populace, hoping they can forgive the latest batch of missing livestock.

4. Even the hills have eyes, so why can't a dragon? Spies are everywhere.

You've got some nice ones in your list, thanks for sharing.

Sounds like a story arc running on Girl Genius right now. Librarian asks a dragon to help her acquire a rare book hidden in old (abandoned?) hoard. Party keeps getting bigger and bigger as the adventure goes. Much to the dismay of the dragon who's share of the hoard keeps shrinking. Maybe thinning the party after the hoard and book are found may be the best direction.

a. The dragon's offspring has been captured by (fill in the blank) and is being held for an exorbitant ransom. The dragon is disinclined to pay any ransom, and would rather pay a lesser amount to some adventurers, who must rescue his offspring and punish the kidnappers.

b. The dragon is contending for behind-the-scenes mastery of the region with some other creature that's even worse. He won't allow the adventurers to remain neutral.

c. The dragon sees the adventurers as a threat, so he sets them up on a reasonable-sounding quest that's rigged against them.

d. He wants the humans to serve as go-betweens in an exchange of knowledge with another dragon. The other dragon is more interested in books like "How to Serve Humans."

Other reasons include: Dragons can't be everywhere at once. The adventurers are sort of personal assistants that do things beneath the dragon. The dragon is a relatively young and not yet so powerful. The dragon wants to keep things relatively low key. The dragon is physically huge and adventurers can go places it can't.

That is certainly an interesting gaming twist, but it makes sense for the reasons listed. A dragon is smart enough to know how to use the tools at its disposal.