Friday Encounter: The Guardian Beast

A lot of my Friday Encounters center around a couple of themes I find ripe for exploiting when it comes to game material – subverting PC expectations, or confronting the party with moral dilemmas. Well, I hope people aren’t getting tired of that, because this one has both.

This encounter is best used while the PCs are on the road, and come to a small isolated village. Ideally, you should drop rumors in the leadup to the encounter – for instance, in nearby settlements, the party may hear that people have sighted a foreboding shape flying over the horizon, and it seems to be coming closer and closer. They should also hear that number of farms and homesteads further down the road have been laid to waste, the buildings shattered and the people and animals vanished, with only bones left behind. Several such rumors describe the ground being scarred into wasteland, as though the fields were burned with acid, though none have seen such a desolation in person.

Eventually, this trail should take them to a town where the people know of a mountain nearby, where a chimera dwells in its cave. The villagers have known of this creature for years, and some even know the trail to its lair, but they note that it has never caused any trouble for the town before. However, if nearby settlements are being devastated, many suspect the chimera is responsible – and when it lives so close by, there is a growing sense of paranoia that their village may be next. A few have declared that the chimera must be slain before it takes another life, but no one is brave enough to make such a journey. However, if the PCs seem capable, one of the local guides will be happy to show them the way.

The chimera dwells at the summit of a mountain near the town. You may choose to add other encounters or hazards along the way as you wish, or even expand the lair into a full-fledged dungeon. However, the chimera should be found in a cavern strewn with bones. None of them appear to be human bones, and the bones of several dangerous monsters can be found among them. Nevertheless, if the PCs approach the chimera with weapons drawn, it will not hesitate to attack.

If the chimera is slain, the townspeople will celebrate, rewarding the PCs with a grand feast and offering 90 GP per party member in return; they will also find 4000 GP’s worth of gold and jewels, a potion of fire giant strength, and a wand of secrets in the chimera’s lair. However, about a week afterward (this can be adjusted if the PCs seem intent on moving on quickly), they will discover the terrible truth.

The chimera wasn’t behind the attacks at all – rather, they were the work of a black dragon starting to expand its range into the nearby area. The chimera, in fact, had established itself as the protector of the village, and had fended off attacks by monsters for many years. Without it, though, the village is defenseless – and it will be the dragon’s next target! The next time the PCs come to the village, they will find it a smoldering ruin, and the dragon may still be around. If the PCs don’t have any desire to revisit the village, they can discover the consequences of their actions when an NPC, perhaps a survivor from the town, relays the news and warns of the dragon’s threat.

I’ve tried to leave a few clues in this encounter, but if you don’t think your players will pick up on them, you might allow PCs to research local lore, in which case they may discover that a folk hero from the town decided to spare a chimera’s life years ago, and the chimera decided to defend the village ever since. This should be a relatively obscure legend, to explain why the people fear the chimera. If the PCs don’t kill the chimera, the dragon will still attack, but this time the two beasts will do battle – and the party may well be caught in the middle of it!