How to Roleplay a Dragon

 Players love facing off against a dragon.

Taking down the ultimate fantasy RPG foe is a real delight.

But you know what’s intimidating? Roleplaying a dragon as the GM.

Dragons are supposed to be fearsome monsters, greedy for gold and completely egotistical. As a GM, trying to inhabit a headspace where you want to kill anyone who intrudes your lair, steal their gold and tell them all how awesome you are while you’re at it can be tough.

We remembered some of our favorite dragons and past entertaining encounters while peering at some old copies of the Monster Manual for advice.

Here are a few things to remember:

Dragons are greedy. Dragons love expanding that treasure hoard. They should be eyeballing the fighter’s magical greatsword and attempting to convince the thief to leave his bag of gold behind. Alternately, he’ll fry those guys with his breath weapon and find those things in the leftover rubble.

Be egotistical. Remember how Smaug kind of toyed with Bilbo? He attempted to intimidate the hobbit by asking questions while showing off his mighty strength. If you’re playing the dragon, he knows he’s the smartest and most powerful person in the room. Play him that way.

Dragons are smart. If you’re the GM, you should know everything that’s going on in your game, including player strengths and weaknesses and the available terrain. Dragons are incredibly intelligent and should be keenly aware of their surroundings. As the GM, allow yourself to metagame a little bit and think of the way the dragon would take out the players.

Make the hoard interesting. Surely, there’s lots of gold that dragon has been piling up. But what magic items has he plucked off wary adventurers who previously infiltrated his lair? What mundane items could he have been picking up? What does the dragon collect? Is the dragon’s wealth made primarily of coins or of items of great value? Does the dragon collect trophies of any kind?

Who works for the dragon? Maybe he’s a solitary creature, but the dragon may also have minions to do his bidding or perhaps a right-hand-man who helps him find new targets for pillaging. He may have slaves working in his lair or a cult that worships him like a god.

What are his tactics? We don’t just mean in battle. The dragon should know his own lair very well (he built it after all) and should know in advance how he’d play out a battle. He’d also know how to play out a conversation. Don’t be afraid to write down lines and/or the direction you’d like to steer the conversation.

What does the dragon find tasty? Maybe he ate a dwarf once and really enjoys the taste, so seeing a bearded party member might get him excited. On the other hand, perhaps an elf once helped the dragon collect a host of treasure, and he now he has a soft spot for elves.

The dragon may not want to fight. Maybe he simply wants to talk. Dragons will defend their lairs and their hoards, but they don’t always necessarily do so with violence. That could involve pitting the players against one of the dragon’s other enemies or sending them up against a foe the dragon thinks they’ll never survive.

Dragons can be lazy. Sitting on a pile of gold can be so much more fun than flying around and breathing fire on everything. A dragon may find it easier to set a load of traps in and around his lair or send someone else to do his bidding. Of course, once those have run their course, a dragon is usually more than happy for a little bloodshed.

Dragons are usually loners. But not always. Once the dragon is taken down players expect that they’ve defeated the boss enemy. But what if there’s another dragon (perhaps its father or big brother or mentor) lurking around somewhere? Or perhaps there was a wizard working in concert with the dragon, and now he’s upset he lost his protection? Surprise your players by continuing the fight after the dragon is gone.

Some dragons can change shape. If your dragon can polymorph, he may have already met the players. Keep that character’s draconic nature a secret. Revealing it at the right time will blow your players away.

Dungeon Crate March Review

March Crate - Image by Justin Andrew Mason

Let’s be honest, the most exciting foe in almost any RPG is the dragon.

Who hasn’t wanted to face down a dragon since reading “The Hobbit?” I remember the first time I ever faced a dragon in a D&D game, we quite literally cheered and danced around the table when we slayed it.

(What we didn’t know at the time was that it was a wyrmling, and its mother dragon was waiting for us in the next encounter.)

And who of us didn’t cheer when Daenerys Targaryen, the mother of dragons, rode her fearsome beasts into battle and wreaked utter havoc on her enemies.

Dragons are the ultimate fantasy monsters. We designed this crate around the scaly, winged beasts and their ultimate master, Daenerys Targaryen, the unburnt, breaker of chains and the mother of dragons herself.

Mother of Dragons Coin

Minted by our pals at Shire Post Mint, these gold coins are completely badass. Depicting Daenerys Targaryen and her three dragons - Drogon, Rhaegal and Viserion - on the front and her pyramid in Meereen on the other, we absolutely love this coin. Mother of dragons and breaker of chains, indeed. Game Masters can hand it out to players as an inspiration token or use it for in-game currency.

 Dragon Miniatures

Need some dragons in your games? We have you covered. These three wyrmling-sized dragons come from Reaper, one of the best manufacturers around. Cast in Reaper’s white Bones plastic, the dragons are easy to paint. (Trust us, we’ve done it.) The dragons are meant to be blue, black and green, but paint them up however you like. If you want to do them up like Daenerys, may we suggest black with red markings, green with bronze markings and creamy white with gold markings?

Breath Weapon Markers

Need to show how a dragon lays down its fire breath? This set of four acrylic templates from Advanced Deployment make it easy to measure exactly what area gets hit with fire (or acid, lightning, poison, cold, etc.). It helps visualize that kind of destruction on the battlefield.

Catapult

Defending against dragons is tough. If they’re circling your castle, maybe it’s best to load up the catapult. Seriously: How cool is this thing? This fully-assembled catapult fits a standard d20, making your rolls a little more exciting. It also fits a coin about the size of a quarter (same size as the Mother of Dragons coin in this month’s box) if you need to make a coin flip. It’s also perfect scale to add to your tabletop. The fine folks at Elderwood Academy made these excellent items.

March updates and info for new subscribers

Greetings Adventurers!

Shipments are going out today!! By the gods we will have these in your hands on time this month. And you will rejoice.

Lots of new subscribers! Wow, you guys are the best. Our facebook and instagram followers are also rapidly growing. Thanks for the help and support.

I will be updating the Digital Crate as well this month. New maps, digital downloads, adventures, character sheets, etc. I will sharpen this end up for you guys. I've been trying to focus on getting a good balance for the physical crate.

Here's a few tips for DC newcomers:

- Cut offs for each month are the 4th, so if you want in, order before then. After the 4th you are batched to the next month.

- Auto renewals hit the 15th of each month. If you have cancel, it will stop auto renewal, but you will still get the crates you pay for.

- If you don't get your crate by the auto renewal and get charged twice without getting the first crate, don't freak out, that just means we are late. Email me and we will get you sorted.

- Send customer service issues to my email at wayne@dungeoncrate.com - try not to hit me up here as it won't be as timely. Email allows me to respond quick and keep track of issues. I'm old.

- Read our website. I spent hours putting together the Dungeon Crate website along with the FAQs. I realize you all are busy doing really important things, but I answer a lot of questions on the site, on here, via email, on our blog, and on our YouTube channel.

- Note that all crates go out at the same time. I ship everything once per month. Not on demand. Don't expect to order today then get a crate in 3 days. We do one shipment per month. That's the subscription model.

- Visit our online store for more or additional items.
http://www.dungeoncrate.com/store

- If you want to know what to expect in a crate before or after you subscribe, don't email me and ask, just go to our past crate site and take a look. http://www.dungeoncrate.com/past-crates
You can also check out the grip of youtube unboxings and photos on this page.

- You can modify your account by logging in here: https://dungeoncrate.cratejoy.com/customer/login
Here you can cancel, change address, etc to your subscription.

- Dungeon Crate isn't about getting a screaming deal. I make sure to offer an actual retail value that is more that what you pay for, even above domestic shipping, but please know this is about getting exposed to a variety of game accessories and supporting some small businesses that make them. I have to make sure I stay in budget and grow the business, which is a game in itself.

Thanks to everyone for all the support! We are well into our second year and there are lots of great things happening in the Dungeon Crate world and we are starting to really hit our stride. Your feedback is critical and I do listen. I'm incredibly honored and proud of our little DC community. I salute you all.

Turn your Dungeon Crate into a miniature photo studio!

We’ve all been there.

Perhaps you’ve painted the perfect mini for your next character. You got a brand new set of dice. You crafted a cool set piece for your next D&D adventure.

Then you try to snap a photo to send to your pals.

Ugh. Not so good, huh?

It’s hard to get the right light. It’s hard to find a plain background. It’s hard to get a good view of your glorious new miniature without anything else being distracting.

We have a simple solution using something you probably have on your desk right now: a Dungeon Crate box.

We send them to you every month. Now, with this little tutorial and a few other things you likely have sitting around, you can turn that Dungeon Crate box into a mini photo studio. You don’t even need a fancy camera. Your smartphone will do just fine.

Supplies:

1.    Dungeon Crate shipping box

2.    Ruler or tape measure

3.    Pencil

4.    Razor or X-acto knife

5.    Tissue paper

6.    Tape

7.    Poster board or cardstock

8.    Lights

Directions:

1.    Cut off the top of the box.
That flap that says “Dungeon Crate?” Ditch it. We need a box with an open side so we can, you know, place something there and snap some photos.

2.    Measure and cut a 1-inch border.

The bottom of the Dungeon Crate box will be the back of your “photo studio.” You’ll need to measure a 1-inch border and cut out the pieces on the right side of the box and then do it again on the other side. Finally, do it on a third side.
After all that, you should have a box with a back, a base and the other three sides (top, left and right) cut out.

3.    Place tissue paper over each of the cutouts.
This is easy. Hold some tissue paper up to the box’s new cutouts and cut the tissue paper to fit.
Tape the tissue paper over the cutouts. Any sturdy tape should do the job.

4.    Insert your background.
Take the poster board and cut it to fit. It should be slightly larger than the back wall of the box so that when you insert it, it should curve from the inside the top of the box to the front edge on the box’s bottom.
Use paper clips or binder clips to clip it in place.

5.    Place lights outside the tissue paper pieces.
Really, any light will do, but your best bet is bright white lights. Clamp lights work great and if you add light from the top, it will eliminate shadows. Experiment with the lighting and types of bulbs for best results. 

6.    Snap your photos!

Put your miniature or whatever in the studio and take some photos.

7.    Show them off.