Introduction

This article is, in some shape or form, a design document for a quest based upon the short story under the same name that I have written earlier. However, it does not follow the whole structure of one. It's stylised as one but not fully. The reading of it is not required but encouraged, as there will be spoilers and explanations for the events in the story.

A short story can be found on this page as an article

The game is a top-down RPG like Baldur's Gate 3, Pathfinder: Kingmaker or Shadowrun: Dragonfall. There is an overworld which is free to explore and connects all other locations. Combat is turn-based and takes place where it was initiated. There is a basic stealth system, a dialogue system, and a magic system. There is more which can be found in the games listed above. The idea for the story was simple: I wanted to write something like AK47 vs a Dragon, where unprepared soldiers get wiped out by it. Nothing less and nothing more. For this quest design, we will focus on the dragon part of the idea with quite a modern setting. The world of the game where this takes place is an urban fantasy style. Because of that, players have access to modern technology and magic. Current-day tech may clash with magic, but some mechanical objects can be infused with it. There are, depending on location, other fantasy races and their languages. It's a rich word which we will not explore here. Maybe in another place, another time.

The overview

The core of the quest is quite simple; like in the short story, the quest giver will want to recover an Artefact from a dungeon. The Artefact’s general description can be found below. The Artefact is located in the dragon's hoard at the end of the said dungeon. The quest is given by a mysterious Handler, who can be met in some bar in some city in the overworld. The Handler has her team observing an uncovered entrance to the Dungeon. And can be taken by talking to her, as she is also looking for a band of adventurers to recover the Artefact. She is looking for someone to go into the dungeon because if she or her team were found on site, it would be quite bad for her and the faction she represents, and could cause political issues. The dungeon itself and the cave connecting to it can be found from the overworld, even without taking the quest. After finding the cave, the player will find the entrance to the dungeon, where they need to either solve the puzzle or blow the entrance up if they have the tools. They progress through an empty, narrow hallway with some rooms to the side. Next is a simple unlockable door(which was locked from their side), which leads perpendicular to the main part of the dungeon, which is a wide and tall tunnel. To the left of the door is going down, and to the right is going up. The hoard is located at the bottom of the dungeon. The path through the tunnel is laid with traps, side rooms, and additional changes to the environment. At the end of it is a gate with a small door inside it. On the other side is a hoard and its dragon. The dragon can be either sleeping, awoken, or angry, depending on the player's actions in the tunnel. The conversation with the dragon, if it happens, can lead to different results depending on the conditions of its start and how the player navigates the dialogue. The quest can end in multiple ways depending on whether the player got the Artefact, what they will do with the Artefact if they have it, what has happened to the dragon and what might happen to the Handler.

Here is a quick rundown of the endings/solutions of the quest. As we have three objects which will have changed properties at the end of the quest. Some will be excluding themselves even if they come from a different object. More about them near the end of the article.

Handler: Dead, Acquired the Artefact, Did not Acquire the Artefact.
Dragon: Dead, Asleep, Left the dungeon, Awaken stayed in the dungeon.
Artefact: Destroyed/Lost, In the Dragon's hoard, Delivered to the Handler, With the player, With the player hidden.

There is one main thing I want to tackle here before we go further. The Artefact is its spherical, white, glowing orb. In touch is crystal-like, feels like it's constantly pulsating with energy. It has no sell value in general, but a few NPCs in the overworld will know what it is and can offer a pretty penny for it. In general, it is a MacGuffin that needs to feel powerful and be easily spotted in the dragon's hoard. Neither the Handler nor the Dragon entirely know what it is. Handler supervisors may have more information, and the Dragon only has general knowledge of it and won’t let go easily. It may have more story purpose outside of this quest, but for setting the baseline, this will do.

The storyline

The storyline starts with a mysterious Handler. Who is eager to offer a quest to a party of adventurers, to use them for a task that can’t be linked to her and her faction directly or without plausible deniability. More about her later. In the dialogue, if a Player shows interest in the task, she may offer additional help in the form of intel from her operatives who observe the entrance area of the dungeon (they are scouting the cave and area around it). Otherwise, she does not tell them about them if the player does not ask about additional information, but will inform them about her operatives and point the player to one of them. Next (or after some time), the player will make their way to the cave where the entrance is located or to the meeting point where they will meet with one of the operatives who will lead them to the entrance.

In the Dungeon the important thing to us is one counter, which ticks up each time the player activates one of the traps on their way down. This counter will later inform us about the state of the Dragon when the player encounters him. Depending on the number in this counter, the Dragon can be:
- If the counter is at 0 or less, Dragon is Asleep.
- If the counter is at 1 or 2, Dragon is Awoken and calm.
- If the counter is at 3 or more, Dragon is Awoken and angry.
- If the Dragon is asleep and is awoken by the player in its chamber, it becomes angry.
The conversation between the player and the Dragon will start in different ways depending on the state of the Dragon. This conversation can end in a few different ways, most obviously with a fight between the Dragon and the player. There is also the possibility of striking a deal with the dragon. If the dragon leaves the dungeon, the Handler will know about it.

The quest can be turned in to the handler in the same location where the player picked it up. Ideally, the player will hand over the item, but will have an option to lie( about finding/possessing the Artefact), deny(if they found the Artefact)or inform(Artefact staying with the dragon in its hoard). This changes if the dragon flies away and the Handler confronts the player in the cave with the entrance to the dungeon. The player still has similar options, but the Handler is more trigger happy as she wants to clear any connections between her and Artefact removed, because of that the party needs to calm her down first. It may end in a fight between the player and her with operatives.

Level: The dungeon.

Before the player enters the dungeon, there is the first obstacle. A closed door. The door is made of stone with a seam in the middle. The door is in the stone-bricked arch, which has some symbols inscribed in it. The stone door might be destroyed by certain tools (thermite, for example, like in the story), which can be found or bought in the overworld. The inscription on the archway is in draconic language. If the player(or someone in the player's party) knows it, they can translate the words and learn the password which opens the doors. If the player does not know the language, they can find partial translation notes in the cave or pass a hard history or arcana/religion skill check. The skill check needs to be hard enough to discourage the player from forcing it through.

In the cave, there also is left overs of an archaeological site with some notes about the door. The cave itself is quite spacious. There is little to no natural cover but some crates and is mostly lit by leftover industrial lights. Tents with leftover equipment are located near the wall of the cave, one of them destroyed.

When the player finally solves the puzzle and opens the door, they will enter a narrow, dark, unlit hallway. The hallway is quite long and has a wooden door. The door at the end is barricaded from the side of the hallway. In the hallway, there are unlit coal torches on the wall. Some rooms can be seen on the side of the corridor. These rooms are used for storage and changing rooms. They may contain medieval weaponry, general supplies and old notes in draconic language. In the hallway, there can be found a skeleton of a dragonborn, who was responsible for barricading the door behind him.

Both the cave and the corridor are narrow, tight and small to make more of an impact on the player when they enter the main part of the dungeon. Making the scale of the Dungeon more impressive and freeing. The player is supposed to feel more freedom and awe when they exit the hallway while still being underground.

While the dungeon is a tunnel, there are mainly two paths to go, up or down. The tunnel is slowly going deeper. Down is the path to the hoard and goal of the player. While going up is possible, the player should be guided to go down, as there is the goal. This can be done by more interesting objects being located to the right or slightly more light coming from that direction. The Tunnel is at least three stories high, twenty five meters wide. The whole tunnel is at least a kilometer long, can be shorter if needed for a better player experience, so it does not feel like the long corridor from Neverhood. While in the story the tunnel is kilometers long, in the game it cannot be long enough so as not to bore or annoy the player. But it needs to feel long. If necessary, the tunnel can be split into sublocations to fool the player to think they covered a longer distance than they really did. The ceiling of the tunnel is rounded. The tunnel can be divided into three parts: upper, middle, and lower. The player enters the tunnel between the upper and middle parts of the tunnel. Most walls in the upper and middle parts of the tunnel are stylized as European old town, three story buildings. In the lower parts, the walls become smoother, and there are arcades that are used defensively. At the end of the lower level, there is a big gate which leads into the dragon and its hoard. All lights that burn are burning impossibly bright despite the small flame. Throughout the dungeon, there are skeletons of the bodies of different races. In the upper and middle sections, withered carriages and merchant stands can be found.

In the upper side of the tunnel, there are big doors which fill the full height and width of the tunnel. These doors are closed and cannot be opened, but behind them, there is a stone wall which the Dragon can break through. On the way up, there are fewer traps and a higher likelihood of other encounters. There are more small side rooms and entrances, but most of them are barred off. In those that are left open, living quarters can be found. Here, more likely than not, the player can encounter other things.

The middle section of the tunnel is where the traps become more prominent. While traps here are not the most deadly, they are still dangerous. Traps here often are made to confuse intruders and scare them; this does not mean that they cannot be deadly. The openings in the walls lead to storage rooms, living quarters, archives, and guard posts. Respectable items can be found in them.

When the player enters the lower part of the tunnel. The environment changed to be more oppressive, the walls became smooth, and arcades on top of them were added. The side entrances become much rarer and often lead to those arcades. Some armouries and guard posts can be found behind those entrances. The traps are more numerous and more deadly. This section was made for defence, and because of that, traps are both deadly and change the environment.

The last part of the dungeon is the room with the hoard of the dragon. The room is closed by a giant door/gate, which fills the whole width and height of the tunnel. This door, unlike the one in the upper part of the tunnel, has small “human-sized” doors near the ground for smaller creatures. These small doors are not locked.

On the other side of the door, there is a big hall, an open space. The room is shaped like an octagon. Five meters from the wall, there is a column where the walls intersect. The ceiling is rounded and goes even higher than in the tunnel. In the middle of the room, there is a hoard which is mostly made of gold and jewellery; some unique equipment can be found in it. They also found the Artefact. Items from it can be looted silently if the player passes a hard sleight of hand check. Failing this check will awaken the dragon if he is asleep, and will anger him if he is awake. On top of the hoard rests the Dragon. On the opposite side of the room from the entrance, there is another door through which those players entered. Those doors are locked and cannot be opened.

And now let's take a look at what the player can encounter in it. Both in the form of traps and not-so-random but rare encounters. Traps are more common in the dungeon, but some of them were activated before the players entered the dungeon. Most of them are magical, but a few of them are mechanical. Some traps can be seen in their activated state. Traps themselves were built as a safeguard against thieves and enemies of the Dragon. As they are designed to keep the Dragon and his hoard safe, they are able to be deactivated from the dragon's chamber. They were armed when the dragon fell into his slumber. Each trap is connected to the silent magical alarm in his chamber. This link can only be deactivated when the trap is disarmed, as it is part of it. Disarming the trap does not increase the Counter. Disarming the trap is a hard difficulty check, while spotting the trap is a medium difficulty passive perception check. Most of them are masked as stones in the ground, with them being treated as pressure plates or as inscribed with runes, which contain spells that activate with the trap.

Here are some of the traps that can be found in the Dungeon:
- Fog and void - Used in the upper and middle sections of the tunnel. Disputes thick fog and opens a deep hole in the ground. This hole has a length of 5 meters and is as wide as the tunnel.
- Silence - Used in every section of the tunnel. Often used as part of other traps. It shoots a wave of disruption that disables electronics and magic/arcane. Magical items are unaffected, and so are pure mechanical items and weapons.
- Necro-trap - Used in the middle and lower sections of the tunnel. After silence, it resurrects nearby skeletons for a certain duration. Skeletons attack whoever may be nearby. After some time, skeletons turn back into bones.
- Trap-door cover - Found in the lower section of the tunnel. After being activated, it shoots up a wall throughout the tunnel. These walls are two meters tall and two meters wide. In front of them, a hole to the void opens. This trap was made to support defenders more than any other.
- Ghostly archers - Found in the lower section of the tunnel. After activation, ghostly apparitions of arches appear on the arcades. Those began shooting intruders with lethal arrows. They disappear after some time.

The other encounters are rare, as there is little to no life in the dungeon. Most of them are magical and esoteric in nature. As they may be left over from activated traps. They are rare, but will be sufficient to break from avoiding traps and may cause some of them to activate.

Here are examples of such encounters:
- Ghost - In one of the rooms in the upper section of the tunnel, in one of the living quarters, there can be found the ghost of someone who lived there. It can answer three questions before it disappears. The questions need to be asked in draconic language; if not, the ghost disappears. It can provide information about the dungeon.
- Leftover skeletons - In the middle section of the tunnel. Leftover skeletons from necro-trap that haven't been dispelled. still hostile. can be found in armouries and guard posts.
- Cultist Circle - Upper section of the tunnel. In one of the living quarters, there is a cultist circle drawn with fresh blood. Despite the fact that there is no living thing besides the player(and their party). If the scale of the dragon is sacrificed, there may be a reward. The information about it can be found in the nearby scroll written in draconic.

NPCs

The two important NPCs for the story are the Handler and the Dragon. While the former is the start and endpoint of the story, the latter is the middle point. Both can survive or die due to player actions. Operatives of the handler are mostly used as an opposing force and to point the player in the right direction.

The Handler - Real name unknown - Woman in late thirties, sharply dressed in a suit. Leads the operation force of five. She belongs to and works for a faction which focuses on the acquisition of Artefacts. Some of those Artefacts can cause political issues if found and not returned to the right entities. Because of that, sometimes she needs someone else to do her job. When talking to her, the player would try to deceive her and failed(such as failing a deception check). She will act as they did, but will know about it and will make the liar suffer consequences later, or plan accordingly.

The Dragon - Some cool dragon name - Red dragon. Possess innate magical powers. It fell into slumber thousands of years ago. The sleep was his choice, and it has currently become lighter as he is starting to wake up. Millennia before the current day, he had a cult or some kind of army around him. This cult is now dead as he ordered and sealed shut the dungeon before he began sleeping. Few managed to live. Most have died. When the dragon wakes up, he will wake up in a new world. One he will know little to nothing about. His priority is gathering new information about the world and how it changed. This is one of the bargaining chips the player will have when talking with him. As this information will be worth more than gold. Dragon, as always, guards its hoard and is highly protective of it. He can trade treasures from it, but it needs to be something more valuable to him. Hates thieves and lies. Sometimes he will accuse people of lying because of his lack of knowledge about the current world. He can be short-tempered.

The conversation with the Dragon

In the final stages of the Dungeon the player might have a chance to start a conversation with the dragon. The dialogue will start automatically as the player takes their first steps into the Dragon's chamber, and if the dragon is awake or angry. The dragon will start the conversation in draconic language. If the player does not know this language, he will cast a spell which will translate the conversation, but if the player does, Dragon will be pleasantly surprised. If the conversation starts with the dragon angry, if the player does not want to fight the dragon, they will need to calm him down. After which, the conversation becomes less tense. And eases into the level of conversation as if it had started when the dragon was only awake. The player wants to answer truthfully and avoid telling the dragon that they have come here for the Artefact. If the players appear as not hostile, through the early stages of the conversation, the dragon will start asking questions about the world. After which, they can reveal to the dragon what they are looking for. This is the place where the player can make an offer for an exchange. The dragon can offer a reward for the information anyway if the player does not ask for any. After providing the dragon with the information about the world, the dragon will begin wondering if he should leave the dungeon and explore the new outside or stay in the dungeon and analyse the information about it. This choice is based on what information the player provides to the dragon and what they convince the dragon to do. Anytime during the conversation, the player may start the fight by saying the wrong thing or just cause.

Ending

The quest can end in different ways. Generally, the Artefact will be delivered to the Handler and Dragon either dead or left in the dungeon. If the Dragon leaves the dungeon, the Handler will meet the players while they exit the dungeon and attack them to cover her tracks. The player may lie about or hide the Artefact to avoid giving it to the Handler. As they can lie while turning it in and tell that there was no Artefact at the scene. They will get frisked by her, and if she finds the Artefact, she might deny the reward. The same thing happens if they return to her without finding the Artefact, but she will insist that the player keep looking.

There may be more to this than this quest, somewhere else in the game. But it would be outside of the scope of this article. I tried to focus on the quest, its location and direct consequences in this quest for the player's action. Maybe in another time, there will be a place to explore the greater impact of the Artefact and the dragon on the world. As they may deepen the quest in the world.

Edge cases

Below You can find some edgecases that I have found while writing this.

- What if the player enters the dungeon without taking the quest? - When the Player will exit the dungeon for the first time. The Handler will be waiting for them to interrogate them about the dungeon. She will ask questions likeHow did they get here, how did they know about it and did they find anything. She might explain what she is looking for and ask them for the Artefact. The dragon in the dungeon will have a similar conversation to the main one, but the player will not be able to ask for the Artefact.

- avoiding Handler after exiting the dungeon - If the player does. Then the Handler will meet them and start a conversation somewhere in the overworld when the Player completes a main quest or changes location with a new act.

- Players talk with the handler but do not accept the quest and still go for the Artefact - The handler will meet them when they exit the Dungeon for the first time. Will accuse them of going behind her back and will demand the Artefact without a reward if the Player has found it.

- exiting and entering the dungeon - While the player can enter and exit the Dungeon. The dragon counter and traps triggered do not reset.

- switching characters while talking to the dragon and stealing stuff - If the player tries to switch character to steal the Artefact from the hoard while talking to the dragon. The conversation will be interrupted, and a fight will start. It does not matter if the player succeeds or fails the slight hand check. Do not take the Dragon for a fool.