Out of the Frying Pan

A 5e Airship Adventure for a 5th to 6th level party of 3 to 6 adventurers.

Adventure Synopsis

Players are tasked with relocating a young red dragon and her nest to a new forest. The plan should be simple with the aid of the airship being lent to them. The adventurers will steal the dragon's eggs and be chased across the forest by the dragon. Along the way, bandits in their own airship will try to snag the eggs from the adventurers as well. Players will get a taste of airship adventuring and may walk away with one of their own.

Adventure Hook

A wood-elf Druid named Eyyen Brightblossom has contacted the party to inform them that a young red dragon has just reached sexual maturity and taken up residence in his glade, building a nest and laying her is first brood of eggs.

This is causing all kinds of problem in the area as several rare and medicinal herbs grow in this glade as well as rare species of fauna that have become meals for the new tenant.

Eyyen promises to pay the adventurers handsomely and gift them with rare and potent healing salves if they would help move the dragon to another forest.

He suggests they take the dragon's eggs, as a dragon will never abandon its young and it may be the easiest way to convince the beast to relocate without killing it and further upsetting the natural balance.

If the players need a reason not to kill the dragon, Eyyen can explain that dragon carcasses seep magical energy as well as attracting dangerous scavengers looking for magical components and expensive bones and hides.

Act 1: The Contract

It doesn't matter where the players are or where they meet Eyyen. Place him as you like and read:

You are approached by a lithe wood elf in a brown leather jacket with strange goggles affixed to the matching leather cap on his head. He clears his throat as if eager to get your attention. "H-hello there. You look like a capable bunch. I've been wandering from town to town looking for anyone who can help me with my...uh...predicament. My name is Eyyan Brightblossom and time is short, so I beg you to lend me your ear."

The wood elf is a Druid unlike any other. He has a profound respect for all things in the sea, on the land, and aloft in the sky. He built his own airship that he is immensely proud of and if questioned about his attire will go to lengths to brag about how beautiful his ship is.

When the party agrees to listen to his request, read this:

About a month ago, a young red dragon made her home in my forest sanctuary. My glade is special, you see. There are... were... magical wards in place to prevent hunters from trespassing upon it, but it doesn't prevent airborne ingress which is how I assume the dragon found her way into it. My glade is dense with all manner of exotic flora and fauna that I have been cultivating, but alas they have become collateral for this new tenant. The dragon is on the cusp of adulthood and haid her first brood of eggs, much earlier than normal but it's got her fiercly hungry and even more tempermental.

Eyyan explains that he doesn't want the dragon to be harmed. He believes the best way to remove her from his glade is to take her eggs to a different forest using his airship to transport them all. Unfortunately for the party, his airship is residing in a hanger in the glade and the party needs to make their way on foot through the glade to reach both the dragon's nest and the airship.

He isn't willing to go with the party to the dragon's nest, but he is willing to help them pilot the airship and cover any empty stations a player doesn't want to occupy. He does suggest that the airship takes some time to prepare for travel so it's best if they get the eggs while he is warming the engine.

Eyyen also provides each party member with an Amulet of Magic Field Interference which is tuned to allow them passage through the magical wards and into his glade.

Discovering the Secret Glade This document is meant to playtest the mechanics of airship travel and combat primarily, so for the sake of focus and brevity the glade and its inhabitants will not be detailed. Feel free to make the travel to the dragon or the airship as long or as short as you like and fill the glade will all kinda of strange fey beasts and man-eating plants. It's fine if the PCs drain their resources reaching the dragon as they are meant to handle most of their combat through the airship anyway.

Act 2: The Heist

When the players reach the red dragon's nest, Amri, the red dragon, is gone. A successful DC 16 Survival check will deduce that she's gone out hunting within the past hour.

The nest is filled with 3 red dragon eggs that glisten like flowing magma and are three feet around, each weighing 50 pounds each. Each egg is fairly resiliant, immune to less than ten points of damage. The egg itself has 20 hit points and requires a DC 18 Athletics check to break it.