How to Use 

Combat Encounters Ideas 1 (difficulty 18): Dragon Turtle Island

 

Legends tell of islands that are actually giant sea beasts. This likely inspired D&D’s dragon turtle, and this is my first combat encounter.

When setting this up, we’ll immediately run into two problems. The first is that the dragon turtle doesn’t have quite the proportions of those giant sea creatures of legend. Based on the size normally given to gargantuan creatures, we could estimate its size as 25 square feet, which is small for an island.

We could say that the size is an average, and increase it a little, but it will still be small.

The second problem is a matter of giving the players a reason to go onto the dragon turtle. After all, players sitting around a table playing a fantasy game don’t feel the need to stretch their legs after being on a small cramped ship for weeks. What’s their motivation to explore?

Dragon Turtle Island Deception

Here are a few ways to set the scene:

• An NPC on their ship sees the dragon turtle island and asks them to stand guard while the NPC investigates. Ideally, introduce the NPC earlier, and give them a reason to investigate. Perhaps they notice some of the lines of the shell and think they’re runes. Or see next idea.
• There is an item on the dragon turtle island. It could be coincidence [washed up], or you could say that someone fixed it the dragon turtle’s back as a form of ‘safekeeping’. You could put an unconscious or semi-conscious NPC there instead. Either they washed up or they were placed there by sadistic pirates.
• There are villains on the dragon turtle island, who themselves mistook it for an island. Perhaps pirates, who saw a small, hard to find island as the ideal place to bury their treasure. Or perhaps spellcasters, who needed solid ground to set up and cast their ritual.
• The dragon turtle is lying next to an island, and instead of being mistaken for the island it’ll be mistaken for part of it. Mention something about the shape/color/lines of it to give them a fair clue, then mention something more significant (eyes in the forest, movement) about the actual island to distract. Have this be significant when they do visit the island. (False clues aren’t all that popular.)

In the other scenarios you can also have the dragon turtle be next to sandbars or reefs to make it seem bigger.

How to Run the DnD Dragon Turtle

Once they land, you could have the dragon turtle submerge and attack immediately. If you do, you’ll have a very hard fight without much special about it. A more interesting variant could be if the dragon turtle doesn’t notice them on its back.

For that scenario to work, we’ll have to keep the players from attacking it. I’d say that if they do attack, it should immediately either submerge or use its tail attack to knock them off into the water. (Very possibly what it was intended for.) Even so, the first time or two they get back on its back, it won’t knock them off if they don’t attack again.

It will also be very helpful to have an NPC with the players, to warn them against attacking. In addition, needing the to keep the NPC alive will also motivate them to not attack, or to only do it after getting off first.

If they insist on attacking, let them have the combat.

Dragon Turtle Combat Alternatives

There are several ways to run this encounter other than straightforward battle.

• They’re stuck on the dragon turtle’s back, and it’s swimming away with them. They can try to use enchantment or illusion spells to get it to go back, but banishing, polymorphing, or similar will dump them into the water, and there are giant sharks around. If they don’t do anything, they notice that the dragon turtle is swimming toward a storm, and they’ll take exposure damage and/or get washed off.
• If not all of them go onto the dragon turtle, have it attack the ones that don’t. If they do, it can attack their allies or their ship. The dragon turtle’s back is the safe spot, provided it isn’t used to attack the dragon turtle. (Of course, you can climax the fight by having the dragon turtle start diving once low on HP).
• If there are enemies on the dragon turtle or nearby, have a fight where any move that hurts the dragon turtle will cause a [readied] tail attack to go off, or a dive and resurface moment. Combine with the ideas above so that there’s a time limit, before the dragon reaches the storm, or so that it’s a three-way fight, with both sides needing to protect ships and/or pushing each other off and trying to climb back on.
• For a wild variant of the three-way fight, use two dragon turtles. Neither responds to people on its back (provided they don’t hurt it), but they’ll try to bite people on each other’s backs, or push them into the water. Add narrow channels between islands or reefs, so that spells can be used to get them away from each other, giving the possibility of escape or at least gaining a breather.

 

Combat Encounters 2 – Distract the Dragon Turtle

 

The dragon turtle is also a prime candidate for scenarios where the goal is to distract the dragon turtle, lure it away, or hold it off. It’s slow on land, not too fast in water (provided the players are in a boat or ship), and dumb enough to be fooled without being so dumb as to be fooled endlessly. It’s also too big to be simply blocked, and can release a blast of steam, knock them aside, or simply walk past them if they try.

Here are several different encounters for this:

• The players, or NPCs working with the players, are trying to open a door or conduct a ritual. The dragon turtle notices, or is summoned there by a guarding ward, and has to be held off or distracted so that it can be done. For added difficulty, the ritual involves a large gem, which the dragon turtle will feel motivated to grab.
• There is a device fixed to its back that the players will want to seize. Note that in this scenario it isn’t passive, not noticing the people on its back. It’s diving, trying to knock them off, and has to be chased. For added difficulty, have some villains that are also trying to get the object. Who can seize it first?
• A dragon turtle is also a fun third party for any battle between ships. Drawn by the blood and noise, which side will trick the dragon turtle into attacking its enemy?

 

Other DnD Dragon Turtle Encounters

 

You could also have the dragon turtle show up when the players are on an enemy ship. This could give them a distraction, allowing them to pull off a heist when the villains are understandably distracted, but it could also end with them being pulled down with the ship. Meanwhile, if they decide to join the fight, how to do so without revealing themselves and being taken down by the enemies right afterwards?

The fact that dragon turtles collect treasure means that your players will be highly motivated to find a way to distract/enchant/lure the dragon turtle away just so as to get their hands on the treasure.

(I joined a group playing Princes of Apocalypse once, and the villains there have a friendly [to them] dragon turtle they can summon. I think you’re supposed to find a way to stop them summoning it, but some of my fellow players remembered that they collect treasure [the DM did not mention it], and a discussion started as to how to take the dragon turtle out long enough to grab the treasure, thereby taking the game in an exciting new direction.)

 

Summary: Six Ways to Use the DnD Dragon Turtle

 

• They see some enemies on a small island, and when they move to confront them, the island turns out to be a dragon turtle. It doesn’t notice them now, but if it gets hurt by them, or if anyone gets knocked into the water, they’d better watch out.
• An NPC got knocked overboard, and ended up on a dragon turtle’s back. It hasn’t noticed her, but it might dive if attacked, or attack the ship if it notices it. What to do?
• A wizard fixed a quest or magic item to a dragon turtle’s back. If they land on its back, it will try to sweep them off with its tail. If they fight, there’s a real chance that it will dive to escape if it reaches low HP.
• The dragon turtle is a fun random factor for a navy battle in D&D world. Drawn by the sounds of conflict and the smell of blood, which side will maneuver the dragon turtle away from them and into the other side?
• The players snuck onto an enemy ship to retrieve something. The enemy ship is being attacked by a dragon turtle. Do they complete the heist, and risk sinking, or do they join the fight, and how to do so without exposing themselves?
• Dragon turtles collect treasure inside underwater lairs. Mention that fact to your players, and bring something for yourself to do during the two-hour planning session that follows. Saving the world can wait, there’s treasure at hand!