^{Finalist, Lethal Lairs 2015 contest, KoboldPress.com}

“Ambush at the Oasis” is a CR 9 encounter for the Pathfinder Role-Playing Game. It is set in the Southlands campaign setting, available through Kobold Press, but can be adapted for use in any fantasy setting that has a desert.

According to legend, the blue wyrm Azdrar once looked upon his life and saw an emptiness that all his greed and machinations could not fill. Determined to turn over a new leaf, he spent the last decades of his life aiding travelers through the Sarklan Desert, serving as one of the only examples of a benevolent blue dragon the world has ever known.

Whether Azdrar truly reformed or not, a small desert spring in the Hariek Hills holds his bleached white bones and a ring of desert lupines that always seem to retain a vibrant hue. It is said that the waters of the oasis sprang forth from the tears of remorse the wyrm shed and that they possess curative properties.

^{Originally published on Sidekickcast.com January 26, 2016}

While most fantasy fiction limits magic use to the main characters, fantasy RPGs have a whole economy built up around them. A default RPG setting assumes that the PCs are one of many heroes, which means towns are likely to hold retired spellcasters who might provide services or even sell magic items to younger heroes.

None of this magic economy really benefits the commonfolk, unfortunately. If a typical peasant makes only two silver pieces a day, he has to save up for a couple of months to even afford a simple cure light wounds spell, let alone something that could cure diseases or raise the dead.

The fantasy one-percenters, however, have a lot of fun options out there. Here are a few things somebody with lots of cash can accomplish in a typical fantasy RPG. I’m using Pathfinder 1st edition as the rules default here, but most of these options exist in similar games as well.