I see dragons!!!!

[Asperion]

I will be starting a supers campaign soon. The world has never seen a living dragon in living memory. If any existed in the past there are no people alive who remember and ancient beings still alive are not talking. The world will possess modern technology, low-power supers, no aliens or mythical creatures. However in the past few years dragons started appearing. I am wondering how they could be appearing, effects on society, and possible stats and abilities that the dragons possess. Any help will be greatly appreciated.

[Cancer]

Re: I see dragons!!!!

 

Are they new ones that are hatching (or whatever) after the eggs lay dormant for an extended period, or are they old ones that are coming out of long-term hibernation?

 

Shadowrun's story world has lots of entities of the latter type. Creatures with a much longer time-view than humans will have very strange-looking behavior patterns from the human perspective.

[Dr. Anomaly]

Re: I see dragons!!!!

 

Roger Zelazny wrote a story called "Unicorn Variations" that might help you out. In the story, we find out that any time a modern species (be it virus, microbe, or a macroscopic species like a type of bird, fish, or mammal) is completely wiped out, a mythic species from a "universe next door" then starts to move into our reality to take up the slack left by a vanished species. They don't necessarily fill the same ecological niche or anything -- in the story, for example, "microsphinxes" (sphinxes about the size of your thumb) moved in when the last smallpox virus was wiped out.

 

Perhaps the extinction of a certain number of species, without new ones to "fill the gaps" starts drawing species from other worlds/realities/dimensions to fill the void. After all, nature abhors a vacuum.

[BNakagawa]

Re: I see dragons!!!!

 

Unless the dragons are making a point of actively making their presence known, most of the sightings can be written off as hoaxes, pranks or misidentifications along the lines of the various lake monsters in various parts of the world, most notably Loch Ness.

 

If they are out plundering villages, then blame it on Trogdor.

[Lilliandra]

Re: I see dragons!!!!

 

I have a few ideas that may be able to help.

 

1) As to how they are appearing. Well lately there has been a lot of controversy about cloning. Maybe some dragon-like creatures are a result of a cloning experiment gone wrong. (Stole that from a movie I saw).

 

2) As far as abilities. Well Most people who suddenly saw a dragon would so one of 2 things. Either run away in total over-whelming fear or would be so in awe that they would stop and stare. Sort of like a deer caught in headlights. I think the fire breathing is way to predicable. But what about some sort of psionics or mentalist abilities. For example the hero would have to roll and EGO check or be compelled to do the dragons bidding.

 

Well those are just a few ideas I had. I hope they can help you.

[Vanguard00]

Re: I see dragons!!!!

 

You've decided you want dragons, but you have no idea how or why they're there, no what effect they will have on the world at large? That's...um....bold. Usually I have a reason in place and then figure out what's what afterwards.

 

What do you want the dragons to be? Are the dragons the result of genetic manipulation, either by accident (radiation accident on a mating pair of komodo dragons, for example), or on purpose (Teleios is bored...time to shake things up)? Are they magical in nature? Natural? Aliens? Any ideas at all?

 

Maybe they're from the Turakian Age (or other time/age of your choice). Somewhere, somewhen, there is a great and powerful wizard. He has decided that the dragons of his world need to be exterminated. He believes he's killing them with this age-old (to him) spell that seems to simply disintigrate them. What the spell is doing, however, is sending them to an alternate dimension--ours. Maybe the PCs have to find a way to this magical mystery realm and convince the wizard to do something else with the dragons.

 

Maybe the dragons are intelligent and are fleeing the evil wizard through magical gateways. It's only a matter of time before the wizard figures it out and follows them, though...

 

Effects on society would be dependent on what the dragons do. Are they setting up realms of their own or going into hiding? They might be the event of the week, but as they settle into the habitat people will begin to ignore them. Oh sure, they raid sheep and cattle, but they really don't eat all that much, and they usually stay away from people. Of course, the other predators are in trouble, but I'm sure environmentalists and ecologists can figure something out.

 

Heck, how big are they? Huge? Small? Do they breathe fire and wield magic? Do they speak? Are they even intelligent?

[Blue]

Re: I see dragons!!!!

 

• Dragon related commerce. Once a new commondity appears, everybody wants some. So a large market will appear for people selling (fake) dragon items and then you'll have those people idiot enough to actually go out and try to get a dragon egg, scale, head, etc.
  
• Dragon Cults. In fact, most "magical" belief systems will flourish a bit, even if they are false, due to dragons being a confirmation of things previously thought nonexistent. But there are those who will see them as something special, performing sacrifices, or just worshipping from a far.
  
• If they're sentient, then you'l have to wonder what they'll say, and what knowledge they bring with them. Much like aliens, they've likely got something that will change society if introduced, be it magic or simply exceptional wisdom.