Michael Hopcroft Posted July 25, 2010 Report Share Posted July 25, 2010 In many settings dragons are supremely intelligent and inherently magical. Sometimes they are elemental forces of good, evil or both. Sometimes they're just so smart that sitting on a hoard day in and day out for five hundred years is boring as all get out. But mostly for practical purposes there may be settings where GMs want their dragons to do better things with their time than wait around in caves for PCs to slay them. One way to do this is to make it possible for Dragons to change their shapes into something human-like, or even be able to pass as human. Aside from the rules mechanics of how it would work, what are some of the game uses of such NPCs? (I'm assuming your campaign isn't high-powered enough for a dragon player-character....) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xavier Onassiss Posted July 25, 2010 Report Share Posted July 25, 2010 Re: What Do You Mean She's a Dragon? Or Shapeshifting for Reptiles Even in their human form, dragons should be powerful, and also very knowledgeable. So if they spend time in human society, passing themselves off as humans, they'll probably be VIP's. Wealthy nobles, high-ranking clergy, learned scholars, powerful sorcerers, royal advisers, or possibly even royalty in their own right. (Assuming a dragon would want to rule a human kingdom!) Any of these types of NPC could be a dragon in disguise -- interacting with the PC's in the usual way on the surface, but with hidden motivations only an Elder Wyrm could truly fathom.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Liaden Posted July 25, 2010 Report Share Posted July 25, 2010 Re: What Do You Mean She's a Dragon? Or Shapeshifting for Reptiles Even in their human form' date=' dragons should be [i']powerful[/i], and also very knowledgeable. So if they spend time in human society, passing themselves off as humans, they'll probably be VIP's. Wealthy nobles, high-ranking clergy, learned scholars, powerful sorcerers, royal advisers, or possibly even royalty in their own right. (Assuming a dragon would want to rule a human kingdom!) Any of these types of NPC could be a dragon in disguise -- interacting with the PC's in the usual way on the surface, but with hidden motivations only an Elder Wyrm could truly fathom.... Interestingly, Hero Games books have mentioned dragons that have done just this sort of thing. For example, in the Turakian Age setting the human city-state of Tatha Gorel is ruled by the benevolent dragon Scauromdrax, who was asked to take the throne by its last king, who was dying without an heir. The Book of Dragons also describes Allaraxonar, who has served as advisor to generations of a human royal dynasty. Allaraxonar spends much time in human form to facilitate dealing with Men, although he tends to keep some draconian characteristics, e.g. reptilian eyes or wings. OTOH the dynasty he serves had a special wing built onto their palace to accomodate him in his natural size and shape. One recurring theme in several of these books which provides good gaming potential, is the dragon who devotes his long life to scholarship of some sort, or specializes in collecting a particular type of treasure (fine painting or sculpture, renowned weapons, religious icons, and so on). A dragon of this bent may mingle among humans in disguise to consult with scholars in his field of interest, or to acquire items for his collection by nonviolent means (either because he's peaceful himself, or what he wants is dangerous for him to try to take by force). He may also present himself as a patron, hiring PCs to recover these things for him. OTOH PCs may have to seek the dragon out (knowing his true nature or not) for his expertise, or because he has something they need. And of course, knowing a dragon's predilection for knowledge or items may allow the PCs to bargain with him for something they want, up to and including their lives. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beast Posted July 25, 2010 Report Share Posted July 25, 2010 Re: What Do You Mean She's a Dragon? Or Shapeshifting for Reptiles I like Bill Willingham's take on dragons in Iron Wood Dragons are all male and are shape shifters and a randy bunch young dragons look like what their mothers are from birth till they are around 100 yrs old(they are also very strong and tough) then they are able to shape shift Since dragons are the most powerful creature in Iron Wood,you cannot have all these young dragons around so the older ones go hunting for the younger ones only about 1 in 1000 survives be able to shape shift into a dragon and are no longer hunted Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susano Posted July 25, 2010 Report Share Posted July 25, 2010 Re: What Do You Mean She's a Dragon? Or Shapeshifting for Reptiles Many Asian creatures can shape shift, including dragons, and in human form they would often mate with human women (I'm pretty sure Chinese dragons are all "he.") The children were supposed to be perfect in face and form with brillant green eyes (you know rare that is, Jack?) So you have a ready-made PC origin right there. Anyway, you could have a dragon in human form living among humans for any number of reasons -- to alleviate boredom (humans, they're so wacky), to indulge in earthy pleasures (food, drink, sex, drugs, rock-n-roll), to find adventure and excitement (run around as a swordsman or martial artist for a century or so, then go off and do something else), to conduct research (in the form of an aged sage or scholar), to rule a criminal underworld (amassing the horde without pillage), give good or bad advice to either advance or wreck the reign of a local lord, to be worshiped as a god, and so on. Imagine a dragon as a CEO of a huge megacorporation, and you can go pretty far there with ideas. Or, they're world-class super villains (if that's your desire), or something akin to the pope. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susano Posted July 25, 2010 Report Share Posted July 25, 2010 Re: What Do You Mean She's a Dragon? Or Shapeshifting for Reptiles Many Asian creatures can shape shift, including dragons, and in human form they would often mate with human women (I'm pretty sure Chinese dragons are all "he.") The children were supposed to be perfect in face and form with brillant green eyes (you know rare that is, Jack?) So you have a ready-made PC origin right there. Anyway, you could have a dragon in human form living among humans for any number of reasons -- to alleviate boredom (humans, they're so wacky), to indulge in earthy pleasures (food, drink, sex, drugs, rock-n-roll), to find adventure and excitement (run around as a swordsman or martial artist for a century or so, then go off and do something else), to conduct research (in the form of an aged sage or scholar), to rule a criminal underworld (amassing the horde without pillage), give good or bad advice to either advance or wreck the reign of a local lord, to be worshiped as a god, and so on. Imagine a dragon as a CEO of a huge megacorporation, and you can go pretty far there with ideas. Or, they're world-class super villains (if that's your desire), or something akin to the pope in power and influence. In fact, if you have dragons plotting amongst themselves (hey, they're powerful, magical, and live for a loooong time), then they might want to recruit and/or hire shadowrunners.... err... adventurers to cause trouble for other dragons and their agents. So you could have dragons playing this massive chess game with mortal pawns. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xavier Onassiss Posted July 25, 2010 Report Share Posted July 25, 2010 Re: What Do You Mean She's a Dragon? Or Shapeshifting for Reptiles Many Asian creatures can shape shift' date=' including dragons, and in human form they would often mate with human women (I'm pretty sure Chinese dragons are all "he.") The children were supposed to be perfect in face and form with brillant green eyes (you know rare that is, Jack?) [/quote'] How can you tell from here? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susano Posted July 25, 2010 Report Share Posted July 25, 2010 Re: What Do You Mean She's a Dragon? Or Shapeshifting for Reptiles How can you tell from here? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Escafarc Posted July 25, 2010 Report Share Posted July 25, 2010 Re: What Do You Mean She's a Dragon? Or Shapeshifting for Reptiles Check out the Elantra novels by Michelle Sagara http://msagarawest.wordpress.com/bibliography/chronicles-of-elantra/ The Dragons spend most of their time in "Human" form. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Hopcroft Posted July 26, 2010 Author Report Share Posted July 26, 2010 Re: What Do You Mean She's a Dragon? Or Shapeshifting for Reptiles If a Dragon still wants a hoard, perhaps he could go into the banking and money-lending businesses. Anyone who builds impressive things like keeps, castles, palaces and temples needs money -- frequently lots of it -- to complete their projects. A dragon with a hoard has a ready supply of money to lend, at a fair (or exorbitant if he's the only source of such investment capital) interest rate, and woe to the king or merchant prince who defaults. Such a wyrm could well find out he enjoys the world of business and becomes a prominent player in an empire's economy. Eventually almost everyone of importance will owe him money, favors or both. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susano Posted July 26, 2010 Report Share Posted July 26, 2010 Re: What Do You Mean She's a Dragon? Or Shapeshifting for Reptiles If a Dragon still wants a hoard, perhaps he could go into the banking and money-lending businesses. Anyone who builds impressive things like keeps, castles, palaces and temples needs money -- frequently lots of it -- to complete their projects. A dragon with a hoard has a ready supply of money to lend, at a fair (or exorbitant if he's the only source of such investment capital) interest rate, and woe to the king or merchant prince who defaults. Such a wyrm could well find out he enjoys the world of business and becomes a prominent player in an empire's economy. Eventually almost everyone of importance will owe him money, favors or both. Said dragon might not be too happy with those who sack and pillage "his" castles and the like. So a dragon looking to steal his loot might be in trouble! And woe to any band of raiders who decide to ransack an important trading center. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueCloud2k2 Posted July 28, 2010 Report Share Posted July 28, 2010 Re: What Do You Mean She's a Dragon? Or Shapeshifting for Reptiles An Urban Fantasy game I was running had a Dragon as William Portal, CEO of Macrosoft - the biggest software congomerate in the world. As it turns out, Computer Programming Languages were actually incantations and all programs were magic spells of a sort, which was the main plot hook of the mini-campaign (Hacker broke into Portal's personal files and stole a bunch of magic texts (including the primers) and dumped them to his PDA (which served as his spellbook). This was the same campaign where most Lawyers were Vampires, The Hell's Angels were actually the minions of the Devils (Lucifer, Baphomet, Beezelbub, etc), and the US Gov't was actually run by an Elf (as in, Keebler Elf), a Zombie, and a 3-headed alien named Josh. Don't ask. ======= Another use for Shapeshifting Dragons I had was my 3.5 DnD campaign where the Sovereigns of the 5 largest nations (Azuroth, Guilder, Ethsar, Rowel, and Turoia) had been replaced by the 5 Avatars of Tiamat (Half-Fiend Elder Wyrms of each color). The nations then went to war with one another (the deaths were "sacrifices") to grant Tiamat the Power to release Therizdun if she so desired, forcing the other dieties to concede power to her. The PC's failed to stop her. In fact, the PC's actually triggered Therizdun's release. Can I get an Epic Facepalm here? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadow Hawk Posted July 28, 2010 Report Share Posted July 28, 2010 Re: What Do You Mean She's a Dragon? Or Shapeshifting for Reptiles Dragon disguises him/her self as a elderly man/lady. Struggling with large package/pack/bag, hungry and thirsty. If PC's assist, they get rewarded all out of proportion to the assistance. If they do not assist, they will be punished later. If they take advantage of the old person, they get confronted by a dragon on the spot. The thief will think twice about picking a random old man's pocket in the future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmjalund Posted July 29, 2010 Report Share Posted July 29, 2010 Re: What Do You Mean She's a Dragon? Or Shapeshifting for Reptiles Dragon disguises him/her self as a elderly man/lady. Struggling with large package/pack/bag, hungry and thirsty. If PC's assist, they get rewarded all out of proportion to the assistance. If they do not assist, they will be punished later. If they take advantage of the old person, they get confronted by a dragon on the spot. The thief will think twice about picking a random old man's pocket in the future. Sounds like "True Beauty" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Narf the Mouse Posted July 29, 2010 Report Share Posted July 29, 2010 Re: What Do You Mean She's a Dragon? Or Shapeshifting for Reptiles Sounds like "True Beauty" Unless that's set sometime BC, it's got no claim on being the original version of that sort of story. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Hopcroft Posted July 29, 2010 Author Report Share Posted July 29, 2010 Re: What Do You Mean She's a Dragon? Or Shapeshifting for Reptiles Sounds like "True Beauty" I tried googling it, but only got that reality show for the semi-comatose. What specifically are you talking about? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadow Hawk Posted July 29, 2010 Report Share Posted July 29, 2010 Re: What Do You Mean She's a Dragon? Or Shapeshifting for Reptiles Unless that's set sometime BC' date=' it's got no claim on being the original version of that sort of story. [/quote'] The original tale is from China, about 1500bce, iirc.* *Yes, I stole it. To be a great writer, let nothing escape your eyes. Plague your eyes, plagueyoureyes, plagerize. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Narf the Mouse Posted July 29, 2010 Report Share Posted July 29, 2010 Re: What Do You Mean She's a Dragon? Or Shapeshifting for Reptiles ...Well, there you might have something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted July 29, 2010 Report Share Posted July 29, 2010 Re: What Do You Mean She's a Dragon? Or Shapeshifting for Reptiles I had a shapeshifting dragon NPC in one campaign who maintained his/her (the gender was never specified) wealth via commodity speculation. The dragon spent much of its time flying in bird form (I chose osprey form, because those are found nearly everywhere) between entrepots, assuming human form, and then buying up things the dragon knew would be high demand due to supply shortfall ... in effect, using insider knowledge that it could move from point to point faster than the news could go. The resultant profits were used to keep the investment biz going, with a healthy amount converted to sparky loot that was taken to the secret lair-hoard. It also dabbled in moneylending, though only at high rates to clients whom (1) the dragon was confident would pay their debts and (2) whose enterprises could be assisted covertly and conveniently by the dragon to ensure they were profitable enough to make repayment possible. It was a modus operandi well suited for late-medieval times when crashing into monasteries and stealing the treasures was getting too hazardous. Much Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmjalund Posted July 31, 2010 Report Share Posted July 31, 2010 Re: What Do You Mean She's a Dragon? Or Shapeshifting for Reptiles Unless that's set sometime BC' date=' it's got no claim on being the original version of that sort of story. [/quote']I'm referring to a particularly tacky reality show Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Hopcroft Posted July 31, 2010 Author Report Share Posted July 31, 2010 Re: What Do You Mean She's a Dragon? Or Shapeshifting for Reptiles I'm referring to a particularly tacky reality show Now that's a tacky reference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Narf the Mouse Posted July 31, 2010 Report Share Posted July 31, 2010 Re: What Do You Mean She's a Dragon? Or Shapeshifting for Reptiles Now that's a tacky reference. *Drops a bucket of tacks* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Hopcroft Posted July 31, 2010 Author Report Share Posted July 31, 2010 Re: What Do You Mean She's a Dragon? Or Shapeshifting for Reptiles *Drops a bucket of tacks* OWOWOWOWOWOWOW! That'll teach me to go barefoot on a summer day... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Narf the Mouse Posted July 31, 2010 Report Share Posted July 31, 2010 Re: What Do You Mean She's a Dragon? Or Shapeshifting for Reptiles OWOWOWOWOWOWOW! That'll teach me to go barefoot on a summer day... ...Yeah, but now *I* can't move! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Hopcroft Posted August 21, 2010 Author Report Share Posted August 21, 2010 Re: What Do You Mean She's a Dragon? Or Shapeshifting for Reptiles In one of my fiction pieces, I threw out the idea that dragons are sort of like dinosaurs in that they're closer evolutionarily to birds than they are to reptiles. Being warm-blooded just makes more sense for creatures that spend much of their spare time deep in caves counting their money. Of course, evolution probably has little to do with dragons in many fantasy worlds. In those worlds, some creatures may have evolved on their own (like Men), but others may have been created by specific powerful beings for specific tasks (like a mage making owlbears to guard something important). Powerful creatures exist for specific reasons in such a world, and determining that reason can be key in dealing with them effectively. And there are settings where Dragons ARE those powerful beings just mentioned, creating much of the world's fauna for purposes only they understand.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.