Dragon egg sculpting

I have been looking for rules for magic that causes mutations, for lack of a better term. The standard I have used is an article in Dragon 237, in which there is the Merlane, a kit that has several spells for altering living things. But I wanted something that was magical that didn't use spells. I found the Create Wonderous Creature feat in Ultimate Feats, but that could be broken when looking at potential money earnings (think how much a sparrow would be worth if it had silver colored feathers).

Yesterday I found what I was looking for in Goodman Games' Dragonkin (a pdf at rpgnow and soon to be in print). In it there is a way of manipulating dragon hatchlings while still in the egg. It requires knowledge (arcana), dragonic, the ability to cast 6th level transmutation spells, and craft wonderous item so it is not for the basic arcane caster. The rules seem slightly broken in that making alterations like adding a head only requires a DC 17 spellcraft check. But when making a lot of changes, or those that involve altering the mind of the hatchling, then the DC skyrockets. If you want your wizard to place his mind in a hatchling, it requires a DC 60 (and the wizard dies if that fails as he must commit suicide to find out if he did it right). I love it and with the uberdragons also in the book, think it is worth the price alone. Adapting it to other creatures is a snap (though I am not sure what would happen to a mammal if the fetus is enlarged much).

[Crossposted to rpg.net]

Now that I think about it, this might be a way of explaining all the reptile peoples in Oathbound (wizards on other worlds manipulated dragons to make nightlings, pickers, etc.)

I am also thinking a restricting it to reptiles and birds only since altering the fetus of a mammal might cause serious harm to the mother and fish and amphibian eggs are too soft to write on. It is good way to use some of the templates in Advance Bestiary.

Hi there, DMH. I'm glad you're enjoying the CG to Dragonkin. As the author, I'm thrilled you like the egg sculpting rules as those took the most brainpower. In regards to adapting the rules to non-dragons, I can only say that when the rules were developed it was with the understanding that a transmuting spellcaster is more able to warp a dragon's innate power than actually use his own spells to create a new creature. Take that for what it's worth and run with the system. You could just as easily go the other way and use the spellcaster's own power to warp other unborn creatures. You'll have to tinker with the creation time for each type of creature since the dragon's is based on the wyrmling's CR.

DMH said:

Yesterday I found what I was looking for in Goodman Games' Dragonkin (a pdf at rpgnow and soon to be in print).

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This book also has excellent artwork. I can't wait for it to come out in print!

shadowlight said:

This book also has excellent artwork. I can't wait for it to come out in print!

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You're not the only one, Shadowlight!

Napftor said:

Hi there, DMH. I'm glad you're enjoying the CG to Dragonkin. As the author, I'm thrilled you like the egg sculpting rules as those took the most brainpower.

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I am thankful that you created them.

You'll have to tinker with the creation time for each type of creature since the dragon's is based on the wyrmling's CR.

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I think that I am going to have it relate to the MR (days= MR/3 maybe). I am also going to have all alterations have a positive MR (removing wings should be as difficult as adding them).

DMH said:

I think that I am going to have it relate to the MR (days= MR/3 maybe). I am also going to have all alterations have a positive MR (removing wings should be as difficult as adding them).

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That sounds like a plan. I'd suggest using that as the baseline creation time for all non-dragons then. With the wings, I think the line of thinking of deducting from the MR was because it takes away a creature's benefit as opposed to giving one. But they're your rules now, so have at it!

Oh, and feel free to post a review of the book either here or over at RPGNow and help others make an informed decision.

I will get the review done sometime in early Jan- I really need to have it bound first to look for typos and other errors and I am currently out of money. It will get a 4 or 5 here by what I see so far.

As for the reason I want to make the negative MRs positive is that the difficulty of the manipulation is more about the wizard's effort than the end result.

Oh and I left some questions for you and Mr. Goodman on his site's forum.

DMH said:

Oh and I left some questions for you and Mr. Goodman on his site's forum.

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OK. I answered the ones I could: http://www.goodman-games.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=1718#1718

I have the review written, now I just need a place to put it.