How woulda Chromatic Dragon react to the theft of its eggs?

[seregil]

I'm thinking not well, but what do you think?

I have my main BBG enchanter stealing chromatic eggs of each variety as components for a variant of the ritual to become a lich. In this variant, the caster gains various draconic powers in addition of becoming a lich.

Now, I'm thinking that the theft will, eventually, trigger a mass assault of chromatic dragons after 3-4 sets of eggs have been stolen and words 'gets around' among the dragons that someone is stealing eggs.

But how fast? After how many thefts? The setting is Forgotten Realms 1E, so no mythals, no dragon rage etc.

 

[Umbran]

I suspect each dragon will come looking for its eggs as soon as it knows they're gone. No dragon is going to sit around waiting for it to be clear there's a serial thief, to organize. I mean, dragons are not exactly known for being tight-nknit, well-organized, mutually supporting critters.

So, if you want the dragons to come in a group, you need those eggs to have been stolen over a short time, so the dragons can all converge at once.

This leaves the question of how the dragons find out where the eggs went. They aren't exactly "CSI" level investigators, and if the BBEG hasn't tried to protect himself from dragon wrath... that's a logical plot hole.

 

[Derren]

I think they would be considered treasure so the reaction would be the same as if the character was stealing gold statues from their hoard. How long does it take for them to band together? Probably very long. Chromatic dragons are not known for their cooperation (except blues). Most dragons would not care much if someone steels from a other dragon (especially of a different color) and might even see it as fault of the dragon for not guarding its hoard.

Don't forget that according to many sources dragons also often leave eggs in the wild to fend for themselves. Those are easy to steal and show that they do not have that much sympathy for their offspring and instead have a rather Darwinian outlook of it (the strong survive, the rest can/should get killed for all they care).

 

[was]

I think the female dragon would react right away, tearing apart the country and slaughtering whole towns/cities to find the thief. As far as joining with others to search, that would take a bit longer. Given that chromatic dragons are not particularly social creatures, it could take a while. In the mean time, I'm sure the country would also put together parties trying to find the thief to appease the dragon. Rulers do not tend to react well to individuals who recklessly endanger their kingdoms.

 

[Tonguez]

Yeah I'm tending to agree with was, once the dragon knows the egg was stolen by a humanoid it is going to respond by attacking the nearest concentration of humanoids and then move out from there. I do like the idea that the nations rulers are going to be on the dragons side, and start a hunt to hand the culprit over - thats a great reason for the PCs to be involved.

Will the dragon be willing to negotiate? Dragons aren't stupid so they are going to look for clues but they also aren't known for actually caring enough to distinguish one humanoid from another either. Imagine the fun of PCs having to negotiate a deal with an angry, distrusting dragon

The dragons aren't going to be putting together a coordinated plan however, just a pause in their rampage until they get back whats theirs

 

[seregil]

Thanks for the ideas guys. A little more background:

• Green Dragon eggs get stolen first. Green dragon goes on rampage and is slain by adventurers. This is 6 months before beginning of campaign.
• Gold Dragons get stolen next. Gold Dragons mated pair begin frantic search and eventually trace a lead to the village of Amphail. The theft occurs 3 months before beginning of campaign.
• Black dragon eggs get stolen next. Female dragon is slain and mate comes back a month later to find the corpse. Black dragon suspect local Cult of the Dragon who have been annoying him with tales of undeath. He goes to Amphail and interrogates contact then drops him from 1000'. Gold dragons, hidden nearby, see it. He learns that his man was tld to escort BBG to hislair. BBG is enchanter and charmed/Dominated his way into COD. He also learns the name of the COD contact in Waterdeep.
• Black dragon is stuck. He can'T go rampaging in Waterdeep but he must somehow get there.
• Gold Dragons are in better position but their lead is dead and the Black may or may not have useful information.
• Meanwhile, BBG is collecting information on Blue, White and Red Dragon lairs.

I think you guys are right and there will be no 'common front' on the part of the chromatic dragons. 3-5 pissed off dragons is still enough to cause havock.

The problem is that no one has seen the pattern yet. The Golds are in contact with the Lords of Waterdeep but no one knows why the Green went berzerk and the Golds are only now suspecting that maybe the Black's sudden appearance is somehow related to their plight. They have already faced off against him over Waterdeep, so they find it difficult to approach him and parley.

We're still in the beginning of the storyline, the group is level 9 (Pathfinder) and the stated aim of the campaign is to get to level 20. So, over the next 10 levels or so, more eggs need to go missing, some information must come back about the BBG and the pattern must emerge. The Black is skulking around Waterdeep and the group has found the corpse of his mate. I'm thinking of using that as a thread to sow it together somehow.

The Black is pissed about the lost of the eggs, the death of its mate and the insult of having his lair invaded by such....insignificant.... creatures. When the time comes, the punishment will be great indeed, but first, he must find the guilty party.

 

[Celebrim]

I'm thinking not well, but what do you think?

How would a typical Greek god react to being snubbed by a hubristic mortal?

Now, I'm thinking that the theft will, eventually, trigger a mass assault of chromatic dragons after 3-4 sets of eggs have been stolen and words 'gets around' among the dragons that someone is stealing eggs.

But how fast? After how many thefts? The setting is Forgotten Realms 1E, so no mythals, no dragon rage etc.

I'm not sure that dragons are quite so rational of creatures. They are incarnations of earthquakes, volcanos, hurricanes and floods. They tend to react with about the same level of pity and understanding. Instinct to destroy takes over here, mitigated only by the need to recover the eggs.

However, they are also highly intelligent. While working together isn't really there thing hunting down the offending thief and anyone that ever dealt with him for all eternity without resting is more their style. They have extremely keen senses. I'd figure your average dragon mother can smell here eggs at a range in miles per HD, and smell where the eggs been for days per HD. They have vision sharper than a hawk, and can tell how many coins are in a jar in a dark room just by feeling the vibrations the jar makes in echo of their heart beat. They can cover 250 miles per day. Red Dragons are worse than that. With abilities like Find the Path, Locate Object and Discern location, the really big ones can find you anywhere on the plane.

Shout spell to attract attention, a bit of flattery, a diplomacy check, and the PC's wouldn't have to kill a BBEG. Just tell mom where to go, and problem solved.

 

[Umbran]

I'm not sure that dragons are quite so rational of creatures. They are incarnations of earthquakes, volcanos, hurricanes and floods. They tend to react with about the same level of pity and understanding. Instinct to destroy takes over here, mitigated only by the need to recover the eggs.

However, they are also highly intelligent.

It isn't that they aren't rational. It is that their concerns and worries are not the same as a humanoids. For an evil dragon, as you say, they have no pity or care for humanoid suffering. Not because they aren't rational, but because, well, it is an *evil* dragon, and you look like lunch. How much do you, as a human, care about, say a frog? If a frog swallowed your wedding ring, would you care all that much about the welfare of the frog, the tadpoles, and the various froggy-friends in the pond as you stomped around in the muck to get your ring back?

I'd figure your average dragon mother can smell here eggs at a range in miles per HD, and smell where the eggs been for days per HD.

By the rules, do dragons have perception scores that support this description, or do dragon eggs just *really stink*?

(an Adult Red has a passive perception of 23, which is notable, but miles? That's a looong way.)

 

[Hand of Evil]

Wraith of a dragon would be up there and think people would know that draconian means.

I got to think it would be for an interesting start of an adventure. Dragon in elf/human/other form hires the adventures to recover said eggs and provide the person(s) who stole it. Alternate would be kingdom being held for ransom hires the adventures.

 

[seregil]

Wraith of a dragon would be up there and think people would know that draconian means.

I got to think it would be for an interesting start of an adventure. Dragon in elf/human/other form hires the adventures to recover said eggs and provide the person(s) who stole it. Alternate would be kingdom being held for ransom hires the adventures.

You've just described how the Gold Dragon is going about it: pretend to be human paladin worried about the attack of the Black dragon on Amphail. The problem is that Polymorph self lasts minutes, which means that every time the group meets him, he's is a hurry, giving the impression of a dutyfull paladin with many worries and concerns who needs the group to help gather information. The Lords of Waterdeep know who/what he is and help as they can.