Will Dragon cultural/politcal climate stay the same ?

[Ruin Explorer]

Hell, all a dragon has to do is just fly into the center of a humanoid encampment and go "I AM GOD" and immediately is worshiped for not destroying them wholesale.

So tempted to write Apocalypse Now rip-off adventure with a Gold Dragon as Kurtz.

 

[GreatLemur]

In their endless wisdom WotC removed the alignment from the dragons so it is now a free for all.

Also it looks like dragons won't be able to do any politics or intrigues anymore beyond "burn dowm small village" as they won't have the tools for that (magic) anymore.

For the love of God, just give it up already.

 

[Pale Jackal]

I'm glad dragons are no longer color coded for our convenience.

As for the lack of spells? If it's necessary for the plot: give them spells.

Frankly, I enjoy that spells are no longer the default for dragons: they certainly don't need them to be interesting.

So tempted to write Apocalypse Now rip-off adventure with a Gold Dragon as Kurtz.

Heroes burst into the dragon's lair, finding the dragon sitting in the middle of an empty floor.

"Where's your hoard?!"

The dragon smirks. "Tied in investments, bonds, and collateral."

Both lovely quotes.

 

[Obrysii]

Forgive my ignorance (and possibly repeating stuff already made point of on this thread) but what prevents a dragon from taking Wizard or Sorcerer levels (whatever still exists in 4e)? I am ignorant of the class rules in 4e ... but monsters can still take class levels, right? Surely a powerful, intelligent, and typically wealthy dragon could become a wizard, right?

 

[FourthBear]

Forgive my ignorance (and possibly repeating stuff already made point of on this thread) but what prevents a dragon from taking Wizard or Sorcerer levels (whatever still exists in 4e)? I am ignorant of the class rules in 4e ... but monsters can still take class levels, right? Surely a powerful, intelligent, and typically wealthy dragon could become a wizard, right?

Yes, statements from 4e designers have stated that monsters (including dragons) can take class levels. Further, from what I suspect about monster customization, I think they will encourage simply giving the dragon the magical abilities that are appropriate for the encounters and not to add skill points, hit dice, feats and all of the other stuff associated with taking class levels. It should still be possible, though.

 

[JohnSnow]

Just to add to this, just because dragons in Fourth Edition aren't going to have spells doesn't mean that their only powers and abilities will be flight, a breath weapon, and their physical attributes.

I could certainly see one of the dragon's "natural powers" being the ability to change into humanoid form. And the way I see it, that's got nothing to do with "spellcasting."

 

[shilsen]

So tempted to write Apocalypse Now rip-off adventure with a Gold Dragon as Kurtz.

Ah, yes!

"The horror! The horror! Take 92 pts of fire damage, biatch!"

 

[Rechan]

So tempted to write Apocalypse Now rip-off adventure with a Gold Dragon as Kurtz.

I recently did an Apocalypse Now spoof; the party was traveling up river to deal with a weird shapechanging cult, and the boat crew was a bunch of kobolds of the Erebus.

The kobold sorcerer loved the smell of alchemist fire in the morning.

 

[HeavenShallBurn]

Haven't we all done an Apocalypse Now spoof at least once?

I still smile when I remember the voyage of the airship Damocles and its crew of scum, even if it was as much The Longest Day or Dirty Dozen and Kelly's Heroes as Apocalypse Now.

The most inventive use of Featherfall ever, not to mention the notion of half a dozen Apparatuses of Kwalish being rolled off the quarterdeck of a flying ironclad like depth charges, unfolding in mid-fall and floating to the ground under featherfall spells followed by strings of soldiers daisy-chain harnessed to boulders of levitation.

 

[Derren]

Further, from what I suspect about monster customization, I think they will encourage simply giving the dragon the magical abilities that are appropriate for the encounters

See, thats where my problem is. Dragons do not need magical abilities "for an encounter". Even without magical abilities they are fighting machines (be honest, what combat spells did a dragon normally use in 3E? Mage Armor and Shield, maybe a bit Wraithstrike you the DM is mean, thats all). Dragons need magic for their plots.

Imagine how a dragon contacts an agent in the capital of a local kingdom (which means the lair is far away).
With magic -> Sending spell
Without magic -> The dragon has to send a minion messenger to a relay station which sends a carrier pigeon with the message to another relay station near the capital. There a other minion has to sneak into the city and deliver the message. Very risky and very slow. And when adventurers, especially the higher level ones declare that they are going to kill the dragon the battle will likely already be over before the warning of the local agent reaches the dragon.