D&D General Brainstorming on Orbs of Dragonkind

[der_kluge]

I'm trying to work out a sort of history to a campaign I'm working on, and the campaign as I have it written involves a somewhat convoluted plot involving someone using an Orb of Dragonkind to attack a nearby kingdom. The essence of that plot isn't entirely relevant to this discussion.

However, the individual that wishes to take over this kingdom is a Rakshasa, and Rakshasa, IMHO, don't just show up in the world by themselves. Something had to have summoned it into the world. In the past, it was defeated, and now it's back again to seek revenge (which is what it's currently doing), but the who summoned it, and why part have me thinking about what's next after the party deals with the Rakshasa.

One of the ideas that I've kind of settled on is the idea that a lich, or even dracolich is behind this somehow (how I managed to get to this point isn't really important either). But one idea that intrigues me is that a Gold Dragon Dracolich is actually responsible. Which means that, at some point in the past, the Gold Dragon Dracolich (or GDD for short) summoned a Rakshasa into the world for some nefarious purpose.

But I'm trying to tie this into the orb of dragonkind (or multiple, if necessary), and one idea that intrigues me is that perhaps the GDD's lover was either killed as a result of an orb, or is currently trapped inside of an orb, and maybe he sought out lichdom in order to find a way of releasing this other dragon. Which would be a plausible reason for a good dragon to do such a thing. But of course, the act of transforming also twisted its mind, so now it's kind of a corrupted mess.

Part of the problem I have is that there are about 3-4 different versions of Orbs of Dragonkind written about in the D&D-verse, and each of them are slightly different. The Book of Artifacts Orb is about as different from the 5e Orb as you can possibly get. So, it's kind of canonically all over the place. So, I'd be curious to know if people have ever used this item in the game, how they treated it. And if folks have ideas on how I could integrate that into my ideas, well, that would be just peachy.

 

[humble minion]

Part of the problem I have is that there are about 3-4 different versions of Orbs of Dragonkind written about in the D&D-verse, and each of them are slightly different. The Book of Artifacts Orb is about as different from the 5e Orb as you can possibly get. So, it's kind of canonically all over the place. So, I'd be curious to know if people have ever used this item in the game, how they treated it. And if folks have ideas on how I could integrate that into my ideas, well, that would be just peachy.

Don't worry about that. The Orb it an artifact after all, it SHOULD be surrounded by a web of lies and rumours and dubious inconsistent sources regarding what it does. Choose or modify whatever version of the Orb you think best fits your story.

Re your GDD and rakshasa - rakshasas are illusionists and liars first and foremost. One thing that springs to mind is that the reason the GDD became a dracolich is that the rakshasa somehow tricked it into believing the transformation was necessary. Or even that the GDD somehow got itself cursed by the rakshasa's claw attack, and the transformation was necessary because the Orb had made it too paranoid to seek magical help, and it was going to expire from sheer lack of sleep.

(That rakshasa curse ability is NASTY by the way - it allows no save so it's quite reasonable even a dragon might be affected, and it's permanent until removed magically!)

Maybe the dragon summoned the rakshasa because there were legends that the rakshasa had used or knew about the Orb from some rakshasa-influenced empire in ages past, and the dragon summoned it to seek out information on the artifact. Maybe this legend is true, or maybe it's another lie.

 

[Storyteller Hero]

Using an orb of dragonkind is an extremely risky affair.

Once used, the proud dragons will never forget their grudge against a lesser being using them as slaves.

If other dragons learn of the orb's existence, a flight of dragons, comprised of dragons from all types and alignments, might descend upon the region where the orb was reported or rumored to be, to rain destruction upon the possessor and capture the orb for disposal.

Followers of dragon cults and dragon deity cults will join the search, allying (albeit temporarily) to find and destroy the orb.

An orb of dragonkind is an affront to dragonkind, as it may have been crafted by enslaving the soul of a venerable ancient dragon, and is used to enslave dragons.