Homebrews - The Place of Dragons in our Cosmologies

[Gold Roger]

Well, considering that old true dragons are the most powerfull nongods across the planes in my homebrew, I'd say it's pretty clear that dragons need a somewhat special place.

Dragons are often considered the "perfect form of life", because they combine the power of the various planes in a way no other creature does. Of course, nobody proclaims this louder than many dragons.

While some dragons pay homage to gods, especially Tiamat, Bahamut and Hypheron (homebrew god of riches, wealth and craft), this is more out of respect for someone they consider on their level. Most actual worship for Bahamut and Tiamiat comes from material plane mortals that either Worship them directly as gods of the draconic perfection or those that worship individual dragons and are granted spells by one of the draconic gods

Dragons don't fill one specific Role, but they influence pretty much everything.

There is a trading empire ruled by one of the worlds oldest gold dragons and his breed, carried by a beaurocratic priest caste of Hypheron and Bahamut, filled with sorcerers and gold dragon disciples and meananced by an underground cult of tiamiat lead by none other than a corrupted gold dragon.

Another smaller kingdom has recently been overtaken by a old green, who has eaten the previous king, but now wants to become an official member of the "council of kings" his precedessor belonged to and who will in fact prove to be a fair and excelent, if evil ruler.

If you travel to the elemental and energy planes you can find draconic recluses and philosophers there, while on the outer planes you can find the draconic gods, draconic petitioners and the odd dragon planewalker.

Some thieves guilds are headed by dragons, many mages guilds have contact to a dragon or two they can ask for advice, sorcerers often search draconic mentors and patrons, fighter seek to slay dragons for glory and to prove themselfs and whole monk orders, as seekers of perfection, devote themselfs to emulate dragons.

So in my games, dragons, like dungeons, are everywhere, even if not personally. I intend to use a lot of stuff from dragon magic and races of dragon once I've gotten the two books to get that feel across.

 

[DarkKestral]

As I would use them, higher CR dragons tend to fall into a group of monsters that are more plot device and BBEG than combat monster, but when I would use them as such, they are as often patron as they are enemy. They aren't gods, but some feel that they are servants of the gods or the 'true' children of the gods. Most are circumspect about it, however. Those that have lived a long time can often prove to be rather agnostic, having seen enough time to have lost any real belief. (Divine magic is magic through belief if I'm gonna run it. You can be evil and still cast 'good' spells. Perception is EVERYTHING with the divines.)

They are still unusually intelligent, and I prefer to play them that way; they have agendas, and can be capable of immense foresight and planning, often so much so that others would not be able to easily divine a dragon's true purpose. This quality is what makes them very formidable even if transformed into physically weaker forms, which many spend a lot of time in, as they have often put a lot of thought into their protections. I won't play dragons as being terribly prone to hoarding; IMCs they aren't any more so than the average PC race. These changes are meant to change them from 1-dimensional creatures of power and greed that are pure plot device to rich characters that are actively involved in the world. They may be wealthy, but that is as often due to age and careful maneuverings as it is pure greed and desire for acquisition. However, those that are interested in wealth often keep their hoards in places that players wouldn't often assume are dragon hoards. Some do, but many keep theirs in banks, castles, and other places that won't scream "I am a dragon hoard. Kill my owner and loot me for cash and valuables."

As a result, dragons, in my games, will still be somewhat mythic in their abilities, but often present in ways that the PCs may not expect if they solely see dragons with the eye towards MM crunch. Dragons can and do have reputations, both good and bad, associated with them, even in my games, which may vary a bit from the norm, but they do so in ways that I personally find satisfying, and each age group (not the D&D age category) has a different associated general characteristic in the legendary tales of heroes, villains, saints, corrupted beings, gods, and fiendish entities that would make up the primary bits of my cosmologies in non-planar-oriented campaigns.

Since the gods aren't actively present, tales of myth and legend form the core of belief, and from those spring belief in the gods. There are those who revere dragons, and those who revile them. Due to their changes to make them more varied in form and less prone to being out and out 'dragony' in the classic 'hyper-intelligent monster that wants to kill you for no apparent reason' way, they are often found in tales being heroes and martyrs. Young dragons are only occasionally spoken of in tales (typically as humor-producing sidekicks to the main hero, or as hatchlings who need to be protected) while the older ones can be placed in the classic roles relatively easily. Elders ARE still near-mythical, so that ensures some remaining mysticism about them. They are meant to be personalities that shape things.

 

[painandgreed]

IMC, dragons are the first intelligent race, dating all the way back to the time of dinosaurs. Like many intelligent races, they were created by the mating of animistic forces (mountains and fire in the case of red dragns for example) in the spiritual world which created the first dragons whcih could be considered gods. Some of these dragon gods and their children migrated to the material world where they became as they are today. They developed the first language and the first use of magic. As a race, they have seen chaos invade the plane, mass extinctions, the birth of all other intelligent races including elves and dwarves. They also taught such races language and magic as they basically used them as servants and pets.

Dragons are solitary and pass one their knowledge from parent to child. Each one passes on as much knowledge and magic as they can up till the child decides to leave on their own. They do meet for reasons other than mating, including between the different types, to exchange knowledge. They seldom fight each other unless there is a conflict of territory or an attmpt to steal the others treasure, which they guard from their own kind, and then it is rarely to the death. Some dragons will even learn the languages of other race and converse with them to learn what they can. Along with knowledge, they seek treasure and horde metals, precious stones, and artifacts and magic of other races.

They rarely put any of their hoard of information or treasure to use. Unbothered by the elements, they typcially sleep anywhere although they do tend to reside in out of the way places so they won't be bothered by other creatures. Caves and lairs are usually only used when storing treasure.

 

[Ciaran]

In my heavily Norse-themed campaign, the great elder dragons gnaw on the roots of Yggdrasill, the World Tree. As these ancient wyrms have little to do but eat, sleep and engage in carnal relations, the world is subjected to regular waves of newly-hatched wyrmlings crawling up Yggdrasill's roots into Midgard. Even a baby dragon can be very dangerous, let alone one that has a chance to grow up, so there's a great demand for dragon-hunters to track down and kill the little pests.

 

[Chimera]

At the stage of my Homebrew that I am currently using, the Calaseans (powerful magic users) rule the world. Few races content with them.

The Dragons rule one entire continent. The Goblinoids (Goblins, Hobgoblins, Bugbears) are their thralls. There are no 'good' or 'evil' dragons per se. They all think that Humanoids are inferior and mostly only worthy as food or slaves.

The Dragons are allied with the Calaseans, although the bulk of the Dragon forces were destroyed at Kemensereg, a region-rending battle that ended with a blast that rendered that region uninhabitable for millenia, along with killing 3 million Calaseans, 60 million Human slaves, over 1 million Elorhim (enemies of the Calaseans) and tens of thousands of Dragons. (Along with destroying a Human demi-god and rendering one human god and the supreme god of the Calaseans 'unavailable' for hundreds of years, thus denying them access to higher than 4th level spells for several centuries!)

The remaining Dragons are slowly losing control of their subject races and losing their racial cohesion, as the Silvers and Golds start to question the Alliance and their own politics.

Had I been continuing the campaign (I quit for reasons I won't go into here), the PCs would have met, in different places, a couple of Golds who were acting as patron/protectors for some Halflings - trying to free at least part of that race from slavery, and a Very Old Silver who was pretending to be a Dwarven Lord.

 

[Kid Socrates]

In Final Fantasy Omega, the game I run:

There are two major dragons: Bahamut, the King of the Dragons, and Tiamat, Scourge of the Dragons. Both Bahamut and Tiamat are part of the Far Realm, the land of Aeons/Espers/Guardian Forces/things that can be summoned. Bahamut and Tiamat oppose each other. Bahamut has not been seen yet, and Tiamat is a seven-headed dragon the size of a city block.

Bahamut is essentially the ruler of the Aeons, though he is imprisoned now, as all Aeons are. He is communicating through a series of visions to the party summoner. Bahamut speaks in a massive echo-y voice, and uses no contractions to make him sound important and intimidating. Probably a little uppity, too, but I'm not a professional voice actor.

Tiamat is currently imprisoned in the Far Realm, seven heads held down by seven chains. A cult in the "real" world is raising Aspects of Tiamat, colored dragons that wreak havoc. When the Aspects are defeated, that head of Tiamat is unchained. When all seven are defeated, Tiamat will be free once again. So far they've gone through the Aspects of Fire (blue), Death, Corruption, Plague, and War, leaving Torture and Power.

I haven't used dragons anywhere else because they really wouldn't fit in, and would confuse the Bahamut/Tiamat angle I have going. In my next campaign, I'm going to give them a different role -- not that I've figured that out yet.

 

[RavenSinger]

In my homebrew, dragons are the last creation of the uber-goddess who created the gods and goddesses who in turn created the world. The dragons' purpose is to guard the Weave that is Magic, which they do until it is stolen from them by proto-humanoids. Half of the dragons are happy or don't care that the humanoids have it (metalic dragons), and half of them are ticked off (chromatic dragons). By the time period of the campaign, dragons have faded greatly, but they are known and feared.

 

[Sir Brennen]

For my world (Tian), Tiamat was a divine beast created by the original rulers of the earth, the Elemental Gods. I took her back somewhat to her mythological roots, and she was slain by the head of the pantheon - Marduk in Babylonian myth; Horan the Sun God IMC. In an early version of my campaign setting, her body formed the lone continent of the world. Dragons sprang from her corpse, much like pegasus from medusa. Chromatic Lizardfolk also formed where the drops of her blood fell on the land.

From my TiddlyWiki (link in sig):

When Horan slew the mighty chaos beast Tiamat, there emerged from her body five ancient dragons of differing colors, one for each severed chromatic head of the divine dragonesss. These great wyrms gave rise to the distinct lines of dragonkind. As they ventured about the world, dragons came to consider themselves the true inheritors of Tian, as they were the only mortal race borne of one fashioned by the first rulers of the material world, the Elemental Lords.

Though each line bears the mark of those gods in their being, dragons do not generally pay any special homage to them. Those few who bow before any higher power give worship to the lingering spirit of Tiamat, but most prefer the conceit that they themselves are near divine beings before whom all other races should tremble.

From the five original lines, other draconic beings have risen, not always from natural means. Some have resulted from exploration to other planes of existence, where the chromatic dragons have sought, on occasion, to extend their power. Conflict with the Fey resulted in the existence of the Linn wyrms that inhabit the Great Forest. The dragons of Tian were also not immune to the corruption of the Empty Lands (think OA Taint), and some of the most terrible of these beasts now dwell there.

Within the elemental energies roiling in their blood, dragons discovered a form of arcane magic before any other cultures had done so. While initially powerful, dragonic magic was ultimately unable to keep pace with the effects of more experienced divine and arcane spellcasters. The great beasts, however, refuse to acknowledge the achievements of the lesser races, believing they still hold the ultimate secrets to magical power. It is known that other mortal races with a trace of draconic blood in their veins can sometimes tap into this mystical energy of their ancestors.

One big implication for my world: No Good Dragons! The original five chromatics are still in existence, and are resevered for epic adventures (if I ever run one.)

The capital city of the Evil Empire (tm) is working with a blue dragon that routinely patrols (that is, terrorizes) the surrounding kingdoms on behalf of the empress.

 

[Aaron L]

I havent quite worked out the place of dragons in Alterra yet, but I do know they are elemental creatures combined with either celestial or fiendish power, coalescing out of the elemental energies left over from the begining of creation. Thet are the first sapient beings to arise on the Prime Material Plane, but werent Created intentionally like all the others. They exist on the border between mortal and divine.

I give them all divine rank 0 when they reach Great Wyrm stage, and all Good dragons have the half-celestial template, and Evil ones have the half-fiend template. But most dont reach that age because Good dragons and Evil dragons actively hunt each other down. There arent many dragons around, and those that are tend to be millennia old.


Ive got to give some more thought to this tonight.