How do you like your dragons?

[Psion]

This thread came up over at RPGnet. What do you think? How do you characterize dragons in your game?

(Yeah, yeah, save the cullinary jokes.)

As for me, in my game, dragons tend to fall into one of two major characterizations:

1) Forces of nature. Dragons were descended from two true elemental dragons who gave birth too immense powerful dragons beyond mortal comprehension. Over the eons, dragons have become less powerful than their forebears, and more mortal, but they still represent a raw, primal force of nature that can be unleashed at any time.

2) Toadies of the gods. Neutral dragons are beholden to the LN god of dragons and arbirters. When the divine council creates a decree, it is the dragons who carry it out.

 

[Desdichado]

3) Mythological. My players rarely (if ever) actually see a dragon, even if they do exist.

4) An ancient race, almost extinct (at least from the locale) that existed before humankind. Neither forces or nature nor toadies of the gods -- just an independent sentient race that happens to be more powerful than the current rulers of the world. Falls in line with the common mythological archetype of past golden ages, silver ages, bronze ages and the current "clay age."

 

[Piratecat]

5) Socioeconomic forces that shape nations, trade, and foreign policies. A dragon who wants to throw its weight around could build an empire up around it, populated by humans with too much to lose. In one minute, a motivated dragon can destroy the labor of years. For most people, it's easier to propitiate the dragon and meet its demands than it is to risk losing everything.

 

[MerakSpielman]

6. The true sorcerers. They disdain the wizardly attempts at understanding magic through intellect and logic. They are both born from magic and give birth to magic.
All dragons in my game have levels of sorcerer - making the older ones even more dangerous.

 

[mkletch]

I tend to use them in two particular roles:

1) enforcers of cosmic balance or decree
2) an ancient, dying race passed it heyday

If the latter, they tend to get used as adventure villains. For the former, dragons tend to be used as powerful, recurring NPCs that have campaign plot threads woven about them. The recurring NPCs have even ruled realms, large & small.

Sometimes, I even use them in both roles; some dragons follow their original divine mandate, others have become more petty (compared to the enforcers), but are still powerful creatures that have their own agendas.

-Fletch!

 

[mkletch]

6. The true sorcerers. They disdain the wizardly attempts at understanding magic through intellect and logic. They are both born from magic and give birth to magic.
All dragons in my game have levels of sorcerer - making the older ones even more dangerous.

Do you stack their sorcerer levels with their innate ability?

-Fletch!

 

[Asathas]

Two more answers...

7) Children of the gods. They were amongst the first creations of the gods and are the last semi-divine permanent residents of the prime material. They are neither servants of the gods nor their enemies but forces of nature unto themselves.

8) Grand chess players. Those that involve themselves in mortal affairs do so from behind the scenes, motivating grand changes, wars, alliances, and powers in the mortal world... often without the participants being aware of the masters that pull their strings.

FWIW... my campaign uses them as both 7 and 8.

 

[Quickbeam]

IMC, they're sorta like a combination of #1 from Psion's post and #5 as described in Piratecat's post, with a bit of extra special magical flavor to them. I don't know how good an answer or description that provides, but there ya go .

 

[Bastoche]

With ketchup

 

[Gez]

Do you stack their sorcerer levels with their innate ability?

-Fletch!

It's how WotC do them. See the Wyrm of the North column. The latest Iymrith or a spelling like that, is an ancient blue dragon with 7 level of sorcerer, and is considered a level 20-sorcerer. However, for purpose of a familiar -- if she did have one -- she would probably only be considered level 7.