D&D 5E Incubation time for dragon egg?

[AriochQ]

Not to go all Game of Thrones, but the party is about to run into a pair of mated black dragons, so I though it may be an interesting twist to have a dragon egg in the lair.

What do people think would be a reasonable incubation time for a dragon egg? Turtles take about 3 months, chickens about a month. I think a long incubation time is preferable from a storytelling perspective. Has there been a general consensus drawn from fantasy works? (Dragonriders of Pern, GoT, etc.)

Thoughts?

 

[Mirtek]

IIRC the times were listed in the respective 2e, 3e and 4e Draconomicons

 

[Merchant of Shadows]

Depends on your plot. If I were you - it will hatch a bit after they have stopped believing that it will ever hatch

 

[jodyjohnson]

A baby dragon is never late, it arrives precisely when it means to. (Or when the DM does)

Since they don't know when the egg was laid, they won't have a reference for when it should hatch.

 

[jgsugden]

Per 2003 WotC Information....

http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ex/20031107a

Table 1-1: Dragon Egg Characteristics

Color ... Total Incubation Size
Black ...480 days Tiny
Blue ... 600 days Small
Brass ... 480 days Tiny
Bronze ...600 days Small
Copper ...540 days Tiny
Gold ... 720 days Medium
Green ... 480 days Small
Red ... 660 days Medium
Silver ... 660 days Small
White ... 420 days Tiny

 

[iserith]

Dragon eggs hatch at the most dramatic time possible.

 

[AriochQ]

Per 2003 WotC Information....

http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ex/20031107a

Table 1-1: Dragon Egg Characteristics

Color ... Total Incubation Size
Black ...480 days Tiny
Blue ... 600 days Small
Brass ... 480 days Tiny
Bronze ...600 days Small
Copper ...540 days Tiny
Gold ... 720 days Medium
Green ... 480 days Small
Red ... 660 days Medium
Silver ... 660 days Small
White ... 420 days Tiny

Exactly what I was looking for! Thanks.

(And trust me, it will actually hatch when dramatically appropriate lol)

 

[cmad1977]

Depends on your plot. If I were you - it will hatch a bit after they have stopped believing that it will ever hatch

Exactly. Dragon eggs hatch at thematically appropriate moments. It's well documented on dragonmd.com

 

[AriochQ]

Well it will be a black dragon egg, so maybe I should start a nature/nurture thread! lol

 

[Eltab]

What do people think would be a reasonable incubation time for a dragon egg?

About 3 days after the PCs find it ... as long as they can maintain the proper environment for it.

What do you plan to do if one PC decides he wants to break open the egg and harvest the contents for Extra-Powerful Spell Components?
(For HotDQ, I suggested slaying the embryo inside and taking it to a taxidermist to be mounted as a footstool. With some additional work, I could magically animate it to look up when people enter the room and take a big indrawn breath, like it's going to unleash an Alpha Strike on them.)