toucanbuzz
No rule is inviolate
...in our last Dragonlance (5E converted) session, the party brought a Dragon Orb into the heart of Sanction, epicenter for the Dark Queen's armies...and when things were looking really bad, almost used it, then chickened out (because they know the orbs are insanely crazy to control, having used them once).
For those who know what Dragon Orbs do in the Dragonlance setting,
would have been something epic that in no way, shape, or form I would have been prepared to DM given the draconian and dragon presence in Sanction. The thought of the campaign going on an epic curve, though, would've been cool.
For those who know what Dragon Orbs do in the Dragonlance setting,
They were designed to summon all evil dragons within roughly a 40-mile radius to the orb, where they would go berserk; archmages of old made the orbs so only the most powerful of them could use them safely and would destroy the evil dragons with powerful spells. They also make Draconians go "confused" for an hour.
My 5E converted Dragon Orbs require 3 opposed checks of INT, WIS, and CHA versus the ancient dragon within (white, green, red, blue, or black), taking 1 minute. If you win 2/3, you can make the Orb work for that encounter. If you fail, the Orb tries to take you over, requiring three more opposed checks to escape it, 2/3 to succeed.