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<blockquote data-quote="EzekielRaiden" data-source="post: 9826405" data-attributes="member: 6790260"><p>I too love dragons, so we are not too different on that front, at least. I find the pinnacle of fantasy is in the variety, what we can <em>do</em> with such vast horizons, but certainly dragons are one of the great products of fantasy fiction.</p><p></p><p></p><p>Ah, so he leans a little bit more Chaotic than Good? That is, he'll fight problems when he comes across them, but he won't seek out problems to solve. That opens opportunities for interesting storytelling, because one of the best ways to add depth to a freewheeling character is for them to start growing <em>attachments</em> to people (or groups of people), places, ideals, or causes.</p><p></p><p></p><p>Well, the two big issues with power are (1) that it easily goes to your head--especially for <em>dragons</em>, given how easy it is for them to think themselves better than anyone else--and (2) that it can make you feel <em>more</em> fragile, not less.</p><p></p><p></p><p>The problem with "why not" is that it doesn't really tell us much about the character, their motives, their personality, or what they've grown or struggled through. Instead, it leaves the character opaque and difficult to relate to. Generally, if one wants to create something compelling for others, you have to give the character motivations that make sense (they can be wrong, foolish, bad, or otherwise--it just needs to make sense that the character would do that thing.)</p><p></p><p>"To see if it could be done" is of a similar type--it's a more pro-active version of "why not"--but the other two are much more useful. The first speaks of someone with a genuinely insatiable appetite for novelty. That's a useful and interesting character trait, because it provides motivations (as discussed), <em>and</em> it provides clear opportunities for the character to do stuff that is wrong, foolish, bad, or otherwise negative, for reasons that make sense. So, for example, your dragon might get really impatient about learning about anything that he doesn't think very important (e.g., not magic), which might mean that even though he's very smart, he's actually hobbled himself intellectually by neglecting anything but his special fixations. Or for another example, he might have difficulties processing his emotions, and thus runs away from any meaningful relationships not because he doesn't want them, but because he's afraid of experiencing his feelings. Or for a third example, perhaps he is kind of superficial and shallow--his hunger for absolute novelty means he never gets more than a superficial taste of anything he's gone through, leaving him ill-informed and prone to impulsive behavior or naivete.</p><p></p><p></p><p>I'm not really sure I understand what that entails, and more importantly, why Mr. dragon is the only person who has figured this out. If it's as simple as "lifespan" and "needing power", then creatures like liches, ancient vampires, elves, demons, celestials, etc. would all be doing the same thing--such beings have been around for millennia before Mr. dragon hatched.</p><p></p><p></p><p>I think it would serve you better to actually tell <strong>this</strong> story, rather than telling the story of the impressive power at his command and what he does with it. This sounds like a long, challenging experience, where he had to learn from his mistakes, overcome his limitations, avoid dangers or rivals along the way, etc. Consider expanding on this significantly. This will, almost surely, be the most interesting part of your dragon's life.</p><p></p><p></p><p>I don't think it would lead to a "god" at all, at least in any of the senses D&D uses the term. That much arcane power concentrated in one place would produce some kind of self-sustaining magic elemental, a being of raw arcane power, functionally an infant consciousness of magic itself. Collecting primal essences, I would expect that to spontaneously manifest a new plane of existence, again in its infancy, slowly becoming some particular world with its own set of rules. For all of this power to be shackled and controlled by one person, even a dragon, I would think the danger of losing control would dissuade them from doing it at all--and that this dragon, if this is what he did, should definitely add "arrogance" to his list of flaws, for doing something so dangerous without any proof that it wouldn't kill him...or worse.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="EzekielRaiden, post: 9826405, member: 6790260"] I too love dragons, so we are not too different on that front, at least. I find the pinnacle of fantasy is in the variety, what we can [I]do[/I] with such vast horizons, but certainly dragons are one of the great products of fantasy fiction. Ah, so he leans a little bit more Chaotic than Good? That is, he'll fight problems when he comes across them, but he won't seek out problems to solve. That opens opportunities for interesting storytelling, because one of the best ways to add depth to a freewheeling character is for them to start growing [I]attachments[/I] to people (or groups of people), places, ideals, or causes. Well, the two big issues with power are (1) that it easily goes to your head--especially for [I]dragons[/I], given how easy it is for them to think themselves better than anyone else--and (2) that it can make you feel [I]more[/I] fragile, not less. The problem with "why not" is that it doesn't really tell us much about the character, their motives, their personality, or what they've grown or struggled through. Instead, it leaves the character opaque and difficult to relate to. Generally, if one wants to create something compelling for others, you have to give the character motivations that make sense (they can be wrong, foolish, bad, or otherwise--it just needs to make sense that the character would do that thing.) "To see if it could be done" is of a similar type--it's a more pro-active version of "why not"--but the other two are much more useful. The first speaks of someone with a genuinely insatiable appetite for novelty. That's a useful and interesting character trait, because it provides motivations (as discussed), [I]and[/I] it provides clear opportunities for the character to do stuff that is wrong, foolish, bad, or otherwise negative, for reasons that make sense. So, for example, your dragon might get really impatient about learning about anything that he doesn't think very important (e.g., not magic), which might mean that even though he's very smart, he's actually hobbled himself intellectually by neglecting anything but his special fixations. Or for another example, he might have difficulties processing his emotions, and thus runs away from any meaningful relationships not because he doesn't want them, but because he's afraid of experiencing his feelings. Or for a third example, perhaps he is kind of superficial and shallow--his hunger for absolute novelty means he never gets more than a superficial taste of anything he's gone through, leaving him ill-informed and prone to impulsive behavior or naivete. I'm not really sure I understand what that entails, and more importantly, why Mr. dragon is the only person who has figured this out. If it's as simple as "lifespan" and "needing power", then creatures like liches, ancient vampires, elves, demons, celestials, etc. would all be doing the same thing--such beings have been around for millennia before Mr. dragon hatched. I think it would serve you better to actually tell [B]this[/B] story, rather than telling the story of the impressive power at his command and what he does with it. This sounds like a long, challenging experience, where he had to learn from his mistakes, overcome his limitations, avoid dangers or rivals along the way, etc. Consider expanding on this significantly. This will, almost surely, be the most interesting part of your dragon's life. I don't think it would lead to a "god" at all, at least in any of the senses D&D uses the term. That much arcane power concentrated in one place would produce some kind of self-sustaining magic elemental, a being of raw arcane power, functionally an infant consciousness of magic itself. Collecting primal essences, I would expect that to spontaneously manifest a new plane of existence, again in its infancy, slowly becoming some particular world with its own set of rules. For all of this power to be shackled and controlled by one person, even a dragon, I would think the danger of losing control would dissuade them from doing it at all--and that this dragon, if this is what he did, should definitely add "arrogance" to his list of flaws, for doing something so dangerous without any proof that it wouldn't kill him...or worse. [/QUOTE]
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