Will Dragon cultural/politcal climate stay the same ?

[Dunamin]

This begs for metallic dragon villians.

Adventurers: "But... but you're the guardian of the villagers!"

Gold dragon: "Nah, I was just keeping competition away from my private meat field."

 

[Plane Sailing]

And what I mean by that is will the old relationships stay the same ?

I've never liked the idea of dragon society per se.

In fact I rather like Terry Pratchett's view on dragons (draco nobilis).

"The closest that a dragon can get to the concept of a friend is 'an enemy which is not dead yet'. "

I like my dragons to be universally avaricious, mean and nasty. Call me old-school in that regards

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

Depending on the size of the village the dragon will likely be greeted with a swarm of arrows or all villagers run away panicked from it. In either case it will not allow the dragon to influence the town politically in any way.

Except that a dragon without magic has no way to spend the money. Bribing the major personally is not an option and sending agents is very risky and inflexible (the dragon can't contact the minion or major but instead has to wait till they come to his, probably very secluded, lair to give them orders).

You keep saying this, and it just doesn't seem to become truer, regardless how often I read it. I don't think I am going to repeat myself anymore here.

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I think reducing the strong fixation on the typical alignments opens up a lot of new possibilities, but that doesn't mean you have to explore them all. I think it mostly serves to keep the players guessing - no more "color coding for your convenience" (unless the DM wants it that way ).

 

[Plane Sailing]

Depending on the size of the village the dragon will likely be greeted with a swarm of arrows or all villagers run away panicked from it. In either case it will not allow the dragon to influence the town politically in any way.



Except that a dragon without magic has no way to spend the money. Bribing the major personally is not an option and sending agents is very risky and inflexible (the dragon can't contact the minion or major but instead has to wait till they come to his, probably very secluded, lair to give them orders).

I know that you are not kidding, but come on... it is hard to come across any dragons in fantasy literature which are wizards/spell casters in the traditional D&D sense, but they are seen as major players in the politics of an area, certainly creatures which dominate towns and whole districts, all without any need for spellbooks or wizard spells.

You also completely overlook the idea of magic items in a dragons horde being used by dragons for, say, scrying. Heck, the DMG *cover* has a dragon using a crystal ball to scry on adventurers!

Cheers

 

[vagabundo]

Depending on the size of the village the dragon will likely be greeted with a swarm of arrows or all villagers run away panicked from it. In either case it will not allow the dragon to influence the town politically in any way.



Except that a dragon without magic has no way to spend the money. Bribing the major personally is not an option and sending agents is very risky and inflexible (the dragon can't contact the minion or major but instead has to wait till they come to his, probably very secluded, lair to give them orders).

Oh come on, all the dragon has to do is make a few secluded contacts to deliver messages, some hunter out in the forest. They are smart, motivated and live a long time, they will easily control all villages and towns within the vicinity if they want too.

Some dragons will be interested in many minions and other wont. Some maybe interested in human magic and take some levels, others wont.

 

[Fenes]

And Derren seems to assume that every NPC other than the Dragon is doing nothing. If there's someone with power, some daring/greedy people will approach them to make a deal. The dragon could "help out" a mayor just by providing a distraction/threat, to allow the mayor to appear to save the town from this, no money even needed.

 

[UngainlyTitan]

Heroes burst into the dragon's lair, finding the dragon sitting in the middle of an empty floor.

"Where's your hoard?!"

The dragon smirks. "Tied in investments, bonds, and collateral."

I have a vague memory of a setting (or perhaps a book) where the dragons were the bankers.

It would take more than the average bandit to knock off a gold shippment escorted by a couple of dragons.

 

[Derren]

I know that you are not kidding, but come on... it is hard to come across any dragons in fantasy literature which are wizards/spell casters in the traditional D&D sense,

Except in D&D. There dragons have a tradition of being spellcasters.

You also completely overlook the idea of magic items in a dragons horde being used by dragons for, say, scrying. Heck, the DMG *cover* has a dragon using a crystal ball to scry on adventurers!

Great, now every time the PCs slay a dragon they a wagons full of magical items the dragon needed to function properly. So much for balance.

Oh come on, all the dragon has to do is make a few secluded contacts to deliver messages, some hunter out in the forest. They are smart, motivated and live a long time, they will easily control all villages and towns within the vicinity if they want too.

If the dragon approaches a hunter and tells him to deliver a message than most likely the whole town will know about that dragon. Influencing the politics of that town is impossible than as everyone will be on the guard. Also to be really into politics the dragon needs regular contact with the people he influences.

Some dragons will be interested in many minions and other wont. Some maybe interested in human magic and take some levels, others wont.

And those dragons who don't are those whho only sit in their cave doing nothing until teh adventurers come and slay them. The only thing they can do is maybe to threaten some small villages and raid caravans. But that are heroic tier adventures suitable for level 1-10 adventurers. So either the dragon is just a low level monster or the dragon does not function properly.

And Derren seems to assume that every NPC other than the Dragon is doing nothing. If there's someone with power, some daring/greedy people will approach them to make a deal. The dragon could "help out" a mayor just by providing a distraction/threat, to allow the mayor to appear to save the town from this, no money even needed.

Quite the opposite. I assume that the other NPCs are active, that they investigate when suddenly some messengers come and go to uninhabited territory. I also assume that any minions the dragon has also has a live besides being a combat statblock and require food, housing and equipment.

 

[Fenes]

I think you incorrectly assume that all those minions have no other life than serving the dragon, 24/7 and live with him.

Once you assume minions could have their own house/town/castle, working with/for the dragon, then your question answers itself. Some kobolds worshipping the dragon may live near his lair. But the corrupt mayor using the fear of the dragon to stay in power (and skim some money from the tribute to the dragon) has his house. The trader travelling through (and keeping an eye out for the Dragon's interest) has his house somewhere, and a comfortable wagon.

And in 4E, the world's a dangerous place. Such investigators trailing the mayor on his hunting trips turn up missing when the dragon eats them, and half a dozen other threats can be blamed.

I would assume that the Dragons are quite capable to threaten entire cities and kingdoms. Apaprt from breathing fire - which can ruin entire cities in no time - burning crops hit and run style, or poisoning a river can effect an entire country. Kidnapping is another option to gain influence.

 

[UngainlyTitan]

Except in D&D. There dragons have a tradition of being spellcasters.

Great, now every time the PCs slay a dragon they a wagons full of magical items the dragon needed to function properly. So much for balance.



If the dragon approaches a hunter and tells him to deliver a message than most likely the whole town will know about that dragon. Influencing the politics of that town is impossible than as everyone will be on the guard. Also to be really into politics the dragon needs regular contact with the people he influences.
And those dragons who don't are those whho only sit in their cave doing nothing until teh adventurers come and slay them. The only thing they can do is maybe to threaten some small villages and raid caravans. But that are heroic tier adventures suitable for level 1-10 adventurers. So either the dragon is just a low level monster or the dragon does not function properly.




Quite the opposite. I assume that the other NPCs are active, that they investigate when suddenly some messengers come and go to uninhabited territory. I also assume that any minions the dragon has also has a live besides being a combat statblock and require food, housing and equipment.

First off if the dragon is on the same side as the town or a majority theirin, it is less of a porblem. Plus as i see it, you can have a dragon for all occasions

There is the lone dragon in a cave in the mountains with little magic or treasure just a big mean fighting machine.

Then there is the magic using dragon engaged in arcane research on a lofty mountain top somewhere and there is the polymorphed dragon that is the head of local goldsmiths guild