Rules: Dragon Eggs

Although it contains a living embryo, treat a dragon egg as an inanimate object with the following statistics.

Incubating Dragon Eggs

Once laid, a dragon egg requires suitable incubation conditions if it is to hatch. The basic requirements depend on the kind of dragon, as described below. The embryonic wyrmling inside a dragon egg can survive under inadequate incubation conditions, but not for long. For every hour during which incubation conditions are not met, the wyrmling must make a Constitution check (DC 15 +1 per previous check; an embryonic wyrmling has the same Constitution score as a hatched wyrmling) to survive.
An embryonic wyrmling inside a dragon egg becomes sentient as it enters the final quarter of the incubation period.
Dragon egg incubation conditions are as follows:
Black: The egg must be immersed in acid strong enough to deal at least 1d4 points of damage per round, or sunk in a swamp, bog, or marsh.
Blue: For half of each day, the egg must be kept in a temperature of 90°F to 120°F, followed by a half day at 40°F to 60°F.
Brass: The egg must be kept in an open flame or in a temperature of at least 140°F.
Bronze: The egg must be immersed in a sea or ocean or someplace where tidewaters flow over it at least twice a day.
Copper: The egg must be immersed in acid strong enough to deal at least 1d4 points of damage per round of exposure, or packed in cool sand or clay (40°F to 60°F).
Gold: The egg must be kept in an open flame or in a temperature of at least 140°F.
Green: The egg must be immersed in acid strong enough to deal at least 1d4 points of damage per round, or buried in leaves moistened with rainwater.
Red: The egg must be kept in an open flame or in a temperature of at least 140°F.
Silver: The egg must be buried in snow, encased in ice, or kept in a temperature below 0°F.
White: The egg must be buried in snow, encased in ice, or kept in a temperature below 0°F.

Hatching Dragon Eggs

To hatch, a wyrmling needs to break out of its shell. From its position inside the egg, the wyrmling cannot bite the eggshell, and the wyrmling’s claws are too weak to overcome the shell’s hardness. To escape the egg, the wyrmling must break the shell by making a DC 20 Strength check. Fortunately for the wyrmling, it can simply take 20 on the check, breaking the shell in about 2 minutes.
To determine the day on which the eggs in a clutch hatch, roll 1d10. On an odd number, the eggs hatch 1d10 days earlier than the norm (see Table 1–1). On an even number, the eggs hatch 1d10 days later than the norm.
If the egg has been tended by at least one of the wyrmling’s parents, it needs to make no further checks to survive.
If incubation conditions have been less than ideal, however, the wyrmling must make a Constitution check to survive. The table below provides a list of circumstances and the DC of the Constitution check to survive despite the bad conditions.
In the case of a disturbed nest or an egg removed from a nest, the creature tending the egg may make a Heal check, with a +1 bonus if the creature has 5 or more ranks of Knowledge (arcana). The wyrmling can use either its own Constitution check result or the Heal check result, whichever is higher.
Opening an egg before the final quarter of the incubation period causes the wyrmling inside to die. If the egg is opened during the final quarter of the incubation period, the wyrmling can make a check to survive, but if successful it takes nonlethal damage equal to its current hit points. This damage cannot be healed until the wyrmling’s normal incubation period passes, and the wyrmling remains staggered for the entire period. During this period, a prematurely hatched wyrmling must be tended in the same manner as an unhatched egg in order to survive.