Dragon
True dragons are winged reptiles of ancient lineage and fearsome power. They are known and feared for their predatory cunning and greed, with the oldest dragons accounted as some of the most powerful creatures in the worlds. Dragons are also magical creatures whose innate power fuels their dreaded breath weapons and other preternatural abilities.
Many creatures, including Wyverns and Dragon Turtles, have draconic blood. However, true dragons fall into the three broad categories of Chromatic, Metallic, and Gem Dragons. The Black, Blue, Green, Red, and White Dragons are descendants of Tiamat, and her evil nature infects them all. Even the best chromatic dragons constantly struggle with the power and influence of Tiamat. The Brass, Bronze, Copper, Gold, and Silver Dragons descend from Bahamut, the Platinum Dragon, and his nature makes them tend towards honor and justice. However, this doesn't stop the most selfish or prideful metallic dragons from committing horrific acts. Finally, the Amethyst, Crystal, Emerald, Sapphire, and Topaz Dragons descend from Sardior, a god long dead, who's influence has faded with time. As such, they are as likely to be evil or good.
Dragons originate in The Void, the creation of Sardior, Bahamut, and Tiamat, which is connected to many other planes similar to The Overworld. This is partially why dragons have spread so far. However, there is a unique phenomenon to dragons. Having been created by three separate gods, their souls are incredibly powerful, and resonate across the planes. When a new dragon is born, there is a chance that it will be a reflection of an existing dragon on a different plane. These "echoes" can be quite similar, or completely different to the original dragon, but they are intrinsically connected to the original dragon all the same.
Hoards
Though their goals and ideals vary tremendously, all true dragons covet wealth, hoarding mounds of coins and gathering gems, jewels, and magic items. Dragons with large hoards are loath to leave them for long, venturing out of their lairs only to patrol or feed. Hoarding treasure is an essential part of draconic nature. It’s not that dragons are overwhelmingly greedy, as other peoples understand the term— though some dragons definitely are. Nor are they simply attracted to shiny objects in the manner of magpies. Rather, hoards are extensions of dragons’ inherently magical nature—resonators that focus their magic and link them to the magic of The Severed Expanse. Dragons thrum with the magical energy that suffuses the Severed Expanse, and this energy is amplified by their possession of material things. In practical terms, this means dragons’ power is related to both age and the size of their hoards in ways that clever dragons—and would-be dragonslayers—can exploit.Wyrmlings
Wyrmling dragons begin acquiring hoards as soon as they can fly, but their small scope of operations makes them unlikely to amass more than a few hundred gold pieces worth of treasure and perhaps a handful of magic items. If sharing a lair with other wyrmlings or adult dragons, the wyrmlings stash their hoards in their own distinct portions of the lair. Otherwise, they keep their treasure in secret caches near where they sleep.Young Dragons
As dragons transition from wyrmling to young age, at around five years, they also begin to look for their first permanent lairs and amass more substantial hoards, which grow in value to many thousands of gold pieces. Young dragons keep their hoards safe in the same central location where they sleep. Such dragons typically do not yet impose regional effects, but these effects might begin to manifest as the dragons’ connections to their lairs develop. You can add regional effects and even lair actions to young dragons, particularly for dragons who have acquired an unusually large hoard. These dragons might not be old enough to fully step into the power of an adult, but gathering such a hoard makes them more powerful than other dragons of a similar age.Adult Dragons
A dragon’s transition to adulthood is measured by two milestones: a century of life and a hoard worth around 15,000 gp or more. A hoard of that size binds dragon, lair, and territory together in a tangle of magical energy that makes the dragon truly legendary, empowering the dragon’s legendary actions and lair actions and spreading draconic influence throughout the area as regional effects. As dragons age and amass larger hoards, they tend to establish multiple lairs. This serves partly to mitigate risk—there’s less chance of a dragon losing an entire hoard in a single burglary if that hoard is spread across multiple locations—and partly to extend the dragon’s magical influence across a growing territory. The treasure cache stored in each lair anchors the dragon’s power there even when the dragon isn’t present, extending the reach of regional effects. Dragons typically establish new caches as their hoard reaches multiples of 15,000 gp. Throughout their adult years, dragons can each assemble six to eight caches in multiple lairs spread across the greater part of a continent.Ancient Dragons
Around the age of eight hundred years, dragons take on ancient status, by which time they have typically amassed eight to ten caches whose total value is at least 200,000 gp. Ancient dragons continue expanding their hoards as the centuries wear on, increasing both the number of caches and the value of each cache, until their total wealth can exceed a million gold pieces.Linking Hoards
A dragon dividing a hoard often apportions one or more pieces from a linked set of objects to each treasure cache. This practice strengthens the mystical link among the portions of the divided hoard, helping to maintain the dragon’s claim of ownership over the parts of the hoard far from the dragon’s current location and unifying scattered caches into what is effectively a single hoard.Plundering a Hoard
Because dragons’ power is linked to treasure, it’s possible to weaken a dragon by plundering the dragon’s lair. By gaining access to a hoard and making off with a significant portion of that wealth, characters can diminish the dragon’s connection to both that lair and its associated territory. As a rule of thumb, if a dragon’s lair no longer holds at least 10,000 gp worth of treasure, the site is no longer considered a lair. The dragon can’t use lair actions there, and the regional effects surrounding the lair end or fade as if the dragon had died. Theoretically, it’s possible to strip an adult or ancient dragon of legendary status by plundering the dragon’s entire hoard across all its locations. For this to work, the dragon would have to be magically bound or otherwise prevented from interfering with the looting—but that sort of binding might be easier than killing a powerful legendary dragon.Dragonsight
Dragons rarely develop an ability called "dragonsight", where they become aware of these other incarnations, eventually even being able to communicate with these echoes. This is most common among ancient dragons, as well as gem dragons. Dragons with this ability gain vast amounts of knowledge about other planes, and eventually become experts of worlds not their own, depending on how many echoes they have. This is not the only use for an echo, however. Some dragons can absorb the power, consciousnesses, or even bodies of their echoes to increase their power. Eventually, they gain the power to rival even gods, becoming Greatwyrms. This process can be willing for the echoes, or it can be done unwillingly, depending on the method.Undeath
Despite their incredible life spans, some dragons pursue Undeath to extend their existences. Others stumble into undeath unwillingly or unwittingly. Either way, an Undead dragon is a force to be reckoned with. Dracoliches are created by cultists or necromancers who either persuade or trick a dragon into undergoing a foul ritual. There are other kinds of draconic undead, such as the Hollow Dragon, Draconic Shards, and Ghost Dragons, but whatever form an Undead dragon takes, the creature’s transformation ripples throughout the planes. Every dragon has echoes on other worlds, and when one dragon violates the natural cycle of life and death, that dragon’s echoes are often affected—particularly in the case of dracoliches. A dracolich’s echoes suffer a wasting affliction that spreads out from the dracolich like a contagion. Afflicted dragons grow increasingly violent and cruel, and the physical deterioration they experience from aging accelerates. This wasting can even drive an affected dragon to seek out undeath.Basic Information
Genetics and Reproduction
Five adult or older dragons of different kinds come together to create a clutch of eggs, with each giving up a bit of life energy as part of the process. This clutch of eggs hatches five dragons of different kinds, depending on the dragons making up the conclave.
Occasionally, when an adult or older dragon dies, one or more eggs form in the dragon’s decomposing body. These eggs might grow like fungus as the body rots away, they could appear among the ashes after the body is consumed by fire, or they might need to be mined out from a corpse that has turned to solid stone or metal.
Love occasionally blossoms between dragons and creatures of other kinds, and this life bond can result in Half-Dragon children. Most half-dragons born of love are created as a magical gift.
Growth Rate & Stages
True dragons pass through four distinct stages of life, from lowly wyrmlings to ancient dragons, which can live for over a thousand years. In that time, their might can become unrivaled and their hoards can grow beyond price
| Category | Size | Age Range |
|---|---|---|
| Wyrmling | Medium | 5 years or less |
| Young | Large | 6-100 years |
| Adult | Huge | 101-800 years |
| Ancient | Gargantuan | 801 years or more |
Biological Cycle
When a dragon dies, the power enfleshed in the dragon doesn’t just disappear from the world. Over time, it disperses, but in the moments
immediately surrounding the dragon’s death, it can be passed on to others—or claimed. Sometimes a dragon’s death gives rise to an egg, transferring the dragon’s power directly to a new generation. In other cases, a dragon at the brink of death invests power into another creature—usually a dragon, but sometimes a sovereign, a sage, or an adventurer. Moreover, those who slay a dragon could seize the dragon’s power. The benefit conferred by this transfer of power is varies wildly, and is as unique as dragons are.
A dying dragon might willingly pass on power in different ways. The most common process is for the recipient to inhale the dragon’s dying breath—which often involves being subjected to at least a diminished form of the dragon’s breath weapon. A gem dragon might psionically implant a gemstone in the recipient’s body that carries the dragon’s power. A dragon might instead lay a claw on the recipient or bequeath a piece of treasure as an embodiment of the transferred power.
When a dragon dies a violent death, the dragon’s power might linger in the corpse for a short time. Drinking or bathing in the dragon’s blood; sleeping entombed in the carcass; or consuming the dragon’s heart, brain, eyes, breath-producing organ, or muscle can be an effective way of claiming the fallen creature’s magical might. Using a dragon’s corpse this way might be a trial in itself, as the lingering energies in the body can cause serious injury even after the dragon’s death.
It’s also possible for a dragon’s power to transfer immediately and automatically to creatures that participate in the dragon’s death or that are present when the dragon dies. A burst of power might emanate from the dragon at the moment of death, affecting each creature within 300 feet of the body. Or a fragment of power might enter every creature that has dealt damage to the dragon over the course of the dragon’s life.
Genetic Descendants
Comments