How do Dragons Work


Lost Omens Campaign Setting General Discussion


Dumb question I know, since pathfinder is a cousin of Dungeon and DRAGONS. But hey, I am new to this game, so you can make fun of me if you want.

I am creating a world with an empire, where the party will start out and other nations or territories. One of my guys wants to be a Dragon Slayer of sorts and so I want there to be Dragons in my world.

But I was wondering how they would work. My idea is to have a nation/race that has allied with Dragons in their quest for power over all lands.

Would Dragons become an ally with Humanoids of any sorts?
Could some type of race or Humanoid be able to control Dragons or are they too intelligent?
How many Dragons should there be in my world?

I am just looking for some thoughts on how Dragons are generally thought to work in the Pathfinder world - I may stray from that a little bit, but I want to start with what is generally accepted.

Thanks,
John the new GM.


There was a 3.5 Paizo Product "Dragons Revisited" which gave Paizo's take on dragons and how dragons (or at least the ten races in the first Bestiary) operate on Golarion.
Whilst the stat blocks for specific dragons won't be much use to you (being for 3.5) there still should be four or five pages on each of those ten types of dragon which could be of assistance.
Besides the main adventure and other content, Pathfinder #4 "Fortress of the Stone Giants" also included a (mostly system neutral) short article on Golarion dragons including creation mythology, descent, and the obsession of some dragons with numerology. However, unless you fancy doing conversion work to use the other (3.5) material from Pathfinder #4, you're paying whatever the cover price is for only a fraction of the content.

Edit:
Actually there was a largely system neutral article on Stone Giant culture in Pathfinder #4 too.

Silver Crusade

Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

WotC's 3.5-era Dragonomicon remains the best dragon book, like, ever. Seriously, it's that good.

Contributor

Moved thread.


In the campaign setting there is a Gold Dragon that is a Dictator of a small island in the Steaming Sea

Grand Lodge

Pathfinder PF Special Edition, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

....They're working NINE TO FIVE..

...... what a way to make a living
My treasure is all getting taken' and no one is a givin'

Grand Lodge

Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber

There are a lot of ways of using Dragon's in your game. If you are running dragon's in Golarion the Dragons Revisited product does have tons of helpful content for your game from using Dragon's as masterminds to using them as minions. As far as if Dragons can be used for your idea, working in alliances with a kingdom or being manipulated that is totally up to you as the gm. There are tons of creative ways to make this plausible even if dragon's are super intelligent.

Here are a few ideas to kick-start you:


  • An orc rule whose family has an ancient blood pact with a dragon family
  • Dragon's manipulated by magic - e.g. artifact, spells, potions, poisoned water, etc
  • Dragon making the group think he is being manipulated but being secretly in control the whole time.
  • Even a particularly stupid dragon. White dragons are great for this.

There are tons of ways for you to pull them off. Remember, it is your game and the only thing that matters is that you and your players are enjoying the story and the games you play in it.

P.S. - I just thought of a great idea; an ancient elven family of wizards in a deep forest somewhere who has used powerful magic to manipulate the green dragon's of the forest as protectors. The city has been using the dragon's to stay safe but the family line has long since perished and the magic is about to fail. Will the PCs be able to restore the spell before the Dragon's are free to take revenge for centuries of slavery or will they have to fight an impossible dragon army or broker a deal to save the kingdom.

Thanks for the great post and the inspiration for something that I think will make a great campaign, feel free to use any of this stuff or disregard it and come p with your own way to use dragons. Have fun gaming.


Blackvial wrote:
In the campaign setting there is a Gold Dragon that is a Dictator of a small island in the Steaming Sea

Benevolent Dictator. Ot at least he claims so.

Liberty's Edge

Sometimes dragons do ally with lesser creatures, though it is unusual.

Copper dragons often make temporary agreements with delving creatures (such as gnomes, dwarves, and humans) to exchange metals. Black dragons form agreements, sometimes even official ones, with the lizardfolk that inhabit their swamps. Bronze and silver dragons sometimes adventure with humans and humanoids, though this is seen as vulgar and crass by the majority of dragonkind. Brass dragons are chatty and social enough to form agreements, and blues often position themselves to rule humanoid cities.

Perhaps the most clever and prolific of the agreement-forming dragons is the green. They make agreements with forest-dwelling creatures, sometimes even elves or unicorns, for control over part of a forest. The dragon attempts to expand these borders while the other forest dwellers either attempt to contain the dragon or wait until they finally have sufficient force to oust it.

Reds typically do not form alliances with humanoids beyond tributary ones (i.e. "give me tribute or I'll slaughter you horribly"), and whites live in fairly uninhabited territory. They don't gain the brain power necessary to make alliances until they finally have enough strength to do without. Gold dragons might take humanoids as vassals, but they believe themselves above other dragons, which places them far, far above even the greatest of humanoids.

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