Do dragons ever share a lair?

[Yqatuba]

I think if they are siblings or mates they might. I can also see an evil dragon having another dragon (presumably a much less powerful one) as it's slave.

[Nox Aeterna]

I go by the draconomicon.

So it is a no to me for the most part. You might meet 2, or more, in a single lair, but that would be based on one visiting it for some reason, not because they both live there.

Now the exception apparently is when they are very, very young. So an older dragon, usually but not necessarily, a parent would share the lair for a little while until the babies grow some years to teach them. After that, they get kicked out one way or the other.

[MrCharisma]

Those all seem plausable to me.

[Darigaaz the Igniter]

A mated pair (usually young adults), a parent raising a clutch, or a clutch sticking together without a parent are usually the main times you'd see multiple dragons sharing a lair. That being said, the slave scenario is not completely without merit, but the master would have to be much much more powerful.

[deuxhero]

Family is absolutely fine if dragons have a family structure. They could fertilize eggs like fish and/or leave children to survive on their own like sea turtles (would explain how wyrmlings are monsters without parents that dwarf their CR though).

Aside from that, Red Hand of Doom potentially has

Spoiler:

Multiple chromatic dragons sharing a nest if the earlier dragon bosses escape or are ignored entirely. This is in direct service to Tiamat though.

[Noir le Lotus]

Didn't Dragons Revisited say that there was some collaboration between some chromatic and metallic dragons ?

IIRC, there was the case of green and copper dragons having a tendency to cooperate in their common quest for knowledge ? I would totally see a pair of those sharing their lair in an antique library (with a tribe of librarian kobolds) ... Imagine the face of PCs when they arrive in the lair and realize the dragons hoard is just a ton of ancients tomes ...

[Klorox]

I have several possibilities for that: 2 mates sharing the same lair complex (but likely keeping 2 separate hoards, sharing one's hoard with anybody is not something I seen any dragon, even the most tolerant and generous, do easily... or a young mother with wyrmling offspring... but the young get expelled as soon as they can fend off for themselves.

[Klorox]

I haven't read Dragons Revisited... and I'm more of a traditional D&D man than a specialist in Golarion lore... but to me, Chromatic and Metallic collaborating is a very rare instance, in most case this would be because they worship a dragon god other than Bahamut or Tiamat... mostly Io or some lesser dragon deity that is likely neutral in regard to good and evil.

[W E Ray]

In addition to RHoD previously mentioned, in “Dragons’ Delve” by Chris Perkins (Dungeon mid ‘90s), two parent Crystal Dragons and their mischievous toddler Dragon share a lair, though the family and their lair are not central to the adventure (just the baby Dragon who, from hiding, throws snowballs at some trekking Dwarves who flee from the ‘horrible ambush’ in terror, and beg the PCs for help with the mysterious monster.)

So there is precedent in at least a couple places.

.... But I'd still say it's the purview of the DM. I feel a good generalization is that Dragons are solitary, but a DM or designer can always make a dynamic exception.

[Meirril]

As always, whatever works best for the story happens.

That said, can you imagine 2 dragons in an adventurer infested area fall in love and the father goes off to guard his own lair leaving his mate to defend her nest by herself? I could imagine 2 dragons entering a long term relationship and sharing a horde if they were inspired to do so by circumstances.

One of the dragons might be older and more dominant. Or they could be affected by coming in contact with lesser races and attempt this thing called love, romance and marriage. The male could even set up his own separate horde but I can't see him leaving it at a different location if the intention is to guard the clutch of eggs/hatchlings.

Also other races could become involved. Imagine 2 adult dragons captured by a cult of Lamashtu. Wouldn't they want to mate the dragons as often as possible to release a flood of dragonspawn? They wouldn't even care if the dragons were the same type, or if they mated with other kinds of creatures. Probably a top priority would be to find a way to get a male dragon to successfully breed with other creatures to produce lots of Lamashtu marked offspring.

[Dave Justus]

Millennial Dragons often remain in their parents lairs for eons.

[djdust]

Dave Justus wrote:

Millennial Dragons often remain in their parents lairs for eons.

to be fair, the job market just sucks.

There's a brother and sister pair of white dragons living in the Fogpeaks, I think, I might be making it up as I can't find the reference now.

[Dave Justus]

djdust wrote:

Dave Justus wrote:

Millennial Dragons often remain in their parents lairs for eons.

to be fair, the job market just sucks.

Free Hoards for All!

[Meirril]

Dave Justus wrote:

djdust wrote:

Dave Justus wrote:

Millennial Dragons often remain in their parents lairs for eons.

to be fair, the job market just sucks.

Free Hoards for All!

Oh gods, next they'll start complaining about the Labyrinth market and how all the ancient dragons are driving up the market value.

[djdust]

they should all just retire already, sheesh!

[BENSLAYER]

Does it have to be two True Dragons?

Off-the-cuff idea:

I can see the rare instance of Change Shape (Su) enabling the passing wooing of an Humanoid, resulting in a child that the Dragon is unaware of - only decades later to be tracked down by their Half-Dragon offspring. For the first time in centuries it is surprised but due to hubris feigns detachment, going along with this tiny Creature's "amusing nonsense" of insisting that they are going move into the lair, demanding to be taught Arcane knowledge, get "this mess sorted"; etc. The Dragon goes along with some of it out of the sheer novelty, possibly even a sense of responsibility in line with their Alignment, fully expecting to quickly become bored and kick their offspring out like any other unwanted interloper. This keeps being put off as their child is useful. Prideful. Powerful (for their age). Organized. Intelligent. Still skewed by the lesser morality of the short-lived Creatures, yet remarkably ... Draconic. Through the inertia that long-lived Creatures tend to fall into, this Half-Dragon offspring is passively allowed to evolve into their personal assistant and diplomat with the Humanoids in the area, even occasionally falling into a pattern of "organizing" their parent (with limited success). Additionally, as they are not a "true" Dragon, there is no challenge to the hierarchy/Dragon's sense of superiority.

At this point, instead of over-reaching by seeking a Dragon as a benefactor/ally, a Party has been given a possible intermediary closer to their Level. This Half-Dragon can act as quest-giver, rival, misconstrued "victim" in need of "rescue", temporary ally, sign-poster to secret/ancient treasures and yes, (*sigh*), even a potential love interest. You have a Sorcerer with the Draconic Bloodline who needs spurring onto becoming a Dragon Disciple? Here is your P.C.'s dream/prompt in action. Want to earn recognition so that you have opportunities to pit your wits against an ancient mind? Here is the starting point. Want to try slowly ingratiating yourself so as to rob a Dragon blind? Well, you can certainly try ... Players might be as engaged as the G.M. with developing this scenario - a way of transforming the Half-Dragon into a True Dragon might be discovered and now the Party have the choice on how to proceed, (or whether to at all), becoming the ones to potentially create this unusual circumstance of a True Dragon shared lair.

If a Player wants an end-game/epilogue where their P.C. becomes a Half-Dragon, this can contribute to the long-game set-up of earning that. It also further develops the amusing idea of a high-minded Dragon slowly picking up Half-Dragon "strays" and unwittingly becoming the benefactor of a Draconic hostel. xD

[ShroudedInLight]

If your DM was the devious sort you might run into a Commune of Communist dragons who all share a single massive treasure hoard.

[Paradozen]

Noir le Lotus wrote:

Didn't Dragons Revisited say that there was some collaboration between some chromatic and metallic dragons ?

IIRC, there was the case of green and copper dragons having a tendency to cooperate in their common quest for knowledge ? I would totally see a pair of those sharing their lair in an antique library (with a tribe of librarian kobolds) ... Imagine the face of PCs when they arrive in the lair and realize the dragons hoard is just a ton of ancients tomes ...

About half of my characters would nearly abandon the plot and spend the rest of their lives in such a dragon hoard trying to read all of the books. I play a lot of book nerds, what with art imitating life and whatnot.