The Magic value of Gold

Magical power enters the material world following several well-known channels. The primary source is, of course, the sun. The moon, planets, and stars also exert their own magical influence.

However, magic also streams upward from below. Vocanoes and natural springs, as everyone knows, are locations of powerful magic. Items that have their origins in the earth often retain powerful magical properties, such as crystals and, of course, gold.

The Magical Properties of Gold

The obsessive attraction exerted by gold upon magical creatures is well-known, and of course, felt by humans as well to a certain degree.

Dragons are the most notorious hoarders of gold, jewels, and gems. The possession of these magically-potent items appears to be connected with the longetivity of those magical beasts.

Some have speculated that dragons consume the treasures as food, but this idea is contradicted by the fact that dragon hoards never seem to shrink, only grow. The well-attested observation of dragons swallowing piles of gold seems to be explained as the method by which the dragon carries the treasure back to its lair. Presumably the treasure is regurgitated bird-style into the dragon's hoard, although this has not been observed (by anyone who lived to tell of it) to this point....

The Hoard of the Goblin King

The lure of gold upon the subterrainean goblinoids is also well known, most legendarily in the case of the hoard of the goblin king. Goblins who lair amidst the piles of gold appear to grow large and strong, perhaps owing to the magical properties of the magic-charged gold itself. The gold also appears to be used in their mating practices, as the significant presence of gold in their breeding pens attests.

The Minotaur Lords of Bullhead City

The shifting labyrynths of Bullhead City are reported to be awash in gold. The multitude of aggressive and powerful minotaur who constantly struggle for dominance there, however, has precluded much investigation.

It has been noted, however, that minotaur encountered in the wilds can be distracted and/or diverted by the surrender of bags of gold. Examination of human victims of minotaur attacks indicates that the bullmen have no interest in humans as a food source, only as a source of wealth.

The Secrets of the Dwarven Mines

As everyone knows, the Dwarven Mines are rich in two items: gold and magic weapons. How the dwarves produce magic weapons has long been a mystery, as they show no aptitude for magical ability in any other sphere.

It is suspected that the dwarfs somehow harness great magical power from the gold (and other magic susbstances) as they harvest it from the rocks in their deep caverns. This magical over-exposure may account for madness that overcomes those few humans who attempt deep delves into the Dwarven Mines. The hearty natural anti-magical resistance of the Dwarfs seem to shield them from the ill-effects associated with repeated exposure to these high concentrations of magical power.

They Walk Among Us - the hidden Dragon Menace

Citizen's Alert - to be Posted in All Pubic Places

As you know, dragons are terrifying and dangerous magical beasts. We need no reminder of their attacks upon our knights, and their constant depredations of our wealth.

Recent discoveries have revealed dragons to be far more terrifying and dangerous than we imagined. Stated plainly, dragons have been found to be walking among us, disguised in human form. Through some magical means, dragons walk among us in our towns, pretending to be human.

As everyone knows, Dragons are motivated by greed, and power. Disguised as humans, they infiltrate our society, to learn of our treasure, and study our defenses, to better attack us.

All citizens are advised to be on the lookout for dragon-ish behavior in their neighbors. Signs of hidden dragon infiltration include unnatural interest in the location of treasure hoards, selfish hoarding of money, secretive behaviors, anti-social attitudes, and hostility to governmental investigation.

If your neighbors are exhibiting any of the above signs, report them immediately to the nearest King's Guards and Keepers of the Peace. With your help, we can eliminate this hidden dragon menace. Thank you.

Adventuring Hooks

The aging King, paranoid and monomaniacal at the best of times, appears to have gone completely mad out of fear of secret dragons, and his paranoia has spread to the terrified citizenry. King's Guards run amok through the city, rounding up political enemies (and their treasures) on suspicion of secret dragon infiltration. Citizen has turned on citizen in a frenzy of paranoid accusation and revenge seeking.

Mobs form suddenly to put anyone accused of dragon infiltration to the immediate test, such as slicing their bellies open to check for swallowed gems, placing them upon bonfires to test for fire resistance, or dropping them repeatedly from towers to check for flying ability...

Anyone from out of town, or anyone seen carrying bags of treasure, is especially prone to accusation, thus making the environment particularly dangerous for adventurers...

PCs stand a 50% chance (3 in 6) per day of being accused of dragon infiltration by a mob if they appear in full gear or carrying treasure in public, a 17% chance (1 in 6) if appearing in public in disguise, and a 33% chance (2 in 6) per day of receiving a visit from the King's Guards at their home based on a tip from an anonymous neighbor.

Mob Accusation (d100, modify with CHA reaction bonus or penalty)

--01-25 enraged mob attempts immediate dragon trial (d6: 1-2 gutting for gems, 3-4 bonfire, 5-6 drop from tower)

--26-50 enraged mob attempts to strip, beat, and turn over PCs for arrest to King's Guards (loss of all possessions and all but 1-6 HPs, ending up in jail for further interogation)

--51-75 enraged mob attempts to strip and beat PCs (loss of all possessions and all but 1-6 HPs, ending up thrown over town wall)

--76+ agitated mob threatens but does not attack PC

King's Guards actions (d100, modify with CHA reaction bonus or penalty)

--01-25 Guards attempt immediate gutting for swallowed treasure

--26-50 Guards confiscate all PC possessions, scorge PC to the bone (only 1d6 HP remaining) during interrogation, and throw PC in jail

--51-75 Guards confiscate all PC money/jewels, threatening scorging and arrest if PC resists

--76+ Guards question PCs but take no action

Dragon Menace hysteria lasts 3-18 days (3d6).

On any given day, 1 in 6 chance of a real dragon being accused, resulting in a dragon battle in town. If PC assists in the battle against the dragon, they will be hailed as heroes, receive a reward from the king, and be free from any further chance of dragon infiltration accusations.

How to Introduce Dragons

Great post over at ChicagoWiz (here) on dragons, perhaps the most under-used monster in the game ostensibly named after it. As he puts it,

"I don't care who you are... but when a dragon gets thrown into the game, especially to 1st thru 3rd levellers... hearts get racing, dice and pencils get clutched and PCs go running for the hills. It's just the coolest. I love the build up too... nervous horses or dogs, sounds, strange smells... then WHAM, the thing goes gliding overhead. Sinister, nasty, hungry... and totally in control of its domain."

This really resonates to me, because the basic mileau of my Arizona Adventures campaign is dawn of civ, and is therefore, "dragon and giant" heavy. It is my basic premise that outside of the immediate protection of the armed forts, there are no "scaled down" areas which just happen to be perfectly suited for beginning low-level characters. In short, if you choose to go into the wilds of magic Arizona, you better be ready to bring it, cause all the bad ass shit is there waiting for you. (see the previous post on "keeping PCs alive" for the necessary attitutude of latitude that must accompany such a natural and dangerous campaign mileau.)

So, how to introduce dragons into play with some kind of panache? Here are some ideas (1d6 + 1d4):

2 - Flying far overhead, you see the small outline of a dragon. Appears to be flying over you and away, but wait.... was that its head twisting to look down in your direction?

3 - As you scramble over the hilltop's rocky edge, in the valley below you see scene of chaos and mad movement, as a herd of horses/goats/cows flees in all directions in panic, a dragon having alighted in their midsts, clawing and biting wildly to bring down a meal....

4 - Your horses are suddenly snorting and skitish, rising and ready to bolt. As you struggle to keep them down, a terrifying roar emanates from the thich grove of trees to your right. You turn to see two little dragon heads peer quizically out from the brush on the ground-level. Suddenly the loud roar again sounds out from back in the trees, but closer this time... Mommy is apparently looking for her wayward babes...

5 - You see smoke rising in two columns from a dark medium-sized cave opening in the hill in front of you, and the whooshing of air from what sounds like the breathing from some large sleeping beast. Suddenly the loud regular breathing stops, replaced a second later by the sound of shifting rocks.... You see glowing eyes peer out from the darkness, surveying you silently, and the dim outline of a dragon's snout barely visible in the cave's opening...

6 - As you scan around in the bright distance, two hilltops to your east, you see what appears to be a laying dragon, curled up upon the hot rocks, sunning itself in the heat...

7 - Off in the distance to your left, a movement catches your eye, what appears to be a dragon digging his claws and snout into the rocks and dirt, seeking some unknown object in the small hole before it....

8 - As you stumble through the rocky ground around a turn at the base of the cliff wall, your feet stop cold and your blood freezes at what lies no more than 50 feet in front of you: a dragon, clawing and tearing into the dry bones of some unfortunate creature lying on the ground in front of it... Your mouth turns to cotton as that idiot Fighter calls out loudly from behind you, "Hey, what the holdup?" The dragon snaps its head up from the bones and turns to look, settling its gaze right on you....

9 - Crashing and loud screaming break out in the trees ahead of you, followed by a loud roaring sound... Suddenly a dragon comes crashing through the trees towards you, twisting at a rope slung arounds its neck. As it stumbles forward, you see a mountain giant dragging behind it, desperately holding onto the rope, and another giant running behind, trying to catch up, calling out to his partner....

10 - The distant sound of two furious beasts in combat quickly gets much louder, rapidly approaching... Suddenly, over the treetops near the river, a flying horse hurtles forward and down, a roaring dragon right behind it. The singed and bleeding creature whinnies in pain as it hits the ground running. As it turns to look over its shoulder at the pursuing dragon, it sees you, and quickly changes course, running straight at you, whinny-ing for help...


A straight 1d8 roll for dragon size can be used for the truly random experience. Or, just roll a d4 for its age, to give a young party more of an incentive to man-up and fight.