So I am VERY new to D&D - My wife and I bought the essentials pack almost 3 months ago when the quarantine first started. I have been into D&D for a few years now (streams, podcasts, etc.) but have not played until we bought this adventure. I am DMing for her and we are now into the 3rd book in the saga and I have been doing some planning ahead.
So I had a general question about a dragon's treasure hoard and I will get more specific in the spoiler box below if you would like more details.
My questions is - Do dragons know when their treasure is stolen and who stole it?
As you are talking to a dragon in it's lair, the spirit of a different dragon takes over it's body. The dragon that possessed it speaks for it and controls it. It is now disoriented so it flies away and comes back into play later in the adventure. So you are now basically alone in the dragon's lair and can solve a puzzle of sorts to get to it's hoard. It is A LOT of treasure - about 30,000gp worth of jewels and coins with a few magic items as well.
Now, the book says that "If the characters steal the dragon’s treasure while she still lives, she begins hunting them as soon as she is able to do so." Technically, she is still alive but is possessed by a different dragon. So I'm assuming she wouldn't just come right back to the lair to hunt the PCs. But that brings me back to my original question - how would she even know if she flew away? And also, how would she know that it is stolen if she is still possessed by the other dragon? Would she know as soon as she becomes un-possessed? Would she travel back to her lair after being freed of the possession and THEN find out? The timing could actually end up being very important.
First off, welcome and congratulations on jumping into to DMing. I mean ultimately that’s up to how you want to play it, but for me she’d figure it out shortly after returning to her hoard.
Theres a few ways you could do this. First and easiest is you said the PCs talked to the dragon, which means she’s seen them in her hoard and smelled them. Assuming people don’t walk into a dragon’s lair all the time, it’s pretty logical that she’d blame the last people she saw in her lair, and be able to smell them on some of the hoard they couldn’t take with them. (Assuming they didn’t have the time to cart everything out here)
You could say that while possessed, the dragon was still partially aware and if they started to take things before she was far enough away, she was aware of it on some level. Or if you’re using the spell casting variant for dragons you could say that she had some wards or types of surveillance spells to monitor the lair.
But back to your original question, I think the dragon would be aware something was going on right away - since getting possessed is not a normal occurrence - and would probably immediately return to it’s lair as soon as possible. Since they’re generally pretty intelligent creatures I’d have the dragon figure out who stole from it very soon after returning. Hope that helps!
Dragons don't (by default) have any sort of magical ability to track down stolen treasure. But they're smart and have extremely well-developed senses, so tracking things by mundane means is typically a relatively easy task for them.
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Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
First off, welcome and congratulations on jumping into to DMing. I mean ultimately that’s up to how you want to play it, but for me she’d figure it out shortly after returning to her hoard.
Theres a few ways you could do this. First and easiest is you said the PCs talked to the dragon, which means she’s seen them in her hoard and smelled them. Assuming people don’t walk into a dragon’s lair all the time, it’s pretty logical that she’d blame the last people she saw in her lair, and be able to smell them on some of the hoard they couldn’t take with them. (Assuming they didn’t have the time to cart everything out here)
You could say that while possessed, the dragon was still partially aware and if they started to take things before she was far enough away, she was aware of it on some level. Or if you’re using the spell casting variant for dragons you could say that she had some wards or types of surveillance spells to monitor the lair.
But back to your original question, I think the dragon would be aware something was going on right away - since getting possessed is not a normal occurrence - and would probably immediately return to it’s lair as soon as possible. Since they’re generally pretty intelligent creatures I’d have the dragon figure out who stole from it very soon after returning. Hope that helps!
I like this answer a lot and it was generally the route I was thinking of going. It will be interesting to see if my wife tries to take it or not lol.
Thanks for the response!
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So I am VERY new to D&D - My wife and I bought the essentials pack almost 3 months ago when the quarantine first started. I have been into D&D for a few years now (streams, podcasts, etc.) but have not played until we bought this adventure. I am DMing for her and we are now into the 3rd book in the saga and I have been doing some planning ahead.
So I had a general question about a dragon's treasure hoard and I will get more specific in the spoiler box below if you would like more details.
My questions is - Do dragons know when their treasure is stolen and who stole it?
As you are talking to a dragon in it's lair, the spirit of a different dragon takes over it's body. The dragon that possessed it speaks for it and controls it. It is now disoriented so it flies away and comes back into play later in the adventure. So you are now basically alone in the dragon's lair and can solve a puzzle of sorts to get to it's hoard. It is A LOT of treasure - about 30,000gp worth of jewels and coins with a few magic items as well.
Now, the book says that "If the characters steal the dragon’s treasure while she still lives, she begins hunting them as soon as she is able to do so." Technically, she is still alive but is possessed by a different dragon. So I'm assuming she wouldn't just come right back to the lair to hunt the PCs. But that brings me back to my original question - how would she even know if she flew away? And also, how would she know that it is stolen if she is still possessed by the other dragon? Would she know as soon as she becomes un-possessed? Would she travel back to her lair after being freed of the possession and THEN find out? The timing could actually end up being very important.
Any help would be appreciated! Thanks!
First off, welcome and congratulations on jumping into to DMing. I mean ultimately that’s up to how you want to play it, but for me she’d figure it out shortly after returning to her hoard.
Theres a few ways you could do this. First and easiest is you said the PCs talked to the dragon, which means she’s seen them in her hoard and smelled them. Assuming people don’t walk into a dragon’s lair all the time, it’s pretty logical that she’d blame the last people she saw in her lair, and be able to smell them on some of the hoard they couldn’t take with them. (Assuming they didn’t have the time to cart everything out here)
You could say that while possessed, the dragon was still partially aware and if they started to take things before she was far enough away, she was aware of it on some level. Or if you’re using the spell casting variant for dragons you could say that she had some wards or types of surveillance spells to monitor the lair.
But back to your original question, I think the dragon would be aware something was going on right away - since getting possessed is not a normal occurrence - and would probably immediately return to it’s lair as soon as possible. Since they’re generally pretty intelligent creatures I’d have the dragon figure out who stole from it very soon after returning. Hope that helps!
Dragons don't (by default) have any sort of magical ability to track down stolen treasure. But they're smart and have extremely well-developed senses, so tracking things by mundane means is typically a relatively easy task for them.
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
I like this answer a lot and it was generally the route I was thinking of going. It will be interesting to see if my wife tries to take it or not lol.
Thanks for the response!