I'm building a one shot campaign built around a green dragon that has built a town by taking hatchlings, polymorphing them into humans, and raising them as humans. No one knows they are dragon's. My problem is trying to build NPCs that have been taught humanity by an evil dragon without them just coming across as culty. But I also need them to be weird enough to suggest to my players that there's something going on. Any suggestions?
Well, insert obligatory "dragons are already people" comment here. Anyways....
Well, there's a few things that stand out to me. One is that, even as humans, dragons are, well, arrogant, greedy and have a nasty temper. That's extremely out of place for an entire town of human commoners towards a well armed group of adventurers. Relatedly, common sense when it comes to money and combined with greed will start them asking for wildly inappropriate prices at taverns, inns, etc.
Another is that, if they're using magic to shapeshift, a simple Detect Magic is going to reveal that all the people around are the target of Transmutation magic. That's going to send up an immediate red flag.
If everyone's the result of a Polymorph spell, cast by the same person, mind you, it wouldn't be a surprise if they all had one or two things that are identical. Everyone has the same green eyes. Not just green eyes, but the same shade of green. They all have hooked noses.
Green dragons favor elf-themed treasures, including gems, wood carvings, musical instruments and sculptures. A few hoard items scattered in the town is unusual.
Effects from the green dragon's lair might manifest - perpetual fog with an acrid smell, muffled sound, preference for trees, the local food fields form mazes, lack of large game animals anywhere nearby.
I say just lean into the humor of it all. Like, just have them do normal things but do them wrong in some way. Like they know that humans keep animals as pets, but don't know what specific animals humans normally keep. So maybe everyone in town rides a cow instead of a horse, because the dragon never paid too close attention but knows that humans ride some kind of hooved animal. They probably eat the wrong foods as well. Like, if you just want to get the party to immediately want to stop whatever's going on, just reveal that the people in the village casually eat dogs. Players will do anything to protect a dog.
I think it helps to think of your initial dragon and how much they'd be familiar with human villages. Like... they probably know perfectly well what a village looks like... from the outside. So the buildings would all look normal form the outside, but inside they'd be more to a dragon's comfort. Maybe every house is just a bunch of dead-end hallways and short tunnels leading to one large central area where all the wealth is kept.
The dragon likely doesn't know anything about farming, but is aware that it's something humans do. So there would be farms set up that don't actually grow anything... or they just grow miscellaneous wild plants. Maybe it's not even edible plants... just whatever they can get to grow in lines.
Note: Young Green Dragon has a CHA 15 (+2), while Green Dragon Wyrmling have CHA 13 (+1), which means they are about as charismatic as a bard, so if they are being specifically trained to act like a normal human village, then give them proficiency in performance and treat them like normal human NPCs unless the PCs roll a particularly good insight check.
I like the idea of the Lair effect being the biggest giveaway. With a large number of Green Dragons in the same area, it's pretty likely that the effect would end up being pretty potent.
For inspiration, look into Westworld as an example of a large scale façade. As long as you are only a tourist, you might not notice anything odd, but if you stick around for too long, you'll start to notice patterns as they repeat the same dramas over and over again. Occasionally, one of the NPCs might throw a tantrum because they want a more interesting role, or break down in frustration and quickly get whisked away for punishment.
If you use a less permanent transformation mechanic, you could also present the risk of two NPCs walking around with identical disguises, which would raise a red flag or two.
For inspiration, look into Westworld as an example of a large scale façade. As long as you are only a tourist, you might not notice anything odd, but if you stick around for too long, you'll start to notice patterns as they repeat the same dramas over and over again. Occasionally, one of the NPCs might throw a tantrum because they want a more interesting role, or break down in frustration and quickly get whisked away for punishment.
If you use a less permanent transformation mechanic, you could also present the risk of two NPCs walking around with identical disguises, which would raise a red flag or two.
I feel like that doesn't fully work with this premise because the OP mentions that it's a town of Dragons polymorphed from an extremely young age into human form and raised as humans. I was taking the term "No one knows they are dragons," to mean that the people themselves don't even know that they're all dragons. So I take that to mean a setting where everyone present is definitely human for all practical purposes, but they were raised based on a Green Dragon's idea of what being "Human" even means.
I feel like that doesn't fully work with this premise because the OP mentions that it's a town of Dragons polymorphed from an extremely young age into human form and raised as humans. I was taking the term "No one knows they are dragons," to mean that the people themselves don't even know that they're all dragons. So I take that to mean a setting where everyone present is definitely human for all practical purposes, but they were raised based on a Green Dragon's idea of what being "Human" even means.
A good premise should be flexible. My post didn't directly address the OP, but offered a variation that might be adapted to achieve a similar end.
However, the underlying principle remains the same. Green Dragon Wyrmlings are smarter and more charismatic than the average humanoid and the primary personality trait of a Green Dragon is that they are "master manipulators", so they shouldn't have much difficulty "playing nice" whether they are aware of being a dragon, or are simply sociopaths that put on pleasantries. With a clear authority figure present in the Adult(?) Green Dragon that is orchestrating the whole show, there will likely be a strict code of conduct that the rest of the population will follow to the letter, even if they disagree with it.
It's less likely that the town will appear culty than that it will seem uncomfortably Romulan (Star Trek). Everyone does their job a little too well, and every NPC is paranoid and looking to screw over someone else at every opportunity. Superficially idyllic, but with a constant tension that is nearly palpable.
As for the dragons being ignorant of what it means to be human, that would definitely be a fun encounter, but I'd expect the Green Dragon to have a few humanoid minions who would help guide the hatchlings. Perhaps they would even engage in trade with other towns. Unlike aliens, dragons have lived in the world alongside humanoids for a very long time and regularly interact with them, so they ought to have developed a moderately intuitive relationship. And due to being physically humanoid, they would be subject to all of the same biological needs, so a lot of humanoid creations would simply be the best option available to them. A pile of treasure to sleep on might appeal to a dragon, but it sure wouldn't be comfortable for humanoid flesh and bones.
So, I suppose a more important issue is: How is an entire village of dragons being polymorphed into humans, and why?
Polymorph only transforms into Beasts and is concentration. True Polymorph is a 9th level spell and would imply that the original Green Dragon is either a 17th level caster, or has access to an artifact level magic item.
If the mechanism is True Polymorph, then this is a very, very powerful dragon. If it is a custom effect, then where did it come from and what are its limitations?
What is the point of filling a village with dragons who don't know they are dragons? Will they be activated at some point like sleeper agents? (They probably need to have some level of self-awareness for this to work.) Are they being domesticated to fuel some grand scheme?
The "Why" will probably inform the particular peculiarities of this unusual community.
One way or another, Detect Magic is going to make that town glimmer like a sky full of paper lanterns. If the OP wants the players to realize something is up with the town, just give them a reason to examine something magical.
Look at the various evil kids on tv shows, movies, cartoons. Use those as a baseline. Use the standard spoiled brats in shows also. As to the spell, call something other than "polymorph" as a player would think a regular "Dispel x" would cancel it.
If everyone's the result of a Polymorph spell, cast by the same person, mind you, it wouldn't be a surprise if they all had one or two things that are identical. Everyone has the same green eyes. Not just green eyes, but the same shade of green. They all have hooked noses.
If everyone's the result of a Polymorph spell, cast by the same person, mind you, it wouldn't be a surprise if they all had one or two things that are identical. Everyone has the same green eyes. Not just green eyes, but the same shade of green. They all have hooked noses.
An entire town of Tom Bodetts
If you do that, the entire town has to leave some kind of light on all night, just for the gag. That could be an interesting quirk for the entire town. Of course, you'd want to come up with a superficially reasonable excuse, perhaps some kind of predator that "threatens" the town...
You can have the young polymorphed dragons not yet be proficient in Deception. As green dragons, they're not really concerned with the wants or feelings of others, so while they're being raised as humans, they're saying and doing the right things, but an outsider observing them can potentially tell on an Insight check that they're not sincere. Maybe all of their courtious language with each other is flat and bored sounding, because they all know that they don't really care what each other thinks, and they can't be bothered to put effort in. Then maybe they go all-in when they realize that there's someone from outside the town there, maybe trying too hard to seem genuine.
If you give the player-characters a reason to look at the city's records (maybe looking for clues to solve a problem in the town they were hired to fix), they'd find that the population growth of the town is linear (the adult green dragon lays clutches of about the same size, as opposed to normal population growth which is exponential). Or the party might find that everyone in the town is adopted, the babies turning up in batches periodically.
You can have the inside of the houses mostly spartan in their furniture, with only the bedrooms lavishly decorated with all of their favorite possessions on display on shelves and tables around the room, visible from their lavish beds.
Of course, the environmental effects of a Green Dragon living in the region would be a big clue.
And a clear give-away would be if you give the party a reason to cast Detect Magic to look at something in town, and they detect the Transmutation magic on all of the locals.
My main question is what is the Green Dragon's end goal for raising her wyrmlings as humans? Is it just camouflage so they aren't attacked when they're at their most vulnerable?
You can have the young polymorphed dragons not yet be proficient in Deception. As green dragons, they're not really concerned with the wants or feelings of others, so while they're being raised as humans, they're saying and doing the right things, but an outsider observing them can potentially tell on an Insight check that they're not sincere. Maybe all of their courtious language with each other is flat and bored sounding, because they all know that they don't really care what each other thinks, and they can't be bothered to put effort in. Then maybe they go all-in when they realize that there's someone from outside the town there, maybe trying too hard to seem genuine.
If you give the player-characters a reason to look at the city's records (maybe looking for clues to solve a problem in the town they were hired to fix), they'd find that the population growth of the town is linear (the adult green dragon lays clutches of about the same size, as opposed to normal population growth which is exponential). Or the party might find that everyone in the town is adopted, the babies turning up in batches periodically.
You can have the inside of the houses mostly spartan in their furniture, with only the bedrooms lavishly decorated with all of their favorite possessions on display on shelves and tables around the room, visible from their lavish beds.
Of course, the environmental effects of a Green Dragon living in the region would be a big clue.
And a clear give-away would be if you give the party a reason to cast Detect Magic to look at something in town, and they detect the Transmutation magic on all of the locals.
My main question is what is the Green Dragon's end goal for raising her wyrmlings as humans? Is it just camouflage so they aren't attacked when they're at their most vulnerable?
I like the reproductive style aspect of this post, and going with a stork-esque belief system for the town would give them some buy in to help with the cover story while potentially giving the party an angle to figure out what is going on.
It seems to me that the OP is trying to make the wyrmlings unaware of their true nature. As such the reason why would be key to some of the details as others have said. Does the matriarch of the town want to disguise her growing brood to attempt to overthrow another more dominant dragon in the region? The presence of another Green Dragon could give plausible deniability for the lair effects that are present in the area as well as give the dragons a reason to help Adventurers. Having more contact with the town will allow for party to have more interactions with the townsfolk to discover their peculiarities. Of course, the matriarch would have to instill a fear of the other dragon in her wyrmlings to preserve the deception, but do so in a manner that wouldn't leave them incapacitated when they discover her true nature (and potentially theirs). Referring to the other Dragon by name or by whatever title that she's trying to usurp could isolate the fear (of discovery, or at least respect of the position). Referring to the other dragon as some sort of tyrant could give the party a buy in as well.
If the purpose is to enslave nearby settlements, using the "other dragon" backstory could provide some cover for some of the discrepancies that would be popping up. The matriarch could employ Adventurers as representatives of the community to prevent too much familiarity with the outlying communities with her brood and thus preserving the deception as long as possible. It also gives a believable sense of danger to keep commoners at bay and explain some disappearances. This could give the party reason to suspect something when the townsfolk don't seem to have any missing while the other communities all do.
If other reasons are in place for the deception, there are a number ways that the dragon could be trying to overcompensate that would clue in someone with reason to question the circumstances.
If everyone's the result of a Polymorph spell, cast by the same person, mind you, it wouldn't be a surprise if they all had one or two things that are identical. Everyone has the same green eyes. Not just green eyes, but the same shade of green. They all have hooked noses.
An entire town of Tom Bodetts
If you do that, the entire town has to leave some kind of light on all night, just for the gag. That could be an interesting quirk for the entire town. Of course, you'd want to come up with a superficially reasonable excuse, perhaps some kind of predator that "threatens" the town...
I'm building a one shot campaign built around a green dragon that has built a town by taking hatchlings, polymorphing them into humans, and raising them as humans. No one knows they are dragon's. My problem is trying to build NPCs that have been taught humanity by an evil dragon without them just coming across as culty. But I also need them to be weird enough to suggest to my players that there's something going on. Any suggestions?
Well, insert obligatory "dragons are already people" comment here. Anyways....
Well, there's a few things that stand out to me. One is that, even as humans, dragons are, well, arrogant, greedy and have a nasty temper. That's extremely out of place for an entire town of human commoners towards a well armed group of adventurers. Relatedly, common sense when it comes to money and combined with greed will start them asking for wildly inappropriate prices at taverns, inns, etc.
Another is that, if they're using magic to shapeshift, a simple Detect Magic is going to reveal that all the people around are the target of Transmutation magic. That's going to send up an immediate red flag.
If everyone's the result of a Polymorph spell, cast by the same person, mind you, it wouldn't be a surprise if they all had one or two things that are identical. Everyone has the same green eyes. Not just green eyes, but the same shade of green. They all have hooked noses.
Green dragons favor elf-themed treasures, including gems, wood carvings, musical instruments and sculptures. A few hoard items scattered in the town is unusual.
Effects from the green dragon's lair might manifest - perpetual fog with an acrid smell, muffled sound, preference for trees, the local food fields form mazes, lack of large game animals anywhere nearby.
I say just lean into the humor of it all. Like, just have them do normal things but do them wrong in some way. Like they know that humans keep animals as pets, but don't know what specific animals humans normally keep. So maybe everyone in town rides a cow instead of a horse, because the dragon never paid too close attention but knows that humans ride some kind of hooved animal. They probably eat the wrong foods as well. Like, if you just want to get the party to immediately want to stop whatever's going on, just reveal that the people in the village casually eat dogs. Players will do anything to protect a dog.
I think it helps to think of your initial dragon and how much they'd be familiar with human villages. Like... they probably know perfectly well what a village looks like... from the outside. So the buildings would all look normal form the outside, but inside they'd be more to a dragon's comfort. Maybe every house is just a bunch of dead-end hallways and short tunnels leading to one large central area where all the wealth is kept.
The dragon likely doesn't know anything about farming, but is aware that it's something humans do. So there would be farms set up that don't actually grow anything... or they just grow miscellaneous wild plants. Maybe it's not even edible plants... just whatever they can get to grow in lines.
Watch Crits for Breakfast, an adults-only RP-Heavy Roll20 Livestream at twitch.tv/afterdisbooty
And now you too can play with the amazing art and assets we use in Roll20 for our campaign at Hazel's Emporium
Note: Young Green Dragon has a CHA 15 (+2), while Green Dragon Wyrmling have CHA 13 (+1), which means they are about as charismatic as a bard, so if they are being specifically trained to act like a normal human village, then give them proficiency in performance and treat them like normal human NPCs unless the PCs roll a particularly good insight check.
I like the idea of the Lair effect being the biggest giveaway. With a large number of Green Dragons in the same area, it's pretty likely that the effect would end up being pretty potent.
For inspiration, look into Westworld as an example of a large scale façade. As long as you are only a tourist, you might not notice anything odd, but if you stick around for too long, you'll start to notice patterns as they repeat the same dramas over and over again. Occasionally, one of the NPCs might throw a tantrum because they want a more interesting role, or break down in frustration and quickly get whisked away for punishment.
If you use a less permanent transformation mechanic, you could also present the risk of two NPCs walking around with identical disguises, which would raise a red flag or two.
I feel like that doesn't fully work with this premise because the OP mentions that it's a town of Dragons polymorphed from an extremely young age into human form and raised as humans. I was taking the term "No one knows they are dragons," to mean that the people themselves don't even know that they're all dragons. So I take that to mean a setting where everyone present is definitely human for all practical purposes, but they were raised based on a Green Dragon's idea of what being "Human" even means.
Watch Crits for Breakfast, an adults-only RP-Heavy Roll20 Livestream at twitch.tv/afterdisbooty
And now you too can play with the amazing art and assets we use in Roll20 for our campaign at Hazel's Emporium
A good premise should be flexible. My post didn't directly address the OP, but offered a variation that might be adapted to achieve a similar end.
However, the underlying principle remains the same. Green Dragon Wyrmlings are smarter and more charismatic than the average humanoid and the primary personality trait of a Green Dragon is that they are "master manipulators", so they shouldn't have much difficulty "playing nice" whether they are aware of being a dragon, or are simply sociopaths that put on pleasantries. With a clear authority figure present in the Adult(?) Green Dragon that is orchestrating the whole show, there will likely be a strict code of conduct that the rest of the population will follow to the letter, even if they disagree with it.
It's less likely that the town will appear culty than that it will seem uncomfortably Romulan (Star Trek). Everyone does their job a little too well, and every NPC is paranoid and looking to screw over someone else at every opportunity. Superficially idyllic, but with a constant tension that is nearly palpable.
As for the dragons being ignorant of what it means to be human, that would definitely be a fun encounter, but I'd expect the Green Dragon to have a few humanoid minions who would help guide the hatchlings. Perhaps they would even engage in trade with other towns. Unlike aliens, dragons have lived in the world alongside humanoids for a very long time and regularly interact with them, so they ought to have developed a moderately intuitive relationship. And due to being physically humanoid, they would be subject to all of the same biological needs, so a lot of humanoid creations would simply be the best option available to them. A pile of treasure to sleep on might appeal to a dragon, but it sure wouldn't be comfortable for humanoid flesh and bones.
So, I suppose a more important issue is: How is an entire village of dragons being polymorphed into humans, and why?
Polymorph only transforms into Beasts and is concentration.
True Polymorph is a 9th level spell and would imply that the original Green Dragon is either a 17th level caster, or has access to an artifact level magic item.
If the mechanism is True Polymorph, then this is a very, very powerful dragon. If it is a custom effect, then where did it come from and what are its limitations?
What is the point of filling a village with dragons who don't know they are dragons?
Will they be activated at some point like sleeper agents? (They probably need to have some level of self-awareness for this to work.)
Are they being domesticated to fuel some grand scheme?
The "Why" will probably inform the particular peculiarities of this unusual community.
One way or another, Detect Magic is going to make that town glimmer like a sky full of paper lanterns. If the OP wants the players to realize something is up with the town, just give them a reason to examine something magical.
Look at the various evil kids on tv shows, movies, cartoons. Use those as a baseline. Use the standard spoiled brats in shows also. As to the spell, call something other than "polymorph" as a player would think a regular "Dispel x" would cancel it.
No Gaming is Better than Bad Gaming.
An entire town of Tom Bodetts
If you do that, the entire town has to leave some kind of light on all night, just for the gag. That could be an interesting quirk for the entire town. Of course, you'd want to come up with a superficially reasonable excuse, perhaps some kind of predator that "threatens" the town...
You can have the young polymorphed dragons not yet be proficient in Deception. As green dragons, they're not really concerned with the wants or feelings of others, so while they're being raised as humans, they're saying and doing the right things, but an outsider observing them can potentially tell on an Insight check that they're not sincere. Maybe all of their courtious language with each other is flat and bored sounding, because they all know that they don't really care what each other thinks, and they can't be bothered to put effort in. Then maybe they go all-in when they realize that there's someone from outside the town there, maybe trying too hard to seem genuine.
If you give the player-characters a reason to look at the city's records (maybe looking for clues to solve a problem in the town they were hired to fix), they'd find that the population growth of the town is linear (the adult green dragon lays clutches of about the same size, as opposed to normal population growth which is exponential). Or the party might find that everyone in the town is adopted, the babies turning up in batches periodically.
You can have the inside of the houses mostly spartan in their furniture, with only the bedrooms lavishly decorated with all of their favorite possessions on display on shelves and tables around the room, visible from their lavish beds.
Of course, the environmental effects of a Green Dragon living in the region would be a big clue.
And a clear give-away would be if you give the party a reason to cast Detect Magic to look at something in town, and they detect the Transmutation magic on all of the locals.
My main question is what is the Green Dragon's end goal for raising her wyrmlings as humans? Is it just camouflage so they aren't attacked when they're at their most vulnerable?
I like the reproductive style aspect of this post, and going with a stork-esque belief system for the town would give them some buy in to help with the cover story while potentially giving the party an angle to figure out what is going on.
It seems to me that the OP is trying to make the wyrmlings unaware of their true nature. As such the reason why would be key to some of the details as others have said. Does the matriarch of the town want to disguise her growing brood to attempt to overthrow another more dominant dragon in the region? The presence of another Green Dragon could give plausible deniability for the lair effects that are present in the area as well as give the dragons a reason to help Adventurers. Having more contact with the town will allow for party to have more interactions with the townsfolk to discover their peculiarities. Of course, the matriarch would have to instill a fear of the other dragon in her wyrmlings to preserve the deception, but do so in a manner that wouldn't leave them incapacitated when they discover her true nature (and potentially theirs). Referring to the other Dragon by name or by whatever title that she's trying to usurp could isolate the fear (of discovery, or at least respect of the position). Referring to the other dragon as some sort of tyrant could give the party a buy in as well.
If the purpose is to enslave nearby settlements, using the "other dragon" backstory could provide some cover for some of the discrepancies that would be popping up. The matriarch could employ Adventurers as representatives of the community to prevent too much familiarity with the outlying communities with her brood and thus preserving the deception as long as possible. It also gives a believable sense of danger to keep commoners at bay and explain some disappearances. This could give the party reason to suspect something when the townsfolk don't seem to have any missing while the other communities all do.
If other reasons are in place for the deception, there are a number ways that the dragon could be trying to overcompensate that would clue in someone with reason to question the circumstances.
lmao nice