I have been playing a simple DnD game with my young nephews (Elementary age) and I will be giving them an opportunity to snag some dragon eggs that are about to hatch soon. I have been running ideas through my head about things they might have to do for training and the like considering these are intelligent creatures. Also being magical creatures I kinda assume that they have certain areas of knowledge by default even as a hatchling.
Curious to hear what people think would be important for this kind of scenario. Side note I am probably going to make a hoebrew "Hatchling Dragon" version for their dragon with SOME kind of leveling system. That is certainly TBD (group is probably going to be lvl 3 before they have a chance at the eggs.
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"Where words fail, swords prevail. Where blood is spilled, my cup is filled" -Cartaphilus
"I have found the answer to the meaning of life. You ask me what the answer is? You already know what the answer to life is. You fear it more than the strike of a viper, the ravages of disease, the ire of a lover. The answer is always death. But death is a gentle mistress with a sweet embrace, and you owe her a debt of restitution. Life is not a gift, it is a loan."
Dragons start at cr 3-5, depending on their color.
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All stars fade. Some stars forever fall. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Homebrew (Mostly Outdated):Magic Items,Monsters,Spells,Subclasses ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- If there was no light, people wouldn't fear the dark.
Look at the lore for metallic versus chromatic dragons, and decide if you want to use that lore (either as-is, or if you want to use it as a learning opportunity to have your players question stereotypes). If you're going to use it but want to subvert it in any way, or if you're not going to use it and therefore want to get rid of some of the more malevolent aspects of chromatic dragons, start thinking about what you'd want to swap in instead/how you're going to evolve those types of aspects over time.
The Monster Manual has stats etc for dragons of all ages, including what your players would be starting out with, wyrmlings. It also includes a variant where they can know some amount of spellcasting, so that might provide you some good starting points.
Dragons can't cast spells, at least not in dragon form.
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All stars fade. Some stars forever fall. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Homebrew (Mostly Outdated):Magic Items,Monsters,Spells,Subclasses ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- If there was no light, people wouldn't fear the dark.
Ok, sorry. I didn't see that. I feel like a 3rd level party shouldn't have dragon spellcasters. That would be a bit overpowered. Maybe later in the campaign?
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All stars fade. Some stars forever fall. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Homebrew (Mostly Outdated):Magic Items,Monsters,Spells,Subclasses ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- If there was no light, people wouldn't fear the dark.
Dragons live a very long time and age slowly, so you can have the progression of this baby dragon take as long or as short as you'd like and make sense for your game! If you want to take some basic stats to use for the baby dragon (even before a Wyrmling as even those are going to start pretty powerful), you can look at the Pseudodragon, Clockwork Dragons, and Faerie Dragons. For example I'd take the pseudodragon, let the dragon speak and remove the sting, and use that for a baby dragon.
Normally I'd caution against having a dragon get too powerful too quick as it can quickly overshadow a low level group. But as these are young kids you are DMing for I'd suggest figuring out what about having a dragon as a companion really makes them excited. Are they fans of Dragon Prince and want to protect and nurture this being, knowing it has some defenses but THEY get to be the kick butt dragon protectors? Are they excited to have a super powerful dragon fighter who will help them destroy evil? Are they Dragonriders who really want to be in Pern? That could help a lot in figuring out what to let this dragon get good at as a reward for them taking care of it, or things to suggest for the players to do to get what they want. For example if they're excited to be protectors, maybe the more careful they are keeping the dragon safe the better it becomes finding items and weapons to help THEM get more powerful.
Any way you do it, if I was a kid and had the opportunity to get a dragon in a game I would be SUPER EXCITED, so this sounds like fun! ....heck, I'm an adult and that sounds super fun!
In addition to stimulating their imagination, you could also consider this an opportunity to subtly instruct them in the art of IRL pet care. Hatchling dragons probably cannot be expected to get all the food they need simply by hunting for themselves. Or they could, but their mortality rate would be dangerously high. Consider what it means to have a parrot with a weak breath attack or something like a flying reptilian chimpanzee to take care of. If they're around human settlements, would they try to steal food if not fed enough? Where do they poop and who would take care of the poop? What happens if a hatching gets sick? Are there certain ways the baby dragons want to be talked to or handled? Once you treat baby dragons as more intelligent, flight capable versions of pets that already exist IRL, it will likely feel more real to your imagination and thus will create more memorable experiences for your nephews, as well.
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I have been playing a simple DnD game with my young nephews (Elementary age) and I will be giving them an opportunity to snag some dragon eggs that are about to hatch soon. I have been running ideas through my head about things they might have to do for training and the like considering these are intelligent creatures. Also being magical creatures I kinda assume that they have certain areas of knowledge by default even as a hatchling.
Curious to hear what people think would be important for this kind of scenario. Side note I am probably going to make a hoebrew "Hatchling Dragon" version for their dragon with SOME kind of leveling system. That is certainly TBD (group is probably going to be lvl 3 before they have a chance at the eggs.
"Where words fail, swords prevail. Where blood is spilled, my cup is filled" -Cartaphilus
"I have found the answer to the meaning of life. You ask me what the answer is? You already know what the answer to life is. You fear it more than the strike of a viper, the ravages of disease, the ire of a lover. The answer is always death. But death is a gentle mistress with a sweet embrace, and you owe her a debt of restitution. Life is not a gift, it is a loan."
Dragons start at cr 3-5, depending on their color.
All stars fade. Some stars forever fall.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Homebrew (Mostly Outdated): Magic Items, Monsters, Spells, Subclasses
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If there was no light, people wouldn't fear the dark.
Look at the lore for metallic versus chromatic dragons, and decide if you want to use that lore (either as-is, or if you want to use it as a learning opportunity to have your players question stereotypes). If you're going to use it but want to subvert it in any way, or if you're not going to use it and therefore want to get rid of some of the more malevolent aspects of chromatic dragons, start thinking about what you'd want to swap in instead/how you're going to evolve those types of aspects over time.
The Monster Manual has stats etc for dragons of all ages, including what your players would be starting out with, wyrmlings. It also includes a variant where they can know some amount of spellcasting, so that might provide you some good starting points.
Birgit | Shifter | Sorcerer | Dragonlords
Shayone | Hobgoblin | Sorcerer | Netherdeep
Dragons can't cast spells, at least not in dragon form.
All stars fade. Some stars forever fall.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Homebrew (Mostly Outdated): Magic Items, Monsters, Spells, Subclasses
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If there was no light, people wouldn't fear the dark.
Look for the sidebar at the beginning of the entry for dragons labeled "Variant: Dragons as innate spellcasters."
Birgit | Shifter | Sorcerer | Dragonlords
Shayone | Hobgoblin | Sorcerer | Netherdeep
Ok, sorry. I didn't see that. I feel like a 3rd level party shouldn't have dragon spellcasters. That would be a bit overpowered. Maybe later in the campaign?
All stars fade. Some stars forever fall.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Homebrew (Mostly Outdated): Magic Items, Monsters, Spells, Subclasses
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If there was no light, people wouldn't fear the dark.
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InsiderDragons live a very long time and age slowly, so you can have the progression of this baby dragon take as long or as short as you'd like and make sense for your game! If you want to take some basic stats to use for the baby dragon (even before a Wyrmling as even those are going to start pretty powerful), you can look at the Pseudodragon, Clockwork Dragons, and Faerie Dragons. For example I'd take the pseudodragon, let the dragon speak and remove the sting, and use that for a baby dragon.
Normally I'd caution against having a dragon get too powerful too quick as it can quickly overshadow a low level group. But as these are young kids you are DMing for I'd suggest figuring out what about having a dragon as a companion really makes them excited. Are they fans of Dragon Prince and want to protect and nurture this being, knowing it has some defenses but THEY get to be the kick butt dragon protectors? Are they excited to have a super powerful dragon fighter who will help them destroy evil? Are they Dragonriders who really want to be in Pern? That could help a lot in figuring out what to let this dragon get good at as a reward for them taking care of it, or things to suggest for the players to do to get what they want. For example if they're excited to be protectors, maybe the more careful they are keeping the dragon safe the better it becomes finding items and weapons to help THEM get more powerful.
Any way you do it, if I was a kid and had the opportunity to get a dragon in a game I would be SUPER EXCITED, so this sounds like fun! ....heck, I'm an adult and that sounds super fun!
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In addition to stimulating their imagination, you could also consider this an opportunity to subtly instruct them in the art of IRL pet care. Hatchling dragons probably cannot be expected to get all the food they need simply by hunting for themselves. Or they could, but their mortality rate would be dangerously high. Consider what it means to have a parrot with a weak breath attack or something like a flying reptilian chimpanzee to take care of. If they're around human settlements, would they try to steal food if not fed enough? Where do they poop and who would take care of the poop? What happens if a hatching gets sick? Are there certain ways the baby dragons want to be talked to or handled? Once you treat baby dragons as more intelligent, flight capable versions of pets that already exist IRL, it will likely feel more real to your imagination and thus will create more memorable experiences for your nephews, as well.