Age Of Dragons: Core Framework
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Contents
Overview of Core Framework
CORE FRAMEWORK:
- Framework: Select Draconic Breed
- Framework: Record Birthrights and Flaws
- Framework: Determine Age
- Framework: Select Lifepath, or Lifepaths
- Framework: Determine Experience Level in each Lifepath
Select Draconic Breed
In the default Age of Dragons setting there are twelve Dragon Breeds to select from:
- Pure Dragons are white-scaled, and believe themselves to be the most blessed children of the Mother Goddess, and with the most divine blood. They are filled with holy purpose and grace, and are greater in faith and purity of purpose than any others.
- Argent Dragons are silver-scaled, militaristic and hierarchical. They are strong advocates of the rule of law, and strongly dislike disobedience and anarchy. They consider themselves to be the noblest and most disciplined of all dragons.
- Solar Dragons are gold-scaled, and are dedicated to the precepts of harmony and prosperity through peace. They enjoy resolving conflicts through peaceful means, and have the most skilled ambassadors of dragonkind in their number. Despite this, they are not afraid to defend themselves and their allies, and have many skilled warriors in their number.
- Hunter Dragons are bronze-scaled, feral and barbaric. They prefer an older, more-primal way of life and have nothing but disdain for the civilised fops of the more cerebral breeds. Instinct and the way of the predator rule their culture and behaviour.
- Forest Dragons are green-scaled, spiritualist and insular. They have humility enough to recognise that dragons are merely one facet of the world's complex web of life, and pride enough to accept responsibility as life's guardians and masters.
- Storm Dragons are blue-scaled, and for the most part dwell beneath the horizon in the depths of the ocean. Their lifestyle makes them seem alien and enigmatic to other breeds, as their aquatic realm is a mystery to skybound dragons.
- Ashen Dragons are dark grey-scaled, haughty and imperialistic. They consider themselves to be better-bred, more intelligent and superior to all other breeds, and take pride in standing alone and apart from Dragonkind.
- Velvet Dragons are purple-scaled, and are the most beautiful and sensuous of all dragons. They are renowned for their ability to seduce and persuade, but also have a reputation as masters of lies.
- Chimerical Dragons are rainbow-scaled, ephemeral and enigmatic. They are the Dragons of Dream, and have a complexity of agenda and motivation that is positively labyrinthine. Others respect their mystical wisdom, but often see them as lacking in solidity and greater significance.
- Ghost Dragons are pale grey-scaled, and are well known as master scholars, but are often seen as eerie and unsettling by other breeds. Their numbers have been decimated by the Ascendancy, and the breed has been reduced to little more than enclaves of scattered survivors and refugees.
- Blood Dragons are red-scaled, and dedicated to the perfection of war and slaughter. Their bloodlust and aggression is second to none, and their dragonbreath burns as hot as their fiery tempers. They live to kill, and would rather destroy than create, and all fear them.
- Sable Dragons are black-scaled, and are recognised as being ambitious, intellectual, magically potent and strong leaders. They have a certain darkness in their soul, however, and it is a rare Sable who does not have a touch of immorality and spite within him.
You can select any one of the Draconic Breeds for your dragon, but players should be aware of several caveats:
- The default assumption is that player characters are with the Alliance, and certain breeds are better represented in this faction. However, this is not an absolute limitation, and dragons of all breeds can be found in all factions. The occasional Sable Dragon has found his way to the Alliance, just as heretical Pure Dragons sometimes ally with the Ascendancy.
- Under the official metaplot, certain breeds have very dark destinies. Every Breed will face certain unique trials and tribulations, but the most dramatic upheavals are reserved for the Ashen, Chimerical and Ghost breeds. Players who choose these options should be aware that the future may take them and their breeds in unexpected directions.
Before you select your Breed, it is advisable to refer to the Chapter on the Twelve Dragon Breeds.
Record Birthrights and Flaws
All dragons have certain birthrights, some of which result from their shared draconic nature and some from their specific breeds. Additionally, each Breed has its own flaws. These should be recorded on your character sheet.
Inherent Draconic Birthrights
All dragons have the following birthrights:
- Flight
All dragons can fly, through a mix of physical propulsion (using their wings) and through the power of their pneuma. A dragon can launch himself skywards from a standing jump, and once airborne has a high degree of manoeuvrability. A dragon can "hover" on the spot by beating his wings downwards, can ascend or descend vertically or at an incline, and can attain a cross-country speed of around sixty or seventy miles per hour in high atmosphere (though some dragons can fly far faster thanks to exceptional training). A dragon can fly up to thirty to thirty five miles per hour while still retaining full manoeuvrability, can happily fly upside down, make loops, barrel rolls, or even pinpoint turns.
- Dragonscale
All dragons have tough scales, which gives them a degree of natural armour. In games terms this also gives them an Armour Rating of 1.
Additionally, a dragon's scales are entirely fireproof. Though dragons can feel heat it does them no harm, and many find the sensation of intense heat quite pleasing. This protection also extends to their eyes, thanks to a hard nicitating membrane, though not to the insides of their mouths. Fire and heat based attacks deal dragons no damage.
These protections apply only to a living dragon - the shed or corpse-looted scales of a dragon are still extremely heat resistant, but they are not fireproof. Note also that dragons still need to breathe, and suffer the effects of smoke inhalation as do all living creatures, though the protection their eye membranes afford means that smoke does not make their eyes sting.
Breed Birthrights and Flaws
Refer to the Chapter on the Twelve Dragon Breeds for more on individual Breed Birthrights and Flaws.
Determine Age
The default assumption for the game is that the players are (initially at least) depicting dragons that are fairly young, but out of childhood. Players can either agree a certain age with the GM for their characters, or determine their ages randomly.
It is suggested that you use the random method - though the difference in age can result in some disparity in initial power, sooner or later every player character will die, and have to be replaced by another, and every player will gain the roleplaying experience of playing a weaker or stronger dragon at different times.
- To determine age randomly, roll ten six sided dice, total the scores, and add fifty. This will give you an age in years between 56 years and 110 years.
Older dragons tend to have stronger attributes, and will of course have greater life experiences to draw upon. On the other hand, thanks to a phenomenon known as the "Birthing Sickness", dragons who have had offspring will tend to be weaker than other dragons of a similar age. This is covered in more detail on a separate page, but the effects can be summarised as follows:
- At 250, 500 and 750 years of age, add +1 to the dragon's Soma, Pneuma and Sophis.
- For every egg that the Dragon has been parent to (either as mother or father), deduct -1 from the Dragon's Pneuma attribute.
- At 1000 years of age, deduct -1 from the dragon's Pneuma attribute, and continue to do so each 50 years thereafter.
Note that dragons of course grow stronger with age gradually, and that the attribute increases at 250, 500 and 750 years are loose representations of growing power over time, rather than sudden acceleration in growth.
See the section on Legacies for more details on the Birthing Sickness.
Select Lifepath, or Lifepaths
Assign the years of your Dragon's life to one or more Lifepaths.
The full list of Lifepaths can be found here: Link to Lifepaths
The first fifty years of your dragon's life must be assigned to the Neonate Dragon Lifepath, and beyond this first 50 years, you cannot remain on or return to the Neonate Dragon Lifepath.
Beyond this you are generally free to select any Lifepaths you choose.
A few special Lifepaths have entry prerequisites that you can pursue them, which are normally story-related goals.
Also, between each change in Lifepaths, you must have a Transition Time of 10 years. This is reduced to 5 years if you are returning to a Lifepath that you have been on previously in your life, and is waived entirely for your first Lifepath after being a Neonate Dragon.
List your Lifepaths chronologically on the character sheet. For example, if your Dragon is 100 years old, your timeline to date may appear as follows:
- Birth to 50 years (50 years total): Neonate Dragon
- 50 years to 74 years (24 years total): Warmaster
- 74 years to 84 years: Transition Period
- 84 years to 100 years (16 years total): Scholar Sage
Obviously, its worth noting that straying across too many Lifepaths costs you a lot of time in transition. For this reason, most Dragons pursue only a handful of Lifepaths during their lifespan, rather than trying to be too broad in focus.
Determine Experience Level in each Lifepath
Age of Dragons is a little unusual in that player characters start with experience points (XP), associated with each Lifepath.
By default, at character generation you receive 1XP to a Lifepath for each year you have spent on it. For example, if you have spent 54 years as a War Dragon, you gain 54 points of War Dragon XP.
The exception to this is the Neonate Dragon lifepath. Characters do not receive experience during this Lifepath.
In addition to this, each character receives a bonus 10XP which he can divide across any of his Lifepaths.
For example, if has spent 30 years as a War Dragon and 16 years as a Farsky Ranger, he would have a default of 30 War Dragon XP and 16 Farsky Ranger XP. He could then choose to put 5 bonus XP into War Dragon, and 5 into Farsky Ranger, giving him a total of 35 War Dragon XP and 21 Farsky Ranger XP.
This is called the "Interesting Times" bonus, and represents the Dragon living through times when he was especially challenged, and likely facing danger and conflict frequently. Like any living being, Dragons are forced to learn faster in these circumstances.
The GM can choose to vary the size of the "Interesting Times" bonus, if he wants the players to play especially weathered or naiive Dragons in his campaign.
Note though that no Dragon can ever receive total XP more than twice his total age. For example, a two hundred and seven year old dragon cannot have received more than four hundred and fourteen XP in total.
XP can be spent to buy Lifepath Milestones.
