Dragon
The Waking Wrath
Second Edition
First and Second Editions © 1995 Krister Sundelin
The Storyteller System is © 1991 Mark Rein·Hagen
Credits
Author Krister Sundelin
Helping Hand Rasmus Hansson
Bold enough to allow dragons
in his campaign Fredrik Einarsson
Cover Michael Whelan
The Storyteller system was
designed by Mark Rein·Hagen
Dedication
To all those who dared to gaze into the eyes of the Dragon, to
the friends that share my dreams, and to those who wields the
magick of perception and creation.
Contents
1: The Dragonkin
2: First Flight
3: Traits
4: Magick
5: Combat
6: Relations
7: Last Words
The Dragons have mystified mankind through the centuries. Some
think of them as monsters, others as a superior and more
beautiful race. Whatever they are, they are not going to fall
into such simplifications as "good" or "evil".
This text introduces the Dragonkin into the World of Darkness.
What you need
This is what you need to make use of this text:
· At least one of the Storyteller games. We would suggest
that you got Vampire: The Masquerade and Werewolf: The Apocalypse.
These games contain most of the rules needed. You will find the
few other rules you need in this text. These other rules mainly
concern magic, aerial combat and dragon society. All other rules
are to be found in either Vampire or Werewolf.
· One computer equipped with a printer, preferably a
Postscript printer to print the neat character sheets.
· A bunch of dice.
· Some friends. We would suggest that these friends are
open-minded and have a lot of role-playing experience, since
playing a dragon or having one's character meet a dragon
requires a lot of skill.
· All other useful role-playing equipment.
In the beginning...
Author's note: As many other things, there is a beginning. This
beginning is so far away in the past that Mankind will not
remember it.
For my part, it began with a ball you know, that kind of party
where there are no men or women, just gentlemen who wear suits or
uniforms and ladies who wear elaborate dresses, when the main
event is waltzing where I met a charming lady that called
herself Rithka.
Something happened this night that still puzzles me, something
lady Rithka did. I wanted to know how it was done, and the lady
disappeared. Six months later, a letter arrived. When I opened
it, I found a letter from the lady at the ball and a bunch of
paper. I was even more puzzled when I recalled that I never told
her where I lived. Then I started to read...
My friend,
Our conversation six months ago is still intriguing my mind.
Smiling, I recall your words; "It is like magic. How are you
doing it". And when I avoided the question, you asked for the
truth. Then we parted, not on the best terms.
The Truth, that ungraspable thing you asked for it and I could
not give it to you. The truth, only the truth and all of the
truth. There's so much to tell you.
I remember the plains of Ukraine, several thousand years before
the name was conceived. I recall your kin, barely able to
communicate. And now, you have harnessed powers that you barely
comprehend. It is astonishing to see your kin develop so
rapidly.
But forgive me, I am stalling.
The truth is, that there are worlds within worlds. There are
legends and lore, and somewhere in the inner core of the legends,
there is a small grain of truth.
I am the truth of the legend. I am of the Dragonkin.
I can see your face as you are reading this believe me, I do
see it! It is a simple thing to conjure an image of the future
when you will receive this letter. You are, right now, slowly
putting your glass of that dark brown, bubbly beverage down on
the table, fully concentrated on this letter to the point that
you will not notice that the glass will fall to the floor.
I apologize for the inconvenience this surprise will cause you
when you will have to clean the floor at your desk.
Alas! now that I have put doubt in your conscious and scientific
mind, let me proceed. I have the full consent of my superiors,
lady Sinyé, her ally lord Draconis Vermithrax, and the sovereign
of our Court, lady Alaria, in writing this. I will here explain
the nature of myself, our purpose and our actions. I cannot
prove all that will be here revealed, at least not in writing,
but if it is proof you want, I will tell you how to find them.
Now, turn the page and read the Truth of the Dragonkin, the Truth
that you requested.
R
Author's note: When I turned the page, I found a long text
describing the nature, origin and strength of the Dragonkin. It
was not easy to read, written by hand in old English (late 18th
century, by my best guess).
When I was finished, I decided to let others share this
knowledge. I did not care whether I played along with the plans
of the Dragonkin or not, I simply wanted to pass on this
knowledge. But to whom?
When I thought of it, I found that if I simply passed the text
on, it would be perceived as a piece of fiction. Then all my
role-playing experience flowed through my head, and I decided to
re-write all of it to fit some role-playing system. It is
better, I thought, to present a truth within a lie than something
that will be perceived as a lie within the truth.
The choice of game fell on the Storyteller system, and this is
the result.
Enjoy!
The Covenant
Once upon a time...
With those words, many a story have begun as will this.
Once upon a time, briefly after the Flood and before the First
Covenant, all the Immortal Races gathered at Mount Ararat to
discuss the future of the world they were inhabiting. The
Immortal was struck with a crisis there was no way that all of
them could inhabit the world and roam freely as before. Some of
them said that the Flood was the result of God's Wrath upon them
that the Immortal was the target of the Flood. Whatever the
reason of the Flood was, the Immortals were paradoxically
dying.
This was debated over and over again legend says that the
debate went on constantly for seven weeks, and that the sun did
not show itself during the gathering. It was a dark time for the
world, and it ended with a new dawn for the Earth, the First
Covenant.
At that time, it was the only Covenant and thus The Covenant.
The Covenant was simple all the Immortal Races should withdraw
from the world, limiting themselves as much as possible in action
as well as in numbers. The Covenant was to be supervised by the
most powerful of the Immortal Races, the dragons.
The Watching
The dragons assumed their role as the guardians of the Covenant,
and pooled their immense powers together. One of their kin
should always be awake, harnessing the Power and the Authority as
the Guardian. The Authority was passed from dragon to dragon,
century after century, until Christendom came.
Sometime during the early Dark Ages, Europe was christened. In
the mythology of the Christians, the dragons were servants of
Evil, all-engulfing world-destroyers in the time of Armageddon,
battling among the Legions of Darkness.
So, when a Christian warrior found a live dragon in his vicinity
somewhere on the borderlands of Caledonia and Britain he rode
to it and challenged it. With faith, steel and the Wrath of God,
the dragon was slain.
The slaying of the Guardian was never reckoned with. At that
time, the Guardian was the only dragon awake, and the event
passed... unnoticed.
Until recently.
The Awakening
Somewhere east of the land-mass known to man as America, a dragon
awakened in the late nineteen-eighties. Her human name was
Alaria if ever a dragon's name or sex is relevant, this
particular dragon was more female than male, and her name would
be conceived as Alaria among humans and she had been asleep for
more than six thousand years.
She stretched out with her senses, searching for the Guardian to
learn of the world. She found nothing. Except for a lot of
humans, of course, but she never reckoned them to be a threat.
Several years were spent, looking for the Guardian, but Alaria
never found it. She gathered knowledge of the Mortal world as
she looked, learning their language, and eventually, she knew
that the Guardian was not only dead, the other Immortal Races was
spreading around the world like a disease.
This enraged the newly awakened dragon's mind, and her body woke
as well. She drifted to the nearest shore and walked, in human
form, up on a moonlit beach. On this beach, there were only one
living being, and one dead. The vampire was feeding on the
human, and before Alaria recognized the event, the human died.
Alaria understood, but not the vampire. The vampire thought the
naked woman was but another victim and approached her with
blooded fangs and gleaming eyes, trying to dominate her and
seduce her to take her blood as well.
Alaria was astonished. Never had a vampire ever tried to feed on
the Dragonkin, and here one came trying to do this. And if this
was not enough, he was also trying to control her mind.
The vampire quickly learned a lesson that night "never stare
into the eyes of a dragon". Alaria stared back, paralyzing the
vampire with her gaze. The vampire stopped in his tracks with a
silly-looking face.
Alaria dropped her guise, spread the golden-red wings in the
night and accelerated, partly by flapping, partly by magick, and
grabbed the vampire in her fangs. She flew to the roof of a tall
human-built building and landed.
You, Alaria said, speaking for the first time in millenniums, who
are you to ignore the Covenant? Know you not the Strictures?
And who are you to dare to Embrace one of our kin?
"Say again?" the vampire asked.
The Covenant strictly forbids your kin to move as openly as you
do, she continued. The Covenant forbids your kin to raise
challenge towards the Guardians. These are written in the
Strictures of the Covenant, and your kin agreed to join it or be
destroyed. Now, you dare to break them, and even claim ignorance
of their existence?
"Hey, man, look..." the vampire stalled. "I follow the rules,
like. I ain't broken the Masquerade. I didn't hunt outside me
turf. I ain't broken the Prince's laws."
You lie, Alaria's mind roared. The Strictures are broken. The
Dragonkin will not look lightly on this.
"The what?" the vampire exclaimed and continued whispering "The
dragonkin? Like, there are more of you?"
Yes. And Alaria raised her long slender neck to the moon and
sung. It was a complex song, beautiful and horrific beyond
belief, almost imperceptible for the human ear and
unencompassable for the human mind. The song was beautiful, the
vampire could not stand it, and with the end of the song, every
dragon was awake.
You shall present me to your Prince, Alaria said.
"No way, man," the vampire answered, "he'll kill me, like."
You shall present me to your Prince, Alaria repeated, else you
will not exist to see the next night.
"I don't mean to make you angry or disappointed, lady," the
vampire insisted, "but I ain't introducing you to the Prince.
See, I like my neck. I don't know if you can destroy me here and
now, but I know sure as hell that he can."
I see, Alaria said almost regretfully.
Then she grabbed the vampire, and flung herself to the skies.
She gained altitude quickly, rose above the clouds and stayed
hovering in the air. Do you think you would survive a fall from
here? she asked. Or have your kin forgotten the dragonkin's
breath?
She exhaled a long breath of fire, rendering the vampire struck
by panic. She held him still with both claws until he became
calm again. Or should we stay here until the sun rises, Childe
of Cain? Do you still not know I could destroy you as the bug
you are?
"Okay, okay," the vampire begged. "Just don't hurt me, okay?
I'll show you to the Prince, and then you let me go, okay?"
I will give that event a thought, Alaria answered and sunk
herself to the sleeping city.
The Second Covenant
The Prince met Alaria, and as the vampire caught had said, he was
hostile. The Prince had bested all other supernaturals that he
had met, from Garou to Mages. He was certain that one more could
be bested, especially this foreign naked lady.
This attitude is certainly not the best to wear when talking to a
dragon. Before the night was passed, the city was in need of a
new Prince and Alaria had left with the vampire she had caught.
The arrogance of the Kindred convinced Alaria that her decision
was right. She called a Gathering of the Dragonkin to discuss
the events. The Dragons came, one by one, to Mount Ararat as
before, and one year after the Waking, there was the Second
Gathering.
The debate went on for a night and a day, the air filled with the
strange and eerie sound of dragonsong. The vampire could tell of
the strange debate, four hundred naked men and women standing,
sitting or lying on the ground. No sound could be heard, and the
people gathered spoke only with their minds. Some of the
dragonthoughts leaked to the vampire and he thought it resembled
song.
The Gathering was more of a council of war. Try to imagine the
frustration of lady Alaria when she in her regal position founds
herself cheated of the throne of the Covenant. And imagine her
asking the most noble of the Dragonkin if she would raise the
bloody flag to reconquer it and with conscience could make this
claim. Imagine the pride of the regal dragon when all of the
dragons accepted her as their sovereign. One may think that the
Swan from Avon was psychic when he described the council of war
that Henry V of England held before the war against France.
And at the end of the Gathering, the Second Covenant was settled.
Much of the Dragonkin's power had been invested in the Guardian.
The Guardian had been slain and the invested power was lost.
Once again, the Dragonkin had to pool their resources together.
This time, the power should not be concentrated. The Dragonkin
would not risk another loss.
Three strictures formed the Second Covenant. The three
Strictures are called the Prides, the Quest and the Custos.
The Prides
The Dragonkin was split into eight fractions that night, called
the Prides, all named after one of the eight dragons of the
Second Waking who shared the Pride's thoughts. The eight prides
immediately started to debate among them in what way the Second
Covenant should be introduced to the world.
The Quest
As for the lost power of the Guardian, this should be quested
for. Some would quest for it to release all the power and
restore the Dragonkin's former might. Others would quest for it
to gain all of that power for themselves. All would, however,
quest for the Power.
The Custos
The last stricture of the Second Covenant was the Custos. Alaria
prompted for the Dragonkin to resume their role as Guardians of
the First Covenant, and several of the Prides agreed. But not
all. Some of the Prides do not wish to chain the other kin to a
covenant long lost and no longer remembered, especially since the
Earth has survived more than one and a half millennium without a
guardian.
Other prides claim that something is happening. The Immortal
Races are changing, rapidly growing in numbers. The Guardians
are again needed. The Custos will ensure that the growth is
controlled.
The Eyes of the Dragon
What does a dragon look like? It is a very hard question to
answer, since no dragon is exactly alike any other dragon. There
is also a great difference between the dragons of the court of
Alaria and those of the Eastern Court.
All dragons have at least two forms, the human form and the
dragon form.
The Mortal form looks exactly like a human. It has exactly the
same anatomy, to the point that it is possible to treat a dragon
in mortal form with modern medical science and get a predictable
result. The mortal form is better than the average human, but
still not different.
The only difference lies in the eyes. Being the eyes of the
dragon, the whites are too white, the irises too clear in color
and often too wide not exactly inhuman, just alien. This gives
ordinary mortals (and other supernatural creatures too, such as
vampires) the creeps, since it is quite clear that the being in
front of them is a little different. Add to this the sensation
of power that lies in the gaze of a dragon. This does not
identify a dragon in mortal form it only gives a sensation of
being in the wrong end of something extremely powerful.
It is possible to identify a dragon by looking at the shadow,
which still is the shadow of a dragon, not that of a human. Some
dragons create an illusory shadow, or changes it's shadow, to
resemble that of a human, but many supernatural creatures can
sense this use of dragon magick and point out the dragon by this.
Since dragons do not dress in dragon form, they seldom dress in
human form either. Instead, they create an illusion of clothes,
which fools mere mortals but seldom supernaturals.
The dragon form is impressive; it is a combination of lethality
and beauty. It has a slender body, not the clumsy lizardlike
body of old stories but more that of a bird or dinosaur, with two
strong back legs and two more slim forelegs that doubles as
hands. The hands and feet are clawed.
There is a third pair of appendages, the wings. Although the
wings are sometimes used for propulsion, the dragons are more
likely to use their magick to propel them through the air and the
wings only for lift and maneuver. Thus, it is possible for
dragons to fly at supersonic speeds and with a maneuverability
that surpasses most modern jet fighters.
A typical dragon is forty feet long and has a wing span of sixty
to eighty feet. Of this length, one third is neck, one sixth is
body and one half is tail. The tail ends in a spiked growth,
much like the one of a flail. The back of the dragon is covered
with lethal spikes, which makes sitting on the back of the dragon
very uncomfortable, not to mention falling onto it. If a dragon
ever carries a human passenger, the passenger would prefer to be
carried in the dragon's forelegs, and the dragon would not like
to have a human on its (relatively) vulnerable neck anyway.
The head is small in comparison to the body and is far from the
crocodile head so common in fantasy art. It looks more of a
bird's beak than that of a reptile. The eyes of the dragon are a
chapter of its own. They are narrow and ovoid in shape. They
are protected by two sets of eyelids, the inner closing
horizontally and the outer closing vertically. There are no
pupils, and those who think there are often mistakes the
half-shut inner eyelids, which shuts from the sides, as pupils.
The eyes reflect light much like those of a cat, creating an
illusion of glowing eyes. Staring into the eyes of a dragon is
to stare through the gates of Magick itself the eyes reflect
the nature of the dragon's soul as pure incarnated magic, the
very essence and fabric of space.
The color of a dragon varies. Some are simple-coloured, others
have elaborate patterns of colors, and still others shift colors
like gasoline in a puddle of water. There is no connection
between the dragon's power and its color.
Dragons do not need to eat, sleep or breathe. They may fall into
a great Sleep that may last for centuries, but when they are
awake, they are awake for a millennium or so. Food and air are
unimportant to a being that is nutrified by the flows of Magick
in the world. They may eat for the fun of it, they do breathe if
they speak the mortal's tongues and they may sleep (or at least
meditate or simulate), but none of these are necessary. Dragons
may well survive in a submerged cave for centuries without food
or air.
Although dragons are sexless in dragon form, they have a gender
in mortal form. Since there are no sexless humans, there are no
sexless dragons in human form. The mortal gender is more of a
function of the dragon's attitude. A dragon that behaves
"female" often has a female mortal gender. The dragon "language"
does not have any gender, but in "translations", the dragon's
mortal gender is often used. Thus, a mortal would address Alaria
and perceive her name when presented to her as "lady Alaria",
even if she's in the sexless dragon form.
The dragon in human form is capable of having and enjoying sex.
It is possible for a female dragon in mortal form to get
pregnant, as well as a male may reproduce with human females.
Any offspring from human form is always all human, even if both
parents are dragons in human form no "dragon genes" will ever
appear in the offspring.
The dragon has always one great secret their name. They take a
name which humans can pronounce, but each of them has a True
Name. If "spoken", a True Name would resemble a song or a
complex harmony. This is a secret that a dragon would never
reveal to any mortal (nor any other being, and certainly not a
dragon), since knowing one's Name will give the mortal a powerful
device to control a dragon.
The Origin of the Dragons
The dragons are not creatures of the world. It is said that they
are what remains of the Nephilim, that they are angels outcast
and fallen to Hell, or spawn of Satan himself, that they come
from Beyond or from Heaven (or the Heavens), that they are
mortals who have eaten a dragon pearl, and a thousand other
theories.
The truth is this; dragons are incarnations of Magick. As long
as there is magick in the world, there will be dragons, and as
long as there is dragons, there will be magick. If either is
lost, then the other is gone forever.
When the Guardian was slain a long time ago, the magick in the
world faded away and fell into sleep as the dragons were asleep
as well. But magick did not vanish. It faded and was almost
gone in the world, but not entirely.
As the magick faded, so did all those who lived on the magick
forces. The Order of Hermes lost its power. Mages was forced to
abide the laws of Paradox or move their magick to the spirit
world, as did the Garou. The Tremere bound its magick to that of
blood.
But lately, the number of supernatural creatures has greatly
increased, also increasing the flow of magick in the world, to
the point that the most powerful of the sleeping dragons could
wake. Now, lady Alaria has wakened the other of the dragonkin
and assembled them to her court. Now, the magick is returning to
the world.
It took eight hundred years for the magic to fade away when the
last dragon awake was slain. Now, when all four hundred and nine
dragons are awake, the magick will return in a little less than
two years.
His Master's Voice
The dragon's language is in form of the Dragonsong. It is the
voice of the fabric of magic, the way that a dragon persuades the
universe to conform to its will. It may be spoken, sung or
thought that does not matter to the dragon, nor to the
universe.
This language can be fairly well transcribed into Enochian that
is, rather poor, but still better than any other mortal language
but this has not been done for several thousand years of some
reasons. When listening to the actual spoken language it would
resemble music in the richness and volume that only a symphonic
orchestra can produce.
It is good to think of classic music or to various film scores
when describing dragonsong.
When the dragon is... Think...
Changing Form and Growing Angry:
John Williams; "Incident at Isla
Nublar" (Jurassic Park)
Closing In: Trevor Jones; "Main Title"
(Last of the Mohicans)
Content: Ludwig van Beethoven;
"Ninth Symphony, Fourth Movement"
Divine: Elliot Goldenthal; "Agnus Dei"
or "Lento" (Alien 3)
Flying: Trevor Jones; "The Elk Hunt"
(Last of the Mohicans)
Furious: Elliot Goldenthal; the first
part of "Explosion and Aftermath"
(Alien 3)
Generous: John Williams; "Theme from
Jurassic Park" (Jurassic Park)
Majestic: John Williams; "Arrival of the
Emperor" (Return of the Jedi)
Present: Elliot Goldenthal; "The Dragon"
(Alien 3)
Performing Magick: Jerry Goldsmith; "The Shadow"
... or Jerry Goldsmith; "Warlock"
... or Modest Moussorgsky;
"Night at the Bald Mountain"
... or Alan Silvestri; "Bud on the
Ledge" or "Back on the Air" or
"Finale" (The Abyss)
Seductive (dragons love romance):
Trevor Jones; "The Kiss"
(Last of the Mohicans)
Surprisingly Changing Form:
Andrew Lloyd Webber; the overture
of "Phantom of the Opera"
Thinking: Trevor Jones; "Sarah" (Labyrinth)
Threatening: John Williams; "Imperial March"
(Empire Strikes Back)
Violent: Jerry Goldsmith; almost the entire
"Alien" soundtrack
... or Elliot Goldenthal;
"Wreckage and Rape" (Alien 3)
When a dragon talks, it is not in the simple tongue of the common
folk today. It is more like the regal speak of Shakespeare's
dramas. Not even the playful dragons of lady Sinyé's court speak
like simple folk, if it does not serve their purpose.
The Court
When Alaria was recognized as the sovereign of the Dragonkin, she
created herself a throne. It is located in the northwest of
Austria, in a castle that she called from the very living rock,
shrouded in mysteries and in mists, not to be beheld by mortal
eyes.
Here, in this magnificent Castle Dragon, crafted by Dragon
Magick, lady Alaria resides with her most trusted advisers, the
lords and ladies of the eight Prides, and her train of forty
trusted minor members of the Dragonkin. Here she has greeted
ambassadors from the other immortal races. From here, she will
rule the Covenant through her servants of the eight Prides.
Castle Dragon is enormous, created to not only fit mere humans
but also the huge dragon forms. The Royal Hall of the Castle
alone is full one thousand feet long, three hundred feet wide and
the ceiling is two hundred feet tall. From the ceiling hangs
four hundred and ten great banners, each bearing the coat-of-arms
of one of the Dragonkin. Above the throne hangs the greatest of
all, that of Lady Alaria herself. Then comes the eight banners
of the lords and ladies of the Prides. Further back in the hall
hangs the four hundred banners of the living dragons in order of
their rank from Wake, Name and Pride. At the far wall of the
hall hangs the Black Banner, the one of the dragon that were
slain to mortal hands, to remember him and his failure.
The Dragonkin has adopted the custom of having a coat-of-arms
from the mortals. Lady Alaria was intrigued by the idea of
having a symbol for every royal and noble family and thus adopted
the custom for the Dragonkin as a symbol of their nobility of the
other species. The Dragonkin has not adopted the rules and laws
of heraldry and blazonry they simply created a coat-of-arms
that they liked. The lords of the Lyon Court of Scotland
Scotland's highest instance for heraldry would turn into rage
if they ever saw some of the banners that hangs in the ceiling of
the Royal Hall.
No roads lead to the Castle, and it appears on no maps. They
only way in or out is the wings of the dragons.
Gaining Rank
It is possible that the dragon's Name will raise during the game.
This happens when a dragon performs an action that all dragons
consider to be praiseworthy. If the Name trait ever raises to
four, the dragon will be asked to work for the lords and ladies
of the Prides, being their ambassador to the mortal world. If
the Name should raise to five, lady Alaria herself will propose
to the dragon that he will become her personal ambassador.
With such a Name, the dragon's banner will be moved forward in
the Royal Hall. His words will be listened to with great care,
and his friendship to the lords and ladies of the Prides and lady
Alaria is guaranteed as long as the dragon stays loyal. Wake is
also considered when speaking of rank, as is Pride to a lesser
degree, but first of all loyalty to the Court and Name is
considered.
When being a trusted councilor, the dragon will inevitably be
drawn into the royal politics of the Dragonkin, and if he works
as an ambassador, he will also be drawn into the Machiavellian
politics of the other kins. This will be somewhat confusing for
a dragon.
When the conspiratorial politics of, for example, the Camarilla
resembles that of the Illuminati combined with that of the Cosa
Nostra and an early Italian city state, the politics of the Court
resembles that of a medieval king's. The plots are still there,
as are the conspiracies, but it is sweetened with etiquette,
manners and noble behavior. There are seldom false alliances and
theater in dragon court. Enmity is open and sometimes leads to
duels, instead of conspiring in the background against your enemy
while being sweet and gentle and above all, false.
This fashion of court politics derives from the dragontongue
remember that there is always truth in the words of a dragon. It
also explains why dragons are so poor when conspiring within the
Camarilla.
Prides
There are eight prides among dragons, signifying their relation
to the mortal and supernatural world. Each pride shares
basically the same opinions as their leaders. The prides are not
a "lineage" they are much more of a political party.
The prides are more or less significant to lady Alaria. Since
she is the leader and sovereign of the Dragonkin, her opinions of
the ranking of the prides counts very high in the Court.
The prides do not accept anyone. Since there is no lies in
Dragonspeak, only truth, it is impossible to join a pride which
do not share goals and motivations with the aspiring member. It
is possible to change pride later in the game, but this must be
role-played out.
Vermithrax: Lord of Order
Draconis Vermithrax is most of all interested in maintaining the
Third Stricture, the Custos, and in that assumes the highest
regarded position at lady Alarias court. The dragons of this
pride joins lord Vermithrax in supporting the Custos and the
Order of the Second Covenant. They act as ambassadors and envoys
to the other Immortal kins.
Alexis: Lady of Chaos
Directly opposed to lord Vermithrax stands lady Alexis. The
world has maintained their controlled chaos for one and a half
millennium without our supervision, she says. It is a proof that
the chaos of the world is balancing in its own ways. Let it be
that way, she says.
Alexis sees no need to get involved in the politics between the
Immortal races, at least not as guardians. It might be amusing
to enter the Game for amusement only, and perhaps to add some of
the chaos which in the end will balance itself.
Rekhem: The Wielder
Lord Rekhem stands allied to Vermithrax as his executive arm.
Although Rekhem would rather see the Dragonkin standing alone
against all other Immortals, he also knows that the present day
is unfit for attacking the lower creatures. Thus, he is allied
with Vermithrax, as Vermithrax is the most powerful pride of
Dragonkin, and Rekhem's station as Vermithrax's armed branch
gives him opportunity to slay some of the Immortals from time to
time.
Morkeleb: Lord of Darkness
Lord Morkeleb was a great friend (if that concept is ever
possible in the minds of dragons) of the dragon that had the
Authority and was slain, fifteen hundred years ago. He sees the
mortals as his sole enemy. The other Immortal races are
dependent on the mortals, he reasons, so wiping the mortal
existence out will also wipe out the Immortal races. This makes
him unofficially allied with lord Rekhem, and there is an uneasy
alliance between Morkeleb and Khuril. That alliance will
probably end if Khuril ever reaches his goals.
Sinye: Lady of Light
Lady Sinyé is, in the eyes of the other dragons, immature. She
thinks that this new amazing world is a great experience with
great amusement potentials. In that she is the wildcard of lady
Alaria's court, since she supports those who she for the moment
thinks poses the greatest possibility for fun.
Sinyé is active among all the Immortal races. She, and the
dragons of her Pride, are connoisseurs and artists and joins with
mortals and Immortals alike, to explore the pleasures of their
world. In this, Sinyé is allied with Vermithrax.
Thrakhinde: Lord of the Air
Lord Thrakhinde supports a fraction of the Dragons who think that
the world has passed them. Thrakhinde has an idea of his own
to leave this world for another one, more fit for the desires of
Dragonkin. This would take the effort of all the Dragonkin he
would not be able to leave alone.
There are those who are frantically opposing this idea. Among
these are lady Sinyé, who believes the Dragonkin to be a part of
this world. Without the presence of the Dragonkin, the magic in
the world would die, and with it, all things created.
Khuril: Lord of the Mortals
Lord Khuril believes that the dragons are superior to every other
kin on Earth. He refuses to use the word "immortal" of any other
creature but the Dragonkin. He thinks that the Dragonkin are the
natural lords of Earth, and would like to put all other kins
under their rule.
His greatest ally is for the moment lord Morkeleb, who would like
to slay all mortals. It is easier to slay the oppressed,
Morkeleb thinks, and thus has joined lord Khuril. For the
moment.
Khanara: The Hermit
Lord Khanara's only position in lady Alaria's court is that of
the court mage. The few followers he has are seclusive hermits
and viziers. Their magical powers are unmatched, but they are
very few. Furthermore, they are not trusted by anyone but lady
Alaria herself, and that trust is extended to only lord Khanara
and only in times of need. Khanara is not loyal to anyone, save
lady Alaria.
The Prideless
A few of the Dragonkin do not submit themselves to any of the
eight Prides. They are referred to as Prideless, and are both
regarded with respect, as they choose to stand by themselves, and
shunned as they choose to stand outside Dragon society. They are
regarded as wildcards, traitors, lone wolves and mavericks,
mostly all at the same time. Most dragons distrust them unless
they have a strong Name. Lady Alaria sometimes uses them for her
own purpose, but mostly they are ignored.
Unless they have something very important to say.
The Embassy
He wills you in the name of God Almighty,
That you divest himself, and lay apart
The borrow'd glories, that by gift of Heaven,
By law of nature, and of nations, 'long
To him, and to his heirs ; namely, the crown.
[...] He bids you to resign
Your crown and kingdom, indirectly held
From him, the native and true challenger.
William Shakespeare; Henry V
The Court of lady Alaria has sent ambassadors to other immortal
races, declaring the revival of the Covenant and demanding their
obedience to it. Some have complied of recognition of the
Covenant or abiding a time to wreak it others have refused.
So far, the Embassy has resulted in sorting out to lady Alaria
who will be her allies and who will be her enemies and most
important, who will stay behind and wait to see the result of
this royal battle. This is as purposed.
The Quest
The Quest for Power is something that all dragons participate.
Some do it out of greed, others out of loyalty to their
sovereigns and still others of fear of misuse of the Power. What
all dragons search for is a physical object, namely the Badge of
Office a chain of gold crafted of magick alone. When found,
the Badge will release all of its power to the finder.
The Badge of Office will not be tamed by mortal hands. Even if a
mortal found it, he would not be able to use it as anything
greater than a power source for magic. As such, it would give
power almost eternally but not unlimited power. Everything taken
from the Badge would have to be restored, even from the mortal's
soul if necessary.
However, if a dragon found it, it would give him a bonus of
fifteen extra dots to distribute among any and all of the
dragon's traits. This bonus may be distributed as the dragon
wishes, but it takes one hour to move one dot from one trait to
another.
A dragon would be able to destroy the Badge of Office with his
fiery breath and magick. If that would happen, all dragons would
gain one extra dot to all Powers and Elements, but the dragon who
destroyed the Badge would not be able to draw from its powers any
more. The bonus is thus gone.
The dragon that finds the Badge will have his Name increased by
one dot. He may create his own Pride if he wishes with a rating
of his current Pride plus one. This Pride will be named after
the dragon. The Wisdom/Wrath circle will instantly be filled.
If a dragon destroys the Badge and releases its powers his Name
will rise with one additional dot and instantly gain 50
experience points.
If a dragon would have Name raised to 5 and Pride to 5 or 6
because of his success in the Quest, Lady Alaria would if
challenged face that dragon in mortal combat, a royal battle
for the throne. There is another possibility, and that is that
the dragon may ask to become Lady Alarias consort and king. The
third possibility and the one that most other dragons would
prefer is that the dragon still would bow to Lady Alaria and
accept her as his sovereign and queen. A fourth possibility is
that the dragon would surrender the Badge to lady Alaria or the
Lord of its Pride.
It is not very likely that any dragon would find the Badge of
Office. It has been lost for one thousand five hundred years and
will probably not appear in broad daylight. A quest for the
Badge of Office would easily become a story of the same magnitude
as a Vampires search for Golconda.
2: First Flight
Creating a Dragon
Wide awake
I'm wide awake
I'm not sleeping
U2; "Bad"
Although the Dragonkin is a bit too powerful to use dragons as
player characters, it is still possible for a player to play a
dragon character, especially if he is experienced or if the
campaign has been going for a while and the other characters have
become more powerful.
This section is for those players who would like to play one of
the Dragonkin, but to do this, you need your Storytellers
explicit permission you'll have to ask him, and he'll have to
agree, knowing what he is to unleash.
Character Generation Outline
Step One: Character Concept
Step Two: Select Attributes
What are your basic capabilities?
Prioritize three categories; Physical, Social & Mental (7/5/3)
Prioritize the three Add-on categories; again Physical, Social or
Mental (4/2/0)
Step Three: Select Abilities
What do you know?
Prioritize your three categories; Talents, Skills & Knowledge
(13/9/5)
Step Four: Select Advantages
In what way are you unique?
Choose Powers (5), Elements (5) and Backgrounds (4)
Step Five: Last Touches
Distribute Freebie Points (15)
Step One: Character Concept
Sit down for a minute and put this text aside for a short time.
Think what kind of dragon you want to play. It could be a good
idea to look at the different Prides to find what group you would
like to belong to. If you can't find any Pride that suits you
imagined dragon, don't worry. It is possible to play a prideless
dragon.
Think about how the dragon would act in certain situations. Will
it try to rule the other players? Perhaps a Judge demeanor or
nature should suit the dragon. Is it reclusive and doesn't care
of the mere mortals? The Hermit should fit fine for you. Does
your dragon want to enjoy the Mortal World before judgement is
passed? Choose Bon Vivant as demeanor and Judge as nature.
There are a total of four hundred and nine dragons and each of
them is unique. Think of this when you are designing your
dragon.
Step Two: Select Attributes
As in the previous storyteller games you should decide in which
category you are best, which one you are second best and which
one you are worst in. Then you are to divide a number of dots
within the categories. The difference is that this is done
twice; once for your Mortal form and once for your Dragon form.
As you may have noticed, each attribute has two groups of circles
for marking your dots. The first one, with the already filled
dot, is for your Mortal form. The second, without a filled dot,
is for you Dragon form. When in Dragon form, the two rows are
added together to one dice pool, so if you have a Strength rating
of four in Human form and another three in Dragon form, you
should roll seven dice for a Strength feat.
Note that if one group is selected as Primary in Mortal form, it
has not to be Primary in Dragon form too. It could as well be
Secondary or even Tertiary.
Attributes:
Mortal Form: 6/5/3
Dragon Form: 4/2/0
Step Three: Select Abilities
Now it is time to choose what you know and what you can perform.
The abilities are divided into three groups, Talents, Skills and
Knowledge. You will have to choose one group as Primary, one as
Secondary and the remaining will become Tertiary. You will get
thirteen dots to divide among the Primary abilities, nine to the
Secondary and five to the Tertiary. No ability may be raised
above 3 with the dots provided now. They may be raised above 3
using experience or freebie points. Dragons have no maximum
rating of their traits.
Some of the abilities are marked with an asterisk ("*"). These
are abilities that have been developed or changed during the last
millennia. Since you have just recently woken, you have not
learned or re-learned them. No dots may be divided among these
abilities and you may not place any experience points here during
game, with these two exceptions: you may place dots or
experience points here, but the rating in the ability may never
exceed your rating in the Wisdom trait. You may also spend
freebie points to buy these abilities.
Abilities: 13/9/5
Step Four: Select Advantages
You have five dots to divide among the three Powers; Song, Art
and Might. You also have five more dots to divide among the
Elements, and four dots to divide among the Backgrounds.
Powers: 5
Elements: 7
Backgrounds: 4
Step Five: Last Touches
Your Wisdom trait is equal to your Name rating, and your Wrath
trait is equal to your Wake rating. These ratings may be
increased with freebie points.
You have fifteen freebie points to divide to your liking. The
dots cost a certain number of freebie points, depending on were
you place them.
Point pool cost
Powers 7 points per dot
Elements 5 points per dot
Attributes 5 points per dot
Abilities 2 points per dot
Backgrounds 2 point per dot
Wrath 1 point per dot
Wisdom 1 point per dot
This is a good time to design a coat-of-arms for your dragon.
There is a box provided for this on the character sheet. Do not
worry if you don't know the rules of heraldry and blazonry. Most
dragons don't know either, they simply design a coat-of-arms that
they are fond of.
(Note: The box for the Coat-of-Arms is only provided on the
LHA-packed Postscript version of the character sheet. The ASCII
version does not have any box, but it has some space that may be
used for the Coat-of-Arms.)
3: Traits
There are several different traits that are unique to the
dragonkin. Other traits are described in one of the Storyteller
games but not any other. All traits that do not appear in all
Storyteller games are described here.
Attributes
Remember that it is possible for a dragon in dragon form to get a
total of nine dots in one attribute, and there is no upper limit
if you use freebie points to raise traits. This makes the
dragons sort of powerful. The entire score is rolled for when
using such an extreme attribute, but in addition to that, all
dots above the first five gives some extra effects. Some of
these effects can be translated into Vampire disciplines, and
since most Storyteller players started with the Storyteller
system in Vampire: The Masquerade, we refer to the vampiric
disciplines when possible.
Attribute above five Equals
Strength Potence equal to Strength - 5
Dexterity Celerity equal to Dexterity - 5
Stamina Extra health levels (see below)
Charisma Dominate equal to Charisma - 5
Appearance Presence equal to Appearance - 5
Perception Auspex equal to Perception - 5
The extra health levels from a high Stamina lie between Bruised
and Hurt. There is five extra circles on the character sheet,
after Bruised on the Health tracks, that are to be used for such
purposes. These health levels do not disappear if the dragon
changes form to mortal and thus loses his extra health levels,
nor are they added to the higher wounds. They are simply dormant
until the dragon resumes it dragon form again.
Abilities
Some of the abilities in Dragon: The Waking Wrath are not
described in Vampire: The Masquerade. We provide a short
description of them here, mostly taken from other Storyteller
games (Werewolf: The Apocalypse and Mage: The Ascension). All
abilities that are described in Vampire: The Masquerade are
omitted from this text.
Talents
Awareness
This Talent represents a character's ability to detect things
that are not of the physical world. Sensing things that are not
of the physical world often requires a roll of Perception +
Awareness.
· Novice: You can see strange things out of the corner of
your eye.
·· Practiced: Odd things are revealed to you.
··· Competent: All things have a deathly aura that you can
easily identify.
···· Expert: You could find a lucky four-leaf clover in seconds.
····· Master: You can see the bizarre everywhere.
Possessed by: Paranormal Investigators, Gypsies, Psychics
Specialties: Animals, Magic, Supernatural creatures
Expression
The Expression Ability represents your ability to get your point
across through speaking or writing, whether you're writing a book
or debating social issues. Characters with high Expression are
unforgettable, but only in their ability convey their feelings;
intelligent or meaningful expression is the purview of other
Traits. Expression at its highest form can be art.
· Novice: Tabloid reporter
·· Practiced: College debate team captain
··· Competent: Successful comedian
···· Expert: Best-selling novelist
····· Master: William Shakespeare
Possessed by: Orators, Politicians, Novelists, Actors,
Demagogues, Protesters
Specialties: Poetry, Impromptu, Radical, Innuendo, Meetings
Intuition
The Talent of Intuition reflects a character's ability to guess
correctly and follow her "gut feelings". Intuition is kind of a
safety net for characters, and it is up to the Storyteller to
keep it from being abused.
High level of this Talent also indicates some aptitude in certain
areas of ESP, like precognition. A rating in Intuition means
that the character probably can guess the result of a cointoss
more often than not. She might also have a sense of when someone
is lying to her.
· Novice: You have good instincts.
·· Practiced: Always go with your first answer.
··· Competent: You're a con man's nightmare
···· Expert: A sixth sense seems to tell you when something's
amiss.
····· Master: You could bankrupt Vegas and Atlantic City.
Possessed by: Fortunetellers, Gamblers, Entrepreneurs, Bodyguards
Specialties: Horse Races, Ambushes, Dice, Honesty
Skills
Flight
The ability to fly by your own power, usually by using wings or
magic. You may use this skill with some machines, like
hanggliders, parafoils or jet packs, but usually not and always
with high difficulties.
· Novice: You can land without scrubbing your knees.
·· Practiced: You can land on an aircraft carrier in full
storm at night.
··· Competent: Top Gun graduates are amateurs compared to you.
···· Expert: You are competing with the Red Arrows.
····· Master: Baron von Richthofen.
Possessed by: Dragons, birds, bats and other free-flying creatures.
Specialties: Aerobatics, air combat maneuvers, gliding, nap-of-earth
Meditation
Meditation is the Skill of calming the emotions, controlling the
mind, and relaxing the physical body. Meditation is usually
performed in a special position, like the lotus position, but
with practice, it can be performed in a variety of situations or
positions.
Meditation can be used to isolate the mind from distractions,
allowing the character to focus on matters of importance.
Meditation can also be used to catch up on lost sleep, if you
need sleep, a Stamina + Meditation roll (difficulty 8) determines
how many effective hours of sleep are gained per hour of
meditation.
· Novice: You can sit in one spot for a while without
fidgeting
·· Practiced: You can sit still and attain peaceful state
of mind
··· Competent: You can relax in any position
···· Expert: People have to go out of their way to break your
concentration
····· Master: You could stand on you head in gunfire and approach
inner calm
Possessed by: Martial Artists, Monks, Athletes, Psychologists
Specialties: Relaxation, Focusing, Memory, Zen, Centering
Research
Every good student or seeker of knowledge knows how to find
information he needs or desires, In the civilized world much of
this information is available through libraries. A successful
roll with this Skill means a character has ascertained where to
get the information she requires. It doesn't necessarily mean
that the information has been gained, though that is usually the
case (especially at libraries, although even then the required
book may be missing).
· Novice: The Dewey Decimal system has been mastered.
·· Practiced: You know the workings of most standard reference
resources.
··· Competent: You have access to many private libraries.
···· Expert: Given time, you could find almost any reference
material.
····· Master: If it's been written, you know where it is.
Possessed by: Writers, Scientists, Editors, Lawyers, Librarians
Specialties: Philosophy, History, German
Technology
The Skill provides practical knowledge concerning the function
and repair of technological items of all sorts cars and
security systems, and computers.
· Novice: The on-off switch is no problems.
·· Practiced: You know all the basics.
··· Competent: You can figure out nearly anything given enough
time.
···· Expert: You understand many complicated machines and devices.
····· Master: If man made it, then you can use it.
Possessed by: Repair, Security Experts, Hardware designers, Inventors
Specialties: Electronics, Computers, Cars, Security Systems
Knowledge
Culture
Understanding the behavior, beliefs, art, institutions and
general thought patterns of a society is part of this Knowledge.
Possessing such information allows more than just knowledge of
how people act, but why as well. This is extremely important if
a person wishes to interact with a culture, or, as many powerful
character wish, to change or influence a culture.
This Knowledge provides an understanding of past and present
cultures, an ability to quickly pick up cultural details of a new
society, and indicates a talent for blending into the local
society.
· Student: You know a few taboos of the culture.
·· College: You probably won't get lynched.
··· Masters: You can understand all levels of many cultures.
···· Doctorate: You can recount the past and predict the future
of a culture.
····· Scholar: Indiana Jones
Possessed by: Archeologists, Pollsters, Artists, Politicians
Specialties: Religion, Politics, Ancient Rome, Faerie, Garou, Kindred
Enigmas
Puzzles and problems occupy your imagination in fact, you may
even enjoy being perplexed. Solving riddles of all sorts is a
passion, and this interest has given you a knack for piecing
together and remembering information vital to many kinds of
problem-solving.
The Enigma Knowledge assists players in solving the mysteries
created by the Storyteller. It is essential for the divining
secret pathways to lost realms, answering the riddles of mystical
guardians, or riddling of one's soul a malevolent spirit.
· Student: You can put together a 100-piece jigsaw puzzle.
·· College: You can guess the outcome of a mystery novel.
··· Masters: You can do Rubik's Cube in an hour.
···· Doctorate: You'd have whipped Gollum without hobbit trickery.
····· Scholar: You understand the deepest mysteries
Possessed by: Crossword Puzzle Devotees, Zen Enthusiasts, Game
Players, Mystics
Specialties: Ancient, Riddles, Visual, Verbal
Notes on some abilities
There are some abilities that must be mentioned. All abilities
marked with an asterisk (*) are limited for dragons they must
have a Wisdom trait equal to or greater than the score in these
abilities.
If the dragon does not wish to be forced to use Dragonspeak in
which no lies is possible and nobody is able to misunderstand,
but also very revealing of the dragon's nature and telepathy,
the dragon must pick at least one dot in Linguistics. This is
popular among the prides Vermithrax and Sinyé, but there are
others that scorn this habit, Khuril and Alexis for example.
Politics is a good ability to have, because of the workings of
the Court. Flight is also a good ability to possess, but not
necessary. All dragons have an innate ability to fly, but some
are more practiced than others.
Melee has quickly become a fashion of the Court. Many duels are
resolved with the rapier, and many dragons show great skill in
using archaic weapons like swords. Besides, skills in close
combat will put the dragon in a better position when dealing with
the Immortals of the Shadow War.
Backgrounds
Dragonkin only have four Background traits. These are Pride,
Wake, Name and Form.
Pride
The Pride is the group or fraction to which you belong. The more
dots you place in this trait, the greater your name becomes. If
you want to convince another dragon, you often have to succeed
with a roll of Pride + Name, against a difficulty based on your
relation to the other dragon's Pride and the feat you want the
other dragon to perform. You will almost never use Intimidation,
Leadership or Subterfuge against another dragon. First of all,
your Pride and Name exceeds the mortal skills, and second, there
are no lies in Dragon Talk.
It is almost impossible to raise your Pride score. This must be
done through being accepted by another pride, and acceptance is
not lightly taken. It is almost impossible to trick one's way
into a pride, since there are no lies in Dragonspeak.
If your dragon is Prideless, he stands alone. It is possible to
join a pride later on, but the dragon must prove that he agrees
with the views of the Pride, or more specifically, its Lord or
Lady. A few prideless dragons have come to act as lady Alarias
personal ambassadors, envoys and escort. This craves a Name
rating of 5 or in a few cases 4, but these dragons are still
regarded as Prideless. It is their Name that makes them accepted
among other dragons.
Prideless
· Khanara
·· Thrakhinde, Khuril
··· Sinyé, Morkeleb
···· Alexis, Rekhem
····· Vermithrax
Wake
The order in which you were awakened are important to Dragons.
Since Alaria was powerful enough to not only wake all other
sleeping dragons but also powerful enough to wake herself, she is
the most powerful dragon of all. She is also the only dragon of
the First Waking. All other dragons came awake in order of their
power.
The eight founders of the Prides are dragons of the Second
Waking. All other dragons falls into the Third to Eighth Waking,
indicating the importance and power of the dragon. Almost two
hundred dragons belong to the Eighth Waking. Around one hundred
dragons are of the Seventh Waking, fifty of the Sixth Waking,
twenty-two of the Fifth Waking, eighteen of the Fourth Waking and
only ten of the Third Waking.
Eighth Waking
· Seventh Waking
·· Sixth Waking
··· Fifth Waking
···· Fourth Waking
····· Third Waking
The Wake rate is used when speaking at the Gathering use your
Wake + Name to get a dice pool. Second, your initial Wrath
rating equals you Wake rating. Wake may never be raised, but it
is possible to raise wrath.
Name
Your Name is a rating of how well the other dragons think of your
name, and is one of many factors that establishes your position
in Dragon society. All other dragons know of your name this
trait represents how much they respect you.
You are above the mere Mortals, but still as low as the
other Immortal races. Your Name is scorned at, and you are
unworthy of calling yourself a true Dragon.
· You are accepted among Dragonkin as one of the populace.
You are not noteworthy of anything special, but you are at
least accepted.
·· Your feats are remembered; the ones with lesser Names bow
to you.
··· Your name is respected and your opinions will be listened
to by the Higher Ones.
···· Your advices are of weight when the Council takes decision
regarding all Dragonkin. Your name but not necessarily
your nature may even be known to other Immortal.
····· When you talk, all other dragons fall into silence. Dragons
parts to let you pass, and even the royal Alaria herself
invites you to council her.
Your initial Wisdom is equal to your Name rating. It is possible
to raise the worth of your Name, but this is left to the
Storyteller's discretion. The dragon will have to prove himself
worthy of the higher rank.
Form
The Form rating indicates not only how easily you slip between
your Mortal and your Dragon form, but how many different Mortal
forms you may hold. It also governs astral body's damage
resistance when traveling in the Umbra.
If your Form rating is two or more, some of your forms may be of
non-human shape, for instance Crinos or Vampire forms.
One form
· Two forms
·· Three forms, one being non-human
··· Four forms, one being non-human
···· Five forms, two being non-human
····· Six forms, two being non-human
What about the other Backgrounds?
What about them? A dragon has little interest in Resources or
Allies. A dragon has no needs to cover financially. If a dragon
would need money, however unlikely, he could easily create some
gold or take the money that he needs. And allies? Not petty
mortals anyway. Contacts? Magick can provide all information
needed. Or if magick doesn't work, how about sheer physical
intimidation? Nobody would refuse a request from forty feet of
incarnated magick.
Powers
One part of the dragons' magick is the Powers. The Powers
governs how the Magick will be crafted. There are three Powers;
Song, Art and Might.
Song
The first of the Powers of Dragon Magic, the Song is the base of
vocal enchantments. It is also with the Song that the dragons
speak among themselves and sometimes to others. The Song is
always true no lies could ever be spoken in a Song. The Song
is mainly used for communication.
The rating of the Song trait does not only measure the dragon's
ability to use the supernatural forces of the Song, but also how
the music sounds in itself. The trait could be used to perform
music, but no human musician would ever be able to place it.
· The Song is of the simplest tune, and very little control
is provided
·· The Song contains more harmony.
··· The Song contains complex harmonies.
···· The Song is so complex, so harmonic and so spontaneous,
it no longer can be achieved on any single human instrument.
It is possible to recreate that kind of music with a full
symphony orchestra or a very complex synthesizer.
····· The Song surpasses any physical instrument ever created.
It is impossible to recreate with human instruments or to
record at all.
Specialties: Perception, Communication, Singing, Performance, Beethoven etc.
Art
The Art is used for crafting magic. Unlike Songs, which are
active only as long as the Song lasts, works of Art last
practically forever. The works of Art are often crafted into the
existence with such skill that it is almost impossible to find
them. One of the most obvious Arts is Stonehenge. Art is used
for creating.
Specialties: Healing, Crafting, Creating Water, Creating Food etc.
Might
The Might is the strength of the mind and the origin of sayings
like "never gaze into the eyes of the dragon". Might is used for
changing or control.
Specialties: Mind control, Levitation, Changing, Air control,
Invisibility, Illusions etc.
Elements
The five Elements are the second part that forms the Magick of
Dragonkin. They are always combined with one of the powers
they seldom stand alone. The exceptions are listed below.
Air
The Air element is mainly used for flying. It is added to all
rolls for Speed or Maneuverability. When used in dragon magick,
Air represents not only the element of Air, but also the ether,
spirit world, communication, and images.
Fire
Fire is used for the fiery breath of the dragon. The damage from
a fire is equal to three, plus the Fire element rating, sustained
for a number of rounds equal to Fire rating +1. This damage is
soaked with a difficulty of nine (equal to chemical fire). The
rating is also added to Stamina when soaking fire, including fire
from another dragon.
Fire in magick sense also includes the soul of Man, the fire
within his heart.
Water
The Water element is used the same way as Air is used, but below
the water surface. It is added to all rolls for Speed and
Maneuverability. The Water element is used in Magick for scrying
the Future and remembering the Past. It is also used for
cleansings.
Earth
Earth is used as Fortitude to resist physical damage, for
instance from blade weapons or projectiles that is, added to
the Soak rolls. Earth within magick also includes the body.
Quintessence
The fifth element is Quintessence. Quintessence is the fabric of
reality, the very basis of our existence. Quintessence is used
with Perception to notice, see and understand supernatural
phenomena. It is also why it is so hard to scry any information
regarding dragons or why you almost never can fool a dragon.
Your supernatural senses are but equal to those of a
mortal.
· You are able to smell and see death in means of poison,
magic or normal traps or in weapons. Your intentions can
never be seen through supernatural senses.
·· You may see lay-lines or streams of magick in the world.
When someone is performing magick, you see it and understand
its nature. You may disguise your own alignment.
··· You may feel a person's soul and its general alignment.
Basic emotions may be felt at touch. If you are concentrating,
you may not be detected by magic.
···· You can see a person's soul, its alignment and emotions.
Magick and spirits do not note you thus magic traps will
not spring on you.
····· No illusions may ever fool you. You are in such control of
the magick that you are practically invulnerable to magick
unless the mage spends Quintessence.
Other Traits
There are two traits that are used for measuring the
enlightenment of the dragon, Wisdom and Wrath. The traits are
rated with a circle; if every one of the twenty dots in the
circle is filled, the dragon has realized his potential and freed
himself from the weariness from the long sleep. He is from that
point in full control of his mental as well as his physical
powers.
Either Wisdom or Wrath can be used in the same manner as
Willpower, but Wrath is used for physical actions and Wisdom is
used for intellectual actions. Wrath may also be used as a Garou
might use his Rage. If the circle is filled, it may be broken
wherever the dragon wishes. The first used points of the broken
circle may be used as either Wisdom or Wrath according to the
dragon's wishes.
Wisdom and Wrath may be regained as Willpower. All Wisdom and
Wrath are recovered to the extent of the characters' level at the
end of a story. It may be gained through nature and demeanor,
with the addition that the trait gained is the one that suits
best for the action. Usually, the dragon's demeanor is used for
Wisdom and its nature is used for Wrath, but this is not always
the case.
Wisdom and Wrath may be raised permanently through experience
points. They may also be lost permanently as with Willpower,
that is, when a botch occurs from a roll from a roll for Wisdom
or Wrath.
Whenever you are to roll for Willpower in any other Storyteller
game, you roll for either Wrath and Wisdom, whichever is highest.
Thus, there's no use for Willpower a dragon wouldn't bend
anyway and there's no need to calculate beginning Willpower.
Experience
Experience is gained as in Vampire: The Masquerade and may be
used in the same way. As in Vampire, backgrounds may not change
through experience points. Wrath and Wisdom are explained above.
Type of trait Cost
New Ability 3
Wrath or Wisdom Current rating
Ability Current rating x 2
Mortal Attribute Current rating x 4
Dragon Attribute Add Current rating x 6
Power or Element Current rating x 5
4: Magic
When working dragon's magick, you always combine one of the
Powers with one of the Elements to get a dice pool. Every effect
desired has a difficulty, ranging normally from 2 to 10 as usual.
Since there are a lot of possible effects, we provide only
guidelines for deciding the difficulty number.
Note that dragon's magick is extremely powerful. This is
intentionally, since dragons are extremely powerful. If you
think these dragons are powerful, then think of how powerful a
dragon that has completed the Quest and restored the authority as
the Guardian must be. Then again think of how much luck or
faith St George must have had when he slayed the Guardian 1500
years ago.
As said before, there are few limitations of dragon's magick. As
the Storyteller, you may do almost whatever you like and find
appropriate. Most Kindred or Garou don't stand a chance against
an enwrathed dragon a few ancient ones may stand even in an
encounter with a dragon. Mages would not like to be in the wrong
end of a creature of pure magic incarnated, which wields it
freely as one would wield a sword and is not limited by forces as
Paradox.
As a player, you will have to think in dragon terms when crafting
magick. Although you as a dragon has incredible powers, you
would stand alone if you unleashed them, since no dragon in the
Court of Alaria would aid you. It would end in that the entire
mortal world would turn against you, as would the supernatural
world. And not even a dragon would stand a chance against the
combined forces of an army of mortals as well as vampires, Garou,
mages etc.
Thus, a dragon is more interested in being subtle. The dragon
does not wish to be exposed. As a player, you must remember
this. Use your dragon's magick in a more subtle, clever and
creative way instead of burning down everything in your way. The
idea of suffocating a jet fighter's engines using Might + Air to
control the air current instead of simply tearing the fighter
into small metal pieces is a very good example of creative use of
magick.
Successes
One success is all that is needed to activate a magickal effect.
If it is possible to create a greater effect with more successes,
then each success gives an extra effect equal to creating the
magickal effect once more. For example, gaining three successes
while healing heals three wound levels. Gaining four successes
while causing damage causes four wound levels, et cetera.
You only get the effects you declared. If you get more successes
than needed, these are wasted and may be used only on resisted
rolls. If you get fewer successes than needed, no effects will
appear at all.
Example: Rithka is flying in dragon form and suddenly realizes
that she is clearly visible when two F-16 fighters moves in to
attack. She decides to vanish, at least for the eyes and radar
of the fighter jocks and any other mortal including the radar
crew on the ground. This is two sources of perception (vision
and radar), which craves two successes. The difficulty number is
6, and Rithka will have to use Might + Air. The dice hits the
table, and she comes up with three successes. Since she only
needs two successes, one is wasted. The resulting effects is
however that Rithka vanishes before the eyes of the fighter
pilots, much like a klingon Bird of Prey.
Resistance
If another person is directly affected, this can be resisted with
a roll for Willpower with difficulty equal to the dragon's Might
+ Wrath. If the successes from the Willpower roll is greater
than the successes from the Magick, the Magick is resisted and
nothing happens. Except that the dragon might get upset and uses
a more physical approach to get its will done.
Example: Rithka would like to incinerate a vampire while she is
still in human form. She could use Art + Fire to light the
vampire directly, but the vampire could resist this with a roll
for Willpower with a difficulty of 8 (Rithka's Might score of 4
plus her Wrath of 4). Rithka decides on an indirect approach;
she lights the bed in which the vampire is lying instead. Thus,
the vampire cannot resist the effect.
Multiple spells
A dragon may concentrate of a number of effects equal to its
Intelligence score. Each roll for successes equals one "slot"
that is, if two effects are gained with two or more successes in
one single roll, this counts as one "slot". The effects may be
of any kind, but only one of them may be of Art Magick. There
can be as many effects of the Song or Might type as there are
slots.
Example: As Rithka holds one effect to make her invisible (one
slot), she decides to joke with the pilots. She creates an
illusion of a naked woman sitting on the nose of the aircraft.
This fills one more slot. Since she has an Intelligence of 3,
this means that Rithka has one more slot to fill.
Song Magick
The dragonsong is not only the language of the dragonkin, but
also the basis for all forms of Song magick, the perception and
communication magick in the dragon's own language. It need not
be spoken, but all people with some kind of supernatural senses
(clairvoyance, Auspex, Heightened senses etc) will hear the
Dragonsong anyway. If aimed at one person, this person does not
need any supernatural senses to "hear" the Dragonsong.
Supernatural senses or not, nobody is able to lie using
Dragonsong and nobody will ever be able to misunderstand a dragon
using Dragonsong.
Song magick usually has a duration of Concentration, that is, it
lasts as long as the dragon thinks of it. Song magick is used
for communication or perception.
Song + Air
2 Listen to the whispering conversation at the next table
4 Listen to radio broadcasts, without receiver
6 See television broadcasts, without receiver.
Listen to the echo of the song as a radar.
10 Listen to conversations on the other side of the earth
Song + Fire
2 Dragon speak
3 Silent communication
5 See a specific soul, wherever it is
Willpower Receptive telepathy, eye contact
Willpower + 3 Receptive telepathy, regardless of position
Song + Water
2 Listen to a dolphin
4 Remembering the past, looking into a bucket of water
6 Scrying a riddle describing the future in a cup of water
8 Listen to a crawfish at the bottom of the Marianer-grave,
while at the springs of Mississippi
10 Scrying a clear picture of the future
Song + Earth
2 See footprints on the rock
6 Find a person's body somewhere on Earth
10 Talk to the Eternal Fire in the centre of the Earth
Song + Quintessence
2 See traps and things that are intended to bring harm or
death upon you.
4 See and understand a spell before it is cast.
See into the Umbra.
6 See the true nature of a person. Call and communicate
with spirits.
8 See through any illusion of any kind. Call a dragon from
the Sleep.
Art Magick
Art Magick is based on creation or destruction. Art Magick
usually has a Permanent duration. It lasts virtually forever or
until destroyed. The dragon must touch whatever he is working
on, but when the magick is complete, it stands forever. Remember
that "what's said is said". The dragon can only work on one Art
Magick at one time. He may hold Song or Might magick at the same
time, but no more than one Art may be crafted at the same time.
The Art Magick only fills its slot while it is crafted. When it
is complete, the slot is free for use again.
Art + Air
2 Create a light breeze
10 Call a tornado
Art + Fire
2 Light a match
10 Incinerate a building
Art + Water
2 Fill a glass with water
10 Fill a building with water
Art + Earth
2 Create a handfull of dirt
4 Create a steel hand weapon of moderate quality
(broadsword, mace, cudgel, flail)
5 Create a steel hand weapon of superior quality (rapier,
katana)
6 Heal one level of damage, cause one level of damage
8 Create a steel weapon with complex machinery and high
quality materials (any firearm; requires knowledge of
firearms constructions)
10 Raise a mountain
Art + Quintessence
4 Heal one level of damage on a dragon.
6 Create or destroy Tas.
8 Create or destroy a caern or node. Cause one level
of damage on a dragon or a spirit (resisted).
10 Create a new dragon. Note: this has not been done
since before the Awakening, and even before, it
was rarely done. It is more likely that dragons
spontaneously created themselves, just as quantum
theory says that small universes "pops"
spontaneously out of nothing all the time.
Willpower-2 Extinguish a "normal" magickal effect (that is, a
Mage magickal effect) so it never existed. Dragon
magick is not affected in this way.
Might Magick
Might Magick has a duration of Concentration, as for Song Magick.
It ranges as far as the dragon can see. Might Magick is based on
control and changes.
Might + Air
2 Blow away fumes of perfume or toxic gases
4 Blow a person into the wall, create a lightly distorted
illusion (roll Intelligence + Awareness difficulty 6
against Might + Air)
6 Control the winds to suffocate a jet engine, make one
unnoticable to one source of perception (vision, radar,
heat, smell, hearing etc)
8 Create a perfect illusion
10 Make one completely invisible
Might + Fire
2 Control a candle flame to dance
10 Control a volcano
Willpower+4 Tame a person's soul
Might + Water
2 Making a puddle of water to return to the bucket
5 Raising a mile high pillar of water
10 Raising a five mile high tsunami to drown New York
Might + Earth
2 Making a rock lift
5 Lifting Stonehenge
6 Change one's appearance
10 Forming a mountain to a castle
Willpower-2 Levitate someone's body
Willpower Control a person's body
N x 3 Add N actions to the round (2 extra actions
equals a difficulty of 6)
Might + Quintessence
Gauntlet-2 Enter the Umbra.
Willpower-4 Deflect a magical effect.
Willpower Turn a magickal effect against its caster.
Spells
Oh, by the way, dragons never use "spells". Dragons are beyond
the boundaries of that simple concept. As the dragons are
incarnation of Magick, they have no need to limit themselves with
that.
The closest concept to a "spell" that a dragon may go is a
favorite use of magick. It does not simplify anything in game
terms it is just a favored use of magick. However, "spells"
makes the game flow more easily and consistent. We encourage
players to write down such favorite "spells", just to simplify
things for the Storyteller.
Furthermore, these "spells" may be used as a secretive way of
communication with the Storyteller if the dragon does not wish to
expose himself using magick. Instead of saying "I'll try to make
myself invisible. Should be a Might plus Air, right? What's the
difficulty?", which make it very obvious to the other players
what's happening, the player may instead use a code word or
phrase, like "well, Seattle is a nice place" or "I've been to
Munich once" Exactly how the code words are used are up to the
player and storyteller, but in this example, the city names are
used as code names. The use of several code names per "spell"
makes it very hard to ever notice that the dragon is performing
magick.
Of course, this means that the Storyteller has to roll the dice
and tell the player the result in code as well. If it works, he
might just say "right", and if it doesn't work, the answer could
be "Nah, I prefer Vancouver" or "Never been in Munich".
Used correctly, any of the other players will never know what's
happened. At most, they will know that something has happened,
but not what.
Paradox
Paradox is a kind of inertia in the reality created by the common
subconscious of Man. As such, it does not concern dragons. Even
if paradox spirits do appear, they will have to yield before the
dragon. So, if you play Mage: The Ascension and are concerned
about how dragons' Paradox is measured, forget about the whole
thing! Paradox is for petty mortals, not for dragons.
5: Combat
Although dragons mostly prefer to solve problems in other ways
than physical combat any fool can be a great warrior, but it
craves much more to be a conqueror it is very likely that a
dragon will have to defend its status as being superior to any
other creature.
Fiery Breath
The dragon's most offensive weapon is their flame. The fire is
in form of a long flame, much like the one from an incinerator
but much larger and hotter. Its range is up to 90 feet and it
may be set to cover a 15° arc is the dragon wishes a little
more than 20 feet wide at longest range. If the flame touches
anything it sticks to it and burns for a short while. It can
only be projected while in dragon form the human form lacks the
organs needed to produce the flame.
There is no need to roll to hit when using the flame. If the
dragon may want to avoid to hit something, a roll for Dexterity +
Fire may be made with a difficulty of 6. If the object avoided
is larger, the difficulty is higher, and vice versa.
Dragon Breath damage: 3 + Fire element score, sustained for 1
round + Fire element score. Difficulty to soak: 9.
Injuries
The dragon does never take any aggravated wounds, not even in
mortal form. If the dragon is Incapacitated or worse, it lies
unable to move and take any physical action. It is possible to
send it to Eternal Death when the dragon is unconscious with a
good blow through the heart, neck or head. If this does not
happen, the dragon will start to heal. It is sent back to Sleep
within a day and stays sleeping if not called this might be
done with Song or if knowing the dragon's True Name. A truly
desperate dragon may actually share its Name to a mortal so that
he may call the dragon to the Waking world. Another dragon may
use Song + Quintessence against a difficulty of 8 to call a
sleeping dragon back to the Waking World.
The Sleep will last for two thousand years, minus one hundred
year for every dot in either Wrath or Wisdom. A dragon with a
full circle does not fall into Sleep, any other dragon is
effectively out of the game for at least one century. Lady
Alaria will see to it that any killed or Sleeping dragon is
removed from the Mortal World. It is not very good to prove to
men that there are dragons. If necessary, the dragons will erase
the memories of those mortals involved, so that they have never
seen any dragons.
Any wound that does not send the dragon to Sleep will heal one
wound level per day resting, even in mortal form. If the dragon
does anything but laying still and almost motionless, it heals
one wound level per week.
It is possible for a dragon to heal itself, or for one dragon to
heal another one, through magick (Art + Quintessence). This is
limited to one try per day. A mage may invest Quintessence to
heal a dragon one wound level per point.
The actual wounds on a dragon will heal quite quickly in a matter
of minutes, whether magick is used or not. The time-consuming
part of the healing is for the dragon to realign itself to the
flow of magick the healing greatly disturbs the flow.
Aerial Combat
It is possible that a dragon may come in a position of air-to-air
combat with a fighter or another dragon. These rules are used to
solve most such situations.
Initiative
To gain initiative, you need to maneuver into position. This is
done in the same way as rolling for Initiative, though the
difficulty is based on the position of the combatants and the
maneuverability of the aircraft. The one that gains initiative
does not only act first, but also puts himself in a better
position in relation to the enemy.
Position: Difficulty
Enemy dead ahead 4
Enemy ahead and at the side 5
Enemy at the side 6
Enemy aft and at the side 7
Enemy behind 8
Distance Diff Mod Typical weapon used
Gun distance; > than 1000 m +1 (Dragon flame, vulcan guns)
Close distance; 1000 - 3000 m ±0 (AIM-9 Sidewinders)
Medium distance; 5 km - 10 km ±0 (Sparrow)
Long distance; 10 km - 20 km -1 (AMRAAM)
Extremely long; 20 km or more -2 (Phoenix)
Maneuverability Difficulty Modifier
Dragon ±0
Large commercial or
cargo aircraft, eg
C-5 Galaxy, Boeing 747 +6
Commercial or cargo
aircraft, eg C-130
Hercules, Boeing 707 +4
Small cargo aircraft,
eg Cessna, Piper Cub,
Lear jet +2
WWII fighter aircraft,
eg Spitfire, Mustang -1
1950 fighter aircraft,
eg F-4 Phantom, F-104
Starfighter, MiG 19,
MiG-21 +1
1960-1970 jet fighter
aircraft, eg F-14 Tomcat,
MiG-23 Flogger,
Saab 37 Viggen ±0
1980 jet fighter aircraft,
eg F-16 Falcon, F/A-18
Hornet, MiG-29 Fulcrum -1
1990 jet fighter aircraft,
eg F-22 Lightning II,
Saab 39 Gripen, EFA,
Eurofighter -2
Both combatants roll for Wits + Flight (dragons) or Wits + Piloting
(aircraft pilots), with difficulty defined by the tables for
Position and Maneuverability above. Also modify the difficulty
number regarding to the speed of the aircraft this figure is
gained from the table below. If either side is flying in formation,
only the wing leader makes this roll. The wing man stays behind
the leader. This formation may be split at any time, when the rolls
becomes separate for all combatants.
Speed: Difficulty modifier
200 km/h (WWI Fighter) -3
300 km/h (attack helicopter) -2
500 km/h (Cargo or commercial
aircraft, WWII fighter) -1
700 km/h (Dragon, fighter/
bomber speed) ±0
900 km/h (Typical attack
combat speed) +1
1100 km/h (just below Mach 1) +2
1300 km/h (just above Mach 1) +3
1800 km/h +5
2400 km/h (Mach 2) +7
2800 km/h +9
The combatant that wins this opposed roll gains initiative and
may act first. He also improves his position. A "better
position" is defined by distance and relative position. As the
one that gains initiative, an attacker can choose to alter the
opponents position relative to him, his own position in relation
to the opponent, or, if engaged in air combat maneuvers, the
distance. See "Speed" below.
Remember that dragon characters may add their Air score to their
dice pools.
Example: As Rithka flies to England above the Atlantic Ocean,
two F-14s decide to check out the strange and unidentified
object. They gain visual contact at a range of twenty miles,
thanks to their long range video sensor, and decides to move
closer as they "can't identify the target" (honestly, if you were
a naval air force pilot, would you report that you had a positive
ID of a dragon?).
About this time, Rithka decides to play with the Tomcats. She
turns towards them, and the air combat maneuvers begin at long
range. The Tomcat pilots arm their weapons, but before they can
get a lock, Rithka is upon them.
The F-14s have a Wits of 3 and a Pilot skill of 4 (specialty:
carrier based fighters), total of 7. Their difficulty is 4 (dead
ahead), modified with -1 (long distance) and +1 (attack speed)
for a total of 4. Rithka has a Wits of 4 plus a Flight of 4
(specialty: aerobatics), and because she is adept with the Air
element, another 2 for that score, total of 10. Her difficulty
is 6 (enemy at her side) -1 (long distance), total of 5. No
other modifiers apply.
In the opposed roll, the F-14s gets 4 successes, while Rithka
gets 5 successes. She gains initiative and also chooses to
overshoot a bit, making the F-14s shot a bit harder. This makes
her position relative the F-14s "Ahead and side". The distance
closes automatically one pip to Medium range (see below).
Distance
Distance may be changed at will only when dogfighting. If both
combatants are heading towards each other, distance is decreased
two pips every round. If one craft is flying towards the side of
the other, distance is decreased one pip every round. If the
distance ever gets closer than "close", the crafts have passed
each other and must engage anew with the enemy behind. If one
craft is trying to disengage, a pursuit situation occurs and
resulted with an opposed roll for speed. Use either Strength +
Flight (dragons) or Wits + Piloting (aircraft) with a difficulty
from the table below. Again, dragons may add their Air score to
the dice pool. The winner of this roll may choose to reduce or
increase the distance one pip, or to keep the distance.
Speed: Difficulty
WWI Fighter, heavy commercial aircraft 10
Cargo or commercial aircraft 8
Attack helicopter 9
Fast attack helicopter (AH-64 Apache) 8
Dragon 6
WWII fighter 8
Supersonic aircraft, eg Concorde,
1950 jet fighter 5
Mach 2 fighter (1960 +) 4
Mach 3 aircraft, eg XB-70 Valkyrie,
SR-71 Blackbird 3
Aurora spyplane, Shuttle orbiter, any
anti-aircraft missile 2
Example: The F-14s closes in on Rithka. Although she
out-maneuvers them and moves into a worse position (from the
F-14s point of view), they are suddenly within Medium range,
since they are flying towards Rithkas side. At that distance,
they are quite clear of what they are facing. This information
is beamed back to the carrier via their JTIDS data link, who in
return clears the fighters request for permission to fire.
Attacks
Attacks are made in the usual way. Roll to hit, and if you hit,
calculate damage. Jet fighters, although rigidly constructed,
are sensitive to damage; most hits from a modern air-to-air
combat system will render the craft useless. Fortunately, direct
hits are rare.
For any aircraft without a turreted weapon, the enemy must be
ahead of the attacker to hit. Turreted weapons have a fire arc;
WWII bombers usually have a 360° by 180° or 90° by 90˛ fire arc
for each machine gun, attack helicopters and dragons have a 180°
by 45° fire arc.
To hit, roll Dexterity + Flight (dragons) or Wits + Aircraft
Gunnery (fighters). The roll may be opposed with evasive
maneuvers roll for maneuver as described in Initiative above.
To hit, the attacker must get more successes than his target. If
using a guided weapon (most modern missile systems), you don't
get a lock if the roll to hit fail and the weapon is never
launched. If you get a lock, the weapon is fired.
Difficulties for different weapons:
Machine gun or auto-cannon,
one second spray (Vulcan gun) 8
IR homing missile (Sidewinder) 6
Semi-active radar homing missile (AMRAAM) 5
Fire and forget radar missile (Phoenix) 4
Target is jamming radar, dropping chaff
(SARH or radar homing only) +2
Target is dropping flares (IR homing only) +2
Target is "cold" (helicopters, combustion engine
or turboprop, dragons; IR homing only) +2
Target is stealthed (stealth fighters or bombers,
dragons; radar homing only) +2
All missile weapons have a travel time to the target, based on
the distance. During this travel time, the target may try to
take evasive actions. The roll is Wits + Piloting (aircraft) or
Wits + Flight + Air (dragons), with a difficulty of 8 modified by
maneuverability and speed. There is a -1 modifier of the
difficulty for dropping chaff or flares, and additional -1 if the
target is "cold" or "stealthed", depending on the nature of the
missile.
If the target gets more successes than the attacker got in his
launch, the weapon is evaded and the target is clear of the
weapon's lock.
Distance Travel time
Gun distance No travel time
Close 1 round
Medium range 2 rounds
Long range 3 rounds
Extreme long range 4 rounds or more
Example: The next round, the F-14s gain initiative and moves in
for the kill. They have her dead ahead, and they're flying
towards her side. They closes in one pip to Close range and the
wing leader gets an IR lock (clattering dice behind the
Storyteller's screen, gaining two successes) at Rithka with an
ASRAAM and launches the weapon. At close range, the weapon will
take one round until it hits the dragon.
Next round, Rithka folds her wings and turns towards the sea in
an attempt to avoid the flaming spear launched at her. She knows
that the weapon will hit her in this round, so she concentrates
entirely on evading, hoping to fool it. She has a total of ten
dice in the pool, and a difficulty of 7 (8 as base difficulty,
modified with -1 for being "cold"). The player rolls the dice,
and gains four successes! The ASRAAM overshoots and misses, and
Rithka decides to vanish. The next round, she uses her magick to
disappear from radar, vision and heat.
The F-14s scan the area for a while, finding nothing, and then
turns back to their carrier while listening to the extensive chat
between USS Nimitz and CINCLANT (Commander-In-Chief Atlantic
ocean). When the wheels of the undercarriage touch the flight
deck of Nimitz, two DIA agents are already waiting aboard the
carrier to debrief the two pilots and their radar officers of
their UFO encounter.
6: Relations
As the Dragonkin awakened, they cast themselves headlong into the
politics of the other supernatural races. It is difficult for a
race that has been absent for fifteen hundred years to resume
their former position in the politics, but they are doing what
they can, taking one step at a time and slowly gaining a foothold
in the supernatural political world.
Vampires
The relations between Dragonkin and the vampires are strained at
best. The vampires do not remember the Covenant. Most of them
refuse to recognize and reenter the Covenant. The Camarilla
plots against the Dragonkin while acting innocent a falseness
that the Dragonkin despises. The Sabbath is somewhat easier to
handle. Since they are open enemies to the Dragonkin, the
dragons know where they have the Sabbath. In fact, there have
been occasional alliances between Dragonkin and the Sabbath
against the Camarilla.
Garou
Garou was never but an honorary member of the Covenant, but still
they have held to its strictures longer than any other kin. They
still remember some of the Strictures, such as the Impergium that
was declared over the mortals long ago. They do not remember the
Covenant itself, but is that surprising for a basically mortal
but powerful species?
The Dragonkin and the Garou work quite well together. There is
no official alliance between them, but the Garou has kept the
door open. The Garou will not submit themselves to the rule of
the Dragonkin, but neither do they oppose them.
Mortals
Hrmf.
Immortals
There are several different immortal kins. The Immortals of the
Shadow Wars have been speaking of the dragonkin and sometimes
remember them. Most are of recent origin and behave like most
humans when they hear of dragons they think of them as
creatures of legend and lore. Basically, the dragonkin thinks
them to be mortals with an extremely long life and a stupid habit
to cut each others heads off.
Mummies did not exist by the time of the First Covenant and are
thus not covered by it. Since the mummies were created, the
Dragonkin have been working to have them join the Covenant. So
far, they have not succeeded. The mummies have not joined, but
on the other hand, they do not work against the Dragonkin either.
The Fair Folk is a different case. They did join the Covenant,
but by the time the Dragonkin was sleeping, they left the Earth.
They are returning as the dragons are, but unlike the dragons,
these Immortal creatures fear a banality. So, they usually align
themselves with anything that is not ordinary which includes
the Dragonkin. They like the regal manners of the dragons, but
does not care about the politics. Thus, the Fair Folk are a
source of annoyance or amusement, sometimes both at the same
time.
The Dead
The Dragonkin has little to do with the Dead. Dragons don't die
at least not easily. They sometimes commune with spirits,
wraiths and other phantoms, but they do not involve themselves in
the politics of the Dead. So far, they are ignored as they pose
no threat to the Covenant.
There are some dragons who actually find the Dead very
interesting. Since the Guardian died, the Dead may know where he
is. Some dragons even travel the Shadowlands in order to find
him and solve the riddle of the Quest.
Mages
Mages (dragons usually call these "magi") are looked upon with
contempt. Their strife for power leads to a destructive path.
They must not be allowed to proceed in their misdirected ways.
It makes little difference to the Dragonkin that they actually
oppose the Technocracy, since the dragons see all wielders of
magick as potential enemies. The Dragonkin knows that the Magick
has declined and will return with them. If magi of the present
day are as powerful as they are, what would they not be if the
learned to use the full power of Magick restored?
However, some dragons may actually cooperate with magi to prevent
the Technocracy to gain control and to gain a powerful ally
against the Kindred.
Eastern Court
The Eastern Court of dragons was never under the sleep. Neither
did they ever pool their powers to a guardian. They have stayed
on their territory for so long and respected the boundaries
even when the dragonkin were asleep. Lady Alaria and her court
will return that favor. There is a diplomatic exchange between
the dragons of East and West. Alaria is very well aware that the
Eastern Dragons has formed a Court to match hers out of courtesy
and slight regard of the Western kin, but since it simplifies
communication between East and West, she swallows her pride and
ignores the insult. It will be paid back in full and with
interest in time.
Conflicts
There are several possible and actual conflicts for the
Dragonkin. Below is a list of some of the possibilities.
Dragons vs Dragons
Khuril wandered around in the Great Hall while speaking. His
wandering halted by the same time as his speech, as he paused and
gestured towards his arch-enemy. "Lord Rekhem, in his weakness,
has allowed himself to be held in a leach by Lord Vermithrax. As
the poor fool he is..."
Rekhem rose to his feet, wrath reddening his human face, and
interrupted Khuril. "What?! Speak once more like that and I
will..."
"No more talks, Lord Rekhem" Khuril said, regaining initiative.
He placed his right hand on the hilt of his rapier. "Or are you
too shy to face a naked blade?" With a bright flash, both dragon
lords drew their weapons.
"Hold, both of you!" Alaria rose to her feet, equally enraged.
Both of the dragon lords stopped.
"As you wish, milady" Khuril said after a few seconds. With a
poisonous voice, he added a small but effective provocation
against Rekhem. "And I am certain that the weakness of Lord
Rekhem will have him to obey your command as well."
"Why, you cur..." Rekhem roared as he leaped forward and the two
swords crashed together.
Lady Sinyé's diary of a typical debate in Castle Dragon.
Dragons work for power among themselves. This means that dragons
will be opposed to other dragons, which in turn will lead to
internal conflicts among the Dragonkin. Lady Alaria tries to
keep the troops in line, since she knows that a civil war will
severely weaken the Dragonkin. She tries hard to find an
external enemy towards whom she can direct the wrath of the
dragons. It seems that the vampiric species and mages are
selected as the new arch-enemy of the Dragonkin.
This does not prevent internal conflicts and occasional combat
and bloodshed between dragons. Lord Draconis Vermithrax and lord
Rekhem stands opposed to lady Alexis, lord Morkeleb and lord
Khuril more than once has this opposition led to a duel;
luckily, no duel so far has ended with death.
There are three possible reasons for conflict between dragons.
The first is a political opposition. The second is a matter of
pride step on the wrong toes and he will step back. The third
is power. Since most dragons want to rise in power in the Court,
this means that somebody will lose from it, and this somebody is
bound to fight back.
Camarilla vs Dragons
"A new force has arrived. The Dragonkin has already killed the
Prince of Miami, gained control of several kindred and threatened
us to join a Covenant which only they and the Methuselah
remember.
They are powerful. Their powers are matched only by the
strongest of mages, they have their innate ability to breathe
fire, and they are strong in mind as well as in body. We should
not strike at them, but avoid them."
Racjel DaSari of the Ventrue
This sums up the Camarilla's thoughts of the Dragonkin. The
Covenant seems unnecessary for the Camarilla and do not want to
rejoin it. On the other hand, they know that unless they attack
a dragon en masse, they would hardly match a dragon in fight.
The Camarilla has decided to leave the Dragonkin untouched...
for now.
Sabbath vs Dragons
"What?! A new enemy? And they want us to join their Covenant
with other Kindred? How amusing I think it's time to teach
those lizards a lesson, boys!"
Linda Mendez, Sabbath Brujah
Unlike the Camarilla, Sabbath thinks of Dragonkin as a new
opponent on the stage. They may be allied with (for a shorter
time), but since the Dragonkin seek control of the supernatural
world, Sabbath's ultimate goal is to get rid of these upcomers.
Their open enmity against the Dragonkin makes the dragons trust
the Sabbath more than the Camarilla since they know where the
Sabbath stands.
Mortals vs Dragons
"Look, Commander, I know what I saw up there. The tapes from the
camera should well prove my case. It was about forty feet long
and organic. You don't like the word 'dragon'? Fine, it's no
dragon, but whatever it was it was forty feet long, organic and
flying in Mach oh-point-nine."
"Flight Lieutenant, listen carefully; you fly a long range
patrol, gets an object on visual that the Nimitz can't even see
on the radar, and identifies it as a creature of lore and legend
and lands here with a tape that proves you're right? How am I
supposed to present this report to CINCLANT without me losing my
command of the Nimitz and without you losing your Tomcat? I'd
like to believe you especially after watching this tape but I
can't. At least not officially. For the sake of both our best
interests, I think you should forget the entire incident.
Understood?"
"Understood, sir."
Flight Lieutenant W. T. Patrick and Captain Warren, USS Nimitz
The mortal world, or at least its military organisations and
intelligence agencies, know of the Dragonkin's existence from
several encounters when the dragons became awake en masse. 1991,
there was a total of 670 dragon sightings within NATO alone, all
classified most utterly top secret. Since then, the number of
dragon sightings has clearly dropped to a mere fifty sightings a
year. The few intelligence analysts who have studied the
phenomenon have come to the conclusion that the dragons are
learning to hide from the mortal world's electronic and biologic
eyes.
The American FBI, DIA and NSA know that something is stirring up
the Undead society and have concluded that this "something"
probably is the Dragonkin. The British JIC have confirmed this
through its contacts with one of the Dragonkin who has settled in
Scotland not at Loch Ness if you thought that. It is an
information exchange only no alliance is so far settled. It is
possible (and to some extent likely) that the MSB (ex-KGB) has
made contact with one dragon in Siberia, but this is unconfirmed.
NSA have been monitoring of the Middle-East with the Keyhole
satellites, and believes that Mossad has indirect contact with
the Dragonkin
Mages vs Dragons
Dragonkin does not like mages, since they are one of the few
dangerous threats to the dragons. Also, the nature of magick has
changed during the Sleep, and the paths have turned away from
those that the Dragonkin knew. Thus, mages are looked upon as a
wildcard and potential enemy.
Mages, on the other hand, are unaware of the nature of dragons.
Mages have forgotten the ancient Race and were never joined to
the Covenant anyway. They do not know what they really are, only
that dragons are extremely powerful creatures.
Some of the Dragonkin accept mages outside the Technocracy,
others dislike all mages, Technocrats or not. The Dragonkin
tries to hide themselves from mages, but mages have recently
learned that the Dragonkin have returned and they do not know
how to interpret this.
The Lords and Ladies of the Court
How powerful are the lords and ladies of the Court? Well, we're
not going to tell you. This much could be told Alaria probably
has attributes of 16/14/12 plus 15/13/11, 8 or 9 in all Powers
and Elements, Pride 6 (herself), Wake 7 (first) and Name 10 (or
maybe more). She also has some 500 or so freebie points,
35/30/25 in abilities and full circle of Wisdom and Wrath. The
other lords and ladies of the Prides are not that far behind.
They should have Wake 6 (second) and Name 9 the rest is
guesswork.
If you make it possible for player dragons to test their strength
against the above said dragons, you are using Dragon: The Waking
Wrath in the wrong way.
Interaction
Since Dragon: The Waking Wrath is based on the Storyteller
system and the World in Darkness, it is easy to integrate it with
the other Storyteller games. However, it will probably work best
standing by itself, allowing players to enter the royal intrigues
at the Castle Dragon in Austria. In that case, Dragon: The
Waking Wrath may be used with more than one player dragon. In
all other cases, we recommend one or at most two dragons but
never more.
Dragon: The Waking Wrath fits best in a high level Vampire: The
Masquerade campaign more based on role-playing and intrigue than
conflict. Dragons fit equally well in both the Camarilla and the
Sabbath. Dragons have two powerful weapons their flame and
their magic but these are balanced by the vampire's sheer
numbers and their complicated politics.
It is possible to combine Dragon with Werewolf: The Apocalypse,
but this is only partially tested. The dragon is physically very
strong and superior to even the Crinos form of the Garou, so the
dragon does easily take the alpha position of a Garou pack. The
rest of the pack may become pawns of the dragon if the players
and the storyteller are not careful.
It is much harder to combine Dragon with Wraith: The Oblivion,
because of the non-physical Shadowlands and the barrier between
it and the physical world. Add to this that neither dragons nor
wraiths are interested in each other's politics. In fact, it is
hard to combine any Storyteller game with Wraith because of this.
The combination of Mage and Dragon has not been fully tested, but
it might be possible to create an alliance between dragons and
mages against the Technocracy.
Finally, there are a lot of Storyteller adds available on
electronic media, written by fans of the World in Darkness and
the Storyteller system (like Dragon: The Waking Wrath). There
are at least two versions of Immortal, describing immortals of
the kind that appear in Highlander, which does not disturb the
Dragonkin that much. There are several adds for Vampire,
including one that imports magic from Ars Magica to Storyteller.
Since there has been a decline in magic, I have assumed that this
magic will be useful in the medieval world (to around 1300 A.D.)
and after the return of the Dragonkin.
There is a text describing a kind of Dragonlords from Tibet,
called Drukpa. Because of the nature of the dragons described
here and the relation between the Drukpa and their dragons, it
must be assumed that the dragons of the Drukpa are of a different
court they are not anyone of the four hundred and nine dragons
of the court of Alaria, nor will any dragon of the Western Court
ever allow themselves to be submitted to mere mortals.
In addition to Dragon: The Waking Wrath, there is another text
dealing with dragons, called Dragon: The Redemption. This text
is an addition to Mage: The Ascension. I was sort of
disappointed when I read this text, some time after I had
finished my own work on Dragon: The Waking Wrath's first edition
these dragons were not as I had imagined this powerful species.
You could try it out for yourself and see which one you prefer.
Rasmus Hansson has also written Dragon: The Eastern Harmonies, a
text dealing with oriental dragons. It fits well into the
sub-World of Darkness described in Dragon: The Waking Wrath, and
should be regarded as a "sister supplement" to The Waking Wrath.
There is also one text describing Faeries, called Changeling:
The Eternal Game. As they are described, these Faeries will come
in opposition to the court of Alaria and will make excellent
opponents. However, The Eternal Game stand in opposition to
Changeling: The Dreaming, where the Fair Folk are playful,
"Peter Pan"-ish creatures who try to avoid the ordinary as hard
as they can. In the first edition of Dragon: The Waking Wrath,
Faeries were modeled after The Eternal Game, but now as I have
The Dreaming, I had to remake the entire relation between Dragons
and Faerie.
However, remember that The Waking Wrath is fan material. It is
not official in any way (though I hope it will be regarded as
such), and as far as I know, WW is not interested of making The
Waking Wrath official.
Sources
Robert Asprin M.Y.T.H.Inc. Link
Terry Brooks Magic Kingdom For Sale - Sold!
Robert C. Fleet White Horse, Dark Dragon
Esther M. Friesner Take Me Out to the Ball Game
in the anthology Dragon Fantastic
Barbara Hambly Dragonsbane
Tanya Huff Shing Li-Ung
in the anthology Dragon Fantastic
I. Edelfelt & M. Karlin Bröllopet i Marsipanien
Donn Kushner A Book Dragon
Ursula K. LeGuin Earthsea Quartet
The Rule of Names
in the anthology The Wind's Twelve Quarters
R.A. MacAvoy Tea with the Black Dragon
Anne McCaffrey Dragonriders of Pern
especially Mnementh and Canth
Evelyn E. Smith Gerda in the anthology Dragon Tales
J.R.R. Tolkien The Hobbit
Patricia C. Wrede Dealing with Dragons
Searching for Dragons
Roger Zelazny The George Business
in the anthology Dragons of Light
7: Last Words
There is of course a lot more to say about the Dragonkin.
Like, the Quest. Is it possible that the Authority is already
restored? And how will the return of the dragonkin and magic
affect the world? Will the supernatural races be joined in the
Second Covenant, and how will this affect the world?
Good questions, all of them. But you won't get an answer, not
now. Time will tell.
Of course, little of the Dragonkin will ever be noticed, at least
not by the mortals and not in the beginning. It is possible that
the world will turn into a dark fantastic future where magic and
technology will exist side by side, but I find this unlikely.
The Dragonkin will work to prevent this, since it is harder to
gain control of the Covenant if the magic is unleashed. And that
is what almost all of the Prides wants control, direct or
indirect, in one form or another.
But the dragons won't stay in the shrouded shadows of mysteries
forever. Sooner or later, the veil will be lifted and the
dragon's presence announced. It is possible that Mankind will
pose a great threat to the Dragonkin, possibly even going to war
against the dragons. It is possible that the dragons already
have a firm control of the mortal world at that time, and that
nothing will happen. It is possible that another race will
challenge the authority of the Dragonkin and use the Earth as
their battlefield.
But rest assured, the Dragonkin are already here, hiding silently
among the shadows, spreading their wings among the supernaturals
and gaining influences in the mortal world as well. Eventually,
the Second Covenant will apply to all.
Eventually, you will hear from us.
Yours sincerely,
Rithka
PS: If you do not believe me, just look out through the window.
You will see something that will convince you.
Author's note: Lady Rithka never described what the dragon
looked like, and I have never seen a dragon in Dragon Form. The
appearance that I have described above is based on a cover
painting by Michael Whelan a scanned image accompanies this
text as the "front cover" and descriptions in the book
"Dragonsbane" by Barbara Hambly.
I did see lady Rithka long after the ball. She was (of course)
no longer dressed in the ball gown (knowing now what I did not
knew then, I wonder if she was ever dressed at all, all her
clothes being mere illusions), but in more casual and everyday
clothes. She had been reading the First Edition of Dragon: The
Waking Wrath and pointed out some errors and gave a few hints of
things I've forgotten. The letter above was her parting words in
the package she sent to me we have been discussing much since
then.
Me, I have been... illuminated... by the discussions with
Rithka. I still do not know my part of their grand plan, but it
seems as if I - knwingly or not - am doing my part quite well and
I think I can perceive the scheme behind.
Did I look out through the window? Oh, yes, I did. My curiosity
sparked, I opened the window and watched at the nighted sky. I
saw nothing but trees, stars, the full moon and the lights from
my home town. Then, suddenly, in a short instance, something
covered the moon. Something huge, with large flapping wings, a
long tail and a slender neck. For a short time, there was a
flame in the sky.
Then, nothing.
You can download the coverpicture of this module,
a PostScript file.
HTML conversion by Rasmus Hansson, 96-07-20
First Edition HTML-conversion bt Rasmus Hansson, 95-05-24
Finalization of HTML-code by Rasmus Hansson, 98-07-08
This page is a mirror of
Rasmus Hansson's
one.