Dragons : The Redemption A Storyteller supplement By Darryl Adams Introduction Listen carefully, for soon you shall enter a dark, madness filled world that is at war with us, even though many do not know they even fight it. It is a world, where what seems natural is barred from us, what we feel is our right taken from us, what we see as wrong is considered right. It is a world where the Great Serpents have little power and that man has all the keys to reality. Once it was not like this. We did not need to hide in sheep clothing. Once the Sky where open to us. The spirit world, what man calls the Umbra, was as part of our realm as the sky was. Magick was our heratage, and our power was great. There was an order of things, us, man, the fey and other creatures knew their place. Sure man sought to kill us for imagined riches or for raw power, and many of us died under thier swords. But man paid a heavy price for all of us that was taken, as was the order of things. We owned the sky, taking what was ours by right of power. Then man usurped their place. Men , calling themselves men of reason, but showing none, tore the fabric of our existance. The Umbra was lost to us. What was individable was split, trapping many of us in the Spirit world, many more in the Sky. Then the Sky was taken from us, and we hid ourselves from the men of reason, lest they killed us. We managed to find a place to hide, the place we call the Wyre, but not all of us live here. Magick, and our own shapes became our bane. The world changed, shepered by the men of reason, into a place where there was no place for us. Powered by the dreams of powerlessness, the world strikes back at those with true power. We risk death and misery if we let ourselves become ourselves. We take the fight back to the men of reason. They have taken the sky from us, so we wear the sheep skin so that we can strike without fear. There are those who have awoken from the dream of powerlessness, and many of those share our desire to rid of the men of reason. Beware , for many of the awaken have dreams of power that clash with our redemption. It is a hard task, but it is a task we gladly take, for the glory of the sky. This where you my child, come into the picture. The Wyre can not hold us all, and it is not our nature to hide. We protect our young, like yourself, and train then to be able to live in the world of man. There you must fight,fight to regain the sky, fight to regain our heratage of magick, fight to allow our bretheren trapped in the Umbra to rejoin us. Fight for what is ours. We call ourselves the PEOPLE. Remember that with all of your heart. Man calls us dragons. Part 1 : There be dragons. Dragon : The Redemption is a supplement for the World of Darkness, or more correctly, Mage : The ascencion. In it you play the role of a dragon. This may seem like a munchkin wet dream, but the dragon has two problems. 1. It can not use its natural form or powers without Paradox backlash. 2. The dragons maintain a mascerade just as tight as Vampires, Mages amd Werewolves. To do otherwise would jepodise thier survival, as well as the Wyre (which jepodises the future of the race). A Dragon has the knowledge of True Magick, and the power to shapechange into Dragon, Human and a fusuon of both (Draca). Unlike Werewolves, they pay a heave price with Paradox, forcing themselves to use thier forms sparingly. Another problem with dragons is while wise in the old ways, they have not kept up with the new order, and are therefore totally inept in the ways of Technology and science. It takes time in mans world for them to gain such knowledge, as technology is alien to dragons and can not be taught in an abstract way (as is taught to man). Dragons also tend to be solatary, it takes a great deal of will for more than two dragons to interact without conflict. As the dragon gets older, he becomes more tolerant of his own kind. This is another reason that Dragons are sent out of the Wyre at a young age. To have too many Dragons of a young age will possably massacre the whole Wyre. Part 2 : Character Generation 1. Visulise the charactor. Is the Charactor fresh out of the Wyre, or is she a veteran of mans world. Is she proud, thoughtfull, carefree or agressive. What motivates her? Dont take the easy way, Dragons are by nature a varied lot. Also think about the physical side of the dragon. The following are examples of Dragonkin: Dragon (Draconius Rex) : The Most common form. Varied in colours, the Dragon is also the most evolved, with arms and legs and strong powerfull wings. The Wyvern (Daconius Primius) : The biggest difference between Wyvern and Dragons is the lack of forarms. The Serpent (Draconius Secondus) : The lesser of all dragonkin , the Serpent is missing both arms and legs, but are still dragons due to their wings. There are other Dragon like creatures, like the Hydra and basalisk, but many are traped in the Umbra, and are since most of them do not fly, they are not concidered dragonkin. 2. Nature and Demeanor. Dragons are especially suseptable to their nature and demeanor, since they hide themselves in personality. It is not uncommon to have a demeanor totally alien to nature , as the true nature is often hidden from themselves, and only comes out in times of stress. All the Natures and Demeanors from Vampire and Mage are apropiate here. 3. Stats Atributes The Dragon is designed like any other human in the World of Darkenss. This is their man form. The Attributes are adjusted whenever a dragon shifts to his true form or Draca form. All Dragons have a free dot in every attribute. Attributes of the dragon are adjusted depending on the age of the Dragon. Even mental stats are adjusted, as a younger dragon has less control over his wits and perception in dragon form than an elder. A younger dragon has more Dexterity than an old one, but the old one has more strenght (and wits). Attributes are : 7/5/3 spent in any way. Abilities. As stated before, things like technology are alien to Dragons, and can NOT BE BOUGHT WITH ABILITY POINTS. They may be paid with freebie points, depending on the eventual age of the Dragon. All Dragons have 21 points to SPEND WHEVER THEY LIKE with two exceptions. No skill can be taken over 3 without freebie points. And that some skills are barred. The Barred skills are Talents : There are no barred Talents (some may be concidered Dragon Talents eg Expression) Abilities : Drive, Firearms, Technology Knowledge : Computer,Medicine (Unless taken in Dragon Medicine), Science, Occult (Dragons do not see things like man). There are 2 compulory skills, to be bought at level 1, Culture and Linguistics. This represents the basic training a dragon gets at the wyre to cope with mans world. Dragon Culture and Linguisics can be concidered seperate skills. There is 1 new Abillity, Target Breath Weapon. It is the skill dragons use to aim thier breath weapon. It is a Wit Plus Target breath Weapon , difficulty 6. 0 You could hit a barn, if you where close. 00 You could hit a group of people, if you where lucky 000 You could aim at one person in a group and hit. 0000 See that twig over there......thhhheeeewwww. 00000 You want your beef well done, but the eggs soft. OK Specialties :Well, none. Each breath weapon is personal :-) Other Abilities in the Mage/Vampire/Werewolf players guide are up to the GM to desice, with the overriding factor is that to avoid any skill that requires a technological outlook. Advantages. As stated before, Dragons are praticioners of True Magick. Their free Sphere is Force, and they get 4 points to spend on their spheres. Other Advantages A Dragon Also gets to choose his breth weapon. Damgae is dependant on the age of the Dragon. All attacks are agrivated damage. All Breath attacks are vulgar as hell and can only be done in Dragon form. The choices are. Flame (The Traditional) Gas (Poison or Corrosive) Ice. Others types may be inserted, depending on the GM and Player. Backgrounds. A Dragon gets no background points. Freebie points must be spent in order to gain these in mans world. Concider all dragons have a 3 point mentor, Library and Allies in the Wyre, but in mans world, the dragon is on his own to survive. Avatar is important as it is for mages, while Arcane only works for man shape! Chantries are not allowed, unless a dragon is part of a Troup of mages. Sanctum is also important for a dragon at is one of the few places that a dragon can take his true form without paradox. Age : Age is an important stat for Dragons. It determines thier might in dragon form, their power of thier breath attack and Mackical might ,and the level of barred Abilities a charactor can have. Al dragons start at Child, and The ranking progresses to Ancient, though most charators will possably not reach that level (at least at start). Level Cost Power Skill Level Attribute -------------------------------------------------------------------- Child 0 2dice 0 Str+2/Dex+4/Sta+2 Per-1/Wits-3 Adolecant 2 3dice 1 Str+3/Dex+4/Sta+3 Per 0/Wits-2 Adult 4 5dice 2 Str+4/Dex+3/Sta+4 Per 0/Wits 0 Elder 16 7dice 3 Str+5/Dex+2/Sta+3 Per +2/Wits+1 Ancient 32 10 dice 5 Str+6/Dex+1/Sta+2 Per +3/Wits+2 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- The Power dice is also used as a Dragons Arete. Yes, Ancient Dragons are deadly, and if you concider the Rainbow Serpent from Australian Mythology is an Ancient (He created the Dreamtime), it is the way it shuold be. Willpower. All dragons start with 4 willpower points, but may purchase more with freebie points. Freebie Points. All dragons get 20 Freebie points, to spend on whatever she likes. Age, Spheres, Barred Abilities (if elageble by age) et all. the cost are as followed... Spheres 7 per dot Attributes 5 per dot Age See Age Table Arete N/A (See age) Abilities 2 per dot Willpower 1 per dot Background 1 per dot Quintessance 1 per dot Merits and Flaws. Dragons are allowed merit and flaws, it is up to the GM if a flaw or merit is appropiate for the character. (personally i would bare things like Contacts, nightclub & library to Child and Adolecant Dragons) Part 3: Dragon is , Dragon Does Dragon Background. Dragons are an intreaging part of the World of Darkness. Before the fall of the Mythic Age, Dragons ruled the Skies, and struck terror into many a villager and nobleman. It took a strong willed man, or a pious man, to even contemplate attacking a dragon, and thier sucess rate was minimal. Mages posed a greater threat, as they realised the power of a Dragon, and could meet it with magick. Plus the Raw Quintessance found in dragons was enouth to inspire may dragon slaying expiditions, with better sucess than the nobleman (but not that much, as the most vunerable was Child and Adolesant). When Dragons interviend in the affairs of men , they usually where quite influental. The Dragon Kings of China and the Rainbow Serpent in Australia are clasic examples. In Europe, the dragons did not interveane mainly due to the Church linking Serpents to origional sin. These older dragons could controll themselves better and thus where able to interact with each other. This proved to be a boon when the Mythic age came crashing down. With the Advent of the Gauntlet, Dragonkind was hit so hard it has bearly recovered. Many were trapped in the Umbra, unable to get back to earth, Those trapped on Earth,forced into a new paradigm where dragons did not excist. In order to survive, The Dragon Kings and the Rainbow Serpent (as well as other powerfull dragonkin) cast two powerfull spells. One was to create a horizon realm that allowed the Dragons trapped on Earth a place to retreat, as well as the spell allowing shapechange. These spells where extreamly dangerous, and many Elder and Ancient Dragons perished in the process. But they where sucessfull. They created the Wyre to protect the young and to house the ancients untill the time where they can regain the Sky. The Shape change spell allowed the Dragons to enter the new world (and getting the younger dragons out of Wyre to protect the hatchling dragons). Throughout the centuries, the Dragons have fought the Order of Reason, for one thing only. The Distruction of the Gauntlet. They often allign with Garou (they share many things in common), Traditional Mages (except SOE and VA, and they distrust the Order of Hermes), Fairies and sometimes Marauders (while both share the same desire, the marauders represent pure chaos that is repellant to the Ancient Dragons). Unfortunately, Like all the other dezines in the world of Darkness, Dragons also have Dragon Enemies. From before the Gauntlet, some dragons have signed pacts with the infernal powers, and often act with the Nephandi in their plans off corruption. As well, many (but not all) the dragons in the Umbra have sided with the marauders, and become infected with their madness. Dragonkin rules are simple on this. If they are not with us, kill them. Dragons are not imortal, but live for a preaty long time. Example ages (Take as guide only, some mature faster, or slower) Hatchling : 0 - 20 years Child : 20-50 Years Adolecsant : 50-100 Years Adult : 100 - 500 years Elder : 500-1000 years Ancient : 1000 + years 4. Dragons in the Archetecture Special rules for Dragons Dragons and Magick Dragons have a harder time with magick than mages. While in nateral form, they are concidered with Foci, acording to the rules. In Draco or Man form, they are concidered without Foci. Dragons can not use any Foci at all, in game terms they are Orphens, but they pay normal cost to upgrade thier spheres. Spirit Magic. The big exception to the rules is Spirit Magick. Dragons can not percieve a diference to the Sky and Umbra. Hence they can not even work out what the Gauntlet is, let alone how to get around it. Any Effect to circuvent the Gauntlet (except Rank 2 Call Spirits) have a +2 penalty and -2 dice pool. If the Spirit effect is conucted by another, the dice pool penalty is ignores, but the +2 penalty remains (which is why many dragons sell themselves to Marauders and Nephandi. To enter the Umbra , a Dragon must be in true form. The exception to this, is the Wyre, which is mainatined by powerfull magick. Any dragon can enter the Wyre IF Invited! (This is to stop Juvanile Dragons entering and causing trouble. To get invited , a juvanile needs a good reason to see the Ancients or to heal form a nasty wound.) The Wyre is closed off to all other people, but sometimes an Oracle or a repected Garou may be invited by the Ancients. Dragons and other Dragons As mentioned before, Younger Dragons (Befor Adult) barely tolerate other dragons, and that is for mating. A Dragon must make use a Willpower point and roll againt CURRENT will in order to avoid attacking the other dragons. Older Dragons (Adult and above)need not spend a will point and roll on total willpoints (which is why most adults are also the breeders). Ancients are excempt from this altogether. A failure means a frenzy (the only frenzy a dragon can go into) and ends with one dragon dead, intervention by an Elder or older Dragon, or either dragon is attcked (Both dragons will then join forces, and then attempt to kill each other afterwards, but hay it biological!) Dragons and thier forms Dragons have 3 forms, can can change forms easily. It takes one turn to change from one form to another (unlike werewolves). However, a dragon must roll on its Power (it dammage dice) per change, and take the paradox as if the effect was a vulgar magickal effect! (Difficulty 5) See why most Ancient dragons stay in the Wyre? Dragons also get a bonus armour value in nateral form and in Draco form. (convienetly enough, it is the same as the skill level allowed in the age table) Draco form is a strange hybrid form, it does not get the attribute bonuses of the Dragon form, but it does give the Dragon wings, and the paradox value is reduces (It is still vulgar, but it takes more effort to trigger paradox as seeing a man flying can be explaned as a bird or something). More importntly, the Draco gts to keep his arms and legs, which can be a bonus in some situations (Since many dragons dont get arms in nateral form, and those who do have a -3 dice pool penalty for maipulating thinks like cars and door handles as their arms are not designed for these things) Draco can also use their breath weapon , at half their power dice pool (round up). Breath weapons. A breath weapon is concidered vulgar. To attack, it is a Wits plus Target Breath Weapon roll (yes, Dragon bonuses for age DO count). If botched, Paradox takes effect (see vulgar Paradox rules for details). All breath weapons gain a paradox point per use (or more if there are sleepers around). So if a dragon can not kill after the first 3 attacks, he going to have problems. There is no botch on the Breath power roll. Part 5 : Joker to the Left of me... Dragons and the World of Darkness How do Dragons view the others. Akashic Brotherhood. Good allies. Many remember when the dragons played a big part in Oriental affairs. Treat them as you would treat an Adult, as they have paths of knowledge even the Ancients admire. Clestial Chorus For the sins of the few, a whole race is blamed. These people hate us because their holy books tell them we did evil. ome of us did, but many men commited crimes against us. Do we hold a gruge againts all men? Cult of Ecstacy Appart from the fact that they tend to introduce our children into the worst part of mans world, these mages have grat power and should be respected. Trusted, no. Dreamspeakers. Of all the mages, these are our closent allies. They know our pain. They know our dreams. Together we will rid the barrier so we can both regain the sky. Euthanatos. Stay away from them children. Hollow Ones / Orphans These people lack a goal, that many of the awaken cherish. Show them what a goal means. Be an inspiration, and maybe they will follow. Order Of Hermes. Once there was a balance. They killed us, We killed them. Now we are on the same side. Dont trust them. They too have long memories. We can work together though, because both of us lost much when we lost the Sky. Sons of Ether. Barrier Makers. Hate them. Virtual Adepts. Barrier Makers. Hate them (Though unofficially , they are harmless, dont tell the Ancients though) Technocracy. Barrier Makers. Kill Them. (I hope you did not miss the wording here child. We hate the Technomatic Traditions, but Dispise technomancers). Nephandi. If they corrup our kind , kill them. If the corrupted kin do not seek redemption, kill them. The the corrupted kin seeks redeption, take them to the Ancients (none can avoid thir power, The Rainbow Serpent can heal all) Marauders. Use them aginst the Bairrier Makers. Some are allies, some are unpredictable. Help any corrupted kinfolk found, because unlike the Nephandi, most can be shown redemption. If they turn away...kill them. Vampires. You are lucky. The Vampires can not feed off us. Stay clear of them, just to be safe. Garou. Good friends, good allies. Many act like our children (quarrel, fight) but they know the pain of loosing the sky. Fairies. Good friends. Know more when the rules come out :-) Wel that is it. If there are any questions, contact me on dtadams@geko.com.au.