From Ley Line Walker to Dragon

[MASTERMIND]

This is an intellectual exercise in preparation for a Rifts campaign I will be running for my kids.

Years ago I played a Ley Line Walker who was raised on the legends of his uncle who was a magic user so powerful he could transform into a dragon. For mystery's sake, we never specified exactly what kind of magic user his uncle was or how he accomplished this epic feat (or whether it was permanent, temporary or even an illusion... no one knows). My character received his magical training from his uncle before his mentor disappeared on a mission to a place called Wormwood. He never saw his uncle again.

During the campaign my character never did learn how to turn himself into a dragon (although he never stopped searching for the means to do so). Now, as I am reviving him as a NPC I have decided that somewhere along the way he did accomplish his goal. All that remains is for me to decide how he did so (learned to become a dragon, that is). Eventually this character will lead the PCs to Wormwood in search of his uncle.

Transformation spell?

Complicated ritual?

Unlocked his draconic blood heritage?

Illusion magic?

Bonded his soul with that of a dying dragon?

A lot of things come to mind and I honestly can't decide. Anyone have any thoughts on the subject?

[Killer Cyborg]

Metamporphosis: Dragon spell.
PFRPG2

Add in a Permanence ward, and you're good to go.

[Astral_Explorer]

One of the older Palladium Fantasy books had a circle that let you swap souls with another.
Atleast one dragon is running around without a soul currently.

As in Hades one of the Soul Eaters has a dragon soul in him.

Perhaps some crazy Super Hero device from Hero's unlimited could do this as well.

If you want perhaps the man was always a dragon but cursed to human form and over the years gained a cure for the curse.

The Megaverse is a big place with all kinds of strange and unqiue things in it.
indeed nearly every book has something unique in it and NPC's hardly conform to standard character construction, so if you want to come up with your own scenario or latch unto the idea's presented here.

[runebeo]

what if a powerful Transformation spell/circle turned him into a human hundreds or thousands of year ago and stole most of his powers, he had a dozen human families over the years till he found a way to regain his transformation ability. Quests could evolve researching his past and locating other off spring. Remember now hes a dragon he would most likely have the normal dragon's attitude towards his children, but since their not dragons he may not see them as such a rival.

[MASTERMIND]

One of the older Palladium Fantasy books had a circle that let you swap souls with another.
Atleast one dragon is running around without a soul currently.

Oh nice, that brings some story ideas to mind too...

indeed nearly every book has something unique in it and NPC's hardly conform to standard character construction, so if you want to come up with your own scenario or latch unto the idea's presented here.

Agreed, and I am not against bending, breaking and writing my own rules to make this work. The only constraints I can think of are that I don't want the NPC to be much more powerful than the PCs (only the level difference which they will eventually overcome).

A circle/ritual actually sounds like a really good idea.

Rifter # 14 has a Shifter special and pretty cool Spell of Legend in it. There's also a short blurb/story on how the shifter is transforming himself into a Lanotaur Hunter he's captured in there.

if you're interested

Yeah, I will look into that, definitely.

[The Beast]

One of the PFRPG books had a ring that would turn you into a dragon, or give you dragon powers, or something like that. A borg in my last group found it and stuck it on without thinking to ask what it did, and the GM had him start slowly turning into a dragon. Please note that this part wasn't official, we all OOC agreed that the magic level of Rifts Earth boosted the ring's power to allow it to happen, and, IIRC, we made it permament so he didn't need the ring afterwards. We didn't finish that campaign though, so the ring never got passed to anyone else.

Actually, now that I think about it, the ring was inside him. His new dragon body grew around it like a tree does.

[Overlord Rikonius]

Wasn't there a Rifter with a OCC that gains dragon powers as they level up, eventually becoming dragons themselves?

[wildhood]

Were-Dragon in the RWB:21 pgs 97-101.(Splynn Dimensional Market)

[TechnoGothic]

Metamporphosis: Dragon spell.
PFRPG2

Add in a Permanence ward, and you're good to go.

Agreed. This is a great spell.

Also. The Uncle or whatever could have been a NIGHTBANE Sorcerer with Dragon-like Morphus.
So it may not have been "magic" at all, just his own inner-vision of himself coming out in the Morphus form. That would confuse people forever...
Rifter 20 has a Nightbane Morphus Themed Table to use.

[MASTERMIND]

Also. The Uncle or whatever could have been a NIGHTBANE Sorcerer with Dragon-like Morphus.
So it may not have been "magic" at all, just his own inner-vision of himself coming out in the Morphus form. That would confuse people forever...
Rifter 20 has a Nightbane Morphus Themed Table to use.

Oh yeah... Man, I never even thought of it but that is a great idea. Thanks!

[Steeler49er]

legends of his uncle who was a magic user so powerful he could transform into a dragon.

Well, this phrasing ("Could" as apposed to "Did") gives one the implication that the transformation was Not permanent.

[Samored II]

Wasn't there a Rifter with a OCC that gains dragon powers as they level up, eventually becoming dragons themselves?

The Dragonslayers. Rifter 7 or 8. I think.

[Kagashi]

You could always go all 'M. Knight Shyamalan' with the story and the character finds out his uncle was actually a dragon (explaining on how he could "turn himself into one"). Then he realizes that this whole time...he wasn't a human, but he to was actually a dragon with some sort of amnesia which prevented him from ever knowing otherwise.

[MASTERMIND]

You could always go all 'M. Knight Shyamalan' with the story and the character finds out his uncle was actually a dragon (explaining on how he could "turn himself into one"). Then he realizes that this whole time...he wasn't a human, but he to was actually a dragon with some sort of amnesia which prevented him from ever knowing otherwise.

That is definitely a possibility as well, one that I am not excluding at all. I will be hammering this out today and I will post what I decided to go with. I appreciate all the suggestions.

[Overlord Rikonius]

Wasn't there a Rifter with a OCC that gains dragon powers as they level up, eventually becoming dragons themselves?

The Dragonslayers. Rifter 7 or 8. I think.

Yeah that's the one

[TechnoGothic]

You could always go all 'M. Knight Shyamalan' with the story and the character finds out his uncle was actually a dragon (explaining on how he could "turn himself into one"). Then he realizes that this whole time...he wasn't a human, but he to was actually a dragon with some sort of amnesia which prevented him from ever knowing otherwise.

That is definitely a possibility as well, one that I am not excluding at all. I will be hammering this out today and I will post what I decided to go with. I appreciate all the suggestions.

If you go the "Actually is a Dragon" route. Use the Chiang-Ku Dragons. They are the only dragon type which can shapeshift Indifiently, no time limit. Plus they love Humans and love to fight evil.
If your character lacks the Marks of Heritage tatooes, simple. They never gave them to you, or your familiy stopped this practice long ago.
HU has several Chiang-Ku dragons who lost the shapeshifting abilities due to low magic energies, but will regain it if they travel to a PPE rich world for awhile.
Just imagine finding out youra Chiang-Ku and learn to shapeshift for the first time.
Also Chiang-Ku prefer using a Human form usually. Hince the Uncle who could...

[Ice Dragon]

Metamporphosis: Dragon spell.
PFRPG2

Add in a Permanence ward, and you're good to go.

Agreed.

But maybe the "uncle" is really a dragon .

[MASTERMIND]

Also a distinct possibility as well. Just because someone calls an individual your uncle does not mean there is a blood relation there.