How Rare would you make Dragonkin in a BTS Game

[Cybermancer]

For a strictly BTS game?

The players might encounter one dragon, ever, for the whole campaign.

[Natasha]

In my opinion, they don't fit the feel of the game, although I suppose for some games they might work. Personally, I can't imagine incorporating them.

[Cybermancer]

I would definitely see them as a major player and possibly as the campaign ending boss. For the most part I would keep them in the background, pulling strings. If I used a dragon, it would be in much the same capacity as an evil god, intelligence or some of the other more powerful entities.

[mrloucifer]

I would definitely see them as a major player and possibly as the campaign ending boss. For the most part I would keep them in the background, pulling strings. If I used a dragon, it would be in much the same capacity as an evil god, intelligence or some of the other more powerful entities.

In my experience of reading Palladium dragons... they would find the BTS world dull, primitive and tasteless at best. The lack of magical energy would restict thier abilities to begin with, and I cant see any dragon willing living in a place that renders them flacid and weak sauce compared to thier powers on other worlds.

So unless the dragon is on some philosophical or educational pilgramage of some sort, trapped here some how, or are hiding from someone/ something in another world/dimension. I dont see there being a good reason to find them on this planet. In my world (thus far), all the mythologies are simply mistaken identies of supernatural creatures... but that not to say I wouldnt ever include a real dragon to throw a wrench in the Parapsychologist's theories.

[Natasha]

In my world (thus far), all the mythologies are simply mistaken identies of supernatural creatures...

Yes. We encountered something that looked like a great horned dragon in the Valley of the Geysers.
It's an easy way of having dragons without actually having them, perhaps....

[Cybermancer]

I would definitely see them as a major player and possibly as the campaign ending boss. For the most part I would keep them in the background, pulling strings. If I used a dragon, it would be in much the same capacity as an evil god, intelligence or some of the other more powerful entities.

In my experience of reading Palladium dragons... they would find the BTS world dull, primitive and tasteless at best. The lack of magical energy would restict thier abilities to begin with, and I cant see any dragon willing living in a place that renders them flacid and weak sauce compared to thier powers on other worlds.

So unless the dragon is on some philosophical or educational pilgramage of some sort, trapped here some how, or are hiding from someone/ something in another world/dimension. I dont see there being a good reason to find them on this planet. In my world (thus far), all the mythologies are simply mistaken identies of supernatural creatures... but that not to say I wouldnt ever include a real dragon to throw a wrench in the Parapsychologist's theories.

I can think of many reasons a Dragon might choose the BTS world. Starting with easy pickings. Magic is rare which gives them a huge advantage because of their vast personal reserves. This is followed closely by the lack of competition.

Then there are the dragons who may have been born there. Certainly mythology from around the world would suggest that they have visited many times before if not out right lived there. Perhaps the BTS world isn't quite so dull, primitive or tasteless to dragons as you may have thought.

Then of course there is the canon fact that at least one Chaing Ku was running around with Dr. Lazlo not many decades ago.

If any number of powerful entities such as the Goqua can find reasons to be interested in the BTS world, so can a dragon. They're going to be just as 'weak' afterall.

Whether a dragon fits in your campaign or not is entirely another story. Some people think of them as more fantasy than horror. As for myself, I like to keep my options open.

[Jefffar]

IMHO there are 3 types of dragons in the BTS universe.

1) Those that have learned to pass unnoticed among human kind. These are incredibly rare, and even their msot trusted friends will not know the truth.

2) Those that live so far out in the wilderness that only scattered reports of sightings from tribesmen have filtered into civilization as tales of jungle beast and lake creatures.

3) Those that were killed off centuries ago as mankind learned the secrets of iron.

[vika]

I like the various points about how the dragon, myth, and cryptozoology intersect. It presents the deep mystery for characters. In the end, the players may never know is it the actual dragon they find or not. Of course, I like the mysterious ending time from time. In the game, movie, or book the mysterious ending gives you permission to wonder and imagine what was and what will be.

[Zer0 Kay]

There was the time the players had to go to komodo island to get an item they needed. I had fun running an encounter with a komodo dragon of unusual ferocity. The players ran into a 16 foot komodo dragon that was incredibly durable haha, they never realized the monitor lizard they ran into that day was an immature and primitive species of dragonkin. Not a real dragon like the palladium ones but it had regeneration and supernatural strength. The players managed to kill it by trapping it in a pit and then mercifully ended its tortured life.

Don't remember that one must have been one I wasn't in on. Hmm... I don't think I would have even needed the ultimate spell combo on it.

[DtMK]

Here's a thought. In Mystic China, it notes that as opposed to other places on Earth at ley line nexus points, there are no changes in the amount of energy or spell effects because dragons keep feasting on the energy and hoarding it all for themselves. What if knowledgeable Geomancers or Arcanists would go to a major nexus point expecting a boost at a certain time or astrological marker like an eclipse or planetary alignment, only to find that there's no increase? This could be the perfect setting for a dragon, or group of dragons to be absorbing it and keeping anyone else from receiving it.

There could be plenty of folklore about it. A place that was considered haunted, and by all mystical accounts, should be a hotbed. But for some reason, the mystical energies have apparently dried up to an unusual low to those that explore the supernatural, and unnoticeable to those used to a mundane world view.

There are many kinds of dragonoids that would be a phenomenal find. But one I've looked into and used with some success is the Great Dream Snake from Rifts New West. Some consider it a dragon-godling, and the ultimate trickster supposedly with the power to grant the heart's desire to beings that capture it. Illusion spells, all psionic powers, even a hatchling would be frightening!

[Lord Z]

What type of character do we want this dragon-kin to be? If it is an unintelligent but dangerous monster, I would use the Lizard King from Nightbane. If it were only somewhat intelligent and a little dangerous, there is the Tokolosh sea serpent from first edition with the intelligence of a small child (though I admit it can be sort of a lame monster). If it were more intelligent, then I would look at other sources like those mentioned above.