Dragon Genesis

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Setting

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Backstory The world of Ophion. The location of an ageless battle between two entities, the dragon goddess, Thalassa, and the chaotic entity, Mardochaios. For millennia they battled silently, the rest of the world living in ignorance. However, the development of humanity to its current point has tipped the balance and it is now only a matter of time before chaos erupts. In order to curb the spread of chaos and prepare for what's to come, the goddess, Thalassa, began to unleash her creations on the world. And that is how the first dragons came into existence. Once human, now dragons, these people have found themselves with the ability to shift between forms. With their new lives as dragons comes incredible power, but also serious responsibilities. After all, power and their immortality has its price. Twelve years have passed since the first dragons were created. Separated by ocean, the two continents of Soteria and Cabeiri are both experiencing the trouble of dragons rampaging. All intelligent, some oppress and kill humans, some prefer to hide, while others choose instead to hold back their more aggressive brethren, maintaining hope that humanity will one day accept them. For now, all dragons have one question sitting at the back of their minds, 'Why are we here?' The World The world of Ophion, world of dragons. This world is a relatively average inhabitable planet. Four large continents exist, two of them being the large cold icelands at either pole, the other two stretching across the planet's centre, surrounded by ocean. A myriad of islands, both small and large, exist around these continents. The planet has only the one moon, barren, full of deep snaking canyons. The civilization on the planet below call this moon, Eurynome. Soteria One of the main continents, called 'Soteria' by its inhabitants, is home to the spiritually focused nation, the Soterian Empire. Soteria is a rather lush land, only a few patches of it could be considered barren. There exist a number of thick jungles, which are dangerous to travel alone. Mountain ranges dot the continent, capped in white. Large, gentle slopes of hills… The flat, fertile plains… The crystal clear lakes. The land is well maintained and preserved by the main inhabitants of this continent, the Soterian Empire. The Soteria Empire has spread out all across this land. There are countless small villages, several dozen bigger towns, but very few large cities. While not the largest, the most noted is the Empire's capital. Most of the Empire's citizens belong to the church of its primary faith, which among other things teaches its followers to live in harmony with nature. So the Empire as a whole seeks to avoid disturbing the natural beauty of its land. The reason for this is the Empire uses a form of divine power to develop itself and keep its citizens comfortable. This power has a close connection to nature, hence the Empire's beliefs. The Capital The capital of the Soterian Empire, it is home to both the Empire's royal family and the main church of the nation's faith. The capital is not as large as some of the other biggest cities in the Empire, as its growth is strictly controlled in order to maintain harmony with the surrounding environment. At the centre of the city is the Royal Palace, where the Empress rules from. It is a beautiful display of faith-inspired construction, reaching up towards the heavens. Around the palace is the palace gardens, small but well cared for. Around the gardens is the palace wall, restricting movement and providing security. From the palace wall stretches even more, radiating out like the light of a star and separating the city into various districts. Finally these walls end, meeting the outer wall which surrounds the entire city. Cabeiri The other main continent is called 'Cabeiri' and falls under the control of the more industrialised Cabe Republic. The continent of Cabeiri is quite barren. Plant and animal life does exist in pockets here and there, but survival is harsh. However, evidence suggests that the continent was not always this way and that at one point it might have been as beautiful as its counterpart. Jagged, rocky mountains take up much of the continent's space. These are surrounded by barren plains, scorching deserts or polluted marshes. The cause of the land's decay is obvious, the humans of this land seem to care little for nature. Their huge cities spread out, ripping the land's resources from the ground and using them to fuel their progress. Where there are no cities, instead there are mines, digging deeper and deeper in search of more. The Cabe Republic is a democracy, ruled by a publicly selected council. It values industrial progress and expansion, making them a fairly industrious society. This has created some problems due to the impact they've had on the land, but it's nothing they believe they can't solve. Hephaestus The capital of the Cabe Republic and its most industrious city, Hephaestus spreads out far and wide across the coast of the continent. The city represents the largest population centre on the entire planet. The city spreads out from a centre point on the coast, a massive fortress of metal. Constructed as a testament to the Republic's industrious might, it is the seat of the council and most heavily fortified location. In the waters surrounding it are the metal ships of the capital's guard fleet. The city itself consists of a central business sector, the economic centre of the Republic. It is situated beside the fortress and is surrounded by a river which flows from the ocean at two points and then joins into one and heads inland. To one side of the river spreads the industrial sector. Large numbers of factories release their smoke into the sky, creating a persistant haze in the skies above the entire city. To the other side is the residential sector, where numberous homes are crammed together in tight spaces. Religion The main and only religion in the world, at least the only one recognised by the Royal Family of Soteria, is The Church. The Church and its members are highly respected by the people of the Empire, as it is they which have the most control over the divine power that the Empire uses. Becoming one of the Church's members is fairly easy, but only those of the highest level are given the secrets of the divine power and it can take decades for a member to reach that point. The Church has no specific opinion regarding dragons, choosing instead to remain neutral and continue teaching their belief of acceptance for all the Goddess' creations. The Church acts a lot like those in the real world, with the advantage of being the only one in the world. Other religions have attempted to surface over the years, but only The Church maintains control over the divine power and as such the rest are quickly abandoned. The continent of Cabeiri and the Cabe Republic have no official religion. Most of its citizens do not have faith or believe. Those who do choose to follow the faith of The Church, but they do so generally in private.

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Mechanics

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Creation Dragons were initially created when the world went through a sudden upheaval , and anyone who died in this brief time was reborn as a dragon. Following this, the world experiences similar waves at seemingly random intervals. Otherwise, people can become dragons by killing a dragon as a human (requires physical contact at the moment of death), or by the rare chance of being killed in the middle of a large dragon battle. Aside from killing an existing dragon, the methods mostly involve the death and resurrection of the person. Humans typically won't become dragons if they are very young and one of these events occurs. It is possible for two dragons to mate in human form and produce a dragon offspring. Species The body type of the dragon, determining their basic physical traits. Feel free to have fun with the visual design of these, so long as they follow the overall body types mentioned under each species. Currently there are no hybrids available, but the capacity for them may be found in the future. ICly species is random, except in the case of killing a dragon as a human, in which case you become the species of the dragon you killed. OOCly, feel free to pick whatever you think is best for your character concept. Drakon.1 Drakon Standard. A tail, a head, four legs, and wings. About the size of a large house, they take most strongly to the traits of their color, with extremes of strengths and weaknesses. Physically, they are average for their kind. Drake Smaller than Drakons, about the size of a truck. They have the same overall body type, but are limited to two wings. While they are physically weaker than average, they are the only species that can take two colors at once, possessing the strengths and weaknesses of both. Drake.2 Behemoth.3 Behemoth Significantly larger than Drakons, though with the same body type. As large as an entire castle. They are physically the strongest with an average affinity for their color. Not subtle at all. Wyvern The smallest species, about the size of a car. Much the same body type as Drakes, though with only two legs and two wings. They are faster than normal on land and can change the color of their skin, disguising themselves as other colors (though not mimicking their traits) or camouflaging against their surroundings. Wyvern.4 Hydra.5 Hydra Mostly serpentine, lacking wings and with only rudimentary legs. In exchange, Hydras have seven heads and incredible regenerative ability, even capable of regenerating a lost head in minutes. They can only die when all of their heads are severed simultaneously. In exchange, they are very uncoordinated and not particularly agile. Coatl Feathered serpents, lacking legs entirely and only possessing feathered wings. They are exceptionally large, but most of that size comes in length. They are the most agile of dragons and the fastest fliers, and while they can coil and constrict around opponents, they are otherwise more fragile than others. Coatl.6 Wyrm.7 Wyrm Legless and wingless, Wyrms suit their name. They can’t fly, but are natural burrowers and are physically stronger than most dragons. An acid secreted in their mouths gives a dangerous bite and helps them burrow underground, and they can swim through deep sand as if it were water. Tianlong The longest of dragons, serpentine and possessing four legs. They are wingless, but can fly well anyway. Despite their incredible length, they have below-average strength. They can control weather to an extent and can read the stars for hints as to future events. Tianlong.8 Naga.9 Naga Massive winged snakes that are strong but slower than average. More ground-based than the flying Coatl, they have a natural affinity for beasts and can command animals. Manta As the name suggests, they are ray-shaped dragons who are very slow in their flight but never tire while flying or swimming and never need to sleep. Their tails are extremely sharp and can pierce some of the hardest scales. Manta.10 Color The color determines the special traits of the dragon and their overall color. Each comes with individual abilities, strengths, and weaknesses. ICly color is random, except in the case of killing a dragon as a human, in which case you become the color of the dragon you killed (or Scaleless). OOCly, feel free to pick whatever you think is best for your character concept. Red.11 Red The most common. Red dragons breathe an intensely hot flame that can melt through many forms of solid matter, but which is difficult to control in a conflagration. Incredibly resistant to heat, fire, and molten lava, but weak to the cold. Blue Breathe jets of super-pressurized water that can cut through metal. Excellent swimmers, where other dragon types are unwieldy in water at best. Weak to electricity. Blue.12 Brown.13 Brown No breath attack, but they have incredibly thick armor that is very difficult to penetrate. They are very slow because of the added weight of body armor. Green Hold a potent venom in their claws, spines, or fangs that can even kill other dragons in time if the scales are pierced. A connection with nature means that they heal more quickly in forests and places of natural growth, but will become fatigued if left in a city or barren area. Green.14 Gold.15 Gold Gain power from sunlight, becoming more powerful the clearer and sunnier the day is. They breathe high-powered beams of light. At night, they become significantly weaker. Black Breathe a poisonous gas that causes confusion and madness in those it afflicts. They grow stronger at night and can see in the dark, but direct sunlight blinds and hurts them. Black.16 White.17 White Breathe extremely cold blasts of gas that can freeze whatever it comes into contact with. Very comfortable in cold climates, unlike other dragons. Weak to heat. Bronze Breathe bolts of powerful lightning and can conduct it through their scales. They are weak to water and cannot swim. Bronze.18 Bone.19 Bone Skeletal dragons animated by an unknown force. They breathe this force as a vapor that is poisonous to living things, sapping their strength and animating the dead as lifeless servants. Frail and weak to blunt force, but immune to piercing and poison. Drakes and wyverns cannot take this option. Iron Constructed out of an unknown and esoteric machinery. They create and fire explosive missiles with homing capabilities. They do not eat normal food, but must consume large amounts of metal to self-repair and replenish missile stocks. Drakes cannot take this option. Iron.20 Crystal.21 Crystal Equipped with a crystal shell rather than scales that absorbs energy attacks but which is weak to physical damage. They breath a dust that causes crystal growth wherever it lands, forming structures or weapons for the dragon. Living things pierced by these crystals suffer internal crystallization. Scaleless Rare mutants with no scales to protect their relatively frail skin, making them the most vulnerable type of dragon. While they are extremely delicate, they have the breath attack of every other dragon type (except Iron), though not any other abilities. A person who becomes a dragon by either killing a dragon or being killed in a draconic battle has a very low chance of becoming a scaleless dragon rather than a normal type. Drakes cannot take this option. Scaleless.22 A dragon hoarding its gold.23 Immortality To remain as durable as they are and maintain their lack of ageing and resistance to degradation, dragons must keep up with one duty. ICly Immortality is random. OOCly, feel free to pick whatever you think is best for your character concept. Hoard The dragon must amass a hoard of valuable metals and jewels (gold, diamonds, etc.) and sleep with it occasionally. The larger the dragon, the larger the hoard must be, at least large enough for the dragon form to rest upon it. The hoard as a whole cannot be taken out of the theme’s world. Worship The dragon must convince a large number of people to worship them as a god. As with the Hoard, the number of people depends on the size of the dragon, reaching in the thousands for the Behemoth species. Devotees will, of course, have to be replaced as they die or leave. Maidens The dragon must ritually consume maidens or any other person of spiritual purity. One person a year may be enough for smaller dragons, while a Behemoth may require ten or more a year. Guardian The dragon must protect something, whether it be an object, a monumental site, or a person. If the object of protection is badly damaged or falls into disrepair, the dragon’s immortality will fade until it is repaired. Total destruction of the object of protection means an absolute loss of immortality. The object must remain on the theme’s world, even if it’s a person. Hunger A maiden sacrifice to a dragon.24 The dragon must eat three times as much food as usual to sustain their immortality, whether in human form or dragon form. Skeletal dragons cannot take this option. Fear The dragon must be feared by a large number of people, the number of whom increases as the size of the dragon increases. The dragon cannot be sustained by the general fear of dragons; it must be a fear of that specific individual. Lair The dragon must return to a specific location in the theme’s world at a specific time every two weeks to rest, such as a crystal that gathers energy over time and releases it at a specific moment to regenerate their immortality, or a positioning of certain stars that recharges their immortality that occurs at a certain time biweekly. If the dragon fails to return to that location for a month, immortality is revoked until the next period. Bloodshed The dragon must kill a significant number of people in a month to maintain their immortality. They do not necessarily have to be eaten, just killed. The larger the dragon, the more people must be killed for immortality to be maintained. Custom You can come up with your own immortality conditions, but each one should be discussed with castmates before being apped! Aspect As powerful and influential as the dragons are, they each are capable of having some sort of impact on or connection with the people around them. These are primarily accessible in dragon form, but they are present in a lesser degree with a partial transformation and are not present in human form. ICly Aspect is random. OOCly, feel free to pick whatever you think is best for your character concept. Majestic The dragon is particularly majestic, and humans and dragons around them will regard them as a superior being. Weaker-willed beings feel naturally inclined to obey the dragon’s commands. Terrible The dragon is naturally frightening, and most of those around them will feel intimidated and unnerved by their presence. Weaker-willed entities may outright refuse to be anywhere near them. Sagacious The dragon is particularly wise and compassionate, or at least feels that way. People tend to be less likely to regard them as a threat and prefer to befriend them instead. Skeletal dragons cannot take this option. Divine The dragon radiates an aura of good fortune. They have good luck and chance events are slightly bent in their favor. Those nearby experience a similar burst of good luck, including enemies. Unholy The dragon radiates an aura of misfortune, causing bad events wherever they go. People nearby suffer from bad luck, and the dragon can manipulate this to an extent to inflict terrible luck on a particular person. The dragon’s own luck is unchanged. Masked The dragon does not settle well in the memories of those around them. People tend not to notice them if they are not actively being bothered, and even if the dragon is noticed, people will forget about them before long. Behemoths cannot take this option. Empathic The dragon has a particular awareness of those around them, being able to sense the basic natures and intentions of those they encounter. It is particularly useful for sensing dragons in human form or being able to tell if someone is especially influenced by Mardochaios. Inspirational The dragon is particularly motivating in a general sense, inspiring those around them to great feats. The dragon can control this directly, infusing someone with courage or the will to continue after facing much difficulty. Forms Dragon A dragon's true form. This is them in their full, draconic glory. When transforming into this form, dragons may retain one trait of their human form, such as the ability to speak. Changing that trait requires another transformation. However, transforming to and from dragon form is extremely taxing on both body and psyche. For this reason, it's harmful for dragons to do so repeatedly in a short amount of time. In order to avoid harm, a dragon should wait approximately the six to twelve hours depending on the size of the dragon. Eg, being the largest, Behemoths should wait about twelve hours. And being the smallest, Wyverns only have to wait six hours. Players are free to decide how their dragons look in this form, but keep in mind it generally must follow a basic body structure for that of its species (specific number of limbs, body shape, etc). Human The dragon's human form. This is exactly how they looked before they became a dragon, and this form can and will age if the dragon fails to maintain their immortality. In this form, dragons are almost as vulnerable as humans. Only their immortality is available to them, protecting them from ageing and degradation (sickness, disease, etc). Dragons look almost exactly like humans in this form, both on the inside and the outside. The only noticeable feature, that is common to EVERY dragon, is that they have a tatoo somewhere on their body. The tatoo's shape shows the species of dragon and the color of which shows the dragon’s color. These can be as visible or hidden as the player wants. They can range from very stylised/generic to a very accurate depiction of the dragon in their dragon form. It's up to the player. Partial Transformation A dragon's partial transformation is where they take traits of both their dragon and human form. A dragon will always gain increased strength and endurance during a partial transformation. In addition to these, a dragon may choose to take one other trait of their dragon form, such as wings, claws or their breath attack. The character cannot become a human-sized version of the dragon form or a dragon-sized version of the human form, however. A partial transformation remains mostly humanoid. To use another trait requires another transformation, but there is almost no downtime with transforming between human and partial form (just don't do it repeatedly in a few seconds). It does take a short amount of time to transform though, so consider switching trait to be like a +armor change requiring one turn. It's mostly up to the player to define exactly how their character looks while in a partial transformation. However, there will be visible features for most dragon traits included in this transformation. As a dragon's endurance is default included, then a partial transformation will always include some scales on the dragon's body (except Scaleless, though their sickly nature might be reflected in the partial transformation in some other way). The location and amount is up to the player. As for the other traits, they will manifest depending on type. Eg, dragon claws on the character's hands, or wings sprouting from their back. Additionally, while in a partial transform, the dragon's tatoo will glow with their colour. The glow will bleed through most forms of clothing, though to varying degree.

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Power Level

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Disclaimer THIS IS JUST A GUIDE. If you want to make your 0 year old dragon a PL36, go ahead and try for it if you think you can justify it (and the cast agree to it). But if you're not sure what PL to make your dragon, then this guide is here to help. Also keep in mind this is an unofficial guide. There's no guarantee that staff agree with it or the result. Note: It’s generally a good idea to list the PLs for all 3 forms in your +powers. Basics Discussion has led to the conclusion that all the dragon species and colours are balanced. No individual species or colour is more inherently powerful than another. Yes a Behemoth is massive, but a Wyvern will run rings around it and pick at its weak points. So to determine PL, the two major considerations are age and experience. There is some connection… A brand new dragon is going to have no experience. But after a short period, that connection becomes much weaker. Eg a relatively new dragon, who has driven themselves to train in the new abilities they have, can be the equal of an older dragon who has not been so dedicated. The sections below will outline the three forms, their PL ranges, and how age and experience effects them. Dragon / Max PL Base Range: 29 - 34 (higher PLs will require coordination with the cast) Note: A brand new dragon with no experience will be pretty darn weak to the point that a more experienced dragon in a partial transformation would be able to beat them in their full dragon form. So a PL of 26 is valid, if you feel like being one of the weakest dragons in the world! But there's nothing wrong with apping a brand new dragon who has a talent to learn, starting them off at 29 and having them improve quickly during early RP. Age: 0y ---- 6y ---- 12y 29 ---- 30 ---- 31 Physical Combat: This is physical combat between dragons that doesn't involve any unique abilities. Basically just biting, scratching, hitting, stabbing, that kind of stuff. +1 if your character is skilled in dragon vs. dragon physical combat. 0 if your character is average. -1 if your character hasn't done much. Species Ability: Each species has a special ability. For that special ability add: +1 if they have really trained it 0 if they have somewhat trained it -1 if they have not trained it Drake - Their ability to control both colour abilities. Controlling one is hard enough for dragons. Controlling two is far from easy. Drakon - The ability to control their colour abilities. More extreme strengths/weaknesses means more difficulty controlling them. Behemoth - Don't really have a special ability, but we can say it's dragon vs. dragon combat by virtue of their raw strength. Wyvern - Their ability to move fast on land and/or camouflage. Hydra - Their ability to coordinate their seven heads. Coatl - Their ability to move quickly/evade attacks and/or coil around opponents. Wyrm - Their ability to move underground. Tianlong - Their ability to control the weather (future telling is not really a combat ability and so not included) Naga - Their ability to control animals. Manta - The ability to use their tails for combat (you ever tried to aim your tail at a moving target? Didn't think so). Colour Ability: +1 if your character has really trained at using their unique colour ability 0 if your character has somewhat trained -1 if your character has not trained Brown Note: As they don’t really have a special colour ability they can train, either consider their ability at dragon vs. dragon physical combat, or just leave it at 0. Example: Character is 12 years old as a dragon: 31 Has very little dragon vs. dragon combat skill: -1 (30) Is pretty darn good at using weather control: +1 (31) Is pretty darn good at using colour abilities: +1 (32) PL 32 Human Base Range: 19 - 24 As the dragon abilities/traits (except immortality, which doesn’t have any impact on combat and so PL) are unavailable as a human, this form relies entirely on what training you’ve received to fight. If you’re a civilian who has never fought beyond maybe the occasional scuffle, you’d be 19. If you’re a veteran soldier who’s a master with the sword, you’d be 24. And then there’s all the stuff in between. Partial Form Base Range: 24 - 29 Partial transformation form PL considers two things: How good you are at your dragon form, and therefore whatever dragon trait you may pick, and how good you are at fighting as a human. More often than not, this PL will come out at about half way between your human PL and dragon PL. Note that for ease of statting, all dragon traits are considered balanced. So dragon eyes will provide the same amount of boost to Skill as dragon claws will provide to Strength, flight to Evasion, etc. Example: Character is a 32 PL dragon. Is a 19 human. Comes out at about 26 for a partial, having no training as a human but being fairly good as a dragon. 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32

Footnotes

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3. Image credited to Sandara

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5. Image credited to velinov

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8. Image credited to TogTheDark

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20. Image credited to Electronalone

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24. Image credited to dashinvaine