nWoD fansplat: Dragon: the Inheritance

[One Tin Soldier]

Full Google Doc writeup of Dragon: the Inheritance

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Dragons. The word alone brings to mind images of skies darkened by titanic wings, of cities burning so bright that it seems like a second sun, of endless piles of gold and treasure. Of great heroes waging epic battles against ferocious beasts, of teeth like daggers and claws like spears, of hide so thick no sword could pierce it. Of fearful villagers cowering, of kings paying tribute, of might and majesty and power.
Humanity has quite the history with dragons. These beasts are known in myth and legend in every culture around the world. There are plentiful tales from medieval Europe which speak of terrifying reptilian beasts who took their livestock and children as they pleased. The Chinese had their lungs, the godlike creatures who dictated when the rains would fall and the rivers would flood. Native North Americans spoke of the giant serpents in the rivers, shimmering with magic in every color of the rainbow. And the Aztecs revered flying serpentine coatls as servants of the gods. They are not limited to ancient tales, either. Modern fiction and folk tales, our own civilization’s mythology, is practically overflowing with dragons. It is modern tales that have codified the idea of giant treasure hoards and damsels in distress, two of the most iconic aspects of the dragon archetype.
But they are just myths, right? Dinosaur bones and human fears?
Please.
Dragons walk among humankind as they have for millennia. They are mighty creatures, more powerful than mere humans in every way that they feel matters. They are more physically threatening - bigger, stronger, and faster. They have the ability to fly, giving them greater mobility and freedom than even modern humans with their road-dependant cars and bulky, expensive planes. Even humanity’s greatest advantages, their minds and their control of fire, are outmatched by those of the dragons. Even worse for humanity, they know how to hide all too effectively. They clothe themselves in human skin, blending thoroughly into the crowds to evade their pursuers or further their agendas. A human could see a dragon every day at work and never know the difference.
So it comes as something of a surprise that in every story where a dragon is the villain, they are not brought down by armies of righteous villagers or teams of trained soldiers, fighting at great cost to overwhelm the monster. No, the dragon is almost always slain by a lone hero, prevailing via skill, luck, or divine intervention. It doesn’t matter how terrifyingly powerful the dragon is, a lone hero is the one who eventually leads to the dragon’s demise.
And so it is true with dragons in the modern age. Dragons who aren’t careful, die. Dragons who get too powerful, too big for their britches, die. Yes, humans go running, screaming when a dragon passes overhead. But there’s always those few who are instilled with a powerful urge to see that dragon slain.

You are going to die eventually. You can run, you can hide, you can fight back, and you may survive for a time. But you are not going to live forever, so what part of you will remain after everything else is gone? What legacy are you going to leave behind?

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Dragon: the Inheritance is a fanmade nWoD game written by me and Xallace. It is not completely finished, but it is complete enough that we feel comfortable making it open for the last stretch before playtesting begins.

And to forestall any comments on the obvious: yes, we are aware of Dragon: the Embers. In fact, part of the reason we made Inheritance was our dissatisfaction with Embers. It is a fine game in its own right, but its not what we wanted out of a Dragon game. To put it simply, we feel that if you are playing a dragon, you should feel awesome, in both the old and new senses of the word. You should feel powerful, mighty, terrifying, like everything is going your way. That way, when the tables are turned and you become the one who is pinned down under the weight of the world, it is all the more frightening.
On the other obvious issue, yes, we are also aware of how similar our Slayers are to Beast's Heroes. I swear, we had the idea first (Or at least before OP introduced them).

The character splats for Dragon are Heritage and Dynasty. Heritage defines what type of dragon you are, your general personality type and what you hoard. Dynasties are social organizations, which defines your primary strategy for keeping yourself alive. Some brief overviews of the Heritages and Dynasties:

Heritages:
Amphiteres: Divine dragons who hoard prestige. Drakes: Poisonous dragons who hoard aesthetic.
Hydra: Nigh-immortal dragons who hoard experiences.
Wyvern: Hungry, destructive dragons who hoard reputation.
Wyrms: Mystical dragons who hoard power.

Dynasties:
Nagaraja: Alchemists and Philosopher-Kings. Survival through knowledge.
Xiuhcoatl: Blood-fueled warrior cult. Survival through strength.
Yinglong: Weather-controlling mafiosos. Survival through resources.
Zalciai: Luck-blessed matriarchal puppet masters. Survival through community.
Zmaj: Sorcerous assassins with a collective messiah complex. Survival through control.

Dragon powers are called Legacies, and they are modifications to the character's draconic form, referred to as the Drakonos. There are Core Legacies, which are on a 1-5 dot rating scale and provide benefits like attribute dots or size points, as well as simple scaling abilities like flight, more powerful natural weapons, flame breath, poison, etc. There are also Auxiliary Legacies, which are more specific powers that fall under the purview of their associated Core Legacy. Some examples of these are more accurate flame breath, improved flying speed, the ability to attack multiple targets at once with Brawl, or even temporary immortality. And finally there is draconic Sorcery, a collection of spells that dragons can use to further enhance their abilities or alter the way that they work.

Dragon's Supernatural Tolerance trait is Kauchaomai, the dragon's supercharged sense of identity that allows them to assume their draconic form. There is no "juice stat" associated with Kauchaomai. Instead, dragon abilities use Willpower, and Kauchaomai gives the dragon extra Willpower to spend.

Dragon's modified Integrity trait is Serenity, which measures how well the dragon lives up to their idealized identity. The primary benefit of high Serenity is reducing the dragon's chances of creating a Slayer.

Dragon's Anchor traits are Ambition and Heart. Ambition is who you would be in a world where you didn't have to hide; Heart is who you are at your most human.

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Please use this thread for questions, comments, concerns, and constructive criticism. There is also a sister thread to this one on the Onyx Path forums. Enjoy!

[Almarck]

Alright, so after a few hours of reading on and off, I think I have basic grasp over the general rules but not so much on the specific powers.

I like the idea if only because I like dragons. I liked Embers in its various editions and this project shows promise.

That said, I feel a good default motive for what drives a dragon forward needs to be established and extrapolated. Sorta like how "The Wolf Must Hunt" for Werewolf. It needs a core drive to be the front and center theme. If there is one, I haven't seen it or have failed to see it. In short: I want a good reason to play a dragon aside from the sake of being a dragon. Werewolves have their prey, mages have their mysteries, prometheans have the true dawn, hunters have the vigil.

However, as I have said before, this shows great promise. So, I'll do what I can to provide good feedback, ya?

Other concerns and comments:

-Inability to use Fighting Styles in Draknos. This I find kinda bad if only because I think some fighting styles would be valid to use in draconic form and it'll be eventually happen that you end up creating dragon only fighting styles. Solution: amend the text to say "Most fighting styles may not be used in Drakonos. Fighting styles require the use of fist to fist combat or humanoid posturing may not be used. Other fighting styles, such as Berserker in Hurt Locker that does not rely on humanoid anatomy to use may be used in Drakonos". It's a great way to plan ahead for if you add more content.

-On the note of Drakonos, I feel it's redunant to say that attributes can exceed 5 when in that form. Base attributes in ordinary human form are capped at 5, whereas form bonuses and buffs are already able to break the cap.

-Willpower as a fuel is pretty ingenious. Don't really see it as gamebreaking and I feel it works for defining dragons as beings of unfettered will.

-How does a Kau (that name is so long and hard to remember) 10 dragon work? Do they have impossibility when changing form or a chance die? also, this might be an oversight but it seems that there's no mechanics for shifting out of Drakonos in its own entry. Personally, I would rather that changing form is not a roll but rather an act of will. I mean, a dragon is defined by self image right? Both Anthropos and Drakonos forms are his/her true forms. Why should it be difficult to shift both forms as you get up.? Perhaps maybe tying difficulty to Serenity is a better idea, similar to Werewolves. The more out of balance you are, the longer and more painful the change takes.

-I feel the size bonuses are okay. Another person might call them imbalanced, but I find that suddenly being a valid target for antitank missiles (and thus getting hit by them without a really high penalty) and not being able to use your draconic form in an alleyway is a fair trade for all that health. My only concern is the intentions of the size bonuses that differ based on the Dragon's signature legacy. Also, Fangs of Fafnir needs to provide details on the poison it produces, though you are probably aware of this.

[One Tin Soldier]

Alright, so after a few hours of reading on and off, I think I have basic grasp over the general rules but not so much on the specific powers.

I like the idea if only because I like dragons. I liked Embers in its various editions and this project shows promise.

That said, I feel a good default motive for what drives a dragon forward needs to be established and extrapolated. Sorta like how "The Wolf Must Hunt" for Werewolf. It needs a core drive to be the front and center theme. If there is one, I haven't seen it or have failed to see it. In short: I want a good reason to play a dragon aside from the sake of being a dragon. Werewolves have their prey, mages have their mysteries, prometheans have the true dawn, hunters have the vigil.


However, as I have said before, this shows great promise. So, I'll do what I can to provide good feedback, ya?

Ok, starting here. I think the main reason that it feels missing is because Xallace and I haven't yet been able to put the Theme and Mood into words. We know what they are, mostly, we just haven't been able to get it on paper in a satisfactory way.

But as for what the core drive is, I got to it a little in the intro here on the thread. It's more of a question than a statement, though: What legacy are you going to leave behind? What inheritance can you leave for those who come after you?

Other concerns and comments:

-Inability to use Fighting Styles in Draknos. This I find kinda bad if only because I think some fighting styles would be valid to use in draconic form and it'll be eventually happen that you end up creating dragon only fighting styles. Solution: amend the text to say "Most fighting styles may not be used in Drakonos. Fighting styles require the use of fist to fist combat or humanoid posturing may not be used. Other fighting styles, such as Berserker in Hurt Locker that does not rely on humanoid anatomy to use may be used in Drakonos". It's a great way to plan ahead for if you add more content.

We'll keep that in mind. It is worth noting, though, that a lot of the Bones of the Mountain auxiliaries can fill that role. Inflicting Tilts, enhancing attacks, and providing new options. (And as of right now, they're just as cheap as the fighting styles, if not cheaper.) Still, you have a point about allowing some Styles that would make sense in Drakonos, we'll probably make a note of it.

-On the note of Drakonos, I feel it's redunant to say that attributes can exceed 5 when in that form. Base attributes in ordinary human form are capped at 5, whereas form bonuses and buffs are already able to break the cap.

On the contrary, I think it's good to be specific. A lot of confusion can come about by not specifying whether you can buff beyond the usual cap or not. I know I've had that trouble in games before.

-Willpower as a fuel is pretty ingenious. Don't really see it as gamebreaking and I feel it works for defining dragons as beings of unfettered will.

Yep, given the fluff of Kauchaomai, any fuel stat we thought of would basically just be Willpower, so why not just tie it in? It also has the benefits of making WP regain options more appealing to players - you're going to be going through a lot of it.

-How does a Kau (that name is so long and hard to remember) 10 dragon work? Do they have impossibility when changing form or a chance die? also, this might be an oversight but it seems that there's no mechanics for shifting out of Drakonos in its own entry. Personally, I would rather that changing form is not a roll but rather an act of will. I mean, a dragon is defined by self image right? Both Anthropos and Drakonos forms are his/her true forms. Why should it be difficult to shift both forms as you get up.? Perhaps maybe tying difficulty to Serenity is a better idea, similar to Werewolves. The more out of balance you are, the longer and more painful the change takes.

1) If it helps you to remember, it's pronounced Cow-chow-my. It's Greek, so the spelling can be a bit weird to the English-speaking eye. A lot of the terminology we chose is - maybe we should look into some abbreviations.
2) The idea behind difficulty in going back to Anthropos is that most dragons don't consider the Anthropos to be one of their true forms. Drakonos is the true form - Anthropos is either a disguise to keep them alive or a curse to keep them from their true power, depending on their point of view. The human body just doesn't feel entirely comfortable to most dragons, so the higher your power stat is, the harder it becomes to relinquish that feeling. At Kauchaomai 10, you are at a chance die to transform back to Anthropos.
3) Not putting the mechanics for shifting out in the metamorphosis section is one of those things we didn't catch because we're so familiar with the mechanics already. I'll go rectify that immediately!

-I feel the size bonuses are okay. Another person might call them imbalanced, but I find that suddenly being a valid target for antitank missiles (and thus getting hit by them without a really high penalty) and not being able to use your draconic form in an alleyway is a fair trade for all that health. My only concern is the intentions of the size bonuses that differ based on the Dragon's signature legacy. Also, Fangs of Fafnir needs to provide details on the poison it produces, though you are probably aware of this.

A lot of the powers are still lacking mechanics, and Poison of Fafnir is one of them. On our first pass we just went through and put down the basic idea of each one; one of the big things we need to do to get the game playtest-ready is fill those in. On that note, if you have any suggestions for mechanics for powers that are missing them or ideas for auxiliaries that need to be filled in, by all means go ahead.

[Almarck]

Okay so that stuff makes sense.

Also since it's possible to dramatically fail shifting what's the drawback for failing it on the chance die?

You may just want to put a text in the kau attribute and skill caps stuff in that states the limits can be breaker by using buffs or being in Drakonos if you feel you need to state caps.

Also on the note of powers. A part of me thinks that it might be a good idea to borrow an idea from vampire and make a subset of legacies that combine the use of two other legacies in order to function or benefit from like how Disciplines and Devotions work.

Such as combining a charming legacy with fire breathing to a force creatures damaged by the flames into servants. May not be the best example though.

I also feel that there needs to be a mechanic to encourage growing up the core legacy like requiring it be the highest legacy enabled. I feel that since that it is the legacy that is associated to the core of the dragon's identity it needs to be prioritized above others. Maybe requiring that it be the cap on how other legacies might be raised? So you need to have level 4 before anything else can go above 3. Granted there has to be a better way about going about it.

Also I think sorcery should be handled completely seperate from legacies. Have its own exp costs and systems. Right now it feels thrown in because it functions so differently from other legacies. I mean for one is it supposed to be ritual magic?

[One Tin Soldier]

Okay so that stuff makes sense.

Also since it's possible to dramatically fail shifting what's the drawback for failing it on the chance die?

Remember that without house rules, the only times that you can dramatically fail are on a chance die, or by making a regular failure dramatic in exchange for a Beat. And when you're at a chance die, you stand just as good of a chance of dramatically failing as you do succeeding. I realize what you meant now, since I don't believe we actually put down the specific roll results. I'm rectifying that now. Dramatically failing the roll means that you cannot even attempt to shift back for a day. (Possibly specifying that as after the next time you gain WP through sleep.) A Kauchaomai 10 dragon could easily find themselves incapable of returning to Anthropos for days or even weeks.

Also on the note of powers. A part of me thinks that it might be a good idea to borrow an idea from vampire and make a subset of legacies that combine the use of two other legacies in order to function or benefit from like how Disciplines and Devotions work.

Such as combining a charming legacy with fire breathing to a force creatures damaged by the flames into servants. May not be the best example though.

Eeeeeeeh. That kind of thing is what Sorceries are good for. Most Legacies are straightforward enough that combining them in ways to merit new powers would feel a bit forced to me. I'll keep it in the back of my mind in case I rethink it, though.

I also feel that there needs to be a mechanic to encourage growing up the core legacy like requiring it be the highest legacy enabled. I feel that since that it is the legacy that is associated to the core of the dragon's identity it needs to be prioritized above others. Maybe requiring that it be the cap on how other legacies might be raised? So you need to have level 4 before anything else can go above 3. Granted there has to be a better way about going about it.

I assume that by "core legacy" you're talking about the Unique Legacies, the ones gained from Heritages? That's possible, though it might feel like a bit of a tax on characters that don't particularly want their Unique Legacy. I feel like a lot of players will want to go straight for the coolest ones like Wings of the Heavens or Breath of the Inferno.

Also I think sorcery should be handled completely seperate from legacies. Have its own exp costs and systems. Right now it feels thrown in because it functions so differently from other legacies. I mean for one is it supposed to be ritual magic?

It already does function differently than other legacies, in that the core dots don't do anything aside from give you more auxiliaries, a bit like Rituals in 1e Werewolf. And the mechanical systems also are different, in that they have more generalized WP costs and more specific, spell-like effects. As for differing XP costs, I don't see a reason to make them any more or less expensive than other legacies. And divorcing them from the Legacy system entirely would basically turn them into supercharged Merits.

[Xallace]

And divorcing them from the Legacy system entirely would basically turn them into supercharged Merits.

Which is more-or-less what Geist did with Ceremonies, superpowered ritual merits, so there is precedence. I'm not against a sorcery redesign but I think more discussion is warranted.

[Elricaltovilla]

I'm currently reading through this, and I like what I see so far. While I'm still reading through it though, can you tell me if you have any material in there about running this as a LARP? The chances of me actually convince the local LARP scene to give this a try are between 0 and 0.0000000% but if I continue liking what I see, I'd definitely be interested in giving this a shot over the summer.

[Xallace]

I'm currently reading through this, and I like what I see so far. While I'm still reading through it though, can you tell me if you have any material in there about running this as a LARP? The chances of me actually convince the local LARP scene to give this a try are between 0 and 0.0000000% but if I continue liking what I see, I'd definitely be interested in giving this a shot over the summer.

We are unfortunately a very tabletop-focused pair of individuals, so the LARP side is pretty lacking. I can't speak for One Tin Soldier but I'd definitely be open to input on how to provide better material for LARP fans like yourself.

[One Tin Soldier]

We are unfortunately a very tabletop-focused pair of individuals, so the LARP side is pretty lacking. I can't speak for One Tin Soldier but I'd definitely be open to input on how to provide better material for LARP fans like yourself.

Same. I'm not terribly familiar with Mind's Eye Theater, nor do I have the book for it, so I don't know how much work it would be to convert the game into a LARP-able format.

[Almarck]

I'm kinda of the opinion that if some power set functions vastly differently from other powers such as say ritual magic in every other line, it should be separate and be treated as its own thing, independent of the others.

I feel that sorcerery is too grab bag to be a single legacy as well as the above especially since all of them have the same dice pool. But I will understand that it is not on the table yet.


As for incentivizing the growth of the signature legacy of a dragon maybe unlike other legacies you cannot raise it directly. Instead it's growth is dependant on the highest level general legacy you possess. This allows a player to build how they want while their signature powers grow independent of their choices.

[Elricaltovilla]

So, the issue that I'm having right now with this is that I'm a mechanics guy and right now a lot of the crunchy bits are pretty incomplete. I'd like to see these get done asap, because that's going to give me the best idea of what its actually like to be a dragon in this game.

[One Tin Soldier]

As for incentivizing the growth of the signature legacy of a dragon maybe unlike other legacies you cannot raise it directly. Instead it's growth is dependant on the highest level general legacy you possess. This allows a player to build how they want while their signature powers grow independent of their choices.

Hmmm. I do like the idea of incentivizing the unique legacies. Giving them away for "free" would be an interesting tactic, to be sure, especially since it would raise how quickly dragons can become powerful. And the auxiliaries are the really interesting powers anyway,and you'd still need to buy them separately. On the other hand, there can be a lot of weirdness to a system like this. We'll have to think on it.
For the record, the player in me is yelling "YEAH FREE POWERS DO IT."


As for Elricaltovilla's comment, I can promise that one of the big things we're doing right now is filling in those mechanical gaps.

[Xallace]

Just wanted to note that we just made an overhaul to the hoard section(s), with more likely to be added soon.

As for incentivizing the growth of the signature legacy of a dragon maybe unlike other legacies you cannot raise it directly. Instead it's growth is dependant on the highest level general legacy you possess. This allows a player to build how they want while their signature powers grow independent of their choices.

That's actually a really interesting idea. I don't know if we'd have it work exactly like that but it would be kinda neat.

So, the issue that I'm having right now with this is that I'm a mechanics guy and right now a lot of the crunchy bits are pretty incomplete. I'd like to see these get done asap, because that's going to give me the best idea of what its actually like to be a dragon in this game.

Yeah, there are a lot of legacy mechanics missing. We set ourselves up for that one, honestly, given just how many auxiliary legacies there are. But hey, there's a lot of abilities associated with dragons to model, right?

But no worries, we're chugging along with them! Should be able to get a few fully fleshed out this week.

[Elricaltovilla]

I'd offer to help, but I'm much more fully versed in Pathfinder and D&D than I am in WoD. Especially since I never got into the whole God Machine Update. I just don't play it much outside of the annual VtM LARP (somebody please get these people to play something else this year!)

[Almarck]

Maybe then the unique legacies work by leveling up based on the number of other legacy dots total you havew. If you have say 20 dots in legacies you get level 5 of your primary.

Meet that threshold, you unlock a level if your primary legacy sort of thing.

Maybe the dynastic legacy is the same way but has slightly higher dot requirements. So it's say 25 ranks in other legacies for 5 while the... breed legacy needs 20 as said before. It also means that transferring from one dynasty to another is a simple matter of trading the unlocked dots of one legacy to the next.


Obviously only dots in general legacies count to the totals.

[One Tin Soldier]

Maybe then the unique legacies work by leveling up based on the number of other legacy dots total you havew. If you have say 20 dots in legacies you get level 5 of your primary.

Meet that threshold, you unlock a level if your primary legacy sort of thing.

Maybe the dynastic legacy is the same way but has slightly higher dot requirements. So it's say 25 ranks in other legacies for 5 while the... breed legacy needs 20 as said before. It also means that transferring from one dynasty to another is a simple matter of trading the unlocked dots of one legacy to the next.


Obviously only dots in general legacies count to the totals.

That option had occurred to me. It does have the benefit of making it a bit less powergamey, since its harder to game the system.

I do think that dynastic legacies should remain buyable by normal XP. They aren't as core to the dragon's sense of self as the unique legacies are.


In an unrelated note, we now have thorough mechanics for Poison of Fafnir.

[Elricaltovilla]

Each dot of this legacy grants the hydra 1 additional point of size in Drakonos (with attendant dot of Health)

Does the extra dot of health only apply to the Hydra's legacy or do all the Drakonos form size increases increase health as well? Its only mentioned in the Immortality of Lernea entry, but the text seems to imply that the extra health is a function of increased size, meaning that each Legacy should increase health (with Radiance of Queztalcoatl and Waters of Hualong gaining 2 dots of health per dot of legacy), Which makes the Hydra's Legacy... not so great at representing the Hydra's supposed immortality.

[Almarck]

On that note I feel Radiance is unimprrsssive given that its core benrfit outside of incraseed health onky works in anthropos. Fix it that the social effefts work in dragon form too because ot makes little sense why it works as given.

also I feel the hydra legacy neess to be simplified in some manner... and possess rules for regrowing heads inherent in drakonos

[One Tin Soldier]

Does the extra dot of health only apply to the Hydra's legacy or do all the Drakonos form size increases increase health as well? Its only mentioned in the Immortality of Lernea entry, but the text seems to imply that the extra health is a function of increased size, meaning that each Legacy should increase health (with Radiance of Queztalcoatl and Waters of Hualong gaining 2 dots of health per dot of legacy), Which makes the Hydra's Legacy... not so great at representing the Hydra's supposed immortality.

That text must be really old. All size increases increase the total health. Hydra immortality comes less from their core legacy, and more from their auxiliaries which grant them superior healing abilities.

But yes, all dragons can end up with large amounts of health, especially the Wyrms and Amphiteres. It's their main way of being hard to kill, since rapid healing is restricted to Hydras and Zalciai. (or rather, groups with Zaltys members)
On that note, we might need to adjust the auxiliaries of both legacies to ensure that they don't overlap too much.

[Almarck]

Posted a reply while you were replying by the way. Anyways, have you figured out how to adjust rapid healig and say , make it distinct from werewolfs healing rules?
Might I suggest that you spend will power to regrenate wounds based on legacy rating?combine with some fastish but not over the top rapid healing. Mayhe 30 minutes per lethal. I mean werewolf healimg is insane but they don't get as many health dots

also about the poison? It seem a little odd but why don't ypu just say it gives the pooisoned conditioon but has some slight differences?

also I didnt check far but have you considered an apply firearms defense effect?

[Elricaltovilla]

I would consider giving Hydras an extra dot of health per rank over and above what they get from their size increases.

I'm at work right now, but when I get home I plan on trying to make a character. I'm thinking a Drake Nagaraja with some points in Breath of the Inferno and Hide of Iron. So if you could focus on getting those done, I'd appreciate it

[One Tin Soldier]

Posted a reply while you were replying by the way. Anyways, have you figured out how to adjust rapid healig and say , make it distinct from werewolfs healing rules?
Might I suggest that you spend will power to regrenate wounds based on legacy rating?combine with some fastish but not over the top rapid healing. Mayhe 30 minutes per lethal. I mean werewolf healimg is insane but they don't get as many health dots

also about the poison? It seem a little odd but why don't ypu just say it gives the pooisoned conditioon but has some slight differences?

also I didnt check far but have you considered an apply firearms defense effect?

The Poison of Fafnir rules are basically identical to the existing poison rules, I just thought it would be best to spell it all out explicitly. Especially since the existing rules cover such a wide variety of possibilities. (I know I would really like to find some specific examples of poisons to compare against.) And just applying the Poisoned tilt in combat doesn't quite sit right with me, since it would work the same regardless of the legacy's dot rating.

As for healing, it will definitely be different from Werewolf healing. Currently, the best healing that dragons have access to costs 2 WP to give them basic wolf healing for a scene. And that's a 4 dot auxiliary. We'll probably make Hydra healing more potent than Zaltys healing, at the cost of only being able to use it on themselves.

Defense against firearms isn't something we've considered much, since dragons are archetypically more about withstanding the damage than avoiding it. Though there is already a Hide of Iron auxiliary (Kevlar Skin) that gives their armor a ballistic rating, and one of the Hydra auxiliaries could be to make all firearms and similar damage bashing. (like vampires)

As for healing rapidly, it will be fairly different from Werewolf healing.

I would consider giving Hydras an extra dot of health per rank over and above what they get from their size increases.

I'm at work right now, but when I get home I plan on trying to make a character. I'm thinking a Drake Nagaraja with some points in Breath of the Inferno and Hide of Iron. So if you could focus on getting those done, I'd appreciate it

By all means, go ahead and do so, and let us know what you come up with. As for the legacies, I believe those are the most complete ones. Hide of Iron, at least, only has 2 auxiliaries without full mechanics, and 1 of those is fairly self-explanatory.

[Almarck]

So before I go off and review every power and wee what I'd want, mind if I ask if you'd create a sort of index to sort them all and their key effects? Something just to see where everything is via quick reference. Links and maybe a way to quickly search through them such as using a "tag" of some sort would be great. The idea for this is to make it easy to look up powers and compare.

[One Tin Soldier]

Almarck, we've decided to use your suggestion for Unique Legacies. Dragons now get 1 dot in their core Unique Legacy for every 4 dots in other legacies they possess. To reflect this, we've also reduced the number of core Legacies that dragons start with from 5 to 4. Auxiliaries for Unique Legacies are still purchased normally.

I like this because, while I like the Unique Legacies, I've found that most of the character concepts I've thought of would not be particularly incentivized to buy up their unique legacies. This way, all dragons gradually become better at what their heritage is good at, no matter what legacies they go for. It also makes each Heritage's Drakonos feel more different, with different innate abilities.

EDIT:

So before I go off and review every power and wee what I'd want, mind if I ask if you'd create a sort of index to sort them all and their key effects? Something just to see where everything is via quick reference. Links and maybe a way to quickly search through them such as using a "tag" of some sort would be great. The idea for this is to make it easy to look up powers and compare.

I was just thinking of doing this, actually. Making a quick reference to what each core legacy does. I don't think we can link within the doc, though, that's more of a pdf thing.

On a related note, does anyone know any references for making pdfs, particularly fillable ones? I'd like to make a Dragon character sheet eventually.

[Almarck]

Sadly I have forget how to do fillable pdfs.


Anyways I am glad that the suggestion got accepted. I actually borrowed the idea from how werewolf 2e solved allowing players not investing in their key renown or learning the gifts tied to their moon. I just took the general idea but flipped things around to fit in your unique power structure since you lack an equivalent to Renown.

As for linking legacies maybe you can make a tag and the index or table of contents refers to each power by the tag. Each tag would be a unique number or collection of letters like say FFG For Fafnir Fangs. Just type the letters in the search engine and it'll link you to it like in one of those text only Gamefaqs walkthroughs

Maybe you can do the same for the whole document using a master index in the table of contents.


New notes on powers.
You still have not addressed Radiance of Queztalcoatl only applying in human form.

I think hide of iron might be too valuable. Five armor is pretty strong and very difficult to overcome especially since it also provides its own health bonus. my immediate idea to adjust the numbers is to have the armor increase apply at every odd increase in the legacy and the armor provides free ballistic armor instead of having to buy it in. 3/3 armor at the end. Five would be near insurmountable

[One Tin Soldier]

Lastly, you still have not addressed Radiance of Queztalcoatl only applying in human form.

That's largely because I haven't thought up a solution to the problem yet. That legacy is one of the few that does not have easy mechanics to apply.

It is worth remembering, though, that Drakonos form does not preclude social activity. It would be a bad idea to use humans thanks to Enkindling, yes, but it's doable. And if you're socializing with other dragons or other supernaturals, it might not be a problem. Most dragons will take any excuse to go into Drakonos around each other, so I'd imagine that many dragon social events take place with everyone in that form.
Still, I agree that it needs to have an actual effect outside of social bonuses. I'm just having some trouble figuring that out.

[Almarck]

I've added an issue with bones of the earth in the post above.


anyways I'm looking at Radiance and I am thinking maybe one of its key effects is to apply conditions and distractions in Drakonos. Blinded by glory so to speak.

Also I got am idea for a composure related Legacy.

Earth's Temperance
I am unmoving

The idea is to provide a mental bulwark against psychic attacks. Whilst simulanteously allowing the patience to pay off in some manner. Maybe having divination powers would also fit in, could also do some sort of sense extentions powers to say feel the area around you.

[One Tin Soldier]

In regards to Hide of Iron: feature, not bug. A dragon with five dots in the "hard to hurt" legacy should be harder to injure than some shmuck in full plate. (Full plate gives 4/2 armor)

I've added an issue with bones of the earth in the post above.


anyways I'm looking at Radiance and I am thinking maybe one of its key effects is to apply conditions and distractions in Drakonos. Blinded by glory so to speak.

That sounds reasonable.

Also I got am idea for a composure related Legacy.

Earth's Temperance
I am unmoving

The idea is to provide a mental bulwark against psychic attacks. Whilst simulanteously allowing the patience to pay off in some manner. Maybe having divination powers would also fit in, could also do some sort of sense extentions powers to say feel the area around you.

I've considered something like this before, but any legacy that would increase the dragon's WP pool strikes me as troublesome to include. Besides, we already have a Hide of Iron legacy that improves mental defenses. Similarly, divination falls under Sorcery.

[Almarck]

I suppose but I do think it needs adjusting because dragons can invest in the toughness discipline too easily. I suppose that might be fine is given anti armor is a thing.
Such a shame though about the composure thing. Kinda would have liked there to be more... stuff, more legacies of some sort.


Anyways I might have missed this but are there any particular banes or key weaknesses inherit to being a dragon aside from say increased size.

[One Tin Soldier]

I suppose but I do think it needs adjusting because dragons can invest in the toughness discipline too easily. I suppose that might be fine is given anti armor is a thing.
Such a shame though about the composure thing. Kinda would have liked there to be more... stuff, more legacies of some sort.

And as of this version, any Mage worth the name runs around with 3 or more armor up at all times.
Based on our experience with armor powers in other games, it feels balanced. There's a Sin-Eater in one of our games who runs around with 9 armor. 5 is nothing all that special.

Anyways I might have missed this but are there any particular banes or key weaknesses inherit to being a dragon aside from say increased size.

Slayers. Any attack made by a slayer that uses a weapon deals Agg damage, as fate guides their strikes into the most damaging possible spot. The Drakonis form also makes it a lot easier to create slayers in the first place.
If you're not a slayer, you have to whittle through their health like anyone else. Unless you're dealing with a Tiamat in their spirit form; those guys have bans and banes like any other ephemeral being.