Breed-Specific Challenges
Coatls: If a coatl is acquired or bred (or scattered) with any one of these colors, it may be unhealthy: maize through coal, thistle, steel, swamp, goldenrod, ivory, beige, stone. At the beginning of each month, roll/rng 1-10. On a 1-5 (or a 1-2 if the coatl is in the Fire region), the coatl is ill. Ill coatls cannot nest, travel (except by conveyance), or fight in the coli; they are reduced to one gathering turn per day (or none, if a hatchling). A coatl may be temporarily healed by expending a health potion or major health potion or by being tended by a healer, but will still need to reroll for health each month. If a coatl remains ill for four consecutive months, it must succeed on its next health roll or die. A coatl may be made permanently healthy by being scattered to better colors, replacing its poorly colored genes with crystal/facet/glimmer genes, or wearing a skin.
Fae: Fae are unusually sensitive to the magical energies of the regions. Whenever a fae enters an area of region belonging to its opposing element, roll/rng 1-100. If the result is equal to or lower than the fae’s intelligence, the fae is fine. Otherwise, if a fae is in the two outermost regions of its opposing element, it feels anxious and uncomfortable. In the third level of that region, the fae becomes unable to access its own elemental magics, and the sheer elemental power of the innermost level of the region causes the fae to become catatonic until removed from the area. The elemental oppositions are as follows:
Water vs. Wind
Earth vs. Fire
Light vs. Shadow
Lightning vs. Ice
Nature vs. Plague
Arcane—pick any one region (or select randomly)
When a fae is in its own elemental region, it uses its intelligence or strength score, whichever is better, for death saves in the coli. If it has a familiar of its own element, divide the death roll by 3 instead of 2.
Guardians: When a guardian reaches breeding age, roll/rng 1-10. On a 1, the guardian’s charge is (or will be) in the clan. On any other number, the guardian must leave on Search (i.e., be sold or exalted). Guardians acquired as mature adults are exempt from this; it can be assumed that their Charge is in the clan or that they brought it with them.
Imperials: Each month, roll/rng 1-100. On a
1-71-2, the imperial dies (is exalted).
Mirrors: Mirrors require twice as much food as other dragons. Whenever a mirror consumes food points, meat or seafood items providing an equal number of points must be sacrificed. These items are hoard sold, and the money can be deposited in the vault. If there are no meat or seafood items to sacrifice, use fleeing in the coli to make the mirror lose the required number of points in energy, rounding the number down. (So a mirror that needs an extra three points of food either needs to sacrifice three food points worth of items or flee the coli once, losing 2 points of energy.) No death saves are needed for any accidental faints, as this isn’t actually a battle.
Nocturnes: Nocturnes that belong to clans with non-nocturne members have adapted so as not to remain dormant most of the time, but they do still need a yearly period of hibernation. From the end of Greenskeeper’s Gathering to the end of Flameforger’s Festival, nocturnes are unable to gather, nest, or fight in the coli; they are only able to travel if there’s a covered vehicle to carry them. If the clan is in some sort of indoor or underground location, the nocturne may remain minimally active and communicative; otherwise, the nocturne will find or create a burrow and go to sleep for the duration. Light nocturnes have a brief period of full wakefulness and activity during the week of Brightshine Jubilee, as they feel an attunement to the Lightweaver’s power.
Also, a nocturne may only gather, travel, or fight in the coli during twilight or at night, unless wearing some sort of eye protection.
Pearlcatchers: If a pearlcatcher flees the coli (or faints and survives), roll/rng 1-10. On a 1-2, its pearl has been lost, stolen, or destroyed. The result should be roleplayed out as appropriate for the personality of the dragon, bearing in mind the seriousness of the situation (i.e., the dragon believes that it has actually lost its soul or essence).
Ridgebacks: The only thing ridgebacks hate worse than being wet is being cold and wet. Whenever a ridgeback spends any amount of time in a cold, wet location without sufficient protection from the elements, roll/rng 1-100 and subtract the dragon’s vitality from the result. (Ice and Water dragons subtract their vitality x2.)
1-45: Dragon is disgruntled.
46-70: Dragon has minor sniffles.
71-90: Dragon gets ill with fever, chills, headache, and coughing/sneezing; plus all of its spines turn pale, molt, and then have to grow out again, which is itchy and annoying. (The ridgeback’s nose horn also turns pale temporarily, and while no one has ever actually lost their horn, some dragons are convinced that they will.) The dragon cannot travel, gather, or fight in the coli for one week (two if it insists on waiting for the spines to regrow).
91-100: Dragon develops a form of pneumonia; make a death save as if the dragon had fainted in the coli, including the familiar bonus if applicable. If a healer or healing potions are available, you may reroll failures: once for the healer, once for each health potion, and twice for each major health potion applied. The dragon cannot travel, gather, or fight in the coli for one month, while it recovers.
Cold, wet locations include the Boreal Wood; the Waterway, the Crystal Pools, and the Kelp Beds in all regions except Fire, Lightning, and Nature; any wet location in the Tangled Wood; everywhere in the Sea of a Thousand Currents except the southwestern Tsunami Flats; everywhere in the Southern Icefields, plus any other locations and/or circumstances that would logically seem to lead to cold wetness. Protective gear includes coats, capes, (non-silk) scarves, raider’s arm wraps and leggings, warm hats, gloves, etc. that cover the majority of the dragon’s body. Appropriate apparel-type accents also count. Armor alone is not protective.
Skydancers: Born of wind, skydancers are uncomfortable when they can’t feel the movement of the air or see the sky. When a skydancer is first acquired/hatched, roll/rng 1-10. If the result is a 1-3, the skydancer struggles to function in enclosed spaces. Such a dragon is unable to use its gathering turns for digging, and if forced to fight in the Forgotten Cave, the Waterway, the Kelp Beds, or the Golem’s Workshop, it must roll/rng 1-100 each time it takes damage—if it rolls higher than its strength or intelligence (whichever is its primary score), it must flee the fight. (Apply the crit multiplier and familiar modifier, as applicable.) If the clan settles in an entirely enclosed location (e.g., a cave system or underwater), roll for the skydancer each month as if it were a snapper. Water Flight skydancers do not need to roll for living underwater as long as they can visit the surface occasionally.
Snappers: Snappers have difficulty remaining in one place for any stretch of time. After one month of the snapper being settled, roll/rng 1-10. If the result is 6 or more, the snapper must either travel for the rest of that month or leave the clan entirely. (Add 1 to the roll for each consecutive month the snapper has been stationary; add 2 if the snapper is currently living in a particularly enclosed/restricted place, such as a cave system.) When the snapper eventually returns to the clan (if it does), all of the modifiers reset.
Also, while snappers are molting, they are unable to travel, gather, nest, or fight in the coli. A snapper molts every three months for its first year (counting from its hatching date), then once a year after that. Each molt lasts 4-6 days (roll/rng 1-3+3).
Spirals: If a spiral takes any physical damage in the coli, roll/rng 1-10. On a 1, one of the spiral’s wings has been damaged and it can no longer flee or fight; it can only take the Defend action. If it survives the combat, roll/rng 1-10 to find out how many days it will take for the wing to heal and the spiral to be able to return to the coli. While injured, spirals cannot gather and can only travel if there is a larger dragon or a vehicle to carry them.
Tundras: Even in their summer coats, tundras suffer from heat and become lethargic. In hot areas, tundras can only use half their gathering turns each day (round down, so hatchlings get no turns). If a tundra survives a faint in a hot area of the coli, it must retire for the rest of that day as it recovers from heat prostration. Hot locations include the Scorched Forest, Sandswept Delta, and Rainsong Forest in all domains except Ice and Water; the inner two regions of the Shifting Expanse and the Viridian Labyrinth, and all areas of the Ashfall Waste; and summer (from Greenskeeper’s through Flameforger’s) in Earth, Plague, Light, and the outer two regions of Nature and Lightning. Crystal tundras can ignore the heat; some skins and nonapparel accents can also provide immunity.
Tundras can gather and travel at 5 energy or below and don’t die at 0 energy unless in an area in which literally nothing is growing. (It’s assumed that since they can consume any form plant matter they can eke out a bare survival anywhere that there are plants.)
Wildclaws: Children of Nature, Wildclaws are closely connected to primal energies and thus peculiarly susceptible to elemental mutations. Roll on the table below whenever the dragon 1) enters the innermost area of a region for the first time, 2) spends a month in either of the two inner areas of a region, or 3) turns one year old. (Apply the following modifiers to the roll: +10 if the dragon is in the innermost area, +10 if the region’s element is in opposition to the dragon’s [see under “Fae,” above], –10 if the dragon’s element is the same as the region’s.)
1-70: no effect
71-90: minor cosmetic alteration
91-98: significant physical alteration
99-100: dragon transforms into a monster and either becomes an antagonist of the clan or must be exalted
After the dragon turns one year old, its form is basically stable, and further shifting is unlikely to take place (unless it would make a good story).
