@TheEdVerse – did you ever have any thoughts about the effects of permanently ending the Rage of Dragons in 1373? Whether dragons would be able to organise again, form nations etc? If so I'd love to hear your thoughts. Thanks so much for all of your amazing work, sir.
— The Lore Lounge (@TheTomWhoGames) January 23, 2022
1)
Hi, and you’re welcome! :}
Implementing that dracorage and ending it were in-house decisions, not mine. Older, more powerful dragons are strong-willed and usually independent; they don’t work well with others (except subservients, ideally kin). 2)
Trust is always a problem. Some wyrms are paranoid to the max, others are so arrogant that others don't want to work with them, and there's always the fear that "this entity can wipe me out on a whim, nigh-effortlessly."
All of which can make lasting…#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) January 23, 2022
3)
…cooperation, as opposed to “let’s go on this raid together, humble that human city, then fare you well,” difficult and therefore rare.
In the Realms, dragons tend to form demesnes (territories) they consider their own (see the wildly-overlapping map of them… 4)
…that accompanied my original run of Wyrms of the North, in DRAGON), and attack consistent interlopers unless they're scared enough to hide from them. They do form cabals and strike non-aggression pacts and "no go" agreements, often, and the cessation of the…#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) January 23, 2022
5)
…Rage didn’t change that. (The Rage was a temporary collective insanity that affected wyrms to different degrees, an idea I devised before there was anything called D&D but that others developed in ways that tied it to a star, etc.) So dragons CAN organize… 6)
…whenever they want to, but by their natures, they don't often want to. Many of them, particularly when younger and weaker than elder dragons, instinctively avoid other dragons in favour of working with lesser creatures they can dominate.
As a DM, consider…#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) January 23, 2022
7)
…what motivation/project might be compelling enough to get dragons to work together? (E.g. a threat from beholders or illithids or even the Cult of the Dragon, that harms/slays/robs dragon after dragon, and word starts to get around…)#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) January 23, 2022
Dragons and Giants working together against an aberrant scourge is actually the background plot to my homebrew. Excellent. In the Realms, any giant/dragon alliance is going to be uneasy, given the ancient history between them. Both sides are going to watch the other, awaiting the "inevitable" treachery.#Realmslore
— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) January 23, 2022