Dragon Harvesting
A reason to throw a party in your local village
Dragon Harvesting
Harvesting dragon components is not easy. Players must have the appropriate knowledge, tools, time and storage for the harvested parts.
A character can attempt to harvest one of the items listed below by making either a Survival, Nature or Arcana check. Consult the tables below for a more specific approach. The DC varies from part to part as well as, the size of the Dragon, and for every day the dragon has been dead the DC goes up by 3. The preserve life spell can postpone this effect.
When you roll a low number even though you succeeded the check, take into consideration that maybe the dragon was injured or that it was diseased somehow. Or even, that your character is new to the craft of harvesting dragons and you made some mistakes as well.
Harvesting the dragon
The easy ones
These parts are easily harvested, any experienced adventurer can do it with a well sharpened dagger, unless stated otherwise. Specific tools for the craft (harvesting tools) are recommended when undertaking this endeavor for a faster and better result. Usage of the proper tools cuts the time in half and lets you had your proficiency bonus to any check, if you are proficient with them.
The recommended roll for the skill DC check in this section is Survival (Wisdom).
Teeth: The teeth of a dragon have been the end of many a hapless adventurer. A master fletcher can craft a special set of arrows from them turning the tables on this old feud between man and dragon.
No matter the size of the dragon, each teeth can be made into an arrow +1 using a woodcarver's tools, or a master fletcher can make a bundle (20) of them for 10 gp. Wyrmling teeth make normal arrows though, arrows that are more fiercely looking. A dragon has approximately 40 harvestable teeth in its mouth. Each is worth 2 gp, you can sell them for half that easely. Roll a 6d6 + 4 to see how many you harvest.
Fangs: The teeth devour you, but the fangs kill you before that, long and sharp they are among some of the most deadly weapons in the natural world.
Any dragon has four fangs that can be used to make javelins, these javelins are unbreakable. And are small and light enough that you can fit six in a quiver of four javelins. Roll a 1d4 to see how many you have successfully harvested.
Claws: Sharp enough to scratch and cut through the flesh of a another dragon, one can only imagine the sharpness of the blade made from them. Sadly they are only big enough for daggers, like a throwing dagger or a normal one.
Excluding wyrmlings, any dragon has fourteen claws that can be used to make such daggers, these daggers are unbreakable. Roll 1d12 + 2 to see how many you harvest.
Table for simple Dragon weapons
| Dragon size | Weapon Modifier | Fang value | Claw value | Magical effect |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wyrmling | +0 | 20 gp | 5 gp | No |
| Young | +1 | 200 gp | 50 gp | No |
| Adult | +2 | 1000 gp | 250 gp | Maybe |
| Ancient | +3 | 2500 gp | 625 gp | Yes |
Dragon Meat: A common misconception that people usually make, is that dragon flesh does not contain any magical benefit. It does however contain many culinary benefits. The exact flavor differs depending on the type of dragon it was taken from, but anybody that has eaten a dragon steak claims that it puts even the most exquisite aged beef to shame. There are many royal cooks that would pay a high sum for just a pound of this delicacy.
Roll the amount of meat in (lbs) using the following table, each pound of meat is worth 2 + (rarity of the dragon) (gp).
Table for meat harvesting
| Wyrmling |
|---|
| 2d6 lbs. |
| Young |
|---|
| 4d8 lbs. |
| Adult |
|---|
| 6d10 lbs. |
| Ancient |
|---|
| 8d12 lbs. |
Dragon Blood: The blood of an ancient dragon is one of the most powerful spell reagents and potion ingredients in existence. Even besides its use in the birth of half-dragon soldiers and other rituals, legends told among children and drunks in the local tavern, the most common use of potent dragon blood is to make a potion that can imbue the drinker with the same strengths as the dragon it was taken from.
This blood can be used to make Potions of Dragonstrength. Each liter (L) of blood is equivalent to 1 lb. To drain the blood you require the harvesting kit and some containers, you can also improvise some tools, maybe. Roll the amount of blood in (L) using the following table.
Table for blood harvesting
| Size | Rarity | Blood (L) | Roll for Blood (L) | (L) per Potion | gp per (L) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wyrmling | Common | 10 | 2d4 + 2 | 2 | 10 |
| Young | Uncommon | 24 | 3d6 + 6 | 6 | 40 |
| Adult | Rare | 60 | 8d6 + 12 | 15 | 80 |
| Ancient | Very Rare | 100 | 8d10 + 20 | 25 | 120 |
Note: All the prices here, in this page, are those that a character would buy in the proper market, selling is half that value, except for the meat. Talk with your DM and table about what this would mean to the economy of your game.
The tricky ones
The following organs can be harvested: larynx, tongue, stomach, brain, trachea, lungs, gizzards, liver, spine cord, spinal cord fluid, spleens, kidneys... etc. The sheer amount of organs a dragon has, is just as astounding as the creature itself, and to catalogue all of them would be a futile endeavor. To this day most of the organs collected were and will continue to be misused by alchemists, doctors and crafters alike.
Most of the professionals who have mastered the "dragoncraft", choose to focus on the well known properties of some, such as, the bones, the scales, the wings and the horns. Wyrmling dragon parts aren't traded for this craft as they aren't deemed good enough for the current standards.
The reccomended roll for the skill DC check in this section is Nature (Intelligence). And you always collect the bones, horns, wings and scales from the dragon, but if your harvesting skills are sloppy (failing the skill check), the materials collected aren't as pristine as a master craftsman would like them to be. The crafted weapons take a penalty
of -1 to the their weapon modifier, as well as their rarity for the purpose of magical effects.
Bones: Dragon bones are great for making sturdy and well balanced handles for weapons, not to mention that when milled down to powder and mixed with the iron and steel sludge, the final product is of exquisite value, performance and beauty. Consider the weapons made from this material as resistant but not unbreakable.
Each leg (2) can make a bow and each arm (2) can make a sword, or equivalent weapons. The rest are powdered down to make reagents either for the metalurgic sludge used to forge, weapons and armor or, spells and magic.
Horns: Depending on the type of dragon, a horn or a prominent spine may adorn their head, usually only one or two of these exist in a dragon. In either case, the bony protrusion may be sawed off and used as a basis for exceptionally powerful wands and staffs. The resulting work is usually similar to a wand/staff of the War Mage. Work with your DM to see if there is some kind of latent power in the horn that worked beneficially with your crafting methods, and or additional materials, that caused it to display an additional magical effect in the crafted wand or staff.
Wings: The wings of a dragon defy any common sense of natural law. Consider their immense size, it shouldn't be possible to lift a form as massive as the dragon they bear, and yet they do. Only a force of magical nature can be behind this, ingrained in their leathery membranes, exists something capable of magic and thus making such flight possible.
Cloaks that are usually fashioned from these materials and combined with modern reagents, may have their magical properties altered from that of flight magic that the dragon uses. Either way, the mouths of those that look upon it usually touch the floor in awe of its majesty.
Note: The Dragon Scale Mail mentioned above can be found in the Dungeon's Master Guide page 165. Adjust accordingly.
Scales: The incredibly hard scales of a dragon are the reason many a blade fail to slay the beast. While not as strong as ancient metals now long forgotten, they are still durable enough to deflect all but the toughest of blows. Getting them is easier said than done however, you must also manage to find and safely detach the right scales needed to interlock into a functioning set of armor. You can only harvest one set. *Consider the possibility of handing out a weaker version of a dragon scale mail for the adult and young dragon.
Table for items from tricky parts
| Dragon size | Bonus Modifier | Bone/Horn | Wing | Scales |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Young | +1 | (U) Weapon | Cloak of Dragon Protection | Dragon Scale Mail |
| Adult | +2 | (R) Weapon | Cloak of Dragon Flight | Dragon Scale Mail |
| Ancient | +3 | (VR) Weapon | Cloak of Dragon Wings | Dragon Scale Mail |
Table of suggested prices for dragon parts
| Dragon size | Bone | Wing | Horn | Scales |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Young | 300 gp | 400 gp | 500 gp | 2 500 gp |
| Adult | 1 500 gp | 2 000 gp | 2 500 gp | 7 500 gp |
| Ancient | 6 000 gp | 8 000 gp | 10 000 gp | 20 000 gp |
| Dragon size | Draconis Fundamentum | Dragon heart |
|---|---|---|
| Young | 2 000 gp | 5 000 gp |
| Adult | 5 000 gp | 40 000 gp |
| Ancient | 10 000 gp | 100 000 gp |
Note: These are suggested values for buying the materials mentioned above to make the items in this guide or other related ones. You can sell them for half these values, or not. Talk to your DM about what this would mean to the economy of your game. Consider that dragon hunting although a rare ocurrence, is a possible career choice with these numbers.
Table for DC skill check
| Part | Wyrmling | Young | Adult | Ancient |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heart | - | DC 25 | DC 28 | DC 30 |
| Fundamentum | - | DC 20 | DC 23 | DC 25 |
| Scales | - | DC 15 | DC 18 | DC 20 |
| Horn | - | DC 14 | DC 17 | DC 19 |
| Wing | - | DC 13 | DC 16 | DC 18 |
| Bone | - | DC 12 | DC 15 | DC 17 |
| Fangs | DC 10 | DC 12 | DC 14 | DC 16 |
| Teeth | DC 9 | DC 11 | DC 13 | DC 15 |
| Claws | DC 8 | DC 10 | DC 12 | DC 14 |
| Meat | DC 7 | DC 9 | DC 11 | DC 13 |
| Blood | DC 6 | DC 8 | DC 10 | DC 12 |
The deadly ones
You have slain the beast, dismembered its body, sliced open its skin, eviscerated its guts and you have reach and are thinking of removing the source of its power. The heart, and the droconis fundamentum, also known as the breath pouch, the dragon's deadliest weapon.
Your colleagues call you a madman and cower behind those rocks that, not too long ago you were also cowering behind to avoid the very power you now seek. You can feel its pulsating energy even though you are sure that the heart is beatless. You have heard the stories of warriors who slew the beast only to perish to their last deadly trap. An ill-timed cut rupturing the imense energy upon them. You strengthen your steel, you steady your hand, measuring twice before cutting.
When rolling for the success of this endeavor consult the table for skill check DC and consider the recommend roll, that is an Arcana (Intelligence) Check. These actions are high risk - high reward. You either get the prize or you get burned, literally maybe.
You must first successfully remove the Draconis fundamentum before attempting to remove the heart, because they are connected and doing it differently would be a guaranteed suicide.
Draconis Fundamentum: When the word "dragon" is uttered, people tend to think of three things: wings, scales and breath. Located at the back of the dragon's throat, near the heart, is a sack as big as a bag of flour (1 cubic ft.) or a barrel of ale, depending on the size of the dragon, full of magical fluids that the dragon produces with its glands naturally. While the liquid and their resulting exhalation differ depending on the dragon and its color, they all share the same result. Death to those who receive it.
Harvesting one of these without rupturing them is a task no mortal man should want to take. A wrong cut, an ill timed squeeze can rupture it rendering the harvester nearly dead, if not actually dead. But the result should he or she succeed is a concentrated pouch of destruction no alchemist has been able to match yet. The breath of a dragon, its potential for destruction, within the palm of your hand.
If you fail the check, the sack as ruptured and consider the item Draconis Fundamentum has having exploded right in front of you. The heart has been destroyed in the process has is most of the carcass you haven't salvaged yet.
Heart: Whether they were good or evil, a dragon is a akin to a force of nature and possessing the heart of a dragon is no small matter (even ignoring the fact that it is between the size of a gnome to that of a dwarf, depending on the size of the dragon). Through ancient rituals and careful forging, the heart can be transformed into a crystal that imparts the traits of a dragon onto its wielder; for better or for worse.
If you fail the check, the heart has released its residual magic. You, the nearest one to the core are now cursed with
dragon's disease.
Draconis Fundamentum
Wondrous item, Artifact
You can throw the fundamentum up to
([Strength Modifier × 5] − 10) feet. When throwing consider the difference in stature between the fundamentum and the character. The difference in size multiplies your Strength Modifier by two for every step down in size class. Meaning a large creature with 16 strength can throw the up to a distance of 50 feet.
Any target within 15 feet of the explosion must roll a saving throw and suffer the effects of the primary breath weapon that the pouch was harvested from. The saving throw type and DC, the damage type, and the damage amount are identical to the breath weapon of the dragon it was harvested from.
If you are keeping this item in your bag and you fall down on your back, the contents will most likely rupture. Consider the possibility of making a saving throw.
Due to its unpredictable and instable nature, consider visiting an alchemist and, with the aid of your DM, make a more stable of this item.
Dragon's disease
Wondrous disease
Aside from the slowly rise of a crippling and unhealthy obsession with gold and material possessions, a common reaction in most mortal humanoid races in the current zeitgeist when exposed to this disease. You also gain all the behaviors of the dragon from whom this is heart belonged to.
Maybe it was their short temperament, their fear of giants, their disdain for elves. Who knows. Your personality will never be the same, as your alignment will also turn to those of the dragon against your will causing you to go mad.
As you slowly lose your mind, your body will begin to change, first your organs will become compatible to those of a dragon, and then with time your skin, eyes, hair, limbs and bones will also change. Kickstarting the process of a full transmutation into a dragon equal to the one you have slain. You are reborned as a young dragon whose mind is as erratic as that of newly born being, the world as you knew is over and so is the person you once were.
This disease takes months to develop, within a year the transformation is begin to show on the outside. A few months after that you are gone. Dead, but not entirely.
Only a wish spell can cure you from this disease.
Becoming a dragon
One way of beginning the journey to become a dragon is by crafting a Dragonstone and becoming a half-dragon. To craft this item you must either find a legendary craftsman or an ancient dragon that is willing to instill their magic onto you, or in this case your Dragonstone. These services aren't payed with gold. They are traded with either a quest to fulfill or a pact. You will be tested in ways you never imagined were possible and endure hardships along the way. But this is a dream many a lad, such as yourself, have had since young age. To soar through the sky as roaring majestic dragon.
Dragon Stone
Wondrous item, Very rare (Adult), Legendary (Ancient)
Crafted with: Dragon Heart x1 (rarity varies)
You may focus on this item for 1 minute while holding it in order to transform into a half-dragon version of yourself. In this form, you retain all your statistics with the following additions:
- You gain a blindsight with a radius of 15 feet and darkvision with a radius of 60 feet. If you already have any of these visions, add these values to your current humanoid sight.
- You gain immunity to the damage type corresponding to the dragon from whom this item was crafted.
- You can speak Draconic along with any other languages you already know.
- You may spend an action to perform the breath weapon equivalent of the young dragon from whom this item was crafted from (Recharges on a 5-6). - While in half-dragon form, your personality changes to align with that of your dragon color.
If you are attuned to the adult dragon version of this item, your half-dragon form lasts for 8 hours or until you either; spend 1 minute focusing on the dragon stone again to transform back; you die; or you break your attunement to the dragon stone. Once the transformation is reversed, you cannot use the stone again until 6d4 hours have passed.
If you are attuned to the ancient dragon version of this item, not only does the transformation last 24 hours, you may engage in deep meditation with the dragon stone for a continuous 24 hours while in half-dragon form. Once those 24 hours have finished, your half-dragon form is permanent, and the dragon stone crumbles into dust and is absorbed into your body.
Cloak of Dragon Protection
Wondrous item, uncommon (requires attunement)
While wearing this cloak, you gain a +1 bonus to AC and resistance to the damage type corresponding to the dragon from whom this item was crafted.
Cloak of Dragon Flight
Wondrous item, Rare (requires attunement)
This long cloak resembles the leathery membranes of a dragon’s wings and shines the same shade as the dragon from whom it was crafted. You gain +1 AC, +1 to all saving throws and resistance to the damage type corresponding to the same dragon.
While wearing this cloak, you may speak the command word to transform them into a small pair of dragon wings on your back. They remain in this form for 1 hour or until you speak the command word again. The wings grant you a fly speed of 60 feet.
Once used, this ability cannot be used again until 1d6 hours have passed. If after 1 hour you are still in flight using the wings, their flight magic will stop and you will begin free falling. The cloak warns you 10 minutes before this happens.
Cloak of Dragon Wings
Wondrous item, Very Rare (requires attunement)
This long cloak resembles the leathery membranes of a dragon’s wings and shines the same shade as the dragon from whom it was crafted. You gain +1 AC, +2 to all saving throws and resistance to the damage type corresponding to the same dragon.
While wearing this cloak, you may speak the command word to transform them into a pair of dragon wings on your back. They remains in this form for X hours or until you speak the command word again. The wings grant you a fly speed of 80 feet.
Once used, this ability cannot be used again until Xd4 hours have passed. X has minimum of one and the hours used will always round up, up to a maximum of 6 hours. If after 6 hours you are still in flight using the wings, their flight magic will stop and you will begin free falling. The cloak warns you 10 minutes before this happens.
Potion of Dragonstrength
Potion, common (wyrmling), uncommon (young), rare (adult), very rare (ancient)
The rarity and strength of this potion differs depending on the age category of the dragon it was harvested from. It's effects are similar to that of healing potion, except it's slightly stronger.
When you drink this potion, you recover hit points corresponding to the rarity of the potion. In addition, you gain resistance to the damage type of the dragon it was crafted from. It lasts 1 minute if it's crafted from a wyrmling's blood.
(Young - 1 hour; Adult - 2 hours; Ancient - 4 hours).
This is the alpha version of the document, the finished one isn't out yet.
To do list:
- Times for each harvesting action, suggestion.
- Explaining the formulas behind the prices?
- More and different items dragon related.
- Items that aren't dragon related but enhanced using their magic
- How much does a master "dragoncrafter" bill you? is he a rare smith in the world?
- Recheck all items and separate them better. When more content is made split them more evenly and in a less condensed (resume) manner.
- is the heart to valubale? should he available in the young? make it cheaper and a weaker item?
- Put bounty table - check excel WYAA - 125 (gp); 3000 (gp) ; 12500 (gp) ; 40 000 (gp) based on the prices of the best collection possible without the heart.
- what item can the young dragon heart make?
Change log
V.1.1.
- Fixed some typos
- Changed the dragonstone to exclude the young dragon
- Changed a lapse in the table for items from tricky parts where Dragon flight and Dragon wings where mixed.
- Chaged the values in the table relating to the value of a heart of a young and adult dragon, from 20 000 gp to 5 000 gp and from 50 000 to 40 000 gp, respectively.
- DMs now should consider if the dragon scale mail is just as good as the one in the DMG.