Dragon Bank Minions?

[Malimar]

Okay, so I recently came across a thread in which the notion of a dragon bank was proposed: A bank run by a Lawful dragon, who'll guard your money for you (by sleeping on it), and issues a paper-based fiat currency, backed by the hoard. This idea filled me with such joy that I immediately inducted it into the canon of my world. I eventually decided on a Mature Adult Blue Dragon (there's a standing bounty for metallic dragons).

But a single dragon can't run the entire banking establishment for the biggest city in the world all by herself. So I ask the Playground: what kind of minions might a blue dragon banker have to guard her hoard and act as tellers?

So far, my list consists solely of Force Golems (MM5) -- smart enough to count money (4 points smarter than the average mongrelfolk inhabitant of the nation, in fact), powerful enough to defend the bank (NPCs in this world rarely reach class level 5, and I'm okay with level 5+ PCs being able to knock over the bank with difficulty).

What other minions might the Blue Dragon Bank have? What traps and other defenses?

[Forrestfire]

Rudimentary Intelligence Shadesteel Golems

Presumably, this blue dragon has humanoid minions, which can do a fair amount of work. If this blue dragon is crafting or buying constructs, the most cost-effective one to make might be the Nimblewright, from the Monster Manual 2. They're stronger and much cheaper than Force Golems (22,000gp vs 50,000gp), and have much better wisdom and charisma scores, for the day-to-day stuff if they're running the bank itself. If anything, one or two of them might make a good boss fight, since they're CR 7ish.

[Drachasor]

FYI, if your money can be traded in for actual gold, silver, etc, at a guaranteed value then it isn't a Fiat Currency.

[Malimar]

Rudimentary Intelligence Shadesteel Golems

Presumably, this blue dragon has humanoid minions, which can do a fair amount of work. If this blue dragon is crafting or buying constructs, the most cost-effective one to make might be the Nimblewright, from the Monster Manual 2. They're stronger and much cheaper than Force Golems (22,000gp vs 50,000gp), and have much better wisdom and charisma scores, for the day-to-day stuff if they're running the bank itself. If anything, one or two of them might make a good boss fight, since they're CR 7ish.

Ooh, neat!

...12-20 critical hit range? jeez. [goes hunting for the 3.5e update to MM2] ...nope, crit range not changed. Neat!


FYI, if your money can be traded in for actual gold, silver, etc, at a guaranteed value then it isn't a Fiat Currency.

...my bad, fell into the "trying to look smarter than I am" trap.

[Drachasor]

No biggie.

Can the dragon cast 7th level spells? If so then just using a ton of Simulacrums might be very effective. Beyond the XP cost they are very cheap. Heck, even scrolls of the spell are pretty cheap (at CL 15 they are 11625 with XP and GP costs factored in, and CL 20 is just 15,500gp). A Dragon chasis is a pretty solid foundation, and half casting doesn't hurt.

Healing isn't so bad with certain sorts of magic like Baleful Polymorph (obviously the simulacrum isn't on duty then).

[Malimar]

The dragon casts as a level 7 sorcerer by default, and I probably won't put any class levels on her (suggestions as to how to practically optimize the dragon herself, within the bounds of "Mature Adult Blue Dragon with no class levels", are also welcome). But she could probably acquire the scrolls, so Simulacrum is certainly a possibility.

[Drachasor]

Oops, I completely missed that you mentioned its age in the OP.

Well, If I were it I'd try to make some Simulacrums of older dragons. According to the Draconomicon, it probably had a much older mentor. Maybe it could have gotten some scales from it.

[Forrestfire]

Ooh, neat!

...12-20 critical hit range? jeez. [goes hunting for the 3.5e update to MM2] ...nope, crit range not changed. Neat!

Crit range was changed to 15-20, but it's still awesome.

[Telonius]

Okay, so I recently came across a thread in which the notion of a dragon bank was proposed: A bank run by a Lawful dragon, who'll guard your money for you (by sleeping on it), and issues a paper-based fiat currency, backed by the hoard. This idea filled me with such joy that I immediately inducted it into the canon of my world. I eventually decided on a Mature Adult Blue Dragon (there's a standing bounty for metallic dragons).

But a single dragon can't run the entire banking establishment for the biggest city in the world all by herself. So I ask the Playground: what kind of minions might a blue dragon banker have to guard her hoard and act as tellers?

So far, my list consists solely of Force Golems (MM5) -- smart enough to count money (4 points smarter than the average mongrelfolk inhabitant of the nation, in fact), powerful enough to defend the bank (NPCs in this world rarely reach class level 5, and I'm okay with level 5+ PCs being able to knock over the bank with difficulty).

What other minions might the Blue Dragon Bank have? What traps and other defenses?

Kobolds. They have the draconic tie-in in their racial description (Races of the Dragon). Nothing says "Trapsmith" like a Kobold, either, so you're covered there.

On the front door of the bank, a small sign: "Protected by Tucker brand security systems."

[The Oni]

Hobgoblin staff? They're lawful, about as intelligent as any other humanoid, and pretty hard to rob. Also, goblin banks went over very well in Wizarding London.

http://harrypotter.wikia.com/wiki/Gringotts_Wizarding_Bank

[Slipperychicken]

I imagine the dragon would want to hire locally for outlets, so whatever creature type is nearby would serve as tellers and such.

Any dnd bank worth its salt would use wizards and clerics' divination spells to predict important things like future asset value, demand, interest rates, default rates, exchange rates, government monetary/fiscal/regulatory policies, and outcomes of business deals. Additionally, a bank with a lot of divination assets might offer prediction services to paying clients.

[CrazyYanmega]

I assume Chaotic dragons would be loan sharks?

Anyway, the idea of a Dragon Bank intrigues me. Is it limited by city. thus having individual notes only working in specific cities? Or are the banks interconnected, with notes being usable just about anywhere?

[Slipperychicken]

Anyway, the idea of a Dragon Bank intrigues me. Is it limited by city. thus having individual notes only working in specific cities? Or are the banks interconnected, with notes being usable just about anywhere?

If it helps, bank notes are a currency. US Dollars are simply bank notes issued by the Federal Reserve.

If the banks are owned by the same entity, they should all use the same notes. That provides value to the account-holder, since he doesn't need to haul gold from city to city -he can lighten his load by carrying bank notes instead.

[rollforeigninit]

You must include, in the bottom floor of the bank, a shackled, near blind Goblin Expert Banker to help the PCs escape.

[Malimar]

Eenteresting ideas.


Crit range was changed to 15-20, but it's still awesome.

Oh, you're right. I was looking at the errata, not the update. :smallannoyed:


Anyway, the idea of a Dragon Bank intrigues me. Is it limited by city. thus having individual notes only working in specific cities? Or are the banks interconnected, with notes being usable just about anywhere?

This particular nation is small enough -- some 80mi from end to end, and half that across -- that I was thinking one in the capital would serve as the bank for the whole nation. If you really need to visit the bank itself, the trip to the capital isn't super-onerous. Having outlets in the several biggest towns is also a good idea, though, and would probably require minions with some autonomy.


You must include, in the bottom floor of the bank, a shackled, near blind Goblin Expert Banker to help the PCs escape.

Hoho, I see what you did there!


Kobolds. They have the draconic tie-in in their racial description (Races of the Dragon). Nothing says "Trapsmith" like a Kobold, either, so you're covered there.

On the front door of the bank, a small sign: "Protected by Tucker brand security systems."

Hmm, yes, perhaps. I'm kind of using kobolds in another subplot, but this is definitely worthy of consideration.


Hobgoblin staff? They're lawful, about as intelligent as any other humanoid, and pretty hard to rob. Also, goblin banks went over very well in Wizarding London.

Kind of trying to stay away from anything that would elicit Harry Potter references. That said, a plausible idea.


I imagine the dragon would want to hire locally for outlets, so whatever creature type is nearby would serve as tellers and such.

Any dnd bank worth its salt would use wizards and clerics' divination spells to predict important things like future asset value, demand, interest rates, default rates, exchange rates, government monetary/fiscal/regulatory policies, and outcomes of business deals. Additionally, a bank with a lot of divination assets might offer prediction services to paying clients.

Good point. Putting the hoard to use, rather than just sleeping on it.

...still gonna sleep on some of it, of course. But the more of it that's tied up in investments, the less for the PCs to loot when they inevitably knock it over.

Oh, I didn't even check the CR on the dragon. Higher than I thought (high enough to take over the nation itself alone if she wanted!), but that's okay. She'll keep CR16 worth of coins to sleep on, and invest the rest.

[Slipperychicken]

...still gonna sleep on some of it, of course. But the more of it that's tied up in investments, the less for the PCs to loot when they inevitably knock it over.

Oh, I didn't even check the CR on the dragon. Higher than I thought (high enough to take over the nation itself alone if she wanted!), but that's okay. She'll keep CR16 worth of coins to sleep on, and invest the rest.

Banks generally keep most of their money invested and growing (That's how banks make money, after all, aside from hidden charges and fees), only keeping enough on-hand that they can satisfy the usual amount of money withdrawn in a given time. This is also why mass-withdrawals (runs on the bank) are so dangerous: banks don't keep enough money to return everyone's cash at once.

The bank might also offer safe-deposit services: If you've got this huge well-protected vault, you might as well use it. Basically, clients with particularly valuable/sensitive items give them to the bank for later retrieval. This also gives the PCs an unhealthy number of powerful enemies should they decide to loot the safe-deposit boxes.


EDIT:
I could certainly imagine that this draconic CEO would sleep on her life savings as well (largely made up of salary, bonuses, and embezzlement?), perhaps keeping it near the company stock if not combining them into a single heap of treasure (think of it as an incentive to improve the company's performance). If you're running your own business, you've got to pay yourself sometime.

[Enguebert]

The idea of a dragon banker is nice

It is a good job for a dragon to collect gold, and a dragon make a good guardian.

You will have to make the difference between the bank vault and the bank office.

In the bank vault, you will have the dragon and some very lawful minions (golem, kobold,...)
And location of the vault should be magically protected and place should stay a secret

Bank office, on the other hand, could have simple employees (even expert NPC) and some guards. Bank office has some cash for day-to-day work, but also have "teleporting device" : just a box where employee put gold/item that are teleported to the vault.

[Raezeman]

how about some dragon shamans with blue as totem dragon, or some dragonfire adepts, of any race that fits these classes (Human for example. Darn those humans, they're everywhere!)

[Vizzerdrix]

One big hidden central vault for all the banks, connected by ring gates.

[Malimar]

It just occurred to me that it could be a family-owned franchise: the central branch is supervised by mama Blue Dragon, the smaller branches supervised by her offspring.

Alternately, the branches could be supervised by blue dragon shamans or blue dragonfire adepts or blue dragonwrought kobolds or blue dragonblood sorcerers or etc. Or, combining the two ideas: blue half-dragons.

Connecting the branches to each other and to the central hoard via teleportation magic is a good notion, though something very much like that is already the schtick of the Mario's Discount Magic Supply Emporium franchise, and I don't love reusing schticks. I'll have to think on it.