Playing a Dragon

[JourneymanWizrd]

Greetings,

Playing a campaign where my humanoid character has, well, started a semi-voluntary time-share with an incorporeal dragon looking for a new body. The balance is that the dragon gets control of my character's body for 1/3 of the day, and my character gets a few perks, like not having to try and constantly fight for control of his body.

I don't know how this is going to play out, long term. Short-term, however, I will have to set aside my character and act like a dragon during the campaign. This seems interesting to me, but here's the rub: how does one play a dragon? Other than his defined goals (not get our body killed, secure a body for himself), I have little to go on. The spirit has been imprisoned for a long time, and was of a green dragon (dragonlance / d&d, but not evil). I have assumed that he would indulge in physical sensations and other corporeal things for a time, but mannerisms? How he interacts with the party (especially when we are not on-location, and it is not in his best interests to leave the group)?

I welcome sources, suggestions, insights, mannerisms, etc; things that can drive home that there is something notably alien/reptilian/non-mammalian in charge ~1/3 of the time. No crunchy bits - the DM has already covered that, and there are several sources available for that.

Thank you,

[Kalirren]

0) It's a whole different person in there. So think like you're playing someone with multiple personality disorder, except that you're actually not crazy at all - you do have multiple personalities! There will be times when someone says, "I told you X" and you say "No..." because you just weren't listening, or accuse you of saying something that actually the dragon did. And ditto for the dragon's way around.

You might not want to let your fellow players know exactly when each personality is dominant when they're talking to whoever's inhabiting your character's body. Consider that even if they did know that you had a split personality, the dragon may have incentive to pretend to be you, and you may have incentive to pretend to be the dragon. Winning trust is going to be difficult.

1) There are a lot of things that we take for granted, being physical beings. Eating, drinking, pooping, running and walking, talking, gravity, pain...this is your excuse not to forget them.

2) You said "semi-voluntary". Does the rest of the party know? Does the rest of the party trust this thing or do they want it out of their friend's body?

3) An old dragon might feel entitled to be listened to. Certianly a lot of old people do.

4) Complain about inconveniences that only a giant green dragon would think of - not being able to just fly up there, not being strong, not being able to breathe acid, or swim, or breathe water. Play up a strange and new sense of vulnerability. Have a strange sense of distance.

[Karl Aegis]

Find a bunch of crap that has no value to you but is perceived as valuable to other people and sit on top of it.

Search for invisible walls and if you find them steal them and sit on them somewhere.

Mostly just find stuff and sit on it.

[hamishspence]

4) Complain about inconveniences that only a giant green dragon would think of - not being able to just fly up there, not being strong, not being able to breathe acid, or swim, or breathe water. Play up a strange and new sense of vulnerability. Have a strange sense of distance.

Actually it's black dragons that are the water-breathing swimmers.

[JCAll]

Find a bunch of crap that has no value to you but is perceived as valuable to other people and sit on top of it.

Search for invisible walls and if you find them steal them and sit on them somewhere.

Mostly just find stuff and sit on it.

Bob! What have we told you about rolling around naked on all the treasure! Get off of there!

[Thrawn4]

Play a dragon (choose your own adventure style) and find out what a dragon thinks: https://www.choiceofgames.com/dragon/

[JourneymanWizrd]

Interesting thoughts thus far. A craving for a horde, the emphasis and exultation of the physical.

For personality, something a bit removed. A thought for a reference was Death in "Meet Joe Black" - any other thoughts on not-human touchstones?

[goto124]

Find a bunch of crap that has no value to you but is perceived as valuable to other people and sit on top of it.

Search for invisible walls and if you find them steal them and sit on them somewhere.

Mostly just find stuff and sit on it.

Pretty sure that's a cat.

[Maglubiyet]

how does one play a dragon?

Massive superiority complex, hyper-vigilant territoriality, greed.

[GorinichSerpant]

Eating meat raw and eating animals whole (probably small rodents and birds at this point) would both be things a dragon would do, that may not work in a humanoid body.

[DigoDragon]

Pretty sure that's a cat.

That was the mentality I used when I played a dragon in a modern 4-color super hero campaign. My dragon wasn't huge; about the size of a fully grown bison (not counting the extra length for the neck and tail). His personality was very much like a cat-- took the lazy way out of tasks, loved to eat, enjoyed being perched up on top of buildings looking down on everyone else. But cats can be ferociously loyal and so was my dragon. He didn't hesitate to set people on fire that threatened his friends (and not just because these 'friends' fed him).

He was pretty smart. His mentality is that he just didn't apply himself to the situation unless he was motivated to do so. He also liked to play around and there was this hilarious scene where the team's "Superman" used a laser pointer on my dragon to chase it. Ended up putting a sizable hole in the side of the house when my dragon attempted to pounce the dot on the wall. :smalltongue:

[Gritmonger]

It is reptilian, and as such probably doesn't understand or use much in the way of facial expression - eyebrows, mouth, nose - a reptile may have emotion, but may not express it as one would expect. A wing buffet, a tail twitch, both may express displeasure, but both are absent from the repertoire of available expression.

Is bipedalism something that was a sometimes thing? Going to run, one might occasionally try and break into a four-legged gait, or stretch ones wings to fly. Absent both, the occasional stumble when in a panic isn't out of the ordinary.

Remember that this isn't a polymorph - it might have access to common rote operations (being able to operate the body) but its predilections and instincts may run counter to or fight with those of the body.

Maybe the taste buds are different - Birds cannot taste hot peppers, for instance, and the palate may not be one the dragon is used to.

[goto124]

Play Toothless.