How to secretely hint that a NPC is a dragon?

[Madeiner]

Hi :D
I'm playing an eberron-steampunk game where the PCs are working for a secret organization.
Their boss is a dragon (mostly intent on observing, without acting directly), but they don't know this.
I am trying to secretely hint at it, without giving him over, but in a way to make the characters think about it.

For now, i've done only a few things.

- When the dragon needed to show the PCs a document, he took it from inside a drawer, where a little pile of money, gems, and documents was hidden. (i don't think the PCs catched this one)
- Later, the dragon told the PC to wait for his signal to attack in a hostile situation. He then silently looked to the side, and an entire airship was telekinetically moved violently in that direction.
- He is mentally communicating with them at distance, even if they know magic is almost non-existant, and the organization is researching a way to easily communicate with one another using technology.

What else can i use to let them suspect that he is in fact a different creature and not an human?
I want to have a final battle later on, where they get attacked by another dragon and their boss is forced to intervene, revealing himself.
I want the PCs to think "aaah i knew it" and not "what the hell is happening right now".

Also, one of the characters is secretly starting to change his affiliation and working with another organization. He is trying to bluff his way out, but he has no chance to bluff an elder dragon, and he has no idea the dragon actually knows that something's up with him.

[DigoDragon]

If the PCs ever see the receipts to his meals (or his grocery list) you could make them seem quite substantial.

What kind of energy immunity/weaknesses does he have (if at all)? In my last campaign, the PCs worked with a red dragon that was trapped in the body of an elf. She occasionaly forgot she was not immune to fire in that form and would get burned when fire entered the equation in combat. She also hated cold magic and avoided it actively.

[Waker]

-You could have him refer to events that happened a great deal of time ago as if he had experienced them first-hand. Similarly he could use archaic phrases.
-Perhaps the PCs can catch a whiff of something in his presence. Red Dragons may have a smoky scent to them, while a Blue Dragon may smell of ozone.
-Look into the description for dragons and emphasize their personalities. Perhaps a Brass Dragon is especially (annoyingly) chatty with the party. Similarly the dragon may favor colors and styles of dress that correspond with their colors. A White Dragon who tends to always wear snow-white clothes, including fur cuffs and collars.
-Have him show up in places that would be nigh-inaccessible to humanoids, specifically areas where one who could fly or swim would have no difficulty.

[Belril Duskwalk]

If the dragon ever talks about historical events, he could refer to events that occurred decades or even centuries ago as 'recent'. This would at least clue them in that he is far older than he seems, and thus probably not as human as his appearance.

EDIT: Ninja'd by Waker. Another idea: Somewhere in his office/residence/hideout a room full of objects that are clearly artifacts from centuries ago. Flags and banners of nations that no longer exist. Maps that show the nations of the world as they were several hundred years ago. Stylized weapons and armor that were phased out of the military generations ago. All of them in alarmingly good condition. If you want to really drive this one home, have him recount how he got an object from the collection. Avoid giving any obvious specifics, but leave an implication that when he got it, they were common things that could be gotten for a few gold pieces.

[Sith_Happens]

If long-distance telepathy and Force-tossing an airship haven't been enough to make them suspect something, then they literally do not know what a hint is.

[Barsoom]

Demonstrate the fact he's immune to fire (or whatever form of energy this dragon type is immune to). When called out on it, he will provide a lackluster and barely-plausible explanation.

[Avaris]

Have him make slightly odd statements: 'I just don't understand some humans' sort of thing, actual humans would probably say 'people'

Have comments from other npcs that know him: 'doesn't seem a day older than when I met him,' says an old woman that has worked for him for years. Also speculation on his personal life: it would be quite unusual to remain aloof from society to the extent I assume he needs to.

[Beelzebub1111]

Depends on the type of dragon he is. Perhaps have him frequently counting his gold pieces.

If the players investigate his room, find that he keeps money in his mattress. a LOT of money. Enough that would make any normal person's sleep uncomfortable.

Have his players retrieve a package for him, and emphasize that they DO NOT OPEN IT! When they do (and they will), it's a platinum or golden holy symbol of Tiamat.

[Barsoom]

Have him make slightly odd statements: 'I just don't understand some humans' sort of thing, actual humans would probably say 'people'

Have comments from other npcs that know him: 'doesn't seem a day older than when I met him,' says an old woman that has worked for him for years. Also speculation on his personal life: it would be quite unusual to remain aloof from society to the extent I assume he needs to.

That'll make them go "VAMPIRE!!"

[Janus]

-"Well, if I were a dragon (which I'm not)..."
-"That evil dictator is going about it all wrong! If I were him, I'd demand the sacrifice of young virgin women on a monthly basis to keep me from wrecking their town!"
-"Hey there, making some soup? Drop a few gold coins in there. It tastes absolutely freaking delicious!"
-"Hey, PCs, you can trust me. I'm not a dragon or anything like that."

[Connington]

If long-distance telepathy and Force-tossing an airship haven't been enough to make them suspect something, then they literally do not know what a hint is.

Inclined to agree with this. If they aren't asking questions about their mysteriously powerful boss by now, they aren't going to pick up on anything until you hit them with a clue-by-four.

Having him talk about "humans", referencing strange and specific smells, having him sleep on a bed of gold and making it clear that he's immortal all count as blatantly obvious signs that he's non-human, and might be necessary.

[Deathkeeper]

-You could make the PCs walk in on him having a meal. They never see what it is, but they can hear the CRUNCH from across the room.
-if a character has good knowledge: history, have him drop a term or two from a much antiquated era that his guise would probably not know. Like referencing a phalanx from a modern soldier, or a regular person quoting Sun Tzu.
- there's also the classic "animals distrust him" route.

[Slipperychicken]

Maybe they find him slumped, asleep, over a pile of gold pieces on his desk.

[Ionbound]

In that vein, have them find piles and piles of gold in a room in his house.

[Tarqiup Inua]

Or you could get him act strangely or even with disgust when he sees dragonscale armour or perhaps he should give the players a quest to take out famous dragon hunter who is currently visiting the city.

He should know draconic as a language and there should be rumours about ambitious assassins in the guild who tried to climb the ranks of the guild by taking him out in the sleep... only to fail miserably - dragons don't need to sleep for ages.

He might know about githyanki racial pact (and therefore githyanki themselves) with red dragons but that would be stretching it a little. I am not sure if it isn't Faerun only thing, either. (ah, you didn't mention colour, nevermind)

Another question to ask yourself would be whether new form keeps the blindsense, superior sight (120ft. darkvision and sees 4 times further than humans in poor light conditions = has improved low-light vision) or perhaps spell resistance.

[Mastikator]

Have the PCs overhear a rumor that their boss isn't what he appears, they will start looking for hints rather than overlooking them. Then you can be subtle about it.

[Anderlith]

They come to talk to him in his library/study/what-have-you, & they hear something large moving around & maybe catch the sight of a huge shadow with a tail... then the boss comes around the corner of the bookshelf looking normal.

I recommend watching lots of TV & movies that feature shapeshifters. It's all been done before so just get an idea from other sources

[Xefas]

Tell the players that their boss is secretly a dragon, and that the last player-character who figures it out gets 10,000xp in bonus experience.

Watch as the PCs constantly dance around the issue without anyone ever figuring it out entirely.

Should be worth a laugh.

[Starshade]

If he got a house, let it have a Library with some really odd titles, theological books dealing With Bahamut, cookbooks written in Netheril/imaskari dealing With stuff as "how to make crickets tasty" "chocolate dipping cane toads", and just general oddball nuts tomes With absolutely no purpose, like "preliminary study of clockwork horror clicking sounds", by Zhafnarilkuchzirinzel. Lots of strange stuff, of general little interest to anyone outside long lived races, many possibly written by some shape shifting monsters, as dragons.

[Slipperychicken]

Tell the players that their boss is secretly a dragon, and that the last player-character who figures it out gets 10,000xp in bonus experience.

Watch as the PCs constantly dance around the issue without anyone ever figuring it out entirely.

In-character denial is funny, but doesn't count. If you know, you know.

[TuggyNE]

I'm playing an eberron-steampunk game where the PCs are working for a secret organization.
Their boss is a dragon (mostly intent on observing, without acting directly), but they don't know this.

Given that this is Eberron, that seems more than par for the course. Shouldn't it be one of the first few things they think of?

Maybe some helpful NPC could give some guarded hints in general about how "you never know if some major player might be a dragon in disguise", or something. Sure, it seems too obvious, but it really isn't.

Have his players retrieve a package for him, and emphasize that they DO NOT OPEN IT! When they do (and they will), it's a platinum or golden holy symbol of Tiamat.

Huh, learn something new every day; didn't know Tiamat was a thing in Eberron. (Netheril and the Imaskari probably aren't, though; this isn't FR.)

[Madeiner]

A lot of extremely good suggestions guys! I will definately use those.
Thanks everybody!

As for the dragon color, it will probably be gold, unless i can find anything more appropriate looking at eberron dragons (of which i know little).

General Hart (the dragon's human name) is managing a branch of the Dark Lanterns, but he's actually trying to gather information as how to save another race that is about to go extinct, but he can't really act, only observe and direct people.
Only recently, with the death of two people in the party, he decided that he needs to take a more direct approach even if he shouldn't, so he's starting using spells and powers where before he used none (ok to be fair, at the start of the adventure, i didn't even think of him being a dragon)

However, he has an (adopted) daughter and when later she will be threatened by an enemy dragon as consequence of Hart's actions, he will not be able to resist and will reveal himself and fight the dragon, as he has witnessed to many people die already because of his inaction. The PCs after all will be busy fighting an airship battle, but i'm sure they will take some cannon potshots at the enemy dragon when Hart ultimately proves incapable of defeating his enemy alone.

[navar100]

Have his name be Draco.

[kieza]

Mention that his pipe/cigar seems to be unlit, despite his breathing smoke.

[endoperez]

Maybe combine a few tidbits that wouldn't do anything on their own, but show something weird is going on when they're put together.

He can't ride a horse. "Oh, I just never got around to it."
He has traveled far and wide, in rural areas and wilderness.
-> he flew most of the time


He claims to collect maps as a hobby, most extremely detailed and well-drawn but many being decades or centuries old. He complains how no one knows how to make a good map. Unless there's been a particularly devastating war going on, it shouldn't matter too much - rivers, mountains and cities don't move around much.
He gives a copy of one of his own maps to the PCs when he sends them off to do a specific mission. The PCs realize the symbols in the map show the mountains drawn from above, not looking at from the ground.
-> he's been drawing his own maps, and they've been made so it's easy for him to navigate in the air

[SethoMarkus]

In addition to the other suggestions here, I'd suggest to keep pushing the "psionic" aspects. Thus far, it seems as though everything you hinted to the players can be explained with a powerful but greedy psionist as well. Telepathically communicating with the PCs; telekinetically moving large objects; hording gems in his desk. Play up the psionic-style abilities while throwing in things here and there that a normal psion, no matter how powerful, generally wouldn't do. Artifacts from an old age that are in near perfect condition, as others have suggested, would hint at his age. Style of dress and choice in decorations for his personal quarters/office would hint at some sort of affinity common in dragons. I really like endoperez's idea of hand-drawn maps that are made for use from flight. If airships and other flying machines are common, maybe make the maps to a scale of such that the distances shown on the map could never be covered in one trip with a conventional airship, or put notes on the map showing how long it takes to get between two towns, such as 2 hours, but it takes the PCs 4 hours in a fast airship.

I would play up that he is more powerful than given credit. He is vastly intelligent, vastly experienced, and vastly superior in raw power and might. That doesn't mean he is invincible, but he is probably a bit arrogant. If he is sent to prison for 5 years or something, he either scoffs at the sentence with an attitude of that merely being a cat-nap, or he smugly claims that no human prison can keep him under lock and key.

[DwarfFighter]

This actually happened:

GM: Ok, let's get this started. Your characters are mighty heroes of the land, and have all been summoned to the royal court. The king's chief advisor, a red-robed old man with a long white beard greets you. He-

Player: Is he a red dragon in disguise?

GM: ... not necessarily?

-DF