Why do dragons need all that gold, anyway?

[Ramza00]

In greek myth besides the golden fleece

Ladon guards the golden apples
Python guards the center of the earth
Ismenian dragon is the progeny of Ares meant to guard a sacred spring near future city of Thebes

Note in Greek the name for Dragon is Drake specifically drákōn (from derkomai, "to see," the root of the English term, "dragon") Thus a Dragon literally means "to watch over something", to guard it in Greek.

----

Arguably you can go back further where cattle and goat raiding myths, and often a chaos god which was a serpent / dragon / hydra / naga is tied to such herd animals being stolen at

----

Likewise while not mythical pretty much everywhere the silk road touched there were myths of Gryphons guarding gold. Not specific myths though, just dozens of imagery captured in dozens of cultures.

[pendell]

They're all incredibly skilled diviners, and are waiting for the turning of the ages to commence and modern society to rise.

Then they buy stocks in major corporations and rule the world.

Shadowrun, in other words.

I cannot tell you how sad I am that setting does not get more love.

ETA: I see others have made the same point. In any case, in Tolkien's stories the dragons Smaug and Glaurung are Greed personified and thus collect purely for the sake of collecting. I assume if they lived in the modern world they would also collect rare Magic: The Gathering and Pokemon, create the greatest decks ever yet never play a round, for fear they might lose one.

I hadn't heard the theory of snakes hiding in dark holes where humans hide treasure; it's an interesting thought.


Respectfully,

Brian P.

[snowblizz]

I assume if they lived in the modern world they would also collect rare Magic: The Gathering and Pokemon, create the greatest decks ever yet never play a round, for fear they might lose one.

Suddenly the scarcity of modern GPU chips is making perfect sense. Dragon hoards.

[MCerberus]

Suddenly the scarcity of modern GPU chips is making perfect sense. Dragon hoards.

My god, if they have a mining rig, that's recursive hording.

[Eldan]

Ah yes. The elusive Cryptodragon.

[Brother Oni]

In the anime/cartoon Flight of Dragons, the dragons need some form of soft, non-flammable bedding to sleep on and gold turns out to be the most convenient non-toxic material.

The younger dragons still have an 'OOH SHINEY!' mentality, so the more elaborate gold pieces they find, the better.

[Vahnavoi]

Treasure for dragon is self-important. Treasure is life, treasure is meaning. The bigger the treasure, the more meaning. They don't need treasure for other things - other things exist to acquire more treasure!

[Imbalance]

Allegorical covetousness - the dragons don't need gold, but they want it. They want yours. They want you to not have it so that it can be theirs. It is not currency, though the more a dragon has, the more covetousness is evoked in their peers, a desired side-effect. Gaining gold is less about being compulsive than it is about the lucre of simply being a dragon, the wages owed for existing. It already belongs to them, shortlife, so hand it over.

[No brains]

I remember something from one of the 3.5 books, might have been Draconomicon, that dragons can use their hoard to become a genus loci. So basically it's a powerful spell component. Same reason why a lot of things would hoard gold.

[Peelee]

In one of the 2nd edition settings, Dragons needed a lot of treasure to "level up" to a new age category.

Damn, their growth is tied to their wealth? Gen Z dragons are ****ed.

Do not weep, for they are immortal.

[Scarlet Knight]

Allegorical covetousness - the dragons don't need gold, but they want it. They want yours. They want you to not have it so that it can be theirs. It is not currency, though the more a dragon has, the more covetousness is evoked in their peers, a desired side-effect. Gaining gold is less about being compulsive than it is about the lucre of simply being a dragon, the wages owed for existing. It already belongs to them, shortlife, so hand it over.

So capturing a Princess is like a trophy wife.

[Fyraltari]

Do not weep, for they are immortal.

I know a few knights who might disagree with that.

[Peelee]

I know a few knights who might disagree with that.

You know them? Personally?

Knight propaganda, I tells ya! It's all marketing for them.

[Fyraltari]

You know them? Personally?

Knight propaganda, I tells ya! It's all marketing for them.

Knights? Marketing? Pretty sure markets are for peasants.

[Traab]

They dont need all that gold. The problem is, they keep getting worshipped by kobolds who think the only way their "patron" will protect them is if they make frequent offerings. They can at least eat the food, but the gold? Thats an obnoxious amount of clutter in their lair. But its a gift and you dont refuse gifts unless you want to be rude. Kinda like moms and the fridge being covered in terrible pictures drawn by their kids. They have to keep them all or else risk upsetting them.

[Peelee]

Knights? Marketing? Pretty sure markets are for peasants.

Compared to dragons, knights are peasants.

[Anonymouswizard]

They dont need all that gold. The problem is, they keep getting worshipped by kobolds who think the only way their "patron" will protect them is if they make frequent offerings. They can at least eat the food, but the gold? Thats an obnoxious amount of clutter in their lair. But its a gift and you dont refuse gifts unless you want to be rude. Kinda like moms and the fridge being covered in terrible pictures drawn by their kids. They have to keep them all or else risk upsetting them.

I've now got this mental image of a dragon kidnapping a princess, and refusing to give her back unless the king accepts enough gold to crash the economy.


And yes, I was very much referencing Shadowrun in my first post.


Another idea, which probably works great for nonsentient dragonkin, they take shiny stuff so their lair is more attractive to mates.

[Kantaki]

I've now got this mental image of a dragon kidnapping a princess, and refusing to give her back unless the king accepts enough gold to crash the economy.

King: "I think I'll send some adventurers instead."
Dragon:"Wait. Did you think this thro-""-gak"
Adventurers (post dragon slaying):"Look at all that gold! Time for a shopping trip!"
King:"[REDACTED]!"

[Fyraltari]

Compared to dragons, knights are peasants.

That neatly explains the dragon-slaying mentality.

[pendell]

Why do dragons hoard all their gold? Simple? Because there's a fixed limit to how much they can put in their 401ks every year. Also, gold is untraceable and is a great hedge against inflation.

Tongue-in-cheek,

Brian P.

[Traab]

Why do dragons hoard all their gold? Simple? Because there's a fixed limit to how much they can put in their 401ks every year. Also, gold is untraceable and is a great hedge against inflation.

Tongue-in-cheek,

Brian P.

Dragon lord: "Feh! Fiat economies are stupidly simple to profit from! I will just stockpile my gold and silver till something causes the value to spike sufficiently then sell enough to move to that nice volcano lair in hawaii."

[OracleofWuffing]

I remember something from one of the 3.5 books, might have been Draconomicon, that dragons can use their hoard to become a genus loci. So basically it's a powerful spell component. Same reason why a lot of things would hoard gold.

Just piggybacking on Draconomicon 3.5, it's super painful and depressing for a dragon to die of old age, unlike any other creature ever, so they get to choose to either "become a guardian" or "depart," if they don't want to feel their bodies catastrophically collapse all around them. Doing so requires the dragon to consume over 130,000gp in treasure, and most of that needs to have been part of he hoard for at least 200 years.

Obligatory, okay, they could also become a dragolich instead of departing, becoming a guardian, or dying, but I think that option technically applies to anyone at that point.

[MCerberus]

Idea for fluff: The dragons assign memories of people or events on each of their chosen token. It's really hard to keep your memories straight for a mortal, so it becomes a way for an ancient being to create a link to its vast past. Some of the treasure is as of yet unassigned, but it would mean taking from a dragon hoard isn't stealing from a bank, you just stole the memorial to their great-grand-daughter, a young bard that sought them out for advice before tragically dying in order to prevent a great tragedy.

You touch the pile, there's no more talking. There is only rage.

[JNAProductions]

They dont need all that gold. The problem is, they keep getting worshipped by kobolds who think the only way their "patron" will protect them is if they make frequent offerings. They can at least eat the food, but the gold? Thats an obnoxious amount of clutter in their lair. But its a gift and you dont refuse gifts unless you want to be rude. Kinda like moms and the fridge being covered in terrible pictures drawn by their kids. They have to keep them all or else risk upsetting them.

I've now got this mental image of a dragon kidnapping a princess, and refusing to give her back unless the king accepts enough gold to crash the economy.

And yes, I was very much referencing Shadowrun in my first post.

Another idea, which probably works great for nonsentient dragonkin, they take shiny stuff so their lair is more attractive to mates.

Love it. Love this so much.

[Ramza00]

Treasure for dragon is self-important. Treasure is life, treasure is meaning. The bigger the treasure, the more meaning. They don't need treasure for other things - other things exist to acquire more treasure!

Sounds like the Dragon(s) is lonely, wait does this explain all the Half-Dragons, and other Dragonblood races?

-----

So capturing a Princess is like a trophy wife.

Edit I am now imaging a Dragon voiced by Sean Connery kidnapping a women who will keep him company and then extorting the local medieval peasants to support him, so he can support her for he likes it when she is happy. Who needs knights and lords, with the occasional king when one can have Dragons and Peasants as the basis of your medieval economy?

[Imbalance]

So capturing a Princess is like a trophy wife.

Maybe, but the OP specifically asked about gold. Potential princess poaching probably depends on the personal preference of a particular serpent. ...not sure why I did that...

[Eldan]

Maybe, but the OP specifically asked about gold. Potential princess poaching probably depends on the personal preference of a particular serpent. ...not sure why I did that...

Shoulda said python, instead of serpent.

[Arutema]

Shadowrun, in other words.

I cannot tell you how sad I am that setting does not get more love.

The Shadowrun Returns trilogy on PC did a fairly good job IMO.

And IIRC, Lofwyr puts in a small but important cameo.

[Scarlet Knight]

Sounds like the Dragon(s) is lonely, wait does this explain all the Half-Dragons, and other Dragonblood races?

-----

Edit I am now imaging a Dragon voiced by Sean Connery kidnapping a women who will keep him company ...

"OMG! Becky! You sleep with him?! Why?"
"Well, he sounds like Sean Connery and takes me to this place in Hawaii..."
"That is sooo Christian Grey! Is he hot?"
"Oooh you can say that. Great Wyrm indeed!"

[LibraryOgre]

The Shadowrun Returns trilogy on PC did a fairly good job IMO.

And IIRC, Lofwyr puts in a small but important cameo.

The old Sega Genesis game was the GOAT. I love the SR Returns trilogy, but the Genesis game *chef's kiss*