My home campaign has 'dragonbloods' the long descended, much diluted ancestors of dragons as a significant chunk of the nobility - PC's included. Dropping 'dragons' in on top of the usual human noble house too-ing and fro-ing has lead to some interesting effects. 'Rule by sword-right' is pretty close to the surface at the edges - this interacts with long-life because dragonbloods live for a long time and in folk memory (grandpa's stories to people alive today) there have been significant turnover in lands and titles because folk memory is centuries long.
The continent most of the adventures are set on was once conquered by elves with their own notions of what makes a suitable elf until they left and everyone else got to pick up the pieces. This institutional overhang of 'elven civilization', even if only in the warped memory of most, has lead to a strong affinity for elven-court like behaviours in public, even when these are a badly-fitting mask over red-clawed conquest.
The longevity bonus that dragonbloods enjoy where they can stabilise their rule over a long time, especially over multiple generations of shorter-lived species, helps cement them in a position of accepted authority. This is balanced somewhat by draconic appetites for power and glory which drive risky behaviours and give gutsy or cunning shorter-lived folk a chance to climb socially. Spouses are mostly other dragonblood simply because those are the powers of the realms and nobles ought to marry to advantage but 'advantage' is quite broadly interpretted.
| d100 | % share | Spouse Source |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 17 | Major nobility (23 houses) |
| 18 | 50 | Blooded house (230) |
| 51 | 60 | Royal service titled |
| 61 | 70 | Military heroes |
| 71 | 76 | Landed minor nobles |
| 77 | 81 | Local mages |
| 82 | 85 | Local clergy |
| 86 | 88 | Elven Sorcerer |
| 89 | 91 | Elven Noble |
| 92 | 94 | Elven Artists |
| 95 | 97 | Mage-realm Nobles |
| 98 | 100 | Love match (anything) |
Dragons are one of the 'universal solvent' ancestries, mostly because their highly magical nature gets into everything and sticks. It gradually fades away over generations but can still crop up as sorcerers. The personality aspects of draconic ancestry is a tendency but not ubiquitous.
| Breed | Fraction | Outlook |
|---|---|---|
| Bronze | 0.13 | Duty bound, honourable |
| Green | 0.02 | Lazy, duplicitous |
| Silver | 0.12 | Gregarious, nurturing |
| Copper | 0.08 | Devious, clever |
| Brass | 0.06 | Mercenary, adaptable |
| Black | 0.02 | Cruel, covetous |
| Red | 0.13 | Domination, ambition, drive |
| Gold | 0.07 | Dedicated, honour bound |
| Purple | 0.06 | Scheming, entitled |
| Blue | 0.03 | Manipulative, puppet masters |
| White | 0.01 | Fierce, prideful, bitter |
| Topaz | 0.08 | Clannish, self-seeking |
| Emerald | 0.07 | Lore keepers, observers |
| Crystal | 0.07 | Hedonistic |
| Amethyst | 0.03 | Honourable, regal |
| Sapphire | 0.01 | Militaristic, defenders |
One thing that dragonbloods are affected by is the proximity of very large dragons. Adult and older dragons, in the same way that they exert influence on the landscape around them, begin to also exercise the tempers of dragonbloods at an even greater distance. For dragonbloods sharing the same ancestry of whatever type of dragon it is, this marks a 'reversion to form' a calling up and strengthening of ancestral tendencies. For other dragonbloods it can very, with manifestations both of ancestral tendencies or of those of the proximate dragon.
The impact of this effect is roughly proportional to the strength of the draconic bloodline within a given dragonblood - with Regals being heavily affected and Trace dragonbloods able to maintain their independence relatively easily.
| d100 | Blood | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 | Regal |
| 7 | 21 | Noble |
| 22 | 76 | Cadet |
| 77 | 100 | Trace |
More on the morality and intricacies of love, passions and marriage in dragonblood-led societies can be found here.
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