Atlas   Rules   Resources   Adventures   Stories       FAQ   Search   Links



Draconic Altars

by John Hare

Bruce early put it up for some explanation about the draconic altar mentioned in his posts about Heldannic Knights -- of Heresy, Quests, & Dragons. Of course silly me I asked for more info about. And now I can't stop thinking about the silly things... so here goes.

Draconic Altars are rare, perhaps a dozen are known throughout the known world. At least three others were known but have since vanished or be destroyed. The Altars are aligned towards the different dragon alignments. Chaotic, Neutral and Lawful (for AD&D simply Good & Evil and if you have them Neutral Dragons). The choice of alignment isn't random. Nor is the location. These sites where the centre of a successful ceremony of Sublimation which resulted in the dragon performing the ceremony to raise to Immortal Guardian Dragon status.

Leaving behind all the treasures, magic and physical vitality into one welded form. Most of the forms are somewhat rectangular in nature and seem to be a fused material. The Altars radiate a constant harmonic barrier that is tune with the alignment of the dragon that made the successful ceremony at that site. This barrier extends out in a 100' radius around the altar. All other non-aligned dragons are repulsed by this harmonic. To enter a successful saving throw at -4 vs spells must be made. Even so the harmonics impair their abilities to -4 to hit and damage while within the field.

Dragons that are aligned with the altar heal faster in its presence. About 1hp every 8 hours. They also find the harmonic field calming and thus can think more clearly there. There are rumours about other effects taking place but since each altar is unique there has been no true testing performed. It is rumoured that some of the altars possess powerful transportation abilities but how one uses them is unknown.

The site of each altar was the centre of the dragon's dominion. In most cases this was also the dragon's lair. As indicated at least three have been known to be destroyed. One was truly ancient and is thought to have just worn out and crumbled to dust. (In fact this altar belonged to a Guardian Dragon who took over one of the Immortal Dragon positions and thus the previous powers infused into the altar were removed.)

Another was destroyed when a volcano decided to erupt underneath it. And some meddling humans who tried to dig it up destroyed the third. The resulting explosion took the top off of that mountain.

Example The Moon Pool
This Draconic Altar was the location of a Huge Blue Dragon, whose name eludes me at 2:30 am. This altar is a thirty-foot diameter depression, which descends to a maximum of 2 feet deep. The outside ring of fused blue crystal seems to be that of a sleeping dragon with its tail under its head. In addition to the properties normally found at dragon altars on a full moon a ray of moon light appears in the cave and strikes the surface of the water in the depression. With in seconds the ray turns into a shimmering ladder that may be climbed from inside the pool of water. Should the individual (dragon or humanoid) climb all the way up this ladder they shall reach the moon of Mystara (not the invisible one). The journey seems to take a great deal of time, but no food or air is required, the climb takes about 2 and 1/2 hours real time. Once at the moon the climber may ride down a moonbeam to any position they can observe from the moon. Great care must be taken because waiting too long means the moon ladder and moon beams wink out of existence, and the climber had best now have a method of breathing air in a vacuum.



The Altars radiate a constant harmonic barrier that is tune with the alignment of the dragon that made the successful ceremony at that site. This barrier extends out in a 100' radius around the altar. All other non- aligned dragons are repulsed by this harmonic. To enter a successful saving throw at -4 vs spells must be made. Even so the harmonics impair their abilities to -4 to hit and damage while within the field.


I would augment these effects a bit, considering you're dealing with dragons. (What would be the effect on non-draconic beings, BTW?) For example, undesirable visitors should not be able to cast spells there either. The -4 penalty also applies to their AC, saving throws, and initiative. Basically, an undesirable dragon just would not go there unless really angered by something, overly proud, or seriously foolish (some of that isn't unheard of with certain dragons though).

Dragons that are aligned with the altar heal faster in its presence. About 1hp every 8 hours.

I would accelerate this, considering the number of hp dragons are likely to have. How about 10 hp per hour instead? How about the possibility of regeneration, remove curse, etc? These may require more time than basic healing (perhaps a day or two instead).

They also find the harmonic field calming and thus can think more clearly there.

Game effect? +1 Intelligence temporarily?

There are rumours about other effects taking place but since each altar is unique there has been no true testing performed. It is rumoured that some of the altars possess powerful transportation abilities but how one uses them is unknown.

...to all but the more ancient dragons (?)

The site of each altar was the centre of the dragon's dominion. In most cases this was also the dragon's lair. As indicated at least three have been known to be destroyed. One was truly ancient and is thought to have just worn out and crumbled to dust. (In fact this altar belonged to a Guardian Dragon who took over one of the Immortal Dragon positions and thus the previous powers infused into the altar were removed.) Another was destroyed when a volcano decided to erupt underneath it. And some meddling humans who tried to dig it up destroyed the third. The resulting explosion took the top off of that mountain.

Why did the place explode?

example The Moon Pool -- This Draconic Altar was the location of a Huge Blue Dragon, whose name eludes me at 2:30 am. ...

Not bad for something written so late! How close to Pandius does the moon ladder reach?



Second stab at the cat.

Draconic Altar harmonics affect
Friendly dragons: 10 hp healing every 8 hours, after 2 days minor curses will be lifted, after 5 days non-magical diseases will be cured (some effects may remain), after 10 days magical diseases will be cured (that darn mummy rot). The field also calms the dragon (+3 vs saves involving fear) and lets them think more clearly (temporarily +1 Int). However staying there too long gets too calming, after 5 days the dragon is considered to be slowed for twice the number of days it has been there. Which is generally why no dragon would consider building its lair there.

Non-friendly dragons: -4 to hit/damage/AC/saves/initiative, also cannot cast spells in the field. Spell effects are still possible. All this is because the field harmonics inflict mental anguish upon these drakes, making concentration more difficult and also more jittery (-3 vs saves involving fear). It also clouds their thoughts (temporarily -1 Int). If through some strange demented reason one stays in the same harmonic field for a total of 30 days (cumulative) the -1 Int becomes permanent, and the cycle would start again.

Non-draconic friendly creatures: Find the field harmonics interesting, but gain no true benefits unless they stay and study the altar for a period of 1 month. After which time they gain insight into the dragons of that alignment. Draconic Lore (alignment type) knowledge skill based on Int. However this study causes the creature to slightly resonant in the harmonics of that altar. Which means dragons of all types can quickly determine whether they want to be friendly to this person or not. Dragons of the same alignment react to the individual a +2, while others will be -2.

Non-draconic non-friendly creatures: Find the field harmonics annoying and generally won't want to stay in its field for any great length of time. Other than that they get no bonuses and no penalties.

Special Altar Powers: as previous posts indicated travel via moon beam is possible using the Moon Pool
In addition it is rumoured that the altars can provide regeneration capabilities, however the cost is part of the dragon's hoard. The regeneration cost roughly equals 1,000 gp per HD of the dragon, which would result in a leg being regrown. Wings are 1,500 gp per HD, and tails are 2,000 gp per HD, and heads... well if you have to regenerate that your in trouble.

Dangers: While draconic altars are very durable they have been destroyed. A group of humans tried to dig one up. The resulting explosion took the top off that mountain. The humans digging tried to skimp out and not take the whole altar out complete but to take it out in pieces. The consulting mage figured he could put it back together afterwards. After all dragon altars don't radiate magic so what would be the harm in taking it out in pieces. By breaking the altar they released the fused magical energy which contained all the magic in the dragons hoard and part of the life force of the dragon guardian. When one stops and thinks about how much magic an ancient dragon accumulates for the Ceremony of Sublimation that gets to be quite a bit. And most of it is picked of quality over quantity. Which means a lot of potent magic is suddenly released in one big bang. Think of the effect of breaking a Staff of Wizardry. Those are generally scary, now consider how much magically energy is in a dragon altar. Damn pesky humans, blowing up things they can't understand. Sigh. In game terms... they explosion would be close to the potential of the 2 fully charged staves of Wizardry (30 charges each) and throw in an earthquake for good measure. Don't forget to let them save for half damage. After all the enraged dragons would really like to take to someone about the explosion that destroyed one of their altars.

The question came up as to how close the moon ladder comes to Pandius. Well I suppose the would depend on how quickly the moon rotates during a full moon period. I would say that every 10 years the rotation buts the ladder within 50 miles of Pandius, and say every 1000 years the conjunction works out that instead of winding up on the moon, the climbers appear in Pandius. "Oops sorry Ixion, we took a wrong turn... somewhere." Could make for an interesting adventure, especially if there are some omens warning of this conjunction ahead of time. Of course another question on the list came up, what if something from the moon escaped the Hollow Breeding pits inside and started rampaging across Mystara. "I told you Velociraptors were a bad idea to play with" -Ixion speak to Ka "Now look what they have done, they've eaten the Heldannic Knights and have gained control of the Warbirds,... " suspicious look "you haven't been talking to Vanya lately have you?"