Dragon

While he might not be a pony, Spike is as much a part of the Mane Six as anypony else, and Twilight would be lost without his help. Okay, some things may have gone smoother sometimes, but everyone has bad days now and again.

Playing a Young Dragon

In the world of Equestria dragons play a prominent role, but even adolescent dragons can be selfish and greedy as the Song of Gold begins to draw them to create their own hoard and become solitary. Because of this, if you wish to play a dragon it must be a young dragon. These dragons are capable of just about as much as a grown pony, but are still considered babies, or little more than, by their kin.

A young dragon will be immature at times, not understanding certain situations the way the ponies around them do simply because they are still developing and learning the basics. This could be a problem in some situations, but this personality trait can lead to interesting role playing opportunities (just be sure not to overdo it if you are the one playing the dragon, no one really wants to play this kind of game with a baby). As the character gains Dragon Perks and grows they mature accordingly, but also have the drawbacks that come with being a bigger older dragon.

Dragons and Roles

Dragon characters are free to pick any Role they like, just as ponies are. Many, like Spike, have an aptitude for magic and choose to follow that Role. In this way they unlock their magical abilities. Aside from magic, Loyalty is the most popular Role for dragons and they have a strong sense of community. Kindness and Honesty are also common but many less enlightened dragons can be quite disparaging about such traits. Laughter does not come easily to serious minded dragons, but those who do, might see Discord as a good mentor. Generosity is the rarest Role for any dragon to follow, as they tend to enjoy hoarding and consider any dragon who likes to give things away to be very strange indeed.

Dragon Magic

Dragons have an aptitude for magic, but not all of them study it. While they are magical creatures in many ways, that doesn’t always make them spellcasters. Dragons who wish to cast spells can choose to do so at level 4 either through the Magical general perk or by choosing the Dragon Magic option along with another draconic bonus if they decide to choose a Dragon Perk instead of a General Perk.

What if my Dragon Gets Too Greedy?

As dragons get bigger, their greed can push them away from their friends. While the Song of Gold DIF can get very high, the Dragons who resist it do so because of the close ties with their friends. Other characters can tell when your dragon is trying to resist the Song of Gold and can Lend Assistance and use their Perks to help your dragon stay a good friend. Remember, it isn’t the song that turns dragons evil–it’s letting the song’s curse control you.

If the gamemaster likes, a dragon might be able to give up a Dragon Perk (and replace it with a normal General Perk) after completing a suitable quest and learning about the value of friendship and their Element of Harmony.

A Note to GMs

Dragons are prominent creatures in the world of My Little Pony, and with the Game Master’s approval, they can be playable characters as well. Sometimes unusual character types can detract from a game: everyone might not feel like they’re playing the My Little Pony Roleplaying Game if most or all players are playing dragons, changelings, or anything but ponies. This origin is optional: it shouldn’t be used if having one or more players portray a dragon would cause problems with the story or among the group of players.

Young Dragon Origin

Bonuses

Essence Score Increase: Increase your Strength Essence score, or the Essence score tied to an Influence Skill, by 1.

Starting Health: You begin play with 2 Health, even small Dragons are tough.

Movement: Your base ground movement is 20 feet.

Size: As a Baby dragon, you are size Small but can get bigger with Dragon Perks.

Perks

Fiery Scales: A dragon’s hide can endure plenty of heat when they’re young. You gain resistance to Fire damage and Fire-based attacks.

Fire Breath: Even a baby dragon can draw air into their lungs and let out a small burst of flame. As a baby dragon this flame isn’t powerful enough to cause any Health damage, but can set small flammable things (like paper) on fire or scare enemies. You can use your breath as a Standard action, using a Might Skill Test as needed. As a baby, you can light things on fire or scare enemies within 5 feet, giving them ↓1 on their next Skill Test. This can be improved with Dragon Perks.

Dragon Perks: At first level, you gain a Dragon Perk, a specific way Dragons can grow from babies into fierce wyrms!

Dragon Perks

At first level (instead of a Cutie Mark Perk) and then again whenever you gain a General Perk, you can choose to take a Dragon Perk instead. These special perks offer dragon characters flexibility that makes them great pals with the ponies of Equestria.

While Dragon characters are very flexible, this flexibility comes with two potential downsides:

1. Every time a dragon chooses a Dragon perk after the first one, they get bigger! While this sounds good, they can get too big to see their friends!
2. Once a dragon gets big enough, they start to hear the song of gold and become greedy. While some dragons can resist the song, it drives many adult dragons to live alone in their lairs and treasure their hoard more than their friends.

Keep these in mind when you think about picking a Dragon Perk instead of a General Perk–bigger isn’t always better!

Each time you gain Dragon Perk (even at level 1!), you pick any two different improvements from the list to create your specific perk. The character must be at or above the level of the list to take an option. Unless noted, you can choose any option up to four times.

Level 1

Accurate Breath: Gain ↑1 on your Might (Fire Breath) Skill Tests.

Armor: You gain an additional +1 armor bonus to your Toughness.

Distant Flame: The range of your fire breath increases by 10 ft.

Dragon Swiftness: Your ground movement increases by 5ft.

Flight: Gain wings and an aerial movement of 15 ft. This improvement may only be picked once.

Intense Breath: Your fire breath does 1 point of Health damage. You may only pick this once.

Skilled Flier: Your aerial movement improves by 5 ft. You must have Flight to pick this improvement.

Level 4

Dragon Magic: You gain the Magical General Perk. You may only pick this once.

Fireproof Scales: You are now immune to fire damage. You may only pick this once.

Potent Breath: Your breath can now burn items even if they don’t usually light on fire. You can melt glass and metal when you use your breath on objects. If you also have Intense Breath, increase the damage to 2. You may only pick this once.

Resilient: You gain an additional +1 to your Health

Level 10

Draconic Brawn: You’re extra strong and can lift, move, and carry twice as much weight as a creature of your size. You can only pick this once.

Dragon Secrets: You gain ↑1 on Spellcasting Skill Tests after other bonuses are determined. You can’t use this bonus to cast spells if your Spellcasting is 0.

Sing the Song of Gold: By singing the song of gold, you gain ↑2 to Skill Tests to find hidden items and treasure! You can only pick this once.

Dragon Growth

The second time you pick a Dragon Perk, you grow and get bigger. When you do so, you gain ↑1 on Brawn Skill Tests to lift and carry objects (you still roll with Snag if you didn’t put any points in Brawn, though). See the table below for how big you can grow. When two sizes are listed, you can choose which size you prefer.

Dragon Size Table

This table describes the relationship between the number of Dragon Perks (#) a dragon character has and the bonuses and drawbacks it brings.

---

#	Size Category	Brawn Bonus	Song of Gold DIF
1	Small	0	0
2	Common	↑1	0
3	Large or Long	↑2	15
4	Huge or Extended	↑3	18
5	Gigantic or Extended II	↑4	21
6	Towering or Extended III	↑5	24

Once a dragon becomes Large, they begin to get greedy as they start trying to gather a hoard. They gain the following Hang Up and it gets harder to resist the bigger the dragon gets:

I Must Have It

The dragon’s sense of greed starts to develop at this stage as their instinct to claim treasure and take it back to build their nest starts to develop. If they encounter a rare or unique object that is of great value to the dragon, they must attempt a DIF 15 Survival Skill Test to avoid becoming infatuated with it. This compulsion is not a subtle effect.

New Spell

Scroll Messenger
(Elementary, Utility)

↓1 Spellcasting, Instant, 200 miles

This is a special spell that lets a dragon transport scrolls across Equestria. This spell only works on specially prepared scrolls with the right kind of paper, but such paper is freely available in Ponyville. Upon casting the spell the magician sets fire to the scroll, which burns up instantly and reappears floating in front of the intended recipient. The caster must be able to picture the recipient and a place they might be near in their mind as they cast the spell. As such they must have a vague idea where the recipient is likely to be and have met them in person.