#draconomicon

[titleknown]

I think one of D&D's most underrated dragons is the Howling Dragon from 3e, specifically because it's a creature that mainly attacks by screaming and looks exactly how you would expect a creature who mainly attacks by screaming would:

[catulhu333]

Bahamut and Tiamat were aspects of Io/Asgorath in early 2nd edition of AD&D lore?

...as well being the two key archetypes influencing all dragons, and in 1st edition of AD&D, the only gods of dragons?

2014/2015 "Rage of Dragons" miniatures of Tiamat and Bahamut

Wile changes to Bahamut and Tiamat (and deific dragon lore in general) in 5th edition (were Bahamut and Tiamat are the supreme, and only real draconic gods), and to a degree 4th edition (were Bahamut and Tiamat were 2 halves of Io), were controversial; these changes are actually based on far older lore, that was changed mid 2nd edition, with 1992's Monster Mythology and further on.

In 1st edition of Advanced Dungeons and Dragons, Bahamut and Tiamat were the only dragon gods, with worship by dragons being split between them, as seen in 1984 article "Dragons and their deities" in Dragon #86: "Evil dragons worship Tiamat, and good dragons worship Bahamut. That is, for all practical purposes, the extent of common knowledge about the way dragons worship their deities."

The divinity of of two was first outright affirmed in 1980 in "Leomund's Tiny Hut: Rearranging and Redefining the Mighty Dragon" in Dragon #38; with Tiamat kinda earlier in the original 1978's Monster Manual, were she was presented among the Lords of Nine.

Miniatures of Bahamut (or as named in the catalog the Platinum Dragon) and Tiamat (or as named in the catalog the Spectral Dragon), from Grenadier Models 1990 catalogue, originally from the 1989 Dragon of the Month II line from 1989. Special thanks @oldschoolfrp, thanks to who I know of this lines existence. Their original post here. I recommend checking them out.

Paladine and Takhisis from Dragonlance, also debuting in 1984, were often identified with Bahamut (Paladine) and Tiamat (Takhisis). It's rather ambiguous though - the creator of both, Jeff Grubb believing this, but writers of Dragonlance novels, and main architects of the setting, Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman (who basically gave them personality and story), believing them as similar, but separate characters/deities.

Official publications either suggested a connection, or stated them to be the same (as well as Bahamut and Tiamat gaining traits of Paladine and Takhisis, like being siblings, and in past, lovers), with 5th edition (with 2021's Fizban's Treasury of Dragons), stating them to be the same.

Constellations of Krynn, in the center Takhisis (left) and Paladine (right) opposing each other, the Gilean' constellation between them. From 1984's "DL5: Dragons of Mystery".

Still, Paladine on Krynn (the world Dragonlance is set in) is/was the leader of the Gods of Good, and Takhisis is/was the leader of the Gods of Evil, and were among the most powerful deities of the setting, equaled only by their brother Gilean and second only to the High God and Chaos.

According to 1989's "Player's Guide to Dragonlance, the two together created the first dragons: "Paladine is Father of Good and Master of Law. During the Age of Dreams, Paladine led the gods in creation. Paladine and Takhisis, Queen of Darkness, infused the raw fury of chaos with form and purpose, creating the first material beings— dragons. Takhisis, jealous the first creations were not entirely hers, corrupted the chromatic dragons to evil. Paladine replaced his fallen children with the good, metallic dragons, but Takhisis’s act began the rift between good and evil."

This origin of dragons on Krynn evolved overtime though, with some changes, but I won't elaborate on this here.

1990's Draconomicon

The draconic pantheon was first expanded with 1990's Draconomicon, though oddly, Bahamat and Tiamat are not among the list of Draconic deities, at least seemingly.

The book instead presents Bahamut and Tiamat instead as seemingly archetypal forms of all dragons (even indeed, the twin Platonic forms of all dragons), even their gods, all of whom (with one exception) are their "pale reflections": " And here the conversation must turn to dragons, for in these species the diffusion theory seems to be the only suitable explanation for their wide-spread existence. Dragons are the only creatures for which there exist archetypal forms. In dragonkind, these forms are Bahamut, the Platinum Dragon, and Tiamat, the Chromatic Dragon. All of the core species of dragonkind the good aligned metallic dragons and the evil-aligned chromatic dragons (ignoring for a moment those fringe species like crystal dragons) seem to be pale reflections of their archetypal forms, displaying some but not all of that archetypes characteristics. For example, a red dragon possesses some but not all of the characteristics attributed to Tiamat, while a gold dragon possesses some but not all of the characteristics attributed to Bahamut. Indulging in mathematical language for a moment, each species of dragon seems to be a subset of properties belonging to one or other of the archetypes. Or, conversely, each archetype seems to possess a superset of the properties possessed by the appropriate class of dragonkind. Some sages truly believe this observation to be representative of the truth of the matter. According to this theory, the very existence of the two archetypal forms Bahamut and Tiamat is responsible for the existence of dragons throughout the multiverse. In metaphorical language, dragons are the shadows that the archetypes cast across the planes. As shadows are, in a sense, subsets of the creatures casting them as they must be, since shadows are two-dimensional so are the shadows of the dragon archetypes subsets of those archetypes characteristics and powers."

Two of the dragon gods, Lendys and Tamara, as Platinum Dragons, seem to be even closer to the archetype of Bahamut, both being platinum dragons themselves, but still lesser than him.

In the same book, there is also mentioned the oldest and highest draconic god, Asgorath the World-Shaper, later identified with Io. Asgorath is stated to to be creator of dragons, and the universe (in the sense of seemingly all existence), at least according to dragons.

But, the myth in the same sourcebook (as found in-universe in the Book of the World, a written down red dragon myth, suggests Asgorath is Tiamat: "It is easy to speculate, based on this myth. The plural inflection of the word breath might be taken as implying multiple heads; the Thorass word for renegade is bahmat. It seems almost too close a correlation can Asgorath be Tiamat and the Renegade be Bahamut?"

This is further alluded in Asgorath's description: "Thus, reds believe that Asgorath is Chaotic Evil as implied in the Book of the World mentioned at the beginning of the chapter while bronzes believe Asgorath is Lawful Good."

Suggesting that like red dragons see/perceive Asgorath as Tiamat, Bronze (and other good dragons) would see the World-Shaper as Bahamut. And that the two "archetypal dragons" are themselves seemingly aspects/parts/avatars of Asgorath. Which is further suggested together with Bahamut's description in Draconomicon: "Sages continue to debate the true nature of Bahamut. Is he the archetype of all good dragonkind, the ideal of which all other dragons are merely shadows? Is he an avatar of a greater deity?"

This is quite obviously an inspiration for Io being split in ancient times into Bahamut and Tiamat in 4th edition/Nerath lore. As well as in "Fizban's Treasury of Dragons", presenting Bahamut and Tiamat as the origin of all dragons, and their forms, it even also using allusions to platonic forms, and shadows of higher reality. As well as Bahamut and Tiamat creating the original universe (that split into the multiverse), like Asgorath was stated to.

Io was first introduced in 1992's Monster Mythology, if very probably taking inspiration from Asgorath (with whom he is directly identified in the book), as well as perhaps Krynn's High God. Io is also stated there to be believed by dragons to be their creator, and of all of existence. As well repeating Platonic and Gnostic ideas from Draconomicon about the world being a shadow of a higher, truer reality: "We Dragon-sages make a distinction between the Two Voids; the First Void, wherein only Io had existence, and the Shadow Void, where Io's willingly shed blood created the potential for existence and creation to come into being. Most non-dragon races only know of the Shadow Void, and they do not know of the earlier time outside time when only the Ninefold Dragon existed."

Monster Mythology though, makes Bahamut and Tiamat somewhat lesser in status, making them Lesser Gods, though only Io (as a Greater God) and Chronepsis (an Intermediate God) are above them, the other two gods (Faluzure and Aesterinian), being on the same level of power. Still though, it is a visible downgrade from their grand role in Draconomicon, and of their counterparts (Paladine and Takhisis) on Krynn. Monster Mythology is also the the first to make Bahamut and Tiamat explicitly siblings and "intended mates".

1998's "Cult of the Dragon" sourcebook, combined the draconic pantheons mentioned described in Draconomicon and Monster Mythology, often identifying/conflating some deities between the two (notably Asgorath and Io, though that was done before). Though this also resulted in a seeming further downgrade in status of Bahamut and Tiamat, them being still Lesser Gods (and Bahamut identified with Xymor, made as possible child of Lendys and Tamara), while including multiple Intermediate Gods (Astilabor, Garyx, Kereska, Lendys, Null as the Guardian of the Lost/Chronepsis, Tamara and Zorquan).

[rubensmuse]

all you need to know abt me is that when i was a child a major highlight of my day was sitting in the basement staring rapturously at These

out of a book the size of my head

[hydrogenperfoxide]

So i wasn't one of those kids. I was one of THESE kids https://archive.org/details/DraconomiconTheBookofDragons/mode/2up

This is a D&D 3.5 book of dragons. I had always wanted Dragonology, but wasn't allowed to get it. Then I found this one and i guess because it was part of a game I was?? Idk I read that thing ALL the time. I have no clue where it went but I loved it a ton and I'm so excited it's on Internet Archive.

The lore is fun, the pictures are fun, I love it so much. If I ever find it I'm going to make sure it stays safe even though I don't play 3.5 ever and I barely play D&D

you know he would have been one of Those kids

inspired by this pic:

[lalarawr]

yeah so. ive been a little busy

[beigetiger]

Just watched “Harpy Hare” and am fighting the demons to animate it as Sky characters

[the-griffons-saddlebag]

💎 𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗺! Encyclopedia Creature Obscura
Wondrous item, rare ___ There are fourteen unique entries in this classic, hard-to-find series of encyclopedic tomes, which were originally written by renowned hunters and archdruids. When found, roll a d20 or choose from the table below to determine which encyclopedic volume it is. If you have at least 5 levels in the ranger class and spend 48 hours over a period of 6 days or fewer studying the book’s contents and practicing its guidelines, you gain the favored enemy and language (or similar effect) associated with your volume of the encyclopedia. If you have 5 or more levels in the druid class and spend that same time reading it, you can use an action to expend 2 uses of your Wild Shape to transform into the volume’s associated Wild Shape option or cast the listed spell. A benefit gained from the book is permanent.  | 1 | Aberration: A Speculation on Aberrant Physiology | Aberrations; Deep Speech | Gibbering Mouther | 
 | 2 | Beast: Wild Beasts and Their Domestication | Beasts; beasts can understand the meaning of your words, though you have no special ability to understand them in return | Giant Scorpion | 
 | 3 | Celestial: The Divinity of Celestials, a Testament | Celestials; Celestial | Pegasus | 
 | 4 | Constructs: The Inner Workings of Automatons | Constructs; your choice of language | Rug of Smothering | 
 | 5 | Dragon: The Draconomicon | Dragons; Draconic | Gold Dragon Wyrmling | 
 | 6 | Elemental: Fire and Water, a Primordial Project | Elementals; Primordial | Gargoyle | 
 | 7 | Fey: An Interpretation of Fey Minds | Fey; Sylvan | Dryad | 
 | 8 | Fiend: A Transcript of Fiendish Habits | Fiends; Abyssal or Infernal | Hell Hound | 
 | 9 | Giant: A Documentation of Giant Culture | Giants; Giant | Ogre | 
 | 10 | Humanoid: A Study of Humanoid Behavior | Humanoids (any two races); your choice of language | You cast the "alter self" spell (no concentration required) | ... Continued in the comment below! ___ ✨ Patrons get huge perks! Access this and hundreds of other item cards, art files, and compendium entries when you support The Griffon's Saddlebag on Patreon for less than $10 a month!

[alamuts-lair-of-madness]

I loved the Draconomicon book and the wallpapers and screensavers set, that they used to promote it with it!

I understand some of you are 19 but that is not an old man, he's 32.

[vintagerpg]

This is Dragons (1986 second edition, originally 1984), part of Mayfair’s Role Aids line for Dungeons & Dragons. I am sure its existence has nothing to do with Dragonlance, right? RIGHT? Oh, wait, no, there is a dragonlance right there on the cover. And “Dragonlord" is giving off some big “legally distinct from Dragon Highlord” energy. I dig the tie-in with Grenadier’s Dragonlords (which was what they renamed their D&D line after TSR dickishly pulled the license in order to fail at producing their own miniatures) and the dragon of the month club.

The sourcebook section is great. It takes a monster everyone loves but about which not a lot is definitively known, and just fleshes out all the details. This is the best book on D&D dragons until 3.5E’s Draconomicon. You have social structures, connections to the gods, detailed aging processes, diseases, physiology, parasites, pets, creatures that live in symbiosis, magic, specific plant and geological lore known by dragons. It’s shockingly exhaustive and there is still room for detail on setting, the dragonlord sub-class and three adventures. Solid art throughout, too — Dawn Wilson on the cover, Jeff Busch and Robin Wood inside.

I can’t help but read the adventures as a direct knock-off of Dragonlance. The first one incorporates “board game” elements, there’s a civil war, someone is using magic to coerce dragon support and the whole thing culminates in a temple. It’s just the broad strokes, but it makes me laugh that they got it done in one.

[ttrpg-smash-pass-vs]

Excuse the long post, something I want to explain about dragons. Feel free to ignore.

D&D dragons are specifically not reptiles. Any resemblance is stated in the draconomicon to only be skin-deep and we've not heard any word against that since. For instance, they're not exothermic, or "cold blooded". They constantly produce body heat!...with no way of shedding it, excess heat just stops existing because fuck you they're magic. They're not imbued with magic, they ARE magic as much as they are flesh. People just said "hey its got scales, must be a lizard." We've also heard no word on whether they have cloaca. These are not natural creatures in the traditional sense. They're magical aliens that were hurtled in from space, or crafted by gods, or practically elementals of the normal world, or any number of other setting-specific things that would have no reason to follow convention. Even without that, pretty much every phylum of the animal kingdom is riddled with exceptions anyway. Egg laying mammals with multiple vaginas, invertebrates without an entrance to their genitals, claspers, shapes designed to be incredibly impractical, prehensile junk, penis bones, accordion vaginas, ones with false endings, "teeth." My point is, we have absolutely NO idea what's going on down there. It could be a cloaca. It could be multiple. It could be something unlike anything on earth. It could be like mammalian junk, which scaling in proportion with existing megafauna could easily fit a person for the full grown ones. I had to do the math for a Tyranny of Dragons campaign, it's not what you think and likely far weirder. Don't ask. But right now? It's whatever the hell you want it to be, because I doubt we're getting an answer. Let your dreams run wild.

[rubensmuse]

images that make me emotional

[flimsy-roost]

I also have found at least one of the two books I actually set out to find which is this one

visiting home, found part of my hoard of DnD 3.5e books including a bunch of Faerun specific ones, who needs specific references in the next 36 hours

[simplegeneral]

Doodle Snergs

Several doodles I did for studying dragon designs from draconomicon

Posted using PostyBirb

[emmanuellececchi]

List 5 topics you can talk on for an hour without preparing any material.

thanks for the tag @celeluwhenfics, @firelightinferno and @quillofspirit

I am scratching my head so...

minerals formation (context, origin, etc.)

technical aspect of baking (temperature, humidity, etc)

Lord of the Rings/Hobbits/Silmarillion

cats and their behaviour

the impact of personnal background on textual interpretation.

Tagging @errruvande @sotwk @hobbitwrangler @erathene @frodothefair and anyone curious and willing!

edit : I forgot something... I don't know why but DRAGONS! (I have books, history, the draconomicon, and so on).

[honourablejester]

Adventure Ideas from Fizban’s Treasury of Dragons

I’m rereading it recently, it’s definitely one of my favourite D&D books I’ve ever bought. And the Adventure Hooks & Connected Creatures sections of each dragon’s entry in this book’s Draconomicon are so good for adventures/adventure elements involving dragons. Some of my favourites, arranged according to vague categories:

Dragon Dungeons

“Ruins rumored to hold the treasury of a lost empire are guarded by an elaborate network of ooze-based traps designed by a restless adult black dragon.”

“An adult black dragon has hidden a cache of gems in a dismal topiary maze filled with shambling mounds, traps, and noxious plant life, all for the amusement of testing adventurers.”

(Black dragons, because of their association with fallen cultures and propensity for traps, make for great dungeon builders. Also, acid is just a nasty environmental hazard to build around, and they’re exactly the sorts of sadists who’ll make full use of it)

“A deep dragon wyrmling with an experimental bent has created a "garden" of gray oozes.”

“An adult green dragon and an adult gold dragon skirmish over control of the vine-choked ruins of a floating mausoleum and its library of talking skulls.”

(I have many, many questions about this one. Starting with the floating mausoleum (floating on water? In the air?), the library of talking skulls (though there’s one of those in Sigil as well, necromantic libraries of trapped spirits are apparently a thing), and finishing with why this particular pair of dragons are skirmishing over it. Are they each looking for information? The same information or different information? Is one of them, likely the gold, trying to destroy the library? I just. I have so many questions about this set of circumstances, and it’d be a fascinating thing to have a party stumble across, especially if they have something THEY might want from the library as well)

“A topaz dragon is building a tableau of desiccated creatures and has grown obsessed with catching one treasure hunter who escaped the dragon's clutches.”

NPCs with Draconic Friends

This is just a fantastic collection of NPCs to scatter around and have parties meet. Starting from NPCs with wyrmling companions, ranging from the fun to the rather tragic:

“A gnome relic hunter looting a long-abandoned city strikes up an unlikely partnership with a black dragon wyrmling to plunder an archaeological dig.”

“A knight rescued a bronze dragon wyrmling from sacrifice at the hands of a cult, and the two now travel together in search of wrongs to right.”

“A tiefling child has secretly hidden and raised a red dragon wyrmling from an egg. The wyrmling is bonded to the child, but dangerous to anyone else.”

“A family of deep gnomes adopts a shadow dragon wyrmling, hoping to show the dragon a noble path through gloom and despair.”

“A pirate crew keeps a curmudgeonly topaz dragon wyrmling as a beloved mascot.”

To NPCs with young dragon companions:

“A child's imaginary friend is a very real young copper dragon who can cast invisibility.”

“A young crystal dragon uses dancing lights and hypnotic pattern to give an air of authenticity to a charlatan fortuneteller's act, in exchange for a portion of the take from the charlatan's clients.”

“An assassin and a young emerald dragon train together to master the art of stealth.”

To more dangerous NPCs/enemies with adult or older draconic protection:

“An adult shadow dragon and a death knight are both hunted by adventurers. In their previous lives, the two were sworn enemies, but now they join together against their common foes.”

(There’s a real romance to this, two sworn enemies who fell to separate evils who come together now for pure survival. I would TOTALLY play this for undying loyalty, have the two of them be undoubtedly evil but also genuinely, death-defyingly loyal to each other, the only ones who know fully what each other has been through.)

“A death knight and an ancient white dragon swap tales of old foes and unanswered grievances, nursing the hunger for vengeance that sustains them.”

(Not going to lie, I’m really fond of this pairing, and not just because it’s a fantastic picture of two bitter, hateful, disgruntled old fogies sitting in the bitter cold grumbling together about ancient grudges, but instead of two grumpy old men at a bar, one of them is undead, and the other is a DRAGON. If the party is good at stealth, it’d be a fantastic picture to throw at them, you’re just hiding there holding your breath while these two incredibly lethal foes just *grumble* and commiserate with each other)

Dragons Loyal Beyond Death

Somewhat of a continuation of the above, more draconic loyalty, even after the death/corruption of the one they’re loyal to:

“An adult gold dragon feels responsible for a paladin's fall from grace and sends minions across the world in search of the paladin—now a death knight—so they both might be redeemed.”

(Fizban’s firmly believes that dragons and death knights make the best thematic companions, and I will grant them this point, because it’s got some fantastic warped chivalric imagery and I love it. A nice quest to entangle the party in if they’re the sort to enjoy moral quandries and redemption)

“A renowned gnome trickster, now deceased, so impressed an ancient copper dragon that the dragon assumes the gnome's form from time to time to help keep their legend alive.”

(This is just the … the best, most loving use of a dragon’s lifespan and shapeshifting abilities. That theme from The Last Unicorn of immortality through the memory of an immortal being. And of *course* it’s a gnome and a copper dragon, of course it’s the admiration of two tricksters. I’m not sure how well it’d fit into an adventure, but having a party learn this secret and decide what to do with it, to reveal the deception or let it continue, could be an interesting angle)

“Despite repeated mind flayer attacks, a young deep dragon refuses to leave the cave where the dragon's best friend—an adventurer who won the dragon's respect and affection—lingers as a ghost.”

(… I’m crying. What’s the solution here? Convince the ghost to move on or otherwise lay the ghost to rest so that the dragon can leave, knowing that this will mean the dragon loses their friend for good? Try to convince the dragon to leave their friend even if they still exist? Try to destroy the mindflayer colony? Try to somehow hide the cave from the mindflayers, so that the two can stay together? Try to distract the mindflayers with a different conflict so they’ll focus their efforts in that direction instead (at the risk of other nearby inhabitants)? What a fantastic and heartbreaking little situation to stumble across)

Dragon Communities

Whole communities that have incorporated or built up around a dragon, for when you want dragons as an acknowledged part of daily life somewhere, and have parties decide how to deal with that:

“An adult copper dragon serves as the patron of a community of gnome tinkerers, who present their best ideas to the dragon in hopes of being funded.”

(Sidenote: gnomes and dragons seem to get on great)

“A community of seal hunters reveres an ancient crystal dragon as the spirit of their glacier home. Such worship amuses and flatters the dragon, who keeps the hunters safe and leads them to locations where seals are plentiful.”

“A clan of gnomes pays a young dragon turtle to serve as a mobile refueling platform for their fleet of steamboats.”

(I love this one SO MUCH. Starting from the gnome steamboat flotilla itself, however you want to play this, from just a great lakes inspiring shipping business to an after-the-end Waterworld type scenario, to them then having a goddamn dragon turtle cooperating with them. Fantastic from all angles)

“An emerald dragon is the headmaster in absentia of a bardic college and must be convinced to defend the school in a contest against a rival college.”

Other Cool Dragon Plots

And then just some assorted draconic plots, which was *almost* just ancient dragons causing problems, but there was also one miscellaneous shadow dragon prompt that was just fantastic as well:

“An ancient green dragon is the guardian of a lich's phylactery and extorts favors from the lich.”

(Now *there’s* a power struggle to get embroiled in. A lich attempting to use the parties as agents to unknowingly retrieve their phylactery for them from an *undoubtedly* evil dragon’s hoard, and a subtle, sneaky green dragon who is literally *holding the lich’s life hostage against it* and who could potentially just reveal that to get the party to back off. If they didn’t feel like be subtle and using their own shapeshifting to turn the party back on the lich some other way. I fucking love green dragons. They’re such fantastic bastards and I adore them)

“An ancient crystal dragon follows a pod of whales from one sea to another, having grown fond of the valuable ambergris they leave in their wake. Now whalers are scheming to kill the dragon.”

(Okay. This is just such great *imagery* to start with, the whales and the whalers and the vast draconic protector, the greed and the livelihoods and the protection of nature, the looming mercantile interests of the perfume industry that uses the product … Ambergris is such a fascinating RL substance and history. Also, great quest if you’ve got druids or other characters interested in the protection of nature, balanced against more ‘civilised’ interests and risking’s the party’s relationship with some likely quite powerful players)

“An ancient deep dragon has put the folk of a city to work building the dragon a metropolis to rule in the center of a vast underground salt lake.”

(Again, this is just such a great, eerie image for a party to stumble across. The vast white lake under the black ceiling, the salt-scarred slaves (or are they slaves? could they be working willingly, and why?) toiling to raise labyrinthine white walls, the strange, fungal, nightmarish dragon at the centre of it. Given the deep dragon attraction to knowledge and writings, there could be an underdark library involved, strange writings embedded in carved salt granting the entire edifice unnatural durability as the deep dragon’s regional effect, that physical forms of writing cannot be damaged by nonmagical means within 6 miles of the lair, mean that these white, bloodstained walls *will not fall easily*. It’s just … such an image)

“A shadow dragon hunts the descendants of the miners who, centuries ago, uncovered the Shadowfell portal that caused the dragon's corruption.”

(And for a finisher, I just really like this. This miner’s curse, this vengeance from beneath the earth, this black shadow that follows a family line for not even a crime but a centuries-old *accident*. Possibly the Miner Forty Niner from Scooby Doo stuck a little too hard for me, but cursed miners is still just a great image. Is it worth attempting to convince the dragon that the sins of the fathers should not be borne by the sons? Or do we just have to slay the dragon?)

Conclusion

I do love this book. A lot. The Draconomicon section on its own is well worth reading. But, well. I also just really like dragons. So there’s that. Heh.

[kadmosart]

RED DRAGON FROM DND 3 SERIES

Concept art for a big project inspired by Draconomicon book.