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This adventure idea begins with the permanent transmogrification of a ('very lucky') CR 1/4 kobold-Urd into a Green dragon egg. This is done via the 5e spell True Polymorph. Simple, yes? Ha.

You Got Problems, Kid: True Polymorph creates creatures of CR 9 or less - this is a mondo-powerful spell! But for creature-into-creature casting, the CR prime-resultant must be less than the CR of origin. Simply put, this adventure's premise pends on a Green dragon egg having less Challenge Rating than this 1/4 CR Urd. Also of interest: polymorph-spells keep the 'alignment and personality' of the origin-creature. Do memories, culture &/or hopes-dreams survive this process? Hence the weird title, above.

True Question Asked / Answered: 'True' dragons are specifically the ten metallic-colour breeds or races listed in the monster manual. Other creatures of the dragon-type do not count as 'true': Pseudo dragons, wyverns, guard drakes and dragon turtles (and many others) do not count even if they have some or all of the True traits. For example, Faerie dragons have language, flight, spells, breath weapons and even age categories - but are NOT true. Some may point out that this urd could easily have become a Pseudo dragon - or virtually any other dragon if she just attained enough class levels first. Cut that out! I want her to become a RAW Green egg. We may add ham later on, if you like that sort of thing.

Which came first? The egg, of course: Assuming the egg is less than CR 1/4 (and this actually 'works'), what would the kobold remember of itself through this process? Most foetus-stage creatures would (logically) remember NOTHING as they are Tabula Rasa or blank-slate. However, dragons are smart - once born, Green dragons have 14 intelligence and speak Draconic. This implies vast A Priori or vast pre-set knowledge. With that intelligence and wisdom she could explain many key philosophies and even do quantum homework - albeit lacking adequate citations & references (i.e. not survive a day at Stack Exchange).

Would a foetus that keeps 'alignment and personality' include 'memory'?

Why ask / why bother / so what?? This previous life-memory changes the whole adventure! If this Green dragon remembers being a kobold, she KNOWS she is the product of a simple (albeit powerful) spell and is not a Green dragon. She is a true dragon via true polymorph that is not truly a dragon at all (possibly ironic). Also, if she does NOT remember, she would require either TrueSight magic (??) or some Legend Lore (??) or some other plot-mechanic to discover her previous life-form.

In any event:

Her survival as a Green dragon (form) pends on avoiding various Dispel magics - as well as avoiding dropping to zero hit-points.

A final vexing question: Both kobolds and urds only live until 135 years maximum. An ancient Green dragon is easily 801+ years old. Does the creature 'inside' the polymorph age at the same pace, similar to Willow's friend? Or does her origin-format NOT age... in a similar way to, um... a petrified person might (not)?

Mechanical Mayhem:

This part may be six more StackExchange questions...

I cannot find it, but it would help to know what forms of dispels &/or anti-magic temporarily or permanently remove her form. And what magic(s) work to discover her dispel-vulnerability &/or history.

  • Can she survive (as her dragon-format) within a Dispel Magic spell in her general area? What if it is (successfully) cast to remove a spell or curse on her, would her polymorph also drop? Does this spell roll its 'saving throw' separately?

  • What if she enters an Anti-Magic Shell - or gets hit by the central eye of a (normal) Beholder? Does she become a bold yet old kobold whilst in this non-magic only to pop back into dragon shape once she is out? If so, a Beholder could / would / should really make use of this (i.e. 'plot relevant information').

  • What does True Sight style magics reveal whilst she is in Green dragon format? Do they see that bold-old kobold walking around inside her, mimicking her actions? What does that Lore of Legends say? What would Identify reveal?

Once upon a time a simple urd-kobold was abandoned due to her wings and 'gift' of flight. Yet, here we are at Stack Exchange - sorting out her inner-most identity problems. Sorry for the mess / hope you enjoyed reading this as much as i enjoy writing it.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ I'm unsure whether the structure/style of this question is helping with its readability and understandability. I believe I've figured it out, but it took me some re-readings of sections. Is this "True Dragon" term just a name you've given your set of constraints/requirements? \$\endgroup\$
    – Exempt-Medic
    Commented May 18, 2020 at 16:46
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    \$\begingroup\$ I think you may have had too much fun writing this - don't worry, I sympathise, but I really think you should edit this down to have less editorialising/commentry, less digressions that need it, and sections which reads either like answers, or discussion starters. At the moment you actual question (and the relevant details to it) drowns a bit in the length and flowery(?) language. \$\endgroup\$
    – Someone_Evil ♦
    Commented May 18, 2020 at 17:17
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    \$\begingroup\$ As a side note, we don't know that green dragons have 14 intelligence and speak draconic at birth; only that green dragon wyrmlings do. It is possible that the stat block for the green dragon wyrmling presumes some amount of learning, the Monster Manual just doesn't say. Furthermore, I doubt any dragon could do quantum homework, as that physical concept just hasn't been invented yet (in most settings). Sure, a dragon in a modern timeline certainly could as the average dragon's intellect is on par with the smartest humans, but that doesn't mean they can automatically know foreign concepts. \$\endgroup\$
    – David Coffron
    Commented May 18, 2020 at 17:58
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    \$\begingroup\$ I'm unclear on the specific question-- is it "can this setup be achieved?", "can this work as described here?", or "what mechanical consequences would this setup have?". Is this exact setup required for your adventure idea? It's intriguing, but as you've encountered there are some gaps in published descriptions that make this hard to define (RAW) at the level of precision the question suggests. But if you've already got a 9th level caster ready to do this to a kobold Urd, using Wish to do it instead explicitly puts all of these details into your hands and follows all rules. \$\endgroup\$
    – Upper_Case
    Commented May 18, 2020 at 19:27
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    \$\begingroup\$ @TimofTime I wasn't meaning to sound critical of your question or its complications! I think it's a fun setup. I'm asking if it's important for the story you want to tell that True Polymorph be the mechanism, or if you just need the kobold to become a dragon. I'm trying to figure out if the best answer would be "no, this can't be done", "use TP, and here are the details that will result", or "this is the most rules-consistent way to prepare this NPC, which doesn't involve TP". \$\endgroup\$
    – Upper_Case
    Commented May 18, 2020 at 21:25

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No, not RAW

If you want to do the true polymorph into an object, then it is an object. It is not a CR 0 creature.

Dragon Eggs are mentioned in some adventures, like Rise of Tiamat, Hoard of the Dragon Queen, Dungeon of the Mad Mage, and Storm King's Thunder. But none of them provide any mechanics or statistics for them, so developing that would be homebrew. The eggs in some of them do provide more information on when they hatch, but

they appear to be at the end of their gestational cycle. And I don't think you can decide during true polymorph how far along the would be.


The eggs don't even have an AC or HP as an object or creature, but they can be destroyed (apparently without any effort.) Which suggests that for these adventures they are more as a plot device than as a mechanic.

And then whether or not an object can then turn into a creature, is entirely up to you as the DM.

If you do want the Dragon Egg to be CR 0, then you're at the same point with homebrewing a creature. How that will then work with the rest of the plan is up to you as well.

Since the first step of your process hinges on this, then you are left with having to make that call as DM, in which case everything else can be hand-waved to fit your plot.

Telling your story

You've got a very cool story idea and plot device here. Just build your story around your ideas, make it consistent, and provide enough clues or information to your players for them to discover what they need to know and when.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ @NautArch Correct that unborn / newborn are implicitly objects as they are 'helpless'. Jeremy Crawford best avoid Republican Pro-Rights Conventions! Weird that a Shrieker has a CR of 0 & 10 xp. If a baby screams does it gain a CR? \$\endgroup\$
    – Timm Jimm Grimm
    Commented May 18, 2020 at 18:55
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    \$\begingroup\$ @TimofTime It's not implicitly clear. helpless creatures are still creatures, and not all creatures have attacks-- that's what separates cr 0 10 xp from cr 0 0 xp. \$\endgroup\$
    – Please stop being evil
    Commented May 18, 2020 at 19:13

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