Dragons By The Ounce

A while back I was perusing the front page of the internet, reddit, as one does while offering tribute to the porcelain gods. Hidden among the jungle of memes and cat videos I discovered a post that, in hindsight, I really should have saved for future reference. It was about the dragon's STEAL ability and how it might be used if the dragon were size category tiny or smaller. A user, who I would credit had I thought to bookmark the entry, posted an anecdote (which I will do my best to recreate; yet another reason I wish I had saved the post) from the game he was running:

The party had just completed a run through a dungeon and were headed into town to sell some loot, upgrade some gear, and resupply. While selling their hard won excess, one shopkeeper hands over a gold coin to which a tiny dragon is fiercely clinging. The adventurer tugs on the coin, but the minuscule dragon bears fangs and hisses. The shopkeeper interjects, "No no. You have to take the dragon too or he'll get cranky. Just spend him at another stall," the merchant said with a dismissive wave of his hand. "He likes to sightsee."

The party took an immediate liking to the tiny reptile and, rather than spend its coin somewhere else in the market, they adopted it as a troupe mascot; carrying it on their trek across the wilds and laying out a pile of coin for it to sleep on at night.

This is the kind of flavor that makes gaming so enjoyable to me. It's complete and total fluff, but it lends a certain amount of character to a game setting and speaks volumes about the players (and player characters) that while they could have just spent the dragon and moved on with plot, they instead made it a de facto member of the party. There was no reward or benefit for doing it, it just sounded cool and seemed like the thing to do.

Anyway, the story and its visuals inspired me. It doesn't really have a name yet, but I'm kind of leaning toward Mine!