Myth Direction: Dragons’ Teeth

Dragons’ teeth figure in two tales from Greek mythology:  the story of Cadmus, founder of Thebes, and the story of Jason and the golden fleece.  In both cases, the teeth, when planted in the ground, would grow into armed human warriors eager for battle.

Cadmus, a Phoenician prince, arrived at the site of Thebes following the advice of the oracle at Delphi, who had instructed him to follow a cow and to build a city wherever it stopped.  Having found his site, Cadmus wished to sacrifice the cow, and in order to do so had to fetch water from a spring sacred to Ares, which was guarded by a dragon.  Cadmus slew the dragon, but not before it killed many of his men.  Athena gave Cadmus half the dragon’s teeth, and told him to sow them; when he did, the warriors appeared.  He threw a stone among them, and, each thinking another had thrown the stone, they began to fight, until only five remained.  These five, along with Cadmus, became the founders of Thebes.

Athena gave the other half of the teeth to Aeetes, king of Colchis, who later offered the golden fleece to Jason if Jason would sow them.  Jason did, employing a similar strategy and successfully overcoming the challenge.

I always liked the Cadmus myth.  It ends tragically, by the way — he suffered great misfortune as a result of killing the dragon.  According to Euripides, he’s even turned into a dragon after Dionysus subjugates Thebes.

So naturally, I wrote up the teeth as a magic item for my Galadria game.  This was in the third edition days, obviously; I’m not even certain whether I was using 3.5 at the time, although I suspect I was.  I’ll present that original writeup first:

Dragon’s Tooth

An ancient legend in Alathea states that dragon’s teeth, when sown, will grow very rapidly into berserk warriors.  While this is not true of ordinary dragons’ teeth, the tale apparently inspired the wizard who first created these items, and whose name is now lost to history.

A dragon’s tooth is a fang, usually about the size of a spearhead, though larger (and more potent) ones exist.  It appears normal to most inspection, but it possesses the property to spawn a warrior under the right circumstances.  First, the planter must have or create a furrow in the ground, a crack in which to drop the tooth.  Second, it must be covered over by at least a thin layer of dirt, sand, or dust.  Third, a drop of water is required to start the process.  Under normal conditions, therefore, sowing teeth is a full-round action that provokes attacks of opportunity (but multiple teeth can be sown in the same round, if the owner so wishes).  In some conditions (on a stone floor, for instance), it may take longer, at the DM’s discretion.

Each tooth sown in this manner spawns 1d3 armed and armored warriors.  The warriors ‘grow’ quickly, and are able to act in the round after the teeth were sown.  The warriors are berserk; they can be directed to attack, but if not so directed, they will attack in melee the nearest creature other than their creator, including each other.  The warriors are completely immune to fear and will fight until dead or unconscious; once knocked out, their berserk fury leaves them, and if their wounds are tended, they will become friendly to the creature that healed them.  They are no longer subject to their creator’s direction after their fury ends, and are treated like any other independent NPCs.

Caster Level:  7; Prerequisites:  Craft Wondrous Item -or- Brew Potion, Summon Monster IV; Market Price: 1,400 gp

Dragontooth Warriors:  male Barbarian 2; CR 2; Medium-size Humanoid (human); HD 2d12+8; hp 26; Init +1; Spd 40′; AC 13 (touch 9, flat-footed 12) or 15 with shield (touch 9, flat-footed 14); Atk +9 weapon melee (by type; see possessions) or +8 shortsword melee (1d6+5); SA fury/rage; SQ fast movement, immune to fear; AL N; SV Fort +7, Ref +1, Will +2; Str 20, Dex 13, Con 18, Int 10, Wis 9, Cha 12.
Skills: Climb +10, Intimidate +6, Jump +10, Listen +3, Swim +10
Feats:  Power Attack, Cleave

Special attacks:  Fury – Dragontooth warriors can rage as barbarians, with the following adjustments:  They are considered to be raging when created, and this initial rage is not limited in duration but lasts until the warrior is killed or knocked unconscious (or somehow magically calmed); during this initial rage, they are berserk and must attack each round in melee if at all possible.  If they are knocked unconscious and survive, this frenzy leaves them; they may continue to rage once per day afterward, but they then follow the normal barbarian rules.  The statistics above are for a raging warrior.  When not raging, the following changes apply:  hp 22; AC 15 (touch 11, flat-footed 14) or 17 with shield (touch 11, flat-footed 16); Atk +7 weapon melee (by type) or +6 shortsword melee (1d6+3); SV Fort +5, Will +0; Str 16, Con 14; Skills: Climb +8, Jump +8, Swim +8.

Special qualities:  Immune to Fear – Dragontooth warriors are immune to fear, as the paladin’s Aura of Courage except that instead of granting a morale bonus to others, they gain a +1 morale bonus to their own attacks.  (This is a trade for the barbarian’s Uncanny Dodge class ability.)
Fast Movement – As the barbarian class ability.

Possessions: masterwork weapon (1d6: 1 – greataxe, 2 – greatclub, 3 – greatsword, 4 – longspear, 5 – longsword, 6 – warhammer), large shield, short sword, chain shirt.

(More potent versions can be achieved by scaling up the level of summoning spell used as a prerequisite (therefore increasing the cost), and raising the level of the barbarians appropriately.  A Summon V, for instance, would create 1d3 third-level barbarians, and would cost 2,250 gp.  A Summon IX would create 1d3 9th-level barbarians, and would cost 7,650 gp.)

This was meant as an expendable item.  It’s a little more complex than it needs to be, I think, but it served pretty well in game.  For fourth edition D&D, I’d do something like the following:

Dragon’s Tooth (Level 7)

When planted in the ground, this tooth causes a fully-armed human berserker to grow.

Wondrous Item 2,600 gp

Power (Daily): Standard Action.  You plant the tooth in an unoccupied square adjacent to you.  At the end of your turn, a Human Berserker (Monster Manual, p. 163, except that this berserker is immune to fear effects and gains a +2 power bonus to attack with his greataxe) grows in that square.  The berserker acts on your initiative count, immediately after you act.  If left undirected, he will move toward the nearest enemy and attack in melee until that enemy is reduced to 0 hp, before moving to the next enemy.  He will avoid dangerous areas and difficult terrain if possible, but will otherwise attempt to occupy the nearest “safe” square to his target, regardless of tactical considerations.

You can direct the berserker as a move action.  He will then move as you desire and target the creature you choose; however, he must attack every round, unless he suffers a condition that prevents him from doing so.

The berserker remains under your control until the end of the encounter, or for five minutes.  At the end of that time, he comes out of his rage (losing his immunity to fear and power bonus to attack rolls) and seeks to depart.

The tooth reappears among your possessions the next day.

The one thing I’m not really sure about is the level of the item.  Three levels higher than the warrior’s level seems fair offhand, but I’d have to see it in action to be sure.  That does make for a kind of fragile berserker, but that’s a balance factor:  in 4e, effects that grant “extra” attacks are rare, and conjured allies don’t produce the same kind of impact as in 3e.  The Tooth provides an instant NPC ally; the extra +2 to attack rolls should be enough to overcome the level differential and let him hit reasonably accurately.  It feels right, at least.  Dropping it into play will tell.

(Edited to adjust tags, 9/2/08)

Related posts:

1. Myth Direction: Excalibur
2. Myth Direction: the Faerie Courts
3. Myth Direction
4. Myth Direction: The Great Con
5. Barbarians at the Gates