Of men becoming dragons...

[EchoMirage]

Who wouldn't like to become a predator and lord of the skies? Men are fascinated by the thought of flying through the air, armed with clawsof steel, clad in scales tougher than any knight's plate...
Now, mother nature has denied us being born into such splendor and power - yet did she leave a way for us to go to reach that goal?

[EchoMirage] It's called a 'Barchorr'
[EchoMirage] a huge lizard-like thingie.
[manfred] Sounds cute.
[EchoMirage] not too bright, very tough and weighing a whopping ten tons
[manfred] ...so far.
[manfred] So the usual dinosaur type. And the special thing is... ?
[EchoMirage] it spends most of its time chewing on grass and trees and crops and just about anything it can find. If it finds a herd of cattle, it gobbles them up,... the only weird thing is the method of pro-creation.
[EchoMirage] they pick a tree.
[EchoMirage] lay an egg inside it... and the procedds to dumping all of its feces around it, and injecting a stimulant.
[EchoMirage] the tree grows,and with it the egg.
[EchoMirage] or rather - eggs: one large and two dozen small ones.
[EchoMirage] the tree gains a sort of conscience and limited mobility to be able to defend the egg.
[EchoMirage] the twenty-something small eggs hatch soon, and small winged beasties emerge, which fly to trees in the general vicinity, and burrow inside them, granting a limited intelligence and mobility as well.
[manfred] (Nature calls, but keep writing please!)
[EchoMirage] thus, soon after laying eggs, the Barchorr creates and aggressive grove full of dung, all meant to defend its kid. A Barchorr can easily live a hundred years, and lays one or two eggs each year. The grove tends to return to normal after the large egg hatches, but some stay awake
05:46:57 [EchoMirage] now, the funnypart is abut the eggs, which are just a shell full of protoplasm in the beginning. Besides being extra tasty and nutritious, they can be used in many an alchemistic brew
[manfred] How long does it take for it to hatch?
[EchoMirage] a long long time...
[manfred] "aggressive grove full of dung" -neat.
[manfred] I think the heap of dung would also harden on its surface on the main tree. The last deterrent.
[EchoMirage] but more about the egg!
[EchoMirage] in some obscure text, you can find instructions...
[manfred] So it may be the last piece of the long-gone megafauna. The stubborn beast that refuses to acknowledge evolution.
[EchoMirage] thattell you that if you break open just the tip of the egg, you canslide inside, and thenfall dormant, fed by the tree, hatching as something else (dunno wat)
[EchoMirage] yup, sorts of - but the treesare more useful in warding off small creatures - it is of little use against something thatcan withstand choking wines and lashing branches... so, the beastactually evolved to stave awaysmall critters.
[manfred] The last cry of the Jurassic Park?
[manfred] Weird. How about a ...
[manfred] ...dragon!
[EchoMirage] eww! a dragon!
[EchoMirage] perhaps that is the way how dragons came into being?
[Strolen] Oh, wow. Missed a bit apparently. Got sidetracked as always. Going to sign off though, finish my little post and take care of some things. Good to see ya Echo, sorry I can't chat. Laters manfred.
[EchoMirage] some pothead shaman actually jumped into the egg and was re-born as a pot-head dragon???
[EchoMirage] ?weird!
[manfred] I don't think it should be so easy (at the very least insert ritual+lots of magic),
[manfred] but this is what I would expect in an occult text on this matter.
[EchoMirage] hmmmm
[EchoMirage] hm
[manfred] "Becoming Dragon fast and easy in twenty years."
[EchoMirage] I guess I'd either pick a lesser creature than a dragon to have the heroes transform into...
[EchoMirage] or rather - perhaps differently coloured eggs have different properties....
[manfred] Certainly, I would not alllow such a thing. But legend may claim otherwise... *Evil GM grin*
[manfred] legends
[EchoMirage] well, maybe a dark puple egg can really make you into a dragon, but a light puple one might make you into a small water turtle.
[manfred]  that's too easy. Picking simply the right color is not for true heroes.
[EchoMirage] yup
[EchoMirage] so? no dragons?
[manfred] Ooooh, now come. This is a cool idea, but too munchkinous to be freely available to players.
[manfred] Hmmm...
[manfred] ...there is no Lifeform category yet. Once there will be, be sure to move it there.
[manfred] But you could put it in 'Flesh it out' instead, to get more ideas on it.
[manfred] (As I did with those Icathian laws  )
[EchoMirage] so.. copy and paste?
[manfred] The legend of men becoming dragons should be there.
[manfred] And a little edit.

[Kinslayer]

It's definately strong on potential for abuse.  An extended incubation period would greatly reduce this.  That is, if the character is removed for 20 years (or centuries, or even just a few days for some players...), then that character is effectively removed from the campaign.  If the whole group decides to wait until each has an egg, then the group still stays together, and play balance within the group is maintained, without however, is completely different.  

Control over the campaign world can be maintained by having this be occulted, and unreliable, as some people will pay dearly for the privilege, once it becomes known.  

Another limiting option is to have the process result in a sort of proto-dragon, rather than the full thatch-roof-cottage-burninating kind.  True dragons instead are the descendants of previous experimentors.  

Yet another option is to have the dragons themselves watch over things.  If you knew of a ritual to turn yourself into a dragon, wouldn't you stop others from doing so?  Dragons can attack barchorrs, or simply check groves of walking trees for the big excrement-encrusted one.  If that shell has been cracked, then someone else may be attempting the dragon metamorphosis--torch that tree.  

To make things even more uncertain, make the story be false.  Even if one successfully makes their way past the defenses & enters the egg, then they simply drown in the yolk, rather than transform into anything other than a sticky corpse.