[RPG] What happens if a dragon in Waterdeep has their permission to enter the city revoked

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The Waterdeep: Dragon Heist adventure (in a sidebar on p. 6) gives details of

Ahghairon’s Dragonward

In it, it states:

Waterdeep is blanketed by an undispellable magical effect called Ahghairon’s dragonward. The effect originates from somewhere under Ahghairon’s Tower in the Castle Ward and is permanent. Dragons and all other creatures of the dragon type are physically unable to enter the city (or its sewers) as long as the dragonward persists. The effect doesn’t extend to the harbor or into Undermountain.

Of specific interest are the way(s) a dragon can get permission:

A creature of the dragon type that is touched by the dragonstaff of Ahghairon (see appendix A) can ignore Ahghairon’s dragonward and move through the city freely. The effect lasts until the creature is touched again by the staff, or until the passage of a period of time specified by one who is attuned to the staff.

This makes it pretty clear that a dragon who has been so permitted may move through the city freely. It leaves silent what happens to a dragon who has this permission rescinded while they are still in the city.

Is there any lore from previous editions or elsewhere that describes what happens in such an event?

Best Answer

Yes, the 3.5e book City of Splendors: Waterdeep has extensive detail on this effect on page 20. In general this resource is an excellent companion item to the adventure Waterdeep: Dragon Heist for a whole host of other detail in the book.

In particular if a dragons permission is revoked they are subject to the effect which is:

an antipathy effect created by a mythal centered under Aghairon's Tower. The saving throw required under 3.5e was a Will Save of 41. Translating that into 5e is something I don't have enough experience of, but I would suspect that the minimum DC would be 30 for this under 5e.

The

Antipathy/Sympathy

spell from 5e, states that an affected creature feels

an intense urge to leave the area and avoid the target, and that the creature must succeed on a Wisdom Saving Throw or become frightened. [...] While frightened by the target, the creature must use its movement to move to the nearest safe spot from which it can't see the target [or is 60ft from it]

If the creature is successful in their save:

they become immune to the effect for 1 minute, after which time it can be affected again. (see Ending the Effect in the 5e spell)

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