DnD universe

>>51994921
They're Jews.

>>51994921
weakspots in there scale armour, specificly there more vunarable belly. The gold melts inbetween there scales and makes it more resilient. The dragons that didn't hoard simply died out.

I am not even going into how having a big hoard makes you a more attractive mate as a result.

>>51994921
My personal favorite explanation is taken from the Age of Fire books - they eat it, to strengthen their scales and keep them healthy.

Dragons are personifications of power and greed. The craving for material wealth is instinctual.

>>51994994
This. Don't overcomplicate it with nonsense about the health benefits of precious metals and gems. It's a dragon for god's sake.

Humanoid races view it as a status symbol. So on top of being powerful in their own right, dragons hoard treasures to further assure their dominance over humanoid races.

>>51994921
You know how birds pick up watches?

>>51994921
Gold is a soft metal, and makes for the most comfortable bedding for their unique preferences

>>51994921
They heard about the gold = XP rule

They just do as a matter of every dumbass dragon slayer showing up with bunches of gold and magic items who summarily get killed and their shit tossed in the pile, because dragons are neat freaks like that.

In Tolkien, it's because dragons were created by Morgoth and malice and avarice are designed into their nature.

For settings where they are natural, it's like birds: mate competition. A dragon wants to show that it has and can hold the most desirable, secure lair. The wealth has to be tangible and visible, and portable.

>>51994921
Because they want to and who's going to convince them to do otherwise?

>>51994921
Dragons are intelligent beings who are extremely powerful. Like any intelligent and powerful being they like having nice stuff. Go to almost any rich person's house and you will find expensive items that serve as nothing but decoration. Now remember that dragons live for a ridiculously long time. Over time they just build up possessions. Asking why a dragon hordes loot is like asking why an adventurer hordes loot, powerful beings just like to accumulate wealth.

>>51995131
>draconomicon
aaaand /thread

>>51994921
>DnD universe
Explain op

There are several universe and Dragon work differently in each one.

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>>51994921
>What is a good explanation for Dragons
In my home game Dragons "Eat" gold and jewels by absorbing it slowly. Absorption is really slow but work even while they are not aware, so you get your traditional dragon laying on a pile of gold.

Eating gold (or corresponding metals/gemstones) makes the dragon grow bigger and more powerful. Every couple of decades a dragon will wake up and go hunting for more "Food"

>>51994921
They like valuable things. Maybe not all dragons pursue gold; some want paintings, or secrets, or kingdoms. Anything that's valuable.

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>>51997470
Nice pic.

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Dragons are cold blooded reptile's, they need warmth for when night falls. They accomplish this by taking metals, which can conduct heat easier, and breathing fire on them, melting them into a warm slab that it can use as a giant makeshift heat rock, the reason they can't do this with normal rocks that sit in the sun is because of humans, they hunt them down for their scales for armour and trinkets so they retreated to caves and other hidden places to survive when they sleep. Stealing metals from humans is also easier then mining for it themselves.

>>51994921
They're trying to afford party hats on runescape.

>>52000334
What the fuck!! Dragons are warm-blooded!!

(Sci-Fi)
They're so long-lived that if they aren't constantly pursuing different hobbies the get bored, and then go insane. Making hordes gives them something to do that they can peruse for centuries and not get bored.

Gold is especially good for hordes because it is valued by practically every race in existence, and with proper investments you can get the instant gratification of throwing coins on to a pile without doing any work to earn them.

In dnd cosmology, you can use cash and treasure to make magic items and get favors outside your plane with the right rituals.

Hell, for evil dragons either the fiendish codex or the book of vile darkness gives you how much summoning evil outsiders cost and how evil you have to be.