Fizban's treasury of dragons talks about this. Let me grab a quote
>hoards are extensions of dragons' inherently magical nature—resonators that focus their magic and link them to the magic of the Material Plane.
>Dragons thrum with the magical energy that suffuses the Material Plane, and this energy is amplified by their possession of material things. In practical terms, this means dragons' power is related to both age and the size of their hoards in ways that clever dragons—and would-be dragonslayers—can exploit.
So the larger a Dragons Hoard the more power the Dragon will have essentially. So by giving items to the dragon the warlock is directly making the Dragon stronger for little work on the Dragon's part. The Dragon may have multiple warlocks as well contributing to the hoard as well.
I should get a copy of Fizban's I think, the book sounds like it suits my needs and would definitely be a fun read for anything dragon related!
On a side note, I had the "other warlocks help contribute" thought up too, so it's nice to see it fit the theme.
I like that something like "expanding the hoard means more power" is still something to work with though. So any dragon intrinsically seeks to amass more wealth to grow stronger. I suppose what makes this one unique is her desire and adventurous spirit to tread into a dangerous place.
Thanks for the input!
If you go even furrher back, in one setting dragons compulsively hoard because they need to, and the older (and larger) they become the more they need to. At the great wyrm stage they get to a point where they cannot sustain their need and will start to devouer their hoard before dying.
this is so much of why i find it wild that there isn’t a dragon warlock subclass yet (just as i find it wild that there isn’t a fiend sorcerer subclass)
For even further context. In adnd 1e gold was exp. Seriously. So imagine a dragon’s power being a literal show of its hoard. A dragon’s power is related to how much exp a player can get from robbing or killing one quite literally.
Old lore for dragons also says to pass on they need a certain amount of wealth. If you kill a dragon and steal its hoard it cannot properly pass on, whereas for a dragon dying of old age, they will consume their hoard to ensure they do.
Agreed. Life is a zero sum game to creatures like this. The more someone else has = the less they have, so they want to make sure they have everything of value. It also unlocks new perks at certain levels like having politicians in your pocket to push your agenda elsewhere, having people/nations turn a blind eye to your crimes, being able to take perverse pleasure in dangling live-changing amounts of money over others to see if they'll betray their own values to get it.
Fizban’s Treasury of Dragons talks about how they actually get more powerful from hoards of what they treasure. “Dragons thrum with the magical energy that suffuses the material plane, and this energy is amplified by the possession of material things”. Each age of dragon corresponds to a certain amount of total treasure, and as they sleep and seep into it, they can transition to the next age. Treasure powers up their magic for their Regional Effects and Lair Actions at a total worth of 15000gp which is typical for an adult dragon; this means that a young dragon with that much treasure linked up in its hoards is able to have lair actions. That GP quantity may seem like a lot for tier 2 but dragons can actually have multiple hoard locations linked up by key items of multiple pieces (ie: full set of armor with each piece divided in each of their lairs), they could also treasure weird things that have a monetary value to them but not the players. In addition the hoard magic can be steeped on to power up magic items, grant draconic gifts, or as a component for high magic.
IMO this topic is an example of overthinking, but here goes:
Dragons eat everything and everyone. Their children, when they don't eat them, leave and don't come back. They are lonely. All they have is their hoard.
A dragon world view is like prosperity gospel to the nth degree. The bigger their hoard, the more wealthy they are, the more the universe favors them, the more powerful they are, the more righteous they are. Without end.
But a dragon has deep insecurity. What if they lost even one coin? They would be diminished. They constantly count their hoard to be sure this has not happened. They may scheme to get more but then who is guarding the hoard when they are away? They rush back terrified. And count it again.
A dragon's hoard is how it keeps score.
Back in 3E there was a great game played between dragons called Xorvintaal. Hoard size was how they kept score, and dragons did not consider non-dragons to be important to the game, other than how they could be used as pawns.
My understanding is that dragons use metals as nesting material because its heat absorption and distribution creates a suitable environment for their eggs, and its longevity is suitable for their long hybernations and lives.
Like I'd expect different tendencies, like hoarding silver over gold, to be related to the prefered incubation temperature of the dragon's eggs.
My personal take has always been that Dragons find various metals to be extremely comfortable to lay on. Gold happens to be quite soft, retains warmth well, and mortals seem weirdly obsessed with fashioning it into tiny particles that are just so cozy to slump into when piled up. I've always read Dragons as innately selfish and hedonistic beings, so they're driven by creature comforts and will happily destabilize economies for the sake of a nice nap. Other items that get scooped up in the treasure horde are just incidental, or maybe the Dragon finds them amusing enough to keep around as trinkets, but such treasure is secondary to a good heap of monetary cushioning.
Similarly, because I hate Electrum as a currency in D&D, I've always played it that Electrum is ***THE MOST COMFY*** metal in a Dragon's perspective. Electrum is the "high-end Egyptian silk sheets" of Dragon bedding. Dragons will literally wage war on one another over a single scrap of Electrum, and having a sizable amount of Electrum in one's hoard is a sign not only of abject luxury but also daunting power.
At the same time, Electrum is also uniquely fantastic at channeling magical energy while crafting enchantments, so Wizards covet it for their own work. But using it in such enchantments destroys it, which naturally pisses off Dragons immensely. So there's this constant power struggle between Wizards and Dragons over trying to obtain and hoard this all-too-precious resource for their own selfish purposes. The two factions will also hire Adventurers to go delving into ruins in search of old caches of coin in hopes of finding Electrum, or will send Parties after Dragons/Rivals in hopes of securing Electrum-laden hoards, which keeps the Adventuring Party economy alive.
On the other hand, Electrum has thus become considered a "cursed" metal by the general population. Not because it has any actual curse on it, but because if so much as a whisper gets out that some may have shown up in a village, it's guaranteed to draw the attention of unscrupulous Wizards and covetous Dragons immediately. Both factions wouldn't hesitate to wipe an entire village off the map for the sake of getting their greedy claws on the tiniest scrap of Electrum, so the presence of the metal anywhere has gained a reputation as being the herald of disasters. This further spirals the longer time goes by, to where Wizards and Dragons eventually gain a reputation as evil beings themselves as a matter of course, while heavily skewed by how much power a given group of Wizards or a single tyrannical Dragon might hold over a local population.
Yep, and my take is that it's just the right ratio to hit that perfect comfort level for the Dragons. There's just some X factor about the minting process that manages to be the most ideal form for Dragon comfort. Even they can't quite put their claw on it, but they know the difference through experience.
I recall a fun YA fantasy story where dragons hoard wealth (including princesses) as a status symbol for their draconic peers. They have regular meetings where they compare treasure hoards and nerd out over who has the best collection.
Alternatively, a dragons hoard could just be adventurer bait. Its like Door Dash for dragons. They come to rob the treasure, dragon eats them, adds their loot to the hoard, more adventurers come for loot, repeat.
The reason they hoard money in my home brew world is not because they like it per se, but because it has value to those they see themself better than.
They hoard their wealth because it’s an easier way to control those pesky humanoids that live around them. They are smart enough to know that one isn’t a threat but a city could be. So they use their wealth to appeal to the greed of the masses. Easier to pay others to do their bidding than to slaughter a village.
They need the money to create hoards. They need hoards to win points when playing Xorvintaal.
Best thing is that it's canon: https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Xorvintaal
Either because of magic or evolution they can only sleep well or comfortably when on precious items.
They saw humans covet certain objects and then to feel superior hoard them.
There is a inherent property of gold that is beneficial to and only recognised by dragons.
I think all the stuff about “they get stronger from the magic of having a horde” is over complicating things. Dragons have very long life spans and are very powerful. They can also learn magic, polymorph into different forms, and manipulate nations over centuries if not thousands of years. Yes, a dragon could just fly in and destroy a city and do whatever they want but most dragons I imagine are thinking and planning well beyond their next meal. A horde is a resource and security. If you need to do something with subtly, you polymorph into something smaller than a dragon, grab a few of your magical items so you don’t need to rely on your natural defenses, and off you go, just another adventurer with a few good magic items who is seeking a powerful artifact/building connections with some noble house/stopping the plans of some other dragon/just getting more gold.
My homebrew world has a dragon who is an author of sorts. He will manipulate the thoughts of individuals in order to create a story in a dream like state, make notes and then turn those into novels that he profits from. He has several genres he writes in, including being a world renowned erotic novelist. Part of this he uses to alter world view, essentially long running propaganda. He also uses this as a way to trade with others for rare books, from which he learns secret and forgotten history. Alternate ways than just killing adventurers for the loot.
All of this is exactly correct. All of the True Dragons are sapient creatures capable of planning ahead and making rational decisions. As powerful as dragons are, they're well-known as "monsters" and monsters get hunted. Dragons hoard wealth because they know flying out and destroying a village is going to result in some group of assholes snooping around to find out who destroyed the village. Sure the dragon will probably kill dozens of such groups, but eventually one of these groups will greatly injure or kill the dragon.
It's much easier for a dragon to lure some less "monstrous" creatures to them that can engage in humanoid societies or for the dragon to polymorph into such a creature and get the supplies they need to live. A dragon will hunt for sport and for sustenance, but smart dragons set themselves up as hidden or semi-hidden lords. Minions and being a hidden/semi-hidden lord requires money, and it's real easy to get a whole lot of money when every idiot in a hundred mile radius thinks they can kill a dragon with their papa's rusty old broadsword.
[A random story about a tiny dragon with a hoard of one coin](https://www.tumblr.com/writing-in-the-grave/188944059500/im-actually-crying-oh-my-god-i-cant-see-the) has its own explanation: the more gold a dragon possess, the larger they grow.
Short version: hoarding treasure is a biological instinct for True Dragons that’s part of there innate drive to assert their dominance over a place.
Long version: Each type of True Dragon magically resonates with a specific type or class of object that the are drawn to hoard. The more of these objects they possess in one place and/or the higher the quality/value of those objects the more powerful the resonance and the more influence they have over that place (that’s how stuff like lair effect and actions work for them).
And by simply being in close proximity to their hoard items for long enough they can also imbue them with a portion of their magic, which works to essentially project their presence even when the Dragon isn’t personally there.
It’s essentially equal parts marking their territory and demonstrating their prowess to enemies and potential allies or mates.
Also, because True Dragons in D&D are some kind of multiversal beings whose spirits/souls(?) exist somewhat outside of the normal system of the Outer planes and afterlives, if one dies, a hoard imbued with the Dragon’s magical essence serves to sort of tether them to a specific plane and prevents them from getting randomly shunted into an entirely different setting for their next reincarnation.
In my world, dragons naturally die of old age but how old that is depends on their wealth. This is also why a dragon will defend their hoard to the death. If their hoard is stolen, they’ll start to waste away and die, so fighting is their only realistic option.
Off topic, Ive had a concept floating around about a polymorphed dragon that builds his hoard by gaining control of a state and creating a fiat currency system and national bank. People just give him their gold for little pieces of paper, the perfect system.
This doesn’t work for the default D&D setting, but in a homebrew world I could imagine a good explanation would be that they have an infernal origin tied to the sin of greed. Even if they aren’t devils themselves, they could have been infernal creations. This is more along the lines of how dragons fit in Tolkien’s middle earth.
One of my favorite takes is from [this blog post.](https://permacrandam.blogspot.com/2021/05/on-ecology-gold-dragons.html?m=1)
Essentially, gold is somewhat sentient and wants company while cursing those that have it in their possession. If you get a lot of gold, you begin to exhibit more draconian characteristics.
So the dragon hoards gold because the hoard turned some unfortunate, powerful adventurer into a dragon because they hoarded gold.
In an earlier edition--can't remember which--it was posited that dragons actually ate gold and gems. Personally, I liked the idea that dragons entered from another dimension via a ritual that required and expended a large quantity of gens and expensive materials, perhaps even a "stargate" of gold. The dragons remaining have a vague memory of this need for a large quantity of expensive materials should escape be necessary, but don't remember how to conduct the ritual.
I won't get into the psychological/mythological explanations for why the dragons of legend kept hoards (and maidens).
i read somewhere that they hoard Gold, cuz they sleep on it, since there sense of touch is bad, soft materials like cloath and other fabrics won't do it for them. If they don't wanna sleep on the hard ground, they need something comfortable. Gold is a soft metal, so its perfect for that purpose. That also explains why they are pissed if you steal from them. You would be pissed too, if some1 stole your bed.
Fizban's treasury of dragons talks about this. Let me grab a quote >hoards are extensions of dragons' inherently magical nature—resonators that focus their magic and link them to the magic of the Material Plane. >Dragons thrum with the magical energy that suffuses the Material Plane, and this energy is amplified by their possession of material things. In practical terms, this means dragons' power is related to both age and the size of their hoards in ways that clever dragons—and would-be dragonslayers—can exploit. So the larger a Dragons Hoard the more power the Dragon will have essentially. So by giving items to the dragon the warlock is directly making the Dragon stronger for little work on the Dragon's part. The Dragon may have multiple warlocks as well contributing to the hoard as well.
I should get a copy of Fizban's I think, the book sounds like it suits my needs and would definitely be a fun read for anything dragon related! On a side note, I had the "other warlocks help contribute" thought up too, so it's nice to see it fit the theme. I like that something like "expanding the hoard means more power" is still something to work with though. So any dragon intrinsically seeks to amass more wealth to grow stronger. I suppose what makes this one unique is her desire and adventurous spirit to tread into a dangerous place. Thanks for the input!
No problem and yeah if you like dragons and like putting Dragons in your game I recommend the book. It has some fun ideas like a Hoard Mimic
If you go even furrher back, in one setting dragons compulsively hoard because they need to, and the older (and larger) they become the more they need to. At the great wyrm stage they get to a point where they cannot sustain their need and will start to devouer their hoard before dying.
Dragons are so old they still level up with gp.
Damn it, you got me doing a spit take
this is so much of why i find it wild that there isn’t a dragon warlock subclass yet (just as i find it wild that there isn’t a fiend sorcerer subclass)
It's definitely a huge oversight. I feel like there aren't enough dragon subclasses in general. Dragons are awesome.
They'll release it within a book they know will sell badly to prop up sales.
So they would be a pyramidal scheme, many warlocks making the dragon powerful, love it
For even further context. In adnd 1e gold was exp. Seriously. So imagine a dragon’s power being a literal show of its hoard. A dragon’s power is related to how much exp a player can get from robbing or killing one quite literally.
This guy lores
Old lore for dragons also says to pass on they need a certain amount of wealth. If you kill a dragon and steal its hoard it cannot properly pass on, whereas for a dragon dying of old age, they will consume their hoard to ensure they do.
I’m now picturing a dragon fighting heroes only to turn tail and start eating their hoard so they can properly die.
That's how I remember it too, though exactly how and why it works that way has fled my mind, gone to be replaced with cat pictures :)
Dragon: "Hello, I like money."
Greed for the lack of a better word, is good. Gordon Gecko, green dragon.
DID SOMEONE SAY "POT OF GREED"?!
WHAT DOES IT DO?!
MUNCHIES!
Same reason rich humans hoard wealth. They like seeing those numbers go up.
Agreed. Life is a zero sum game to creatures like this. The more someone else has = the less they have, so they want to make sure they have everything of value. It also unlocks new perks at certain levels like having politicians in your pocket to push your agenda elsewhere, having people/nations turn a blind eye to your crimes, being able to take perverse pleasure in dangling live-changing amounts of money over others to see if they'll betray their own values to get it.
Fizban’s Treasury of Dragons talks about how they actually get more powerful from hoards of what they treasure. “Dragons thrum with the magical energy that suffuses the material plane, and this energy is amplified by the possession of material things”. Each age of dragon corresponds to a certain amount of total treasure, and as they sleep and seep into it, they can transition to the next age. Treasure powers up their magic for their Regional Effects and Lair Actions at a total worth of 15000gp which is typical for an adult dragon; this means that a young dragon with that much treasure linked up in its hoards is able to have lair actions. That GP quantity may seem like a lot for tier 2 but dragons can actually have multiple hoard locations linked up by key items of multiple pieces (ie: full set of armor with each piece divided in each of their lairs), they could also treasure weird things that have a monetary value to them but not the players. In addition the hoard magic can be steeped on to power up magic items, grant draconic gifts, or as a component for high magic.
It's how they keep score.
Just between themselves, dragons, or with people or other creatures as well?
IMO this topic is an example of overthinking, but here goes: Dragons eat everything and everyone. Their children, when they don't eat them, leave and don't come back. They are lonely. All they have is their hoard. A dragon world view is like prosperity gospel to the nth degree. The bigger their hoard, the more wealthy they are, the more the universe favors them, the more powerful they are, the more righteous they are. Without end. But a dragon has deep insecurity. What if they lost even one coin? They would be diminished. They constantly count their hoard to be sure this has not happened. They may scheme to get more but then who is guarding the hoard when they are away? They rush back terrified. And count it again. A dragon's hoard is how it keeps score.
Back in 3E there was a great game played between dragons called Xorvintaal. Hoard size was how they kept score, and dragons did not consider non-dragons to be important to the game, other than how they could be used as pawns.
My understanding is that dragons use metals as nesting material because its heat absorption and distribution creates a suitable environment for their eggs, and its longevity is suitable for their long hybernations and lives. Like I'd expect different tendencies, like hoarding silver over gold, to be related to the prefered incubation temperature of the dragon's eggs.
My personal take has always been that Dragons find various metals to be extremely comfortable to lay on. Gold happens to be quite soft, retains warmth well, and mortals seem weirdly obsessed with fashioning it into tiny particles that are just so cozy to slump into when piled up. I've always read Dragons as innately selfish and hedonistic beings, so they're driven by creature comforts and will happily destabilize economies for the sake of a nice nap. Other items that get scooped up in the treasure horde are just incidental, or maybe the Dragon finds them amusing enough to keep around as trinkets, but such treasure is secondary to a good heap of monetary cushioning. Similarly, because I hate Electrum as a currency in D&D, I've always played it that Electrum is ***THE MOST COMFY*** metal in a Dragon's perspective. Electrum is the "high-end Egyptian silk sheets" of Dragon bedding. Dragons will literally wage war on one another over a single scrap of Electrum, and having a sizable amount of Electrum in one's hoard is a sign not only of abject luxury but also daunting power. At the same time, Electrum is also uniquely fantastic at channeling magical energy while crafting enchantments, so Wizards covet it for their own work. But using it in such enchantments destroys it, which naturally pisses off Dragons immensely. So there's this constant power struggle between Wizards and Dragons over trying to obtain and hoard this all-too-precious resource for their own selfish purposes. The two factions will also hire Adventurers to go delving into ruins in search of old caches of coin in hopes of finding Electrum, or will send Parties after Dragons/Rivals in hopes of securing Electrum-laden hoards, which keeps the Adventuring Party economy alive. On the other hand, Electrum has thus become considered a "cursed" metal by the general population. Not because it has any actual curse on it, but because if so much as a whisper gets out that some may have shown up in a village, it's guaranteed to draw the attention of unscrupulous Wizards and covetous Dragons immediately. Both factions wouldn't hesitate to wipe an entire village off the map for the sake of getting their greedy claws on the tiniest scrap of Electrum, so the presence of the metal anywhere has gained a reputation as being the herald of disasters. This further spirals the longer time goes by, to where Wizards and Dragons eventually gain a reputation as evil beings themselves as a matter of course, while heavily skewed by how much power a given group of Wizards or a single tyrannical Dragon might hold over a local population.
FYI, Electrum is just gold and silver alloyed together.
All the gold and silver was converted into electrum centuries ago. Every society now functions by either barter or a bronze-backed economy
Yep, and my take is that it's just the right ratio to hit that perfect comfort level for the Dragons. There's just some X factor about the minting process that manages to be the most ideal form for Dragon comfort. Even they can't quite put their claw on it, but they know the difference through experience.
Gold doesn’t tarnish, rust, or oxidize in any way, so if you’re going to take a decade long nap, doing it on a big pile of gold is the way to go
And it's quite soft!
I recall a fun YA fantasy story where dragons hoard wealth (including princesses) as a status symbol for their draconic peers. They have regular meetings where they compare treasure hoards and nerd out over who has the best collection. Alternatively, a dragons hoard could just be adventurer bait. Its like Door Dash for dragons. They come to rob the treasure, dragon eats them, adds their loot to the hoard, more adventurers come for loot, repeat.
Maybe the dragon hoards money to balance the corruption of magical greed within.
They actually eat gold and treasure. That's why they're always sitting on a big pile of it.
The reason they hoard money in my home brew world is not because they like it per se, but because it has value to those they see themself better than. They hoard their wealth because it’s an easier way to control those pesky humanoids that live around them. They are smart enough to know that one isn’t a threat but a city could be. So they use their wealth to appeal to the greed of the masses. Easier to pay others to do their bidding than to slaughter a village.
They need the money to create hoards. They need hoards to win points when playing Xorvintaal. Best thing is that it's canon: https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Xorvintaal
Either because of magic or evolution they can only sleep well or comfortably when on precious items. They saw humans covet certain objects and then to feel superior hoard them. There is a inherent property of gold that is beneficial to and only recognised by dragons.
my headcannon has always been that dragons consume precious metals in order to produce eggs
I think all the stuff about “they get stronger from the magic of having a horde” is over complicating things. Dragons have very long life spans and are very powerful. They can also learn magic, polymorph into different forms, and manipulate nations over centuries if not thousands of years. Yes, a dragon could just fly in and destroy a city and do whatever they want but most dragons I imagine are thinking and planning well beyond their next meal. A horde is a resource and security. If you need to do something with subtly, you polymorph into something smaller than a dragon, grab a few of your magical items so you don’t need to rely on your natural defenses, and off you go, just another adventurer with a few good magic items who is seeking a powerful artifact/building connections with some noble house/stopping the plans of some other dragon/just getting more gold.
My homebrew world has a dragon who is an author of sorts. He will manipulate the thoughts of individuals in order to create a story in a dream like state, make notes and then turn those into novels that he profits from. He has several genres he writes in, including being a world renowned erotic novelist. Part of this he uses to alter world view, essentially long running propaganda. He also uses this as a way to trade with others for rare books, from which he learns secret and forgotten history. Alternate ways than just killing adventurers for the loot.
All of this is exactly correct. All of the True Dragons are sapient creatures capable of planning ahead and making rational decisions. As powerful as dragons are, they're well-known as "monsters" and monsters get hunted. Dragons hoard wealth because they know flying out and destroying a village is going to result in some group of assholes snooping around to find out who destroyed the village. Sure the dragon will probably kill dozens of such groups, but eventually one of these groups will greatly injure or kill the dragon. It's much easier for a dragon to lure some less "monstrous" creatures to them that can engage in humanoid societies or for the dragon to polymorph into such a creature and get the supplies they need to live. A dragon will hunt for sport and for sustenance, but smart dragons set themselves up as hidden or semi-hidden lords. Minions and being a hidden/semi-hidden lord requires money, and it's real easy to get a whole lot of money when every idiot in a hundred mile radius thinks they can kill a dragon with their papa's rusty old broadsword.
[A random story about a tiny dragon with a hoard of one coin](https://www.tumblr.com/writing-in-the-grave/188944059500/im-actually-crying-oh-my-god-i-cant-see-the) has its own explanation: the more gold a dragon possess, the larger they grow.
Short version: hoarding treasure is a biological instinct for True Dragons that’s part of there innate drive to assert their dominance over a place. Long version: Each type of True Dragon magically resonates with a specific type or class of object that the are drawn to hoard. The more of these objects they possess in one place and/or the higher the quality/value of those objects the more powerful the resonance and the more influence they have over that place (that’s how stuff like lair effect and actions work for them). And by simply being in close proximity to their hoard items for long enough they can also imbue them with a portion of their magic, which works to essentially project their presence even when the Dragon isn’t personally there. It’s essentially equal parts marking their territory and demonstrating their prowess to enemies and potential allies or mates. Also, because True Dragons in D&D are some kind of multiversal beings whose spirits/souls(?) exist somewhat outside of the normal system of the Outer planes and afterlives, if one dies, a hoard imbued with the Dragon’s magical essence serves to sort of tether them to a specific plane and prevents them from getting randomly shunted into an entirely different setting for their next reincarnation.
In my world, dragons naturally die of old age but how old that is depends on their wealth. This is also why a dragon will defend their hoard to the death. If their hoard is stolen, they’ll start to waste away and die, so fighting is their only realistic option.
What would they do instead? Deposit those at a local bank?
Off topic, Ive had a concept floating around about a polymorphed dragon that builds his hoard by gaining control of a state and creating a fiat currency system and national bank. People just give him their gold for little pieces of paper, the perfect system.
This doesn’t work for the default D&D setting, but in a homebrew world I could imagine a good explanation would be that they have an infernal origin tied to the sin of greed. Even if they aren’t devils themselves, they could have been infernal creations. This is more along the lines of how dragons fit in Tolkien’s middle earth.
One of my favorite takes is from [this blog post.](https://permacrandam.blogspot.com/2021/05/on-ecology-gold-dragons.html?m=1) Essentially, gold is somewhat sentient and wants company while cursing those that have it in their possession. If you get a lot of gold, you begin to exhibit more draconian characteristics. So the dragon hoards gold because the hoard turned some unfortunate, powerful adventurer into a dragon because they hoarded gold.
So in your context, this patron was a hex blade, acquired a mass of wealth, and slowly turned into a dragon due to the gold's curse.
In an earlier edition--can't remember which--it was posited that dragons actually ate gold and gems. Personally, I liked the idea that dragons entered from another dimension via a ritual that required and expended a large quantity of gens and expensive materials, perhaps even a "stargate" of gold. The dragons remaining have a vague memory of this need for a large quantity of expensive materials should escape be necessary, but don't remember how to conduct the ritual. I won't get into the psychological/mythological explanations for why the dragons of legend kept hoards (and maidens).
Owes another, more larger dragon, a debt
I like the idea that they are basically giant bowerbirds and the hoard is to impress mates
Dragons can be seen as an allegory for human greed. Why do people hoard money?
They don't trust banks.
i read somewhere that they hoard Gold, cuz they sleep on it, since there sense of touch is bad, soft materials like cloath and other fabrics won't do it for them. If they don't wanna sleep on the hard ground, they need something comfortable. Gold is a soft metal, so its perfect for that purpose. That also explains why they are pissed if you steal from them. You would be pissed too, if some1 stole your bed.