• Ð Greıt Þu̇mpkin@lemm.ee
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    1 year ago

    Actually I’d find it more likely that a dragon would be the one hiring the players.

    A red dragon as a bank owner makes WAY too much sense as a world building inclusion. Doesn’t even have to be evil necessarily, just the route through which all coin in the area is eventually going to flow.

    The bastard would probably also always get his loans back, dragons are pretty damn good at picking up on lies and tricks, especially red and green ones, so basically they would always be able to pick a good loan, meaning they’d always be making more horde gold off investments. Enough so that the local merchants actually banned the dragon from publishing their books or making their own investments through the stock exchange because whenever it becomes known who the dragon’s betting on, everyone else will bet in kind, which kinda just eliminates market forces and competition entirely.

    • flashgnash@lemm.ee
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      1 year ago

      Isn’t this basically just how hedge funds work? Bet on someone with so much money everyone else follows suit?

      • Ð Greıt Þu̇mpkin@lemm.ee
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        1 year ago

        The difference is that the dragon will actually be right more often than not. This would be like if a hedge fund actually worked instead of breaking average or even underperforming literally throwing darts at a board to decide whether to sell or buy.

        • flashgnash@lemm.ee
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          1 year ago

          I don’t think it actually matters whether they make smart decisions or not though, they put a ton of money in and regardless everyone goes along and they make a profit from it.

          They dictate the market rather than follow it

          • shottymcb@lemm.ee
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            1 year ago

            Hedge funds almost universally under-perform index funds. They don’t dictate anything, they’re just objectively bad at everything except marketing. They make their profits on fees they charge their investors.

    • octoperson@sh.itjust.works
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      1 year ago

      The Harebrained Schemes’ Shadowrun games (and possibly Shadowrun in general, idk) have dragons shapeshifted into human form as billionaire CEOs. It’s incredibly fitting for all the reasons you mentioned. plus I’d imagine being able to turn into a giant frikken monster can give you an edge in negotiations, even just as an unstated threat.