Dragon (Dungeons & Dragons)

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In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, dragons are an iconic creature used as either enemies or allies of player characters. Dragons are often depicted as having many different races, each usually based on a particular color of their scales or an affinity with an element.[1] This classification has been used in a great deal of modern fantasy fiction[who?].

Contents

[edit] Publication history

The white dragon, black dragon, green dragon, blue dragon, red dragon, and golden dragon first appeared in the original Dungeons & Dragons "white box" set (1974)[2]

The white dragon, black dragon, red dragon and brass dragon appeared in the original Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set (1977). The white dragon, black dragon, red dragon, green dragon, blue dragon and gold dragon appeared in the Dungeons & Dragons Basic Rulebook (1981). The white dragon, black dragon, green dragon, blue dragon, red dragon and gold dragon appeared in the 1983 version of the Basic Set (1983). The white dragon, blue dragon, black dragon, red dragon, green dragon and gold dragon, as well as the gemstone dragons (crystal dragon, onyx dragon, jade dragon, sapphire dragon, ruby dragon and amber dragon), and the dragon rulers (Pearl (the Moon Dragon), Ruler of all Chaotic Dragons; Diamond (the Star Dragon), Ruler of all Lawful Dragons; Opal (the Sun Dragon), Ruler of all Neutral Dragons; and the Great One, Ruler of All Dragonkind) all appeared in the Dungeons & Dragons Rules Cyclopedia (1991).

The black dragon (draco causticus sputem), the blue dragon (draco electricus), the brass dragon (draco impudentus gallus), the bronze dragon (draco gerus bronzo), the Chromatic Dragon (Tiamat), the copper dragon (draco comes stabuli), the gold dragon (draco orientalus sino dux), the green dragon (draco chlorinous nauseous respiratorus), the Platinum Dragon (Bahamut), the red dragon (draco conglagratia horriblus), the silver dragon (draco nobilis argentum), and the white dragon (draco rigidus frigidus) appeared in first edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons in the original Monster Manual (1977).[3] The Oriental dragons appeared in the original Fiend Folio (1981), including the li lung (earth dragon), the lung wang (sea dragon), the pan lung (coiled dragon), the shen lung (spirit dragon), the t'ien lung (celestial dragon), and the yu lung (carp dragon). The cloud dragon, the faerie dragon, the mist dragon, and the shadow dragon appeared in the original Monster Manual II (1983).

The black dragon, blue dragon, brass dragon, bronze dragon, copper dragon, gold dragon, green dragon, red dragon, silver dragon, and white dragon appeared in second edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons in the Monstrous Compendium Volume One (1989). [4] The faerie dragon, and the Oriental dragons – lung wang (sea dragon), pan lung (coiled dragon), shen lung (spirit dragon), t'ien lung (celestial dragon), tun mi lung (typhoon dragon), yu lung (carp dragon), chiang ling (river dragon), and li lung (earth dragon) – appeared in the Monstrous Compendium Forgotten Realms Appendix (1989). The dragons of Krynn, the amphi dragon, the astral dragon, the kodragon, the othlorx dragon, and the sea dragon appeared in the Monstrous Compendium Dragonlance Appendix (1990). The cloud dragon, the Greyhawk dragon, the mist dragon, and the shadow dragon appeared in the Monstrous Compendium Greyhawk Appendix (1990). The adamantite dragon appeared in the Monstrous Compendium Outer Planes Appendix (1991).[5] The moon dragon, the sun dragon, and the stellar dragon appeared in the Monstrous Compendium Spelljammer Appendix (1991). The deep dragon appeared in the Monstrous Compendium Forgotten Realms Appendix II (1991). The gem dragons (the amethyst dragon, the crystal dragon, the emerald dragon, the sapphire dragon, and the topaz dragon appeared in the Monstrous Compendium Fiend Folio Appendix (1992). The chromatic dragons (black dragon, blue dragon, green dragon, red dragon, and white dragon), the gem dragons (amethyst dragon, crystal dragon, emerald dragon, sapphire dragon, and topaz dragon), metallic dragons (brass dragon, bronze dragon, copper dragon, gold dragon, and silver dragon), brown dragon, cloud dragon, deep dragon, mercury dragon, mist dragon, shadow dragon, steel dragon, and yellow dragon appeared in the Monstrous Manual (1993).[6]

The chromatic dragons (black dragon, blue dragon, green dragon, red dragon, and white dragon), and the metallic dragons (brass dragon, bronze dragon, copper dragon, gold dragon, and silver dragon) appeared in the third edition in the Monster Manual (2000),[7] and in the revised 3.5 Monster Manual (2003).

The young black dragon, adult black dragon, elder black dragon, ancient black dragon, young blue dragon, adult blue dragon, elder blue dragon, ancient blue dragon, young green dragon, adult green dragon, elder green dragon, ancient green dragon, young red dragon, adult red dragon, elder red dragon, ancient red dragon, young white dragon, adult white dragon, elder white dragon, and ancient white dragon appeared in the fourth edition in the Monster Manual (2008).

[edit] Dragon classification

The third edition of Dungeons & Dragons classifies dragon as a type of creature, simply defined as "a reptilelike creature, usually winged, with magical or unusual abilities" [8]. The dragon type is broken down into several classifications. True dragons are dragons which increase in power by age categories (wyrmling to great wyrm). Lesser dragons do not improve in age categories and may lack all of the abilities of true dragons. Examples of lesser dragons include dragon turtles and wyverns. Other creatures with the dragon type include drakes, felldrakes, elemental drakes, landwyrms, linnorms and wurms. (An unrelated creature called a dragonne is named for its coincidental resemblance to a brass dragon.)

In the second edition of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, dragons were completely reworked from their first edition counterparts, and were much more powerful. For example, they had magic resistance, could no longer be subdued, and had physical attack forms besides just claws and bites.[9]

In Dungeons & Dragons, there are many color-coded races of dragons, each of which breathes a different element; for example, red and gold dragons breathe fire, white and silver dragons breathe frost, and blue and bronze dragons breathe bolts of lightning. Some dragons (particularly metallic dragons) have two different kinds of breath, usually a lethal one (fire, ice, acid, electricity, etc.) and another that is typically non-lethal (paralysis, repulsion, confusion, etc.).

Dungeons & Dragons 3rd edition divided true dragons further into three main categories: chromatic dragons, such as green and black dragons, which are evil-aligned; metallic dragons, such as gold and silver dragons, which are good; and neutral-aligned gem dragons, rare creatures that possess psionic abilities. However, with 4th edition, the classifications were changed, and chromatic dragons are now not strictly evil, gem dragons were gotten rid of and instead there were added "planar dragons" which are chromatic dragons that were warped by living on a plane of existence other than the Material Plane, as well as "catastrophe dragons" which take on the aspects of natural disasters which are chaotic evil and cause chaos for its own sake.

In addition, there are other sub-species of true dragons that don't fit into the three main categories. For example, mercury and steel dragons would seem to be metallic dragons, but in the Dungeons & Dragons world they are considered to be outside of the main family of metallic dragons because of various biological differences (though the book Dragons of Faerûn does list them as metallic dragons). The "lung dragons" or spirit-dragons of Oriental Adventures are also true dragons. Detailed information about D&D dragonkind may be found in the Draconomicon, a D&D supplement book designed especially for draconic information.

In 4th edition, there are five major dragon families: catastrophic, chromatic, metallic, planar and scourge.[10] Chromatic dragons are presented in the Monster Manual and Draconomicon and planar dragons are presented in Draconomicon. Metallic dragons are presented in the Monster Manual 2 and Draconomicon 2.

[edit] Types of dragons

[edit] True Dragons

[edit] Chromatic dragons

Main article: Chromatic dragons (Dungeons & Dragons)

Chromatic dragons are usually of evil alignment. They are the Black Dragon, Blue Dragon, Green Dragon, Red Dragon and White Dragon. Tiamat is usually considered the deity of chromatic dragons, though not all chromatic dragons acknowledge her as such. The 4th edition Draconomicon introduced the Purple Dragon, Brown Dragon, Grey Dragon, which have not traditionally been linked with Tiamat.

[edit] Metallic dragons

Main article: Metallic dragon (Dungeons & Dragons)

Metallic dragons are typically of good alignment. They are the Brass Dragon, the Bronze Dragon, the Copper Dragon, the Gold Dragon, and the Silver Dragon. Bahamut is the deity of metallic dragons.

[edit] Gem dragons

Gem dragons are typically of neutral alignment. They are the Amethyst Dragon, the Crystal Dragon, the Emerald Dragon, the Sapphire Dragon, and the Topaz Dragon. Sardior is the deity of gem dragons.

[edit] Amethyst dragon
  • Breath weapon: Line of force
  • Terrain: Inner Planes, underground
  • Alignment: Always neutral
  • Image: Wizards.com image
  • Notes: The most powerful of the neutral gem dragon, amethyst dragons are honorable, regal creatures. They inhabit the mountains of the northern islands, living on the shores of isolated lakes and pools. At birth, these dragons have lavender skin with fine, translucent-purple scales. These scales darken as the creature grows older, eventually reaching a sparkling lavender color.

These creatures approach life with a detached air, ignoring the conflicts of good and evil, law and chaos. At best, they see these conflicts as petty squabbles over inconsequential points of view, and not worthy of their time or consideration. These majestic dragons consider themselves to be the leaders of the gem dragons, and most of the lesser gem dragons acquiesce to this leadership - in everyday life and in the Council Aerie. While amethyst dragons consider their silver and copper cousins to be foolish and have an active dislike of red and white dragons, they do not consider any life form to be their inherent enemies. They prefer to reason out a settlement through discussion and negotiation rather than through combat, but they can and will fight if they must. Being honourable and noble, these dragons never hide or attempt to ambush foes. To them, even retreating is a dishonourable action, but they will flee if faced with certain death. Amethyst dragons eat large quantities of fish and gems. They keep vassals to attend to their needs, though they do not place as many restrictions or requirements on them as other dragon lords do. Most keep at least one hidden, underwater cave for seclusion and secrecy. Amethyst dragons approach mating in a very logical manner, seeking the optimum partner to produce the best offspring. Love and pleasure rarely, if ever, enter the equation.

[edit] Crystal dragon
  • Breath weapon: Line of blinding light
  • Terrain: Inner Planes, temperate and cold mountains
  • Alignment: Always chaotic neutral
  • Image: Wizards.com image
  • Notes: The friendly crystal dragons of Io's Blood's northern isles spend much time trying to learn about world around them. While solitary by nature, they welcome visitors who come to them with good intentions.

Hatchlings have glossy white scales that become more and more translucent with age. By the time they reach adulthood, these scales become luminescent in moonlight. In the full light of the day they glow with a dazzling, almost unbearable brilliance. Fun-loving and mischievous, crystal dragons tend to be irresponsible rulers. For the daily running of their domains, these dragons rely on their vassals to keep things going. They establish domains in the cold, open northern reaches, building castles out of snow and ice. They leave these castles open to the sky, for they love to watch the stars on clear, cold nights. The white dragon clans consider crystal dragons to be nothing more than prey, so the two types are almost always in conflict. The crystal dragons also have little love for the tribes of giants that live beyond the Ice Sea and often come south to enslave the small, relatively weak gem dragons. Like other benevolent dragons, the crystal dragons prefer to talk rather than fight. Even without special abilities, they can be charming and engaging to an extreme. Gems and metal ores are their foods of choice. They mate with willing partners whenever they want, as desire and need move them. It has also been known for crystal dragons to adopt white dragon hatchlings.

[edit] Emerald dragon
  • Breath weapon: Powerful burst of wind.
  • Terrain: Lush green forests.
  • Alignment: Always lawful neutral
  • Image: Wizards.com image
  • Notes: Emerald dragons live among the tropical islands in the Io's Blood chain's southern waters. They are a curious species, taken to keeping track of history, lore and customs. They tend to be very reclusive, suspicious that others covet their treasure hoards and territory.

Hatchlings have translucent green scales, which harden and take on many shades of green as they age. These scales are scintillating in the light, giving an emerald dragon's hide the appearance of being in constant motion. A desire for privacy runs through the emerald clans, going so far as to determine where the dragon lords and their spawn establish lairs. In the southern islands, emerald dragons built their domains around lush forest range that stretches across the northeast of North America. Only their most trusted vassals are permitted to serve them within the main lairs. The others tend to duties throughout the rest of the domain. The primary lairs consist of traps and alarms designed to warn of visitor and other threats. Emerald dragons prefer to quietly observe intruders and rarely emerge from hiding. If parlay is called for, they send their kindred or chief vassals to handle such duties while they watch, hidden, from cover. When forced into combat, emerald dragons prefer to attack by ambush, using stealth and surprise attacks to quickly disable their enemies. If the threat prove to be too great to handle, an emerald dragon will not hesitate to retreat. However, it will plan revenge, and its patience can last for centuries if need be. Emerald dragons have no compunctions about what they eat. They prefer lizards and giants, but they will eat anything in a pinch. Of all the other type of dragonkind, emerald dragons get along best with the sapphire dragons, often controlling parallel domains (emerald dragons taking the surface, sapphire dragon the subterranean areas below). They fear the red dragon clans because of their well-known greed, and they are usually in open conflict with the fire giants from beyond the Burning Sea.Emeralds like the security and protection offered by a trusted partner and will take a single mate for a long time.

[edit] Obsidian dragon
  • Breath weapon: Cone of fire
  • Terrain: Warm Mountains and Underground, demiplanes
  • Alignment: Always neutral evil
  • Link: wizards.com image
  • Notes: Obsidian dragons, while the most intelligent of the gem dragons, are also the most vicious. They are extremely haughty, anger easily, and like to toy with prey before finishing it off.

An obsidian dragon has smooth black skin with razor edges where joints come together. When first hatched, their scales are gray, rough to touch, and well defined. As they get older, the scales darken, become smoother, and begin to blend together.

Most obsidian dragons prefer to make their lairs around volcanoes or in one of the mountains of coal found on the Elemental Plane of Fire. Most great wyrms, though, make use of the genesis power to create their own demiplane.[1]

[edit] Sapphire dragon
  • Breath weapon: Cone of panicking sound
  • Terrain: Inner Planes, underground
  • Alignment: Always lawful neutral
  • Image: Wizards.com image
  • Notes: The sapphire dragons of the Io's Blood Isles control subterranean domains beneath two of the larger southern islands. While most of the territory above their realms belongs to the emerald dragons, they keep a small portion of the surface area as their own as well as the extensive caverns beneath the tropical jungles.

From birth, sapphire dragons are beautiful, with scale ranging from light to dark blue in color, which sparkle in the light. Because of their coloration, they are sometimes mistaken for blue dragons. Of all dragonkind, perhaps the sapphire dragon clans are the most militaristic. They fervently protect their territory from outsiders, going so far as to distrust anyone who even gets close to their borders. They work to keep their vassals in peak fighting condition, maintaining some of the best-trained armies in the isles. As most of the territory that interests the sapphire clans is below the ground, they rarely come into conflict with other dragon clans unless they attempt to take caverns currently in use. Only the black dragons compete with them for the tropical underground, and even they are wary of going into direct conflict with the armies of the sapphire clans. Most of the demihuman vassals serving the sapphire dragons are either dwarves or gnomes, as these races have no problems living and working beneath the ground. Also, elves are too much like drow, whom these dragons consider to be one of their natural enemies. Dwarven vassals are treated little better than slaves, as the two species were once at war, and they are almost never granted the kindred bond. This honour is usually reserved for gnome only. Giant spiders make up most of a sapphire dragon's diet, and great hunts are conducted through the subterranean tunnels to find these delicacies. When a dragon lord feeling particularly lazy, it will send its dwarven vassals into the tunnels in search of the spiders. Of course, they must capture the spiders alive. While militaristic and warlike, the sapphire dragons are not quick to attack. They prefer to observe intruders (all visitors are intruders) so that they can plan how to deal with them. If drow or dwarves from another clan approach, they are immediately attacked. Others can often at least make some gesture of friendship or parlay before being told to leave. If a sapphire dragon or its treasure is ever threatened, it attacks immediately with its breath weapon, spells, and physical attacks. It uses psionics and special abilities to escape if faced with a more powerful foe. Sapphire dragons take a single mate for long periods of time, however sapphires seek to possess a mate to enhance their prestige and status more than other reasons

[edit] Topaz dragon
  • Breath weapon: Cone of dehydration
  • Terrain: Inner Planes, any aquatic
  • Alignment: Always chaotic neutral
  • Image: Wizards.com image
  • Notes: Topaz dragons inhabit the coastal regions of the temperate islands, building lairs below the waterline, though constructing them so they remain dry. Clannish and self-seeking, these gem dragons usually want little to do with the other inhabitants of the isles. They keep vassals to fill their domain and make them appear as prosperous as their neighbors, and they participate in the Council activities on occasion, but for the most part these dragons neither seek company nor welcome it.

Out of the egg, a topaz dragon is a dull yellow-orange in color. With the age, its scales harden and become translucent and faceted. When it reaches adulthood, a topaz dragon sparkles in the light of the sun. While topaz dragons enjoy the feel of sea wind and spray on their faceted-scale hides, they do not particularly like the water. They swim to hunt, attack, or reach their lairs, but not for enjoyment. They do love to eat fish and other sea creatures, especially the tasty giant squids that live in the Coral Sea. While not malicious, topaz dragons are not the best of company or particularly pleasant to deal with. Besides caring little for social graces, they display erratic behavior that is unsettling and very confusing. They dislike visitors, but tend to avoid combat if they can help it. If combat is unavoidable, they use tricks and promises to distract their foes before striking with teeth and claws (which they enjoy using). Unless it specifically interests or affect them, topaz dragons tend to be indifferent to the causes and concerns that occupy the rest of dragonkind. They dislike bronze dragons and usually oppose the interests of those clans. It takes time for a topaz dragon to accept another dragon's friendship, but once it does it remains a friend for life. once another dragon gets past its outer defenses and gruff exterior, it finds a loyal companion and ready protector in the topaz dragon.

[edit] Ferrous dragons

Ferrous Dragons are typically of lawful alignment. They are the Iron Dragon, the Nickel Dragon, the Tungsten Dragon, the Cobalt Dragon, and the Chromium Dragon. They originated in Dragon Magazine. All Ferrous dragons can sense ordinary metals and the lawful ferrous dragons have a strict hierarchy, with the higher dragons dictating the laws to the lower ones. The hierarchy, from highest to lowest, is iron, chromium, cobalt, tungsten, and nickel. Gruaghlothor is the supreme ruler of the ferrous dragons.

[edit] Chromium Dragon
  • Breath weapon: Line of solid ice (cold damage) and cone of freezing crystals (Dexterity damage)
  • Terrain: Subterranean or mountainous Arctic clims
  • Alignment: Lawful Evil
  • Notes:
  • Appears in: Dragon #356

shining, dull silver dragons that did not seem to match up in description to silver, steel, or mithril dragons were mentioned. These dragons had a breath weapon that fired forth freezing crystal. These dragons appear to have a particularly malevolent nature to them.

[edit] Cobalt Dragon
  • Breath weapon: Line of pulsing magnetic energy (force damage plus Bull Rush check)
  • Terrain: Deep dark forest or thick jungle
  • Alignment: Lawful Evil
  • Notes:
  • Appears in: Dragon #356

Midnight blue dragons that could fire a breath weapon of pulsing, barely perceptible energy. These dragons, like the chromium dragons, were foul of temper, but subservient to iron dragons and their lord.

[edit] Iron Dragon
  • Breath weapon: Cone of superheated sparks (fire and electric damage) and cone of sleep gas
  • Terrain: Hills and mountains containing iron ore
  • Alignment: Lawful Neutral
  • Notes:
  • Appears in: Dragon #356
[edit] Nickel Dragon
  • Breath weapon: Cone of corrosive gas (acid damage)
  • Terrain: Swamp and marshland
  • Alignment: Lawful Evil
  • Notes:
  • Appears in: Dragon #356

This form of dragon had grey and white metallic scales and could breathe corrosive gas as a weapon.

[edit] Tungsten Dragon
  • Breath weapon: Cone of hot sand (fire and bludgeoning damage)
  • Terrain: Arid deserts and steppes, dry plains in temperate or warmer regions
  • Alignment: Lawful Good
  • Notes:
  • Appears in: Dragon #356

A species that appeared to be generally benevolent, there was a species of ferrous dragon, one whose breath weapon was composed of superheated sand and bludgeoning sand, that seemed especially set upon fighting chromatic dragons and other forms of powerful evil. This form of dragon has metallic scales that are a dull green with grey.

[edit] Lung Dragons

Lung Dragons are based upon oriental (Chinese and Japanese) dragons as opposed to the western-based True Dragons, and appear in correspondingly themed settings such as Kara-Tur or Rokugan. Lung Dragons are spirits that embody and empower aspects of nature rather than being normal, physical creatures, and they are mostly True Neutral in alignment.

[edit] Planar dragons

Planar dragons inhabit the outer planes.

[edit] Adamantine dragon
  • Breath weapon: White-hot fire, Hold monster gas
  • Terrain: Twin Paradises of Bytopia
  • Alignment: Neutral Good
  • Notes: Oversized natural weapons, Can destroy Adamantium fortresses. Also, they look like they are made of jet-black metal.
[edit] Arboreal dragon
  • Breath weapon: Razor-sharp thorns
  • Terrain: Olympian Glades of Arborea
  • Alignment: Chaotic Good
  • Notes:
[edit] Astral dragon
  • Breath weapon: Dismissal effect, scouring dust
  • Terrain: Astral Plane
  • Alignment: True Neutral
  • Notes:
[edit] Axial dragon
  • Breath weapon: Force
  • Terrain: Clockwork Nirvana of Mechanus
  • Alignment: Lawful Neutral
  • Notes: Immune to a vast number of things, including acid, fire, cold, poison, and nonlethal damage.
[edit] Battle dragon
[edit] Beast dragon
  • Breath weapon: Lightning
  • Terrain: Wilderness of the Beastlands
  • Alignment: Chaotic Good or Neutral Good
  • Notes:
[edit] Chaos dragon
[edit] Chole dragon
  • Breath weapon: Poisonous insanity vapors
  • Terrain: Infinite Layers of the Abyss
  • Alignment: Chaotic Evil
  • Notes: Chole dragons cannot make any noises and have tentacles instead of wings, making them very different from other dragons. They also are enigmatic, having strange runes on their bodies and tentacles.
[edit] Concordant dragon
  • Breath weapon: Antithetical energy
  • Terrain: Concordant Domain of the Outlands
  • Alignment: True Neutral
  • Notes: Its Breath weapon is a beam of translucent energy that inverts everything that it passes by. It explodes on contact. Relatively easygoing, they tend to get along well with other dragonkind, especially their own kind.
[edit] Ectoplasmic dragon
  • Breath weapon: Whitefire, sticky ectoplasm.
  • Terrain: Astral Plane
  • Alignment: Chaotic Neutral
  • Notes:
[edit] Elysian dragon
  • Breath weapon: Sonic energy, inebriation gas
  • Terrain: Blessed Fields of Elysium
  • Alignment: Neutral Good
  • Notes:
[edit] Ethereal dragon
[edit] Gloom dragon
[edit] Howling dragon
[edit] Kodragon
  • Breath weapon: Shrinking, reverse shrinking
  • Terrain: Astral Plane
  • Notes: The kodragon is the messenger for all of the other dragons of the Astral plane.
[edit] Oceanus dragon
[edit] Pyroclastic dragon
[edit] Radiant dragon
[edit] Rust dragon
[edit] Styx dragon
[edit] Tarterian dragon
  • Breath weapon: Line of disruptive force, cone of will-sapping gas
  • Terrain: Tarterian Depths of Carceri
  • Alignment: Neutral Evil or Chaotic Evil
  • Notes: Both wardens and prisoners of Carceri, tarterian dragons enjoy feasting on fiendish flesh.
  • Current Source: (3.5) Draconomicon 189
  • Images: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/draco_gallery/75605.jpg

[edit] Other dragons

Other dragon species[vague] that exist outside of the main dragon families include: Steel, Mercury, Pearl, Amber, Cloud, Mist, Fairy, Drakes, and many more.

Two comedic dragons that appeared in an April issue of Dragon Magazine[volume & issue needed]: The Pink Dragon, which had a cone breath weapon of bubbles (stung the eyes); and the Paper Dragon which looked like an dog-sized folded paper dragon, and when slain its remains became several spell scrolls.

[edit] Faerûnian dragons

[edit] Brown dragon
[edit] Deep dragon
  • Breath weapon: Flesh-corrosive gas
  • Terrain: Underground - Underdark
  • Alignment: Chaotic evil
  • Image: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/mof_gallery/MonFaePG41.jpg
  • Notes: unsocial species of Dragon, ability to scale walls and ceilings with the likeness of a gecko, extremely vicious but can be distracted if given a large enough gift
  • Appears in: Monsters of Faerûn and reprinted in Fane of the Drow as well as the Legacy of the Drow series. A mutant, two-headed deep dragon named Zz,pora appears in the "Starlight and Shadows" series. The most recent v3.5 statistics for deep dragons can be found in Drow of the Underdark. Appears in 4E Draconomicon as Purple Dragon.
[edit] Fang dragon
  • Breath weapon: None (has a constitution-draining bite)
  • Terrain: Mountains
  • Alignment: Always Chaotic neutral
  • Image: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/mof_gallery/MonFaePG42.jpg
  • Notes: Looks somewhat like a brown dragon. No breath weapon.
  • Appears in: Monsters of Faerûn, 3E Draconomicon. Appears in 4E Draconomicon as Gray Dragon.
[edit] Rattelyr dragon
[edit] Shadow dragon
  • Breath weapon: Energy-draining shadows
  • Terrain: Underground
  • Alignment: Always Chaotic evil
  • Image: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/mof_gallery/MonFaePG43.jpg
  • Notes: Shadow dragons are the second most intelligent evil dragons.
  • Appears in: Monsters of Faerûn and reprinted in the Draconomicon; enemy in Baldur's Gate 2. A shadow dragon called Shimmergloom is the ruler of a clan of Duergar in the second book of the Icewind Dale Trilogy, "Streams of Silver".
[edit] Song dragon
  • Breath weapon: Electrically-charged gas
  • Terrain: Any land
  • Alignment: Always either chaotic good or chaotic neutral
  • Image: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/mof_gallery/MonFaePG45a.jpg
  • Notes: Silver Blue with the shape of a copper Dragon
  • Appears in: Monsters of Faerûn; "Year of Rogue Dragons" trilogy, "Elminster's Daughter".

[edit] Independent dragons

[edit] Incarnum dragon
[edit] Sand dragon

[edit] Epic dragons

[edit] Force dragon
  • Breath weapon: Force
  • Terrain: Any
  • Alignment: Usually Neutral
  • Notes:
  • Appears in: Epic Level Handbook
[edit] Prismatic dragon
  • Breath weapon: Prismatic Spray
  • Terrain: Any
  • Alignment: Usually Neutral
  • Notes:
  • Appears in: Epic Level Handbook

[edit] Arcane dragons

[edit] Hex dragon
  • Breath weapon: Poison
  • Terrain: Forest, marshes, underground
  • Alignment: Neutral Evil
  • Notes:
  • Appears in: Dragon #343
[edit] Tome dragon
  • Breath weapon: Elemental energy
  • Terrain: Mountains
  • Alignment: Lawful Neutral
  • Notes:
  • Appears in: Dragon #343

[edit] Pathfinder Chronicles Dragons

This dragon is in the Pathfinder Chronicles Campaign Setting.

[edit] Umbral dragon

[edit] Lesser dragons

[edit] Elemental Drakes

Elemental drakes are lesser dragons most closely related to wyverns. They hail from the Elemental Planes, and are sometimes used as mounts by jann. Unlike wyverns they are sentient.

Types

  • Air - Chaotic neutral drake with air mastery and blinding sandstorm.
  • Water - Neutral drake with water mastery and drench.
  • Fire - Neutral evil drake with heat attack.
  • Earth - Lawful neutral drake with earth mastery and tremor.
  • Ooze - Lawful evil drake with acid attack.
  • Magma - Lawful evil drake with burn attack.
  • Smoke - Chaotic evil drake with smoke breath weapon.
  • Ice - Chaotic evil drake with freezing touch.

Various other types of lesser dragons exist, including:

[edit] Dragon abilities

In D&D, dragons grow stronger and stronger as they grow older (they become bigger, more resistant to damages and magic, have a more dangerous breath, and so on). Old dragons can cast draconic magic which is a special form of D&D magic (dragons can cast spells with just a few words, they don't need a sometimes long and complex ritual involving words, gestures and components like other D&D wizards), and radiate a mystical fear aura around them. After a millennium or two, a dragon reaches his maximum development. In the Draconomicon, there is also an article about Advanced Dragons, dragons that have reached their oldest age category but can still advance "virtual age categories", and become larger and stronger.

All D&D dragons have some innate magical abilities, but they vary from race to race. Metallic dragons are often able to shapechange into small animals or human forms, and use this ability to secretly help or watch over humans. Dragons also have some innate powers upon the element they are linked to. For example a red dragon (fire) will have some control over fires. Like all other draconic powers, they gain more as they grow older.

[edit] Dragon biology

D&D dragons are able to eat almost everything, but each race have a preferred diet (some prefer flesh, other prefer to eat precious metals or gems, and so forth).

Dragons are inherently magical beings, and in no case should dragons be considered reptiles, despite obvious similarities such as a scaled epidermis and reproduction by laying eggs. In fact, Dragons are more akin to feline creatures than reptiles, particularly in regards to their posture and movements, as well as being inherently warm-blooded and an eye composition similar to felines, although far more complex. A good example of this is the placement of the legs: Reptiles have their legs placed on the sides of their body, while most mammals have them placed underneath their body; dragons also tend to place their rear foot where their front foot was previously, much like most stalking feline predators.

The number of eggs laid each time depends on the race of the dragon, but is usually low (between one and ten). Dragons can also cross-breed with virtually any other creature, creating a half-dragon. The most commonly heard of are in the humanoid races, particularly with human and elves. Any combination is possible, however, even with devils or angels.

As far as senses, which varies slightly depending on species due to each one, they are superior in most ways to other creatures; like any predator, they have exceptionally acute senses, which only increase with age. Like avian creatures, they have excellent depth perception and comparingly good peripheral vision, able to see twice as well as a human in daylight; unlike avians, they have great night vision, and are able to see even when condition have no light to offer, the only drawback being that there is a lack of color in such circumstances.

Dragons can also pick up scents very well, utilizing both their sensitive nose and (often forked) tongue, much like a snake. Their hearing is on par with human hearing, although their minds can filter what noise it hears. They are capable of "blindsense", the sense in which eyes, ears, and other senses are used to detect invisible persons or objects. Dragon taste is also refined, although they do not respond well to sweet flavors, and most dragons do not discuss the matter as to why. Of all its senses, a dragon's sense of touch is the only one to decrease throughout age, thanks mostly to the development of thick, hard scales.

[edit] Dragon personalities

All dragons are intelligent beings, and most of them exceedingly so. Dragon personality varies from dragon to dragon, but dragons of the same subrace tend to have similar mindsets. This is not always true; several exceptions exist in official D&D material. In the Forgotten Realms a good-aligned red dragon is involved against his will in the Fall of the elf city of Myth Drannor.

Dragon subraces encompass all D&D alignments, going from lawful good paladin-like gold dragons to the cruel and very greedy chaotic evil red dragons.

All dragons share a common desire to collect treasure, be it precious, beautiful, magical or just shiny - indeed, the treasure in question needn't always be gold, and may sometimes be aesthetic in nature, ranging from popular artwork or sculptures or even rare books and tomes that might otherwise have an overwhelming monetary value. For evil-aligned dragons, this generally directs a greedy attitude to achieve such wealth by whatever means suit them. For good dragons this lust for treasure is tempered, although they are certainly not averse to earning such wealth, and still appreciate gifts (while being insulted if offered an obvious bribe).

Being stronger, faster, generally smarter, and possessing longer life than humans, dragons tend to consider themselves superior creatures. For good-aligned dragons, this may only mean they often consider humanoid races as children, trying to take care of them and educate them; for evil-aligned dragons, they consider humanoids as mere animals, or as toys to play with; at best, they are minions and slaves.

The longevity of dragons is evident in their often lackadaisical attitudes. Good-aligned dragons, while concerned with defeating evil, are able to see a much broader scope of the world, and although certain crises arise that may seem extremely important to good-aligned humans, their dragon counterparts are able to see the event as an unimportant hiccup that will pass in mere centuries; even those that adventure with others tend show a sense of incredible patience, even in situations where all others feel they've not a second to lose. Similarly, evil-aligned dragons that are crossed by belligerent adventurers may plot for dozens of generations before exacting revenge on the trespasser’s line - it is not uncommon for those descended from the mentioned adventurer to find themselves the target of a dragon based simply on their lineage.

[edit] Dragons in campaign settings

In many settings, the god-king of the metallic dragons is Bahamut, the Platinum Dragon, and the goddess and queen of the chromatic dragons is Tiamat, the Five-Headed Dragon. The progenitor and supreme deity of all dragons is known as Io. Other deities often included in the draconic pantheon of gods include Aasterinian, Chronepsis, and Faluzure. Other draconic gods may be present in different campaign settings.

[edit] Dragonlance setting

The Dragonlance novels and campaign setting helped popularize the D&D-derived perspective on dragons. Here the Platinum Dragon is called Paladine, and the Dragon Queen is called Takhisis. Dragons are divided up into good and evil groups, known as the Metallic Dragons and the Chromatic Dragons, respectively. Paladine leads the Metallic Dragons and Takhisis the Chromatic. The Metallic Dragons rarely became involved in the world other than to oppose the actions of Chromatic Dragons, who often joined into war as their goddess Takhisis instructed. However, in the "Fifth Age", massive Chromatic Dragons who were not native to Krynn emerged and took over many of the humanoid-controlled nations of Krynn, as well as slaying many of the native dragons. They are known as Dragon Overlords. There was one from each race of Chromatic Dragons; red, green, black, white, and blue. Four of these have been slain, and only the White Overlord Gellidus remains.

[edit] Dark Sun setting

In the world of Athas of the Dark Sun campaign setting, normal D&D dragons do not exist. Dragon-like drake races exist, one for each classical element, but for most people the word dragon refer to the Dragon of Tyr, who is a very powerful sorcerer-king (the tyrannic leaders of Athasian cities, who are both masters of magic and psi abilities) who transformed himself into a dragon-like creature using very powerful (and painful) magic. However, this dragon (Bors or Borys) was eventually killed in Troy Denning's book "The Cerulean Storm" by his former master, the sorcerer Rajaat. Several other sorcerer kings had been rumored to be dragons, but all others were only in a process of being transformed into a dragon type being, unique to the Athas world, which took several long stages to complete, but became greatly powerful if achieved.

[edit] Forgotten Realms setting

In the Forgotten Realms campaign setting, dragons are very close to the ones in Dragonlance. A sect of cultist called the Cult of the Dragon believe that dragons, particularly undead ones, will rule the world, and are trying to convert evil dragons to become dracoliches--undead lich-like dragons, which are partially bound to the cult by the rituals which grant them their undead status. Plus, in the D&D Supplement book "The Draconomicon" several other undead varieties of the dragon - ghost, skeleton, vampire, and zombie make an appearance.

A popular series called Wyrms of the North ran in Dragon magazine issues #230 through 259 and was later updated to third edition rules on Wizards of the Coast's website (see external links). Each article detailed an individual dragon of significance in Faerûn.

Lately, an ancient affliction that attacks dragons and rendering them mad, the Dracorage, was invoked, causing countless dragons to rampage throughout Faerûn. A novel trilogy, the Year of the Rogue Dragons set (The Rage, The Rite, and The Ruin) by Richard Lee Byers, as well as a game accessory, Dragons of Faerûn, details the exploits and deeds of several dragons as the Dracorage swept the continent.

[edit] World of Greyhawk setting

Main article: Steel dragon

The Greyhawk campaign setting features the standard types of D&D dragons, except that in this setting steel dragons are referred to as "Greyhawk Dragons." Although these dragons are rarely encountered, they are somewhat more common in the World of Greyhawk than in other campaign worlds.

[edit] Council of Wyrms setting

The Council of Wyrms campaign setting is the only one that allows for dragon player characters in its base rules. (The Draconomicon introduces rules for dragon PCs in standard Dungeons & Dragons.) The setting is based around a society of dragons and their servitors and uses the standard D&D dragon races and dragon gods. It has detailed rules for creating and playing dragon PCs and NPCs, including various draconic character classes.

[edit] Eberron setting

In the Eberron campaign setting, three dragon gods have created the world: Siberys, Eberron and Khyber. Siberys and Eberron waged war against Khyber and imprisoned it within the depths of the earth. In the end, all three dragons merged with the land: Siberys becoming the sky, Eberron the continents and Khyber the underground world.

Dragons are apart from civilization, which is mostly concentrated on the continent of Khorvaire. They live on the continent of Argonnessen, a rather unknown place, since dragons are very territorial, it makes exploration often hazardous. The dragons used to rule over Eberron many centuries ago, but at the end of the Dragon-Fiend war, against the demons and devils of Khyber, they departed from Khorvaire to go to Argonnessen.

Dragons are immersed in the Draconic Prophecy, a legend which all bits of information are scattered throughout the world and that the outcome is unknown. They see every event as an important event in the Prophecy, and they even form an organization called the Chamber, where they send their brethren in search of clues. They can be of any alignment, like any creature in Eberron, so a good red dragon (usually evil) is as common as an evil gold dragon (usually good). This rule might throw some players off-balance. Dragons also consider themselves superior, treating all other races as inferior. Furthermore, any half-dragon spotted by these dragons is vowed to be hunted, as they treat these half-breeds as a disgrace to their image.

[edit] Birthright setting

The Birthright campaign setting had its own version of a Dragon, named Cerilian Dragon, Cerilia being the main continent in the setting. They resemble more the eastern-type dragons being long and serpentine with leathery wings. Their backs are protected by iron-hard scales, their bellies by layers of thick, leathery skin. Their color ranges from reddish rust-brown to iron gray, with their bellies usually of a paler tone than their scales. Cerilian dragons are among the most ancient inhabitants of the continent, predating even elves and dwarves. Perhaps once there were many, but over the years, in-fighting and fighting the younger races have taken their toll. There are only a half dozen dragons known to be left. All living dragons are of the Old age or higher. Dragons are extremely intelligent and knowledgeable, conserving much lore that has been lost to the younger races. They speak their own language; some also speak Elven or Dwarven. Some of these dragons took part in the Battle of Deismaar, the only verified alive and awake dragons right now are the dragon of Vstaive Peaks in Vosgaard, also known as Vore Lekiniskiy and Kappenkriaucheran who inhabits the Drachenward mountains and controls their magic. The most famous of the dragons is Tarazin the Grey who has not been seen for several decades when the official campaign begins. The only known Dracolich is Komassa who lives in the Shadow World. Dragons in Birthright are meant to be rare and powerful beings and only rarely if ever appear in any adventure.

[edit] Cerilian dragon

  • Breath weapon: Cone of burning venom
  • Terrain: Cerilia, Any
  • Alignment: Any, each has a specific personality
  • Notes:
  • Current Source: (2) Birthright Campaign Setting (3.5) BRCS [2]
  • Images:

[edit] References

  1. ^ Collins, Andy, Skip Williams, and James Wyatt. Draconomicon (Wizards of the Coast, 2003).
  2. ^ Gygax, Gary, and Dave Arneson. Dungeons & Dragons (3-Volume Set) (TSR, 1974)
  3. ^ Gygax, Gary. Monster Manual (TSR, 1977)
  4. ^ Cook, David, et al. Monstrous Compendium Volume One (TSR, 1989)
  5. ^ LaFountain, J. Paul. Monstrous Compendium Outer Planes Appendix. (TSR, 1991)
  6. ^ Stewart, Doug, ed. Monstrous Manual (TSR, 1993)
  7. ^ Williams, Skip, Jonathan Tweet, and Monte Cook. Monster Manual (Wizards of the Coast, 2000)
  8. ^ Andy Collins, Skip Williams, and James Wyatt. Monster Manual (Wizards of the Coast, 2000).
  9. ^ "Dungeons & Dragons FAQ". Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2008-10-03. http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wizards.com%2Fdnd%2FDnDArchives_FAQ.asp&date=2008-10-03. Retrieved 2008-10-03. 
  10. ^ http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/4ex/20081020b
  11. ^ Bonny, Ed, Jeff Grubb, Rich Redman, Skip Williams, and Steve Winter. Monster Manual II (Wizards of the Coast, 2002). Frazier, Jacob. "The Ecology of the Linnorm." Dragon #356 (Paizo Publishing, 2007). Rabe, Jean. "The Vikings' Dragons Part 1." Dragon #182 (TSR, 1992). Rabe, Jean. "The Vikings' Dragons Part 2." Dragon #183 (TSR, 1992). Wise, David, et al. Monstrous Compendium Annual 1 (TSR, 1994).

[edit] External links

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