The entry for Copper Dragon states that they can choose cleric spells for their sorcerer spells, but it implies once they are of an age category where they can cast the spell at its base level. This means that once they start using spell slots to cast it, they can do whatever they want.
Metallic dragons are a type of dragon distinguished by their reflective scales taking on a metallic appearance, similar to various metals. They can change their shape in their adult age and transform into any creature as powerful or less powerful than they are. The spell’s spellcasting ability is Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma when cast with this feat.
Metallic dragons are the only ones that innately gain the ability to change shape. However, a sufficiently powerful Chromatic could learn to cast Polymorph, assuming they have the ability. They can cast this spell without expending a spell slot and cannot do so again until you finish a long rest.
A dragon knows and casts arcane spells as a sorcerer of the level indicated in its variety description, gaining bonus spells for a high Charisma score. The Spellcasting feature is a class feature and unavailable to Ancient Metallic Dragons.
Innate dragons can give any individual dragon the Change Shape ability, as seen in Storm King’s Thunder. Metallic dragons have this ability as an innate ability, while chromatic dragons and other dragons cannot target a set of dragon scale mail made from metallic dragon scales.
This post is part of a series on D and D lore, showing how to adapt some “forgotten dragons” for 5th edition.
📹 Monster Monday: Metallic Dragons
Welcome to Dragon December! This month I’ll be covering all sorts of dragons that feature in D&D. Today I’ll be taking a special …
Can dragons be spellcasters?
Dragons, being innately magical creatures, can master a few spells as they age. They can cast a number of spells equal to their Charisma modifier, each cast once daily, requiring no material components. The spell’s level can’t exceed one-third of the dragon’s challenge rating. The dragon’s bonus to hit with spell attacks is equal to its proficiency bonus and Charisma bonus, and its spell save DC is equal to 8.
Can metallic dragons become evil?
There are nine known types of metallic dragons, with most falling on the good scale, but some rarer metallics can be unpredictable and considered evil. Gold dragons are considered the model of dragonkind, dedicated to eradicating evil and unlawful activities. They prefer to parlay before a battle to assess their enemies’ strengths and weaknesses. These solitary dragons are carved from stone and have shapeshifting abilities, allowing them to take on mortal forms.
They can use fire-based magic, debilitating spell effects, and their fiery breath weapon to make enemies more vulnerable. They are often solitary and make their lair in areas carved from stone, such as caves or castles. They are also known for their ability to assess the situation in nearby villages and lure evildoers in.
Can a dragon be a sorcerer?
Dragons were once the most powerful sorcerers, manipulating their inner magic to defeat ancient empires. Today, few dragons exploit their ancestor’s sorcerous potential. Most draconic bloodlines are obscure, but some are prevalent globally. Sorcerers from the Fourth Edition gain several powers, including physical strength, armor, and resistance to elemental damage types like acid, cold, fire, lightning, poison, or thunder. These powers are primarily used by dragons to manipulate their inner magic and dominate ancient empires.
What is the weakest metallic dragon?
In the original AD and D editions, the five metallic dragons were gold, silver, bronze, copper, and brass, respectively, and were ranked in order of strength from strongest to weakest. In the fifth edition, the order appears to have been reinstated, with additional metallic dragons being introduced in subsequent editions and campaign settings.
Can silver dragons cast spells?
The following description pertains to a silver dragon, characterized by polished silver scales and a feathered tail. The dragon is capable of casting cleric spells as arcane spells and of undergoing three transformations per day, which may be considered to resemble the effects of the spell Polymorph. Furthermore, a young or older silver dragon is capable of traversing aerial phenomena such as clouds and fog with the same ease as a terrestrial surface. These exceptional capabilities render the dragon a distinctive and formidable entity.
Why do dragonborn hate dragons?
The Dragonborn of the Forgotten Realms are unique in Dungeons and Dragons due to their innate disdain towards deities and faith figures, including dragons. They were oppressed by dragons and only gained freedom through force. They avoid worshiping gods due to fear of their cruelty or tyranny. Players are not forced to follow a specific guideline when creating their Dragonborn characters, allowing them to be rebels like Drizzt. This sets them apart from other worlds in D and D lore.
Can metallic dragons interbreed?
In Forgotten Realms Draconomicon, dragons are declared capable of crossbreeding, including chromatic and metallic. Chromatic Dragons can freely crossbreed with Metallic or Oriental Dragons to acquire their polymorphing abilities. To ensure the Half-Dragon “Drake III” looks more Occidental, the Half-Red/Half-T’ien Lung “Long Drake II” breeds with his cousin the Red Dragon “Ashara”, resulting in the Half-Red Dragon “Drake IV”.
This legal chromatic Half-Dragon according to 1995’s Half-Dragon 2ed rules. In 3e, the child of the Red Half-Dragon “Drake IV” with his Silverbrow-Human wife is a 1/4-Dragon “Drake V”, who evolves into a Draconic-Human and eventually a Red Half-Dragon.
Can dragons have magic?
In Dungeons and Dragons, dragons are generally reptilian or serpentine in their natural form, with wings and flight capabilities. Most dragon species are highly intelligent and can speak. They are also magical, with an affinity for elemental power. Some dragon species can cast magical spells. Most dragons can breathe or expel energy associated with their elemental affinity and resist damage or injury from other sources. Some dragons have two types of breath weapons, one that can cause physical harm to player characters and another that has a non-damaging effect.
Dragons are egg-layers, with sharp teeth, horns, and claws. They are protected by their scaly hide, which is determined by the dragon’s species and offers a visual clue to the specific elemental nature of each species. Each species has a particular temperament and moral outlook, which underlie their personality and behavior. Dragons typically are not portrayed with wide variances in appearance or personality within a species, but exceptions are possible, especially in certain in-game settings, such as Eberron.
Due to their monstrous nature, most dragons in Dungeons and Dragons are described as evil by default. This was more prominent in the original Dungeons and Dragons releases, where only the gold dragon was specified as lawful good, while all other colors were noted as chaotic evil (red, green, black) or neutral evil (blue, white).
Can Drizzt cast spells?
Drizzt previously utilized drow spells, including darkness, faerie fire, and levitation, until he lost the capacity to cast them. The exclusion of ranger spells from the casting repertoire is attributable to the stylistic conventions established by Bob. His Wisdom statistic is relatively low, and he does not cast Drow spells due to his prolonged exposure to sunlight. In the majority of instances, he does not act in a manner consistent with the characteristics typically associated with a ranger.
Can a metallic dragon become a dracolich?
Metalic dragons, a type of dragon in Dungeons and Dragons, can become dracolich, a powerful and evil character. They are typically only found in ancient and adult dragons, but can also be narcissistic and choose to become a dracolich to escape mortality. These dragons bring grandeur, wisdom, and valour to the tabletop, offering a rich tapestry of storytelling possibilities for Dungeon Master crafting epic quests or players seeking allies. Their origins are shrouded in mystery, but they can be a powerful force in the world of Dungeons and Dragons. For more information on metallic dragons, read our guide on gem dragons.
Who is the god of metallic dragons?
Bahamut, the Platinum Dragon, is the deity of good-aligned dragons and metallic dragons, considered the first of their kind. He is a sworn enemy of Tiamat, the Scaled Tyrant, the queen of the chromatic dragons. Bahamut’s divine form is distinct from silver dragons, as he appears as a gargantuan true dragon with immense wingspan and vibrant platinum scales, surrounded by a shiny iridescent aura. This unique combination of features makes him a significant deity in the mythical world.
📹 Metallic Dragons are COMPLICATED
We all love Dragons. But why should Chromatic dragons get all the love? Let’s discuss how metallic dragons may impact your …
This is my favourite Dragon you’ve drawn so far! Not only are silver Dragons my favourite type to beginn with, but i love the halo like horns and the feathers! I always like to give my Dragons some plumage as well, especially the metallic ones^^ You also did a great job making this one look kind but still dangurous~
1. Copper dragon with scales that have oxidized turning green (i.e. statue of liberty) and now gains advantage on stealth when hiding in jungle environments. 2. Albino black dragon that hunts other black dragons for their scales (quest giver?) 3. Silver dragon that polishes their scales to be like mirrors. +9 stealth in all environments (Tarasque like spell resistance?) 4. Gold dragon that attempted to ascend to platinum; ended up cursed as an Uranium Dragon. within 10ft. Constitution saving throw (Half of (2d8) radiant on success/ Full (2d8) radiant damage + poisoned condition on fail. 5. color blind chromatic dragon who is picked on by copper dragons (just wants friend) 6. Gold dragon put to sleep by imprisonment spell. had his scales removed and melted off. (s)he escaped and covered her/him self in molten metals from around the world. 7. white dragon that is afraid of lightning.
I’m actually interested in what some of the combinations be if Chromatic Dragons ever had offspring with Metallic Dragons. I always imagined that they would take up more elegant colored metals; for example if a Blue Dragon had offspring with a Metallic Dragon it may result in Cobalt Dragons. Red = Crimson White = Steel Black = Obsidian
Hey AF hope your doing well, I’m not sure if you remember them from last week but I ask for you permission to use the Orange Dragon for my campaign and you said yous like to hear about it. Well, my party encountered it and it was the most intense, nail-biting session I’ve ever had, this was an important one. Named Orga he was a member of Dracona Cabal a group of chromatic dragons trying to restart the Chromatic and Metallic war. But as for the fight after a long and hard fight they did defeat him but it was at a great cost…. my barbarian lost her arm after being grabbed she chose to cut it off, my ranger lost his left eye after getting the sodium in his eyes and my warlock was killed by being crushed into a bloody stain. But I couldn’t be happier of who dealt the final blow it was my paladin who had lost his wife and child after Orga destroyed his village, so having him deal the killing blow was the most cathartic thing I’ve ever done. BTW this Sliver Dragons looks stunning everything about it is beautiful.
It’s a really nice drawing and the lore you explain in interesting. But the D&D Silver dragon doesn’t.. quite look like that. They only have 2 horns, a tall “Mohawk” style frill going from the top of their head down to the tip of their tails. They also have two thumbs claws on their wings. Two fin flaps reminiscent of ears in just the place where ears would be. And a frill like goatee under their chins. And I have no idea what dragon he was drawing there to be honest.
Wow that takes me back, The Silver Dragon was the first True Dragon I ever used in my campaign. PS: Sorry no monster again I’m afraid. So I give you another experimental idea again, perhaps try and imagine what Harry Potter would be like if D&D races and Monsters existed in it. I can definitely imagine that Hagrid would be happy. I have been considering making a Tin Dragon. Also Merry Christmas
Personally, ages ago, I fond this homebrew quest line. I have adapted it to my own world and campaign but it has put dragons at the forefront and is the most important thing in my campaign. A fair number of the magic items need to be balanced JUUUUUST a little bit but it’s still REALLY cool. I typically let my players have 3 magic item attunements and 3 of these special three-dragons ante card attunements. Ether way, it’s worth a look at. And! You can get some really interesting quest ideas out of them too! dandwiki.com/wiki/Dragon_Deck_Mini-Quest_Series_(5e_Quest)
Someone else might have mentioned this, but Dragon Magazine #170 introduced “ferrous dragons”, including iron, cobalt, tungsten, chromium, and nickel. They tend to be lawful neutral. There are also mercury, steel, and mithril dragons in the 4e metallic draconomicon. If you’re not familiar with these, you should check them out. Beautiful illustration btw; I love silver dragons! 😃
the Mercy dragon is the smallest of all the metallic dragons, tiny sized hatchlings at first but will become fully grown at a huge size. Although small that is to say nothing of their speed and ability to crawl through any crack or crevice even in their later years. Venerable to fire the mercy dragon lives its life away from anyplace above temperatures of 70°F or hire. The mercy dragon also has the ability to command and control even the most veratious oozes… More info not found.
Metallics really are underrated. Which is unfortunate because they are good creatures. But people forget that good is subjective from person to person. With gold dragons being my favorite of the metallics, I like to twist their righteousness into almost a zealotry. They are still destroyers of evil, but instead of only destroying evil, my gold dragons think of everything in the long term, and would see the destruction of an entire city justified if some terrible evil lurked within. Due to their long lives, they can only really see in the long term, and not the now An amazing article as always, and the silver dragon came out so well!
I love the idea of a dragon baby sitting a convoy. “Ummm, mystical powerful beast as old as time and powerful as a country, we appreciate your kindness but how will we every repay you for protecting us?” “Repay? I’m the majority shareholder in this venture, now get back on the road before I cut your salaries for delaying us too long”
A BBEG taking the form of an ancient dragon wreaking havoc manipulating markets and instigating wars could be potentially terrifying, as slaying a dragon that is so entrenched in the world markets might result in a worldwide economic collapse… whether by absence, or via contingencies to screw over competitors in case of an assassination.
A few thoughts that came up in this description. The difference in east and west views on good dragons could make for an interesting story if due to travel difficulties no metallic dragons have been to the local continent or part of the continent and as such the locals only know dragons that want to kill them, the very first metallic dragon doing market research may be difficult to play due to the power level but it certainly wouldn’t be boring. In a more established setting with dragon merchant princes, I could imagine it be common for ships and caravans to fly the heraldry of an associated dragon to warn others to back off much like merchants have flown national colours, as in real life it is possible this could bring more danger depending on the patron especially in this care if there is more violent competition between dragons that find destroyed their competitors ships a less dangerous means of confrontation than a straight up fight. For the local Silver dragon dying and leaving the region undefended, I could only imagine the local authority issuing the vital quest for a matchmaker to set up this dragon and produce an heir, although I guess working out how to manage any territoriality disputes between the parent and offspring until the parent dies whilst keeping the offspring nearby might be a challenge.
Metal armor would actually be more effective against lightning breath than non-metal armor. As the metal surrounding your body is more conductive than your body and will therefore direct the current around you, rather than through you: youtu.be/eNxDgd3D_bU?si=3O9gW9-BwBCGpX3i Today, faraday suits (a modern analog to chain mail) are worn by those working on power lines.
This discussion makes me think of a dragon NPC who serves as a financial advisor to other Dragons and runs a company that just manages wealth. But that dragon is “work averse” as well, so they employ a bunch of Humanoids (and a few young Dragons) that do the busy work and book keeping. Lots of adventure-adjacent plot hooks there!
I loved this. All I could think as I watched this was: all this assumes that dragons must be intensely averse to working together. Of course, many dragons are, but it only takes one example or two or more dragons developing true trust for one another and agreeing to a full partnership, and the game changes completely. Imagine a dragon that is great at organising and managing sitting at the centre of a vast trading empire, with another dragon protecting the most lucrative ventures in person. Their lairs are adjacent, even perhaps built as a single vast building with a wing each (no pun intended). Anyone opposing them has to face not one, but two of the most powerful creatures in existence. Not only does this make it less likely for humanoids adversaries to come against, it also acts as a fabulous defence against chromatic dragons. And then imagine what happens if those two dragons mate, and hatch a few eggs together. And educate those dragons in the family business. Suddenly you have a guild run by the a whole lineage of powerful beings who will each individually outlive almost every humanoid working for them. and when the family head dies? The next dragon in line simply steps up to take over. With centuries (or millennia if you use older lore) to prepare for this, and with the oldest dragons being so much stronger than the younger ones, succession wars should be a rare thing – although when they did occur, that would be a global event. And if one group of dragons can do it, others might seek to emulate them, to varying degrees of success.
I once had the thought of a story about a Steel Dragon, which are known for living among humanoids, preferring plains, and their curiosity. They try their hand at different occupations to learn new skills, not just adventurer classes but civilian ones like tanners, bakers, etc. And libraries. They’d own massive libraries as part of their hoard, maybe running a printing business and keeping a handful of copies of each new book they make. My favorite idea however, was them being open about being a Dragon, and running a dungeon as a sort of gauntlet training challenge for adventurers, a safe distance from their actual lair. Perhaps allowing wargear and trinkets to mature into magical items in their hoard, then selling them for profit. Or maybe training manuals that turned into skill books while in the hoard.
Dragons already spend most of their time organizing their hoard. So with the culture of dragons also focusing on building and maintaining the hoard above all else. Combine that with hundreds of years of experience and the fact that the hoard itself is magical and can turn items magical. I think they can handle it
In my homebrew setting, Draconic is the language of academia, in part due to its association with magic and ancient knowledge, much like how Latin was used (and to an extent, still is, particularly in legal and scientific terminology) in our world. The idea of it being common among bards and poets too just makes this seem more likely.
Why do people always underestimate the experience factor when fighting things that were old before you were born. Any immortal would have the insane prowess at basically anything that is best demonstrated by time loop guys (if you’ve read pale then Ted is a terrifying example). A great example of this is in the mummy WoD game where you start out with 3x as much dots as characters from other game lines because the mummy is so old and experienced.
I’m playing a drow draconic sorceror with a silver dragon bloodline. Long ago a silver dragon helped a group of Eilistraean drow escape the Underdark and settle on the surface. He spent many decades living among them in drow form and took many lovers, siring many children. These surface drow have a sorceror’s guild to train those that are born with the gift.
In a world I’m currently building, there is this narrow strait (think along the lines of Bosporus) and its surroundings, dividing two power-hungry empires (think along the lines of Romans and Persians). As such, it would obviously be a strategically important point. Now, here is the catch – neither of the empires goes all in to seize the strait and they actually trade through it rather peacefully and don’t wage wars through that one. The reason being – a (mating) pair of dragons (a Gold and a Bronze – both amphibious) reside there and enforce the peace and the trade by their draconic might, mostly just taking a toll from the passing traders, but protecting “the other empire” viciously. Both of the empires tried to mount an attack on their neighbor through the strait. Both lost their fleet to the dragon pair and remember those times as some of the tougher ones. By now, the pair controls a small area around the strait as well, having the toll-taking being done by the local Dragonborns, far offsrpings of them. Also, when they have a “small partner argument”, the trade tends to stop, because such an argument, while still generally good-natured, still means there are two dragons p!ssed at each other.
Only thing I don’t like about this is the idea of metallic dragons doing anything remotely shady, untoward, or cruel, to gain their wealth. As said, they are good. They are not greedy individuals nor malicious. They would not be loan sharks that will eat you for not paying back your debts, because that would be more akin to evil and Bahamut, their creator and king, would not be pleased. Additionally this is also ignoring that metallics tend to be more isolated, save for Silvers.
One thing I think about a lot is how cloud giants in particular would meddle with dragons and their mutual interest in humanoid markets and wealth. Dragons arent without competition, and building wealth is exactly what cloud giants specialize in within The Ordning. Giants typically don’t like dragons very much, and I can imagine cloud giants being very petty about it, especially if a dragon influences a market away from their favor. Cloud giants might not live as long as dragons, but 400 years is still quite a bit of time to build experience; especially when it’s a family business they dedicate their entire craft into. A dragon could help fund a countries war effort, but a cloud giant could do the same for the other side. Reports of a dragon guarding trade caravans or merchant ships, giants may take a very vested interest in that. Cloud giants might even compete in contests with other cloud giants on wether or not they could undermine a dragons finances. Cloud giants would likely be just as protective of their business investments as dragons might be, which puts them in direct competition with something makes dragons a good idea to work with. I can imagine there being a lot of businessmen who might consider working with a dragon to be too great a risk if it was ever found out, which creates an interesting dynamic with competing factions.
Spoilers for Curse of Strahd. The concept behind that module’s silver dragon Lord Argynvost as the head of a knightly order akin to the Templars or Hospitallers is intensely interesting to me. In real life, such knightly orders were obscenely wealthy because not only did the noblemen who joined their ranks donate everything they owned to the order as a prerequisite to join, but also the orders received massive amounts of what we call today “large quantity small donor” donations from common folk who supported their cause (protecting pilgrims to the Holy Land). The Templars literally became some of the most powerful bankers of their time, while the Hospitallers spent some of their excess capital running hospitals (origin of the name). And this is all before the plunder that these organizations, ahem, liberated while on campaign. Lord Argynvost probably would have had a mind-boggling hoard as the leader of such an organization.
I love the idea of a ‘dynasty’ of wealthy merchants, nobles or even kings developing. Traveling merchant makes a fortune does some nice things then wonders of comes back decades later claiming to be his son. Or Imagine it could explain the existence of extraordinarily long lived kings or emperors. Maybe people think their wise entrepreneurial ruler who founded an empire rules for centuries and has an odd habit of hoarding wealth is blessed by gods. Then when he ‘dies’ he is put in a mountain tomb. The adventurers decide to ‘explore’ his tomb to find that the emperor isn’t dead but a massive metallic dragon
One other aspect of bronze dragons is that they’re more than willing to accompany armies into battle if the cause is just and the pay is good. Such a disposition would be amenable to a mercenary captain who may have enough coin, clout, natural charisma and military experience to finance and lead very… lucrative campaigns to that end.
Sensational adaptive conception of the oriental archetype in urban environments! It complements her mythologically inspired bases quite well! I loved your review of the details of the repercussions of its subtle influence on the socio-cultural, the different habits of each specimen and that in a certain way they resemble the chromatics, only with very peculiar differences in charisma! Great visualization as bank merchants, charlatans poets and empowered warriors!! I don’t even want to imagine in the case of Giants, fairy entities and other entities with magical links!
Hey Tom, a head’s-up: the Chromatic Dragons link doesn’t show up on the article—in fact I’ve searched YouTube and your website separately and it seems to have vanished! PS about article requests: While I’m not a D&D player I love your articles, well, I love dragons and imagining a world from a dragon’s perspective—in a sensible and realistic way. Some of your points made me think and crave more information to ponder. I’ve searched thoroughly but if any articles of more than a year old exist, they don’t show up/ seem to be non-existant. Only two articles with “Dragon” in the title are visible: this one and the “PLEASE Don’t make Dragons Boring!” one, can’t find the Chromatic Dragons article you mentioned at all. I’d really like your take on a dragon’s perspective centered world as well as more Dragon types lore and wish we could view the one about Chromatics and hope you’d be willing to make the Crystal Dragons article you mentioned here; I’m especially interested in those and the lore you and D&D could bring to the table. Would you please make more content about Dragons? Cheers and thank you for the articles you’ve made (that I can see) so far, Cearon.
Its true that draconic politics could shape the world. But also, its should be noted until couple centuries ago, all dragons were subjected to dracorage mithal. Draconic civilization was anahilated, and dragons were forced to solitary life style, until very recently. And slowly, they begin their rise back. Hense, Hoard of the Dragon Queen and Rise of Tiamat adventures.
This inpired me to make a magic item websiteing rod Rod, very rare. (Requires Attunement) This electrum Rod counts as a +1 quarter staff The rod has 4 charges. You can use your action to expend a charge to website all incoming electricity within 15 feet into the rod. Ranged attacks or spell that deal lightning damage that target a creature or object within the effected area target the rod instead. Area effects do not deal lightning damage within the effected area and line spells or breath weapons the deal lightning damage are cut short by the effected area (example, a lightning bolt spell would not pass þrough the effected area) When you expend the rods last charge, roll a d20. On a 1, the rod crumbles in nonmagical dust and is destroyed. The rod regains 1d4 charges at dawn
I interpreted the chromatic personalities as: xenophobic (black), manipulative/controlling (green), vain (blue), tyrannical/destructive (red) and feral/instinctual (white). While these things still all bleed into each other a bit there are some opposites. Black dragons are least likely to play well with others, while green dragons are most likely. A blue dragon is prideful of its looks even more so than it’s power, as opposed to a red dragon. White dragons are bullies because they are used to being low on the food chain (considering other dragons and giants), while red dragons are tyrannical because they know they have the power to back it up.
I love a lot of these ideas, but I think a lot of them require breaking away from the assigned “alignment” of dragons. You say that altruism and goodness are not the same thing, but I would seriously challenge that – I think altruism is the closest thing we have to a philosophy of “good”, just as objectivisim is the closest thing to a philosophy of “evil”. While a metallic dragon may be psychologically compelled to amass a hoard, if it were to do so through predatory and harmful means (such as lending for personal profit), it would no longer be a “good” creature. For-profit rentiers are Neutral at best!
I just dont think humanoid civilization would get much past Conan the Barbarian stage of development. While dragons themselves are analogies for empires. Unless a specific dragon wanted to cultivate humanoids for some greater purpose, humanoids would be constantly trying to hunt dragons for survival. That puts them in the middle of wars against dragons and giants. Furthermore i really think the chromatic dragons would not tolerate it.
I’m surprised I’m not already subscribed to you. I just watched your article about Christmas in fantasy and picked this one as another one to watch while I finished walking the dog and making breakfast. Then at the end of the article I realized that I had not subscribed even though your stuff is consistently good. Don’t worry that’s been remedied.
Just imagine an “open” dragon that a community trusts, having half-breed children to enrich the population with sorcerers because mages are valuable. And an adventuring party’s bard sees the woman they were flirting with walk up to the local dragon with no fear and call it “Grandpa”. His buddies proceed to tackle and tie him up, all the way to the blacksmith to ask for a chastity belt.
An idea I thought of was metallic dragons Because. They’re usually good aligned. Would help people? And as a result, those individuals could become. nobles or merchants or even monarchs, depending on. how much help they get from said metallic dragon. For example, let’s say a warrior Whether they are aware of it or not, the. befriends a silver dragon Because the Warrior saved their life or. some other reason. So the silver dragon gives them some gold from their horde And because of that the. warrior in question. effectively ascends to noble status. and as a result, that noble house Would have a draconic motif. like a dragon on the coat of arms and A lot of draconic imagery within the estate.
Perhaps Dragons have existed for long enough that ancient civilization, say similar to our world’s bronze age, had significant involvement from metallics in that era, and the destabilization they wrought was so thorough, and determined by the majority of metallics to be somewhat detrimental to the mortal races, that they have established laws among their own kind as to how much interference is considered acceptable. Perhaps clauses for a duration of an identity, or perhaps a need to divest from certain markets before their power becomes too outsized in a mortal society. These laws would likely be unknown to mortals, but perhaps strictly enforced by certain metallics, and likely, followed within a certain margin of error by others.
In my personal opinion, I hate bronze dragons with a burning passion. According to people like mr rhexx, they are extremely self righteous and dont understand moral grey areas. A poor man will try to sneak food for himself and his family but all the bronze dragon will see is a thief who broke the law and will enact punishment.
I really feel like the World of Warcraft dragons were heavily designed upon the metallic dragons, as most of them are good aligned and the ones that werent were black dragons corrupted by the Old Gods. Up until Dragonflight, all the protodragons (chromatics) were enemies and generally regarded as either unintelligent or so far above the mortal races that they regarded us as not worth speaking to.
This view of Metallics would also very much serve to heighten the superstition and repute of the ‘cruel, alien, unstoppable’ Giant. Storm Giants and Hill Giants regardless of their own nurtured kindness have a cultural biological disdain and wish to hunt all Dragons. Crushing young influencial Silvers, Coppers, and Bronzes. Creating Horde bubbles and adventuresome investments that warrant the existence of lv16+ Dungeons.
The more noble and trustworthy of metallic dragons could also serve as long-term guardians and trustees of other people’s funds. For example, in my world of Firma, after the prophet Imredim won a great war against a neighboring empire, he ordered a university built and handed the spoils of battle over to a mated pair of silver dragons as an endowment to keep the university running in perpetuity. The dragons invest the horde in camel caravans and merchant shipping, much as you described, so it generates enough wealth to pay the professors and maintain the lecture halls and library without diminishing the hoard. Imredim ordered that students who passed the entrance exam should not have to pay any tuition. In the centuries since Imredim died, the dragons have held to the letter of this decree, but they started allowing students who failed the exam to study too, if they paid a “contribution” to the hoard first. Now many students accuse the dragons of raising the exam standards too high so as to get more students to fail the exams and get more contributions.
In most fantasy dragons are considered intelligent. Very intelligent. Which means they are intelligent enough to know that causing attention will only attract adventurers to want to slay it. Dragons are also typically very rich. How do they get there? Do they rob people of gold? Combining that would mean a dragon should know of their power and just deal with the nearby village. Not going there to steal cows for a snack, but buy them. And the village gives cows in return for protection. And since the dragon is seen as a protector, no call goes to to “save us from the dragon”. Sure, any dragon of respectable size could just force the villagers to give up the cows, but why alienate your neighbors if you can be profitable together. In fact, the village with a nearby dragon should be safe from bandits and orc warbands. The villagers give food and the promise not to call for knights to slay the dragon, and the dragon protects the village from dangers. Sounds like a pretty good deal.
obviously lightning breath in D&D does whatever it does. I will say I’m not convinced by the idea that metal armor is weak to electrical attacks. If anything, it should act like a Faraday cage. Cars and even bicycles offer a degree of protection from electrical hazards because they redirect the current around them and equilibrate the current across their metal exterior, leaving everyone inside or on them typically unharmed. A bicycle wouldn’t help against a direct strike, but a suit of metal armor actually might, and a car almost completely neutralizes the threat of direct lightning strikes.
Actually an interesting element of early banking was the banning of Christians charging interest (investing apparently didn’t count along with other work arounds) and also the habit of kings just abolishing the banks. A successful bank could just have their assets seized by the king or just refusing to pay (and unfortunately pogromed if they were jewish). This also made putting money with banks very risky. Id imagine thats not as easy to do with a dragon lol
Dragons could be the easiest “quest givers”: adventurers could be tasked with salvaging a failing investment or collecting on a debt on behalf of her dragon. Likewise, the party could systematically “pitch” their ideas in a literal dragon’s den to get funding and protection on their quests. Heck, it would be an original way to start a game: instead of meeting in a tavern, the players’ characters are all hired by a dragon banker as a task force to retrieve some treasure, investigate an insurance claim or impact a market. Logically, States should exist primarily around dragons. The first duty of a country is defence: political power stems from protection first and foremost.
I know that DnD has rules that say metal armor is bad against lightning, so that’s how it works in the game. However, you do know that a suit of full plate armor is basically a faraday cage, right? The majority of the electricity will take the most conductive path, which would be the steel that goes AROUND the person. I know, magic blah blah. But if magical control over the lightning stops at the other persons skin, then full plate would be very protective.
Why so msny fantasy world fall into the trap of assigning personslities and alligments to whole species? Even Tolkien did. How will all brass dragons be talkative? If their brains sre advanced enough to talk they are advanced enough to have individual personalities. Maybe they crave “human” connection but that doesn’t make all of the talkative.
14:30 thats a historical misconception, medieval times debt was linked to the family, since countries didnt actually exist as we see today, as a colective of people that organize and structure comunity, countries were a colective of families that created comunities, meaning that the families would pay the deeds instead of the farmers and etc, wich actually makes sense, it is but in the modern era that debt started to be atributed to countries and most important winners, for example when france aquired alsace from the war with germans they actually paid the alsace debt, while the prussians didnt do the same while acquiring new lands by that decade, same for example for WW 1 were the loser was meant to pay the debt of the winner we saw how that wasnt feasible since a country cant and most importantly WONT pay its debts when the populace is unhappy, so for a dragon to make interest a most reasonable take would be to lend money to family heads wich would make its lease really rare and kind of a favor in the human eyes. it could be possible for the dragon to FORCE the country to pay but it wouldnt be efficient since it could force a post WW1 scenario where the country fails to get back togheter and actually starts to opose the dragon, wich is a financial and reputation failure in the long run, so succesful dragons would not do that.
Metallic dragons are my favorite category of true dragon in D&D. Everything about them lends to rich characterization. I do think the article is perhaps a bit too judgmental of Golds, though. They are certainly beings of power, but I think it is a bit much to say they’d destroy “any” political system. Democracy for example, especially representative democracies, would work out really well with a Gold at the helm. You’d be hard-pressed to find someone more wise for a politician, which would translate to very well-thought-out national policies. If the dragon was say elected president, you can’t tell me with a straight face that Gold wouldn’t want some checks and balances against its own influence, to prevent tyranny! Their sense of incorruptibility may sting market interests here and there, but their sense of justice would provide a very stable foundation for enterprises to rely on as well. TL;DR Interesting discussion on how Metallic dragons could fit into a setting, but I don’t think Golds would be universally “bad” for human society.
So firstly: Bronzes are an objectively excellent choice, but Silver dragons best dragons. Yes, I am biased. Second, and I hate that this feels like undercutting, but at least in previous edition lore all dragons can eat anything . They prefer, typically, to dine like obligate carnivores and apex predators, but none of them have to. They can survive off of dirt, canonically. This is part of the reason Silvers’ favorite food is “whatever humanoids make”. And what makes Chromatics such bastards. Now with this said, an addendum to the whole excellent article: while they are universally proud, imperious creatures, being “good” by any definition that matters requires some level of altruism. Which is to say that those banks the dragons might run? They’re going to innately be much less…horrifically exploitative than many examples in the real world, if the dragons in question maintain any input on their operation. If you use plot elements like this, you’re literally handing yourself a reason things in your setting can be better than they otherwise might be. All the selfishness of mortalkind, and hordes of monsters and fiends exerting influence besides? Well, incredibly powerful creatures who live longer than humans can really parse time have their talons on the levers of power and a genetic -level interest in making things better. Why yes, I am making this a key aspect of the scifi game I’m running now. I always love articles like this. There’s a little kid in me who picked up a NES game with a Bronze, Silver and Gold playable in it, then a high schooler who bought a Monster Manual and found the Silvers were better even than they’d always thought.
Bronze Dragons are my personal favourite as well and my go to when I need to insert a dragon in my game on the fly. However I also love using them as corrupted villains, striking a merchant ship in the middle of an ocean storm destroying the masts and then after a day or two revealing themselves and offering to tow them back to shore for the low price of 60% off all wealth on the ship. Or offering to fly the party over a stretch of sea or ocean only to throw them off into the water depths below and wait for them to die or wash up on a nearby isle which the dragon has previously selected and cleared of all useable material.
“imagine a paladin that would destroy any nobleman that is corrupt…” so all of them? Sounds like the gold dragon would opt for a class less society. Perhaps even a moneyless society so that eating the now mostly useless gold and gems is no biggie. Infsct the gold dragon sounds like an (academic) commie. That would be a lot more interesting than most rendition of supposedly good dragons
One of the most important and influential Metallic Dragons in my campaign world is an Evil Ancient Silver Dragon that has such a “love” for humanity that it likes to “collect” them in a way. The Silver Chain as they are known runs a interplanar slave trade while hiding in plain sight posing as a princess of a major kingdom that they have secretly taken over from the shadows.