Walking with Dragons (Update 1/28/2004)

(N.B.: This is a rough draft. With feedback it will get the polishing it needs.)

Back some years ago I decided to write a book about dragons for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons® second edition. The working title was “The Ultimate Guide to Dragons” after a series of specials on the Discovery Channel, and it was to be a guide to D&D® dragons in the form of a natural history book. Obviously, things have changed.

For one, a marvelous little mini-series known as, “Walking with Dinosaurs” aired on the Discovery Channel. A production of the BBC, it showed .cgi animation of the great beasts and gave me the idea to do this book as a ‘write-up’ of a fictional documentary series, “Walking with Dragons”

But, rather than follow the format of the real series, I’ve gone ahead and done it up in my own fashion. “Walking with Dragons” includes information on the various species, dragon evolution, dragon life, plus d20 system information for those of you who’d like to include my version of the d20 system dragons in your d20 game.

Use the information in this book as you wish. Some, most, all. Entirely your choice. I “designed” the dragons in this volume as I see them in the world of Dragon Earth. You may have a different vision. All this can be in the long run is a set of guidelines and advice for adding life to your game’s dragons. Showing how they might be put into a full fledged world, and used as more than a foe for an evening’s combat.

That is the foreword good reader. Starting with the Introduction I shall be writing under the conceit that you will be reading a book on the natural history of the dragon, as published on a world known as Dragon Earth. A fancy designed to get you into the spirit of the work, nothing more. I hope this amuses, entertains, informs, and give you ideas.

Alan Kellogg, January 7th 2004

You have funny name. Uh, I mean good start, looks interesting.

I'm already calling dibs on Slacerian Dragons!

Very Gygaxian. Find a way to add the word "milieu" and I'll buy it!

Seriously, looks good, but some questions and suggestions:

1) The phrase "gone ahead and done it up" sounds a little awkward, if not vernacular-ish. Might want to consider revising.

2) Is this covering the traditional chromatic & metallic dragons, or ones of your own design, or both? You might want to go into a little more detail on the contents.

3) You might want to consider adding a sentence or so about what you feel is missing from many games, and why you felt the need to write on this subject for the average gamer to pick up.

4) Might want to consider dropping "This is the forward, good reader" from the last paragraph, because it sounds redundant in the face of the rest of the passage.

Now that you mention it.

The Foreword will be reworded to eliminate misphrasings etc.

Dragon Earth dragons? Largely based on d20 dragons, with a few changes. More options in combat, different growth pattern, feathers, etc.

Feathers?

Technically speaking they don't have feathers per se, but... ...you know how people are. If it looks like a feather it gets called a feather. Were I any sort of artist I'd do up a couple of red dragon sub-species to show you the difference in wing pattern. For instance, the Andean Red has a 'leading edge' of yellow-orange 'feathers' on the wing. While the Western American Red male grows a set of blue-green display 'feathers' during the mating season.

More to come

Sounds like a great idea, but maybe not so great timing? I'm still getting a lot of milage from "The Slayer's Guide to Dragons" and I am still madly in love with my "Draconomicon". Even the chapter on dragon magic in "BoEM III: Nexus" sees a lot of use...

I'll probably get your book too, though; I can never have too many dragons!

Fret not, it is a work in progress, and will take awhile to put together. The full dragon write-ups alone will take at least 40 pages to do.

Current plans are to put each chapter and section up at my site in html. Later, when there's enough to justify it, chapters will be converted to PDF and made available for download. Should a publisher show an interest in it, I'll be looking for a good artist to share in the proceeds. Something like a 50/50 split, since I expect Walking with Dragons to be as heavy with art as it will be with text.

(One vision I had was inspired by the scene in Walking with Dinosaurs where we see a herd of apatosaurs marching grandly across a barren plain. In Walking with Dragons it's of a 'herd' of black dragon toddlers marching grandly across a kitchen floor. Yes, my sense of humor can get a bit outre.)

As always comments are encouraged. And if it leads you to do something much like what I'm doing here with some favorite monster of your own, cool. I wish you the best with your project.

Walking with Dragons: Introduction

(Here's part two. Again, it is a rough draft, feedback and comments can lead to revision and (I do hope) improvement.)

This is a book about dragons. Dragons as they exist on the world of Dragon Earth. A world much like our own, but with many differences.

Chief among these is the presence of working magic. Magic which allows for such as dragons, manticores, and rocs. Creatures that would not otherwise be able to exist, much less do what they do as they do it.

Otherwise Dragon Earth is much like our Earth. A world where science has done much to explain how the universe works, and to make life better and, in some cases, worse for the people of Dragon Earth.

So this is a natural history. A natural history of dragons. It covers their origins, their way of life, and how they fit in with the other animals of Dragon Earth, sapient and not.

You’ll note that Dragon Earth dragons are not exactly like dragons from other sources. They are not reptilian, mammallian, or even avian, though they do have features of all three. They are an order all their own, and are treated as such. Nor are they symbolic of anything, emblematic of anything, or even an analog of anything. They are creatures in their own right.

You’ll further note that while the dragons of Dragon Earth are based in good part on the dragons of the d20 SRD, they are not, exactly, like those dragons. These dragons have their own psychology, their own motivations. Not for them huge piles of lumpy treasure to sleep on. Or, for that matter, meals of rubies and gold. No, a nice bison or elephant will do quite nicely.

Nor are they of tremendous size, for as the wise man once said, “It’s not the amount of dragon in the fight, it’s the amount of fight in the dragon.

So welcome to a world of wonder and adventure. A world where great winged beasts sail among the clouds and above the highest mountain peaks. Welcome to a land of intrigue and mystery. Welcome to Dragon Earth and Walking with Dragons.

Alan, I've merged the two threads. This is really cool, but is best off in one easier-to-find location. You can change the thread title at your whim by editing the first post.

Thanks!

I'm excited to hear about the dragons, but I'm also excited to hear about the other fantastical creatures mentioned (if only in passing, like the mammals of Walking with Dinosaurs).....

Though I'm not sure it can entirely hold my interest without all the gee-whiz special effects, there's a solid chance that it can. I'm looking forward to this.