D&D General Companion Thread to D&D Survivor: Dragons, Chromatic

[JoeyD473]

My favorite is the Green Dragon. They are the most clever and also the most willing to talk and make deals with PCs. Its not just a flying bag of HP. I also love that of all dragons (not just chromatic) the most protective of their young which can set up very interesting encounters

 

[Cadence]

I'm reminded how much the green dragons' breath weapon and blue dragons' habitat annoy me. All of them annoy me less than just about everything about the metallics.

elaborate please?

For the green:

The energy types in 3.5 and 5e have been Acid, Cold, Electricity/Lightning, Fire, Sonic/Thunder. Explicitly as energy types in 3.5 and as the damage types that are stopped byPortecton from Energy Spell in 5e. We get four of those for the chromatic dragons, but then Sonic/Thunder is left out... and the Green gets its classic something like chlorine gas (is that corrosive or poison? depends on edition). The loud roar equivalent in the forest/jungle feels like a thing (and maybe some Savannah too).

For the blue:

I like the lightning breath, and can picture the blue dragon soaring in the skies, with dark blue maybe blending in some for those looking up during an approaching storm, or light blue in general. It feels like I want them living on high places overlooking where the storms would be (so a tepui, or loan mountain, or mesa). Burrowing in the ground in a desert just doesn't fit as well for me.

 

[Tonguez]

Color coding of dragons was always a bit stupid, so I dumped it long ago, so no chromatics and no metallics. Imc the true dragons as breath weapons get acid spray and noxious gas (which burst into flame when mixed). Everything else (ice, lightning, ooze) is magic based on the dragons chosen elemental affinity. I also use celestial tien dragons, ethereal moonstone dragons, rainbow dragons, Song dragons and Faerie dragons as the cosmic end of dragon-kind.

of the DnD dragons I do like the swamp dwelling Blacks and the explosive sodium breath of orange dragons are crazy fun when used against unsuspecting PCs.

 

[Eyes of Nine]

Our table has never encountered a red dragon in the current campaign (7-8 years)
Black plenty, white yes, blue and green for sure but never a red (as yet).
The Tyranny of Dragons AP does not showcase a red dragon.

ask to play Out of the Abyss next

 

[dave2008]

For the green:

The energy types in 3.5 and 5e have been Acid, Cold, Electricity/Lightning, Fire, Sonic/Thunder. Explicitly as energy types in 3.5 and as the damage types that are stopped byPortecton from Energy Spell in 5e. We get four of those for the chromatic dragons, but then Sonic/Thunder is left out... and the Green gets its classic something like chlorine gas (is that corrosive or poison? depends on edition). The loud roar equivalent in the forest/jungle feels like a thing (and maybe some Savannah too).

For the blue:

I like the lightning breath, and can picture the blue dragon soaring in the skies, with dark blue maybe blending in some for those looking up during an approaching storm, or light blue in general. It feels like I want them living on high places overlooking where the storms would be (so a tepui, or loan mountain, or mesa). Burrowing in the ground in a desert just doesn't fit as well for me.

For the green, I think the poisonous cloud can make some sense. Fire, Lightning, and Acid can be very destructive to a forest. But a poisonous gas can float around and keep your habitat intact. It doesn't leave tell tail signs to those entering your forest.

Blues, I'm right there with you. I can't really reconcile them with the desert. I could see them in taking over a cloud giant/ storm giant's floating lair. I could also see them as having a sea connection too (similar to storm giants: storms in the sky or on the seas), like this guy:

 

[RoughCoronet0]

Blues, I'm right there with you. I can't really reconcile them with the desert. I could see them in taking over a cloud giant/ storm giant's floating lair. I could also see them as having a sea connection too (similar to storm giants: storms in the sky or on the seas), like this guy:

That was actually something that was done for the 4e Blue Dragon. They were changed to primarily inhabit stormy coastlines instead of the deserts (with Brown Dragons becoming them primary desert dwelling Chromatic Dragon), and making them rivals of Bronze Dragons. They were changed back to their original habitat in 5e.

 

[dave2008]

That was actually something that was done for the 4e Blue Dragon. They were changed to primarily inhabit stormy coastlines instead of the deserts (with Brown Dragons becoming them primary desert dwelling Chromatic Dragon), and making them rivals of Bronze Dragons. They were changed back to their original habitat in 5e.

I didn't remember that. 4e did try to have a lot of things make more sense

 

[Tonguez]

That was actually something that was done for the 4e Blue Dragon. They were changed to primarily inhabit stormy coastlines instead of the deserts (with Brown Dragons becoming them primary desert dwelling Chromatic Dragon), and making them rivals of Bronze Dragons. They were changed back to their original habitat in 5e.

Do I remember there being blues that were coastal back in 2e? Or am I mistaken?

 

[RoughCoronet0]

Do I remember there being blues that were coastal back in 2e? Or am I mistaken?

Honestly I couldn't confirm. I know they were desert dwellers in 3e and so assumed that was brought over from earlier editions.

 

[dave2008]

Honestly I couldn't confirm. I know they were desert dwellers in 3e and so assumed that was brought over from earlier editions.

They have been primarily desert dwellers since 1e.

And here is their habitat description from the 2e Monstrous Compendium:

So in general they have always been desert dwellers. Doesn't mean some source book or adventure didn't have some seafaring blues.