Iconic Dragon Encounters of Classic D&D

[Bullgrit]

Thinking and looking through my collection of classic D&D adventure material, it seems there aren't a lot of dragons. For a game named "Dungeons & Dragons," this seems weird. There are plenty of dungeons, but few dragons.

What are the iconic dragon encounters in published classic* D&D modules?

* "Classic" to me is pre-AD&D2 (1989), but feel free to interpret it however you want.

Bullgrit

 

[Ultimatecalibur]

Dragonlance would have most of them I think. If I remember correctly the lack of dragon encounters in adventures was what led to the acceptance of the Hickmans' Dragonlance proposal by TSR.

 

[Croesus]

Thinking and looking through my collection of classic D&D adventure material, it seems there aren't a lot of dragons. For a game named "Dungeons & Dragons," this seems weird. There are plenty of dungeons, but few dragons.

What are the iconic dragon encounters in published classic* D&D modules?

* "Classic" to me is pre-AD&D2 (1989), but feel free to interpret it however you want.

Bullgrit

Probably has to do with the party levels. In 1E, dragon's power varied by color, but even the weakest dragon was a handful, especially if played well. The only dragon I remember was the one in the Frost Giant module, and that encounter used white dragons, the weakest.

That said, my group fought a lot of dragons in our non-module adventures. There was no lack of dragons in D&D, just in the modules.

 

[juboke]

Keeping within AD&D (excluding DL) pre 1989 I seem to remember dragons in the following:

Black Dragon in I2 Tomb of the Lizard King
Blue Dragon in I9 Day of Al'Akbar
White Dragon in G2 Glacial Rift of the Frost Giant Jarl
Red Dragon in G3 Halls of the Fire Giant King
Black and White Dragon in Q1 Queen of the Demonweb Pits
Pan Lung Dragon in I1 Dwellers of the Forbidden City
Pan Lung Dragon in U2 Danger at Dunwater
Silver Dragon in R1 To the Aid of Falx

As for an iconic dragon Dragotha from S2 White Plume Mountain springs to mind, even though there were no stats for him in that module.

 

[Hussar]

While I realize this is a bit off topic, but, bombing the blue dragon in Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil was a pretty darn big surprise.

 

[Stormonu]

I seem to recall a blue dragon in both X1 - Isle of Dread and B4 - Lost Pyramid. There was also the white dragon in B3 - Palace of the Silver Princess (though I don't think it was there to fight).

Also, the nature of dragons changed. In 1E, they were "fire-breathing lizards", often unintelligent. It wasn't until late 1E/start of 2E that folks started focusing on them being intelligent (and given names) magic-using bosses.

 

[steeldragons]

If I'[m remembering correctly, there was a..."young adult" (?) blue dragon in the Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth.

But it was really just one of many encounters you could have in the mountains en route to the caverns...So it was really more of a "Wandering Monster" than a "BBEG"/adventure climax.

--SD

 

[Holy Bovine]

Also, the nature of dragons changed. In 1E, they were "fire-breathing lizards", often unintelligent. It wasn't until late 1E/start of 2E that folks started focusing on them being intelligent (and given names) magic-using bosses.

Huh? My 1E Monster Manual had more than a few dragons of 'high' intelligence and only red, gold & Tiamat breathed fire.

The only 'Low' intelligence dragon I remember is the White.

The big problem with 1E dragons was that they were such push overs given the treasure you could expect from even the lowliest dragon. A full grown red wasn't much of a match for even a moderately armed party of 8th level characters.

 

[Theo R Cwithin]

"Horror on the Hill" (B5) ends with a young red, complete with suggestions on what to do on the off chance the PCs manage to subdue it.

There's also a pretty dopey picture of said subdued dragon.

 

[Ycore Rixle]

If I'[m remembering correctly, there was a..."young adult" (?) blue dragon in the Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth.

Hm. Was that in addition to the behir that was in that mod?

Dungeon magazine had a few classic dragon adventures. Flame in issue #1 and some other issue where he had a return (#50?), Vesicant and the black dragon in... was it Thiondar's Legacy?