What makes a Gold dragon GOLDl?

Umbran said:

Gold dragons are LG. Bacon is a CG smell. LG smells like fresh-baked chocolate chip cookies.

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That's a little specific.

How about...LG smells like Grandma's Kitchen.


OTOH, there was that critter in Star Trek that smelled of honeysuckle...

LG smells

I would go with multiple LG smells, starting with beer. (There is a theory which claims that civilization began when (and where) people had to stay put in a single place in order to store their grain for brewing beer, and to store the kegs of product; and that this lead to the devising of geometry.)

Others claim that coffee and tea are particularly civilized drinks because they stimulate the intellect.

Gold, to me, is mechanically: Lawful/Good, two breath weapons, spellcasting, and shapechange.

Thematically: they are the "good" schemers of the world, usually traveling it in other-than-dragon form, in order to manipulate other races and nations to lawful and good ends, and counterbalance the depredations of evil humanoids and evil dragonkind. In dragonform, they are the ultimate leaders of good councils of dragons.

Epitomizing gold dragonkind ... perhaps Gorgoldand, of Gorgoldand's Gauntlet.

That's an interesting flavor of synesthesia you've got there, Umbran.

I actually don't like the breed hierarchy; why must the Goods be inherently better all-around than the Evils? Why must the Lawfuls be better than the Chaotics? If there has to be a breed hierarchy, I'd prefer silvers to be at the Good apex, because silver is the traditional symbol of goodness (silver bullets, anyone?). It's the white metal!

Anyhow, something that makes golds even more special than the already-special-snowflake metallics? How about continual reincarnation? Every time one dies, its soul is reborn somewhere else...as a mortal, who eventually goes through a transformation as it regains memories of its past lives and its magical/shapeshifting abilities. A Dragon Reborn, as it were.

...Sorry, I just got finished reading A Memory of Light.

when the platinum dragon took up his quest and began making dragonborn he called the golds home to act as his council. they all ascended save for one. one gold remained behind, to spread the word. the metallics are fighting back... but they need help. now brave adventurers quest deep into the catskill mountains to the home of the last gold in the world. listen to his ancient wisdom, and take up his banner.

All joking about the "Odor/Aura" aside...I do and have used scents in my descriptions of various things/places in play. Most notably surrounding clerics casting spells, channeling and/or turning undead ( sometime this is something perceived by everyone in the area...sometimes it's only perceived by the cleric themselves...but they know their deity is "there" by these emanations). Most notably a lil' halfling cleric whose goddess tended to manifest: pine trees, summer rains or breezes and baked goods and/or honey. The goddess of the seas evokes the sounds of either the low rumble or smashing force of crashing waves and the smell of salty sea air. etc...

Not sure where I ever picked that up...but @Dannyalcatraz 's comment about descriptions of saintly/godly beings having pleasant smells around them is certainly a possibility.

The idea that a semi-divine/mega-potent gold dragon might actually have an odor that has a magical effect on others is not, really, as far fetched as originally thought...hmmm. Especially since I've touched on the idea [though never really oforced it with writing it down] that that whole "dragonsfear" aura was the result of draconic phermones...

I kinda like the "Grandma's kitchen" thing...so each person in the effect might smell something different that is that special/comfort/warming scent for them. (OR, @tuxgeo , alcoholic beverages. For me it would probably be white wine...beer for you...whiskey for someone else...Though I might make this the odor for the "confusion" phermones. lol. Or a charm/sleep/Dex. penalty gas? hahaha.)

Good stuff guys. Everything in here is sparking/has some piece in formulating a really solid idea of what a gold (if not all of them) should/could be.

Thanks to all for the responses. Look forward to more/other thoughts.

I could see that the more powerful the being, the more powerful the manifestation.

A demigod associated with nature might smell of pine.

A lesser nature god might be accompanies by not only a scent, but of faint sounds and transparent images of a natural setting.

A greater god of nature might actually transform the area in a certain radius into a natural setting of his choice, like a serene grove or a mountainside overlooking a waterfall...

Manifestations of this kind wouldn't be universal, and some might only occur if the being concentrates.

Tequila Sunrise said:

I actually don't like the breed hierarchy; why must the Goods be inherently better all-around than the Evils? Why must the Lawfuls be better than the Chaotics? If there has to be a breed hierarchy, I'd prefer silvers to be at the Good apex, because silver is the traditional symbol of goodness (silver bullets, anyone?). It's the white metal!

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While I don't agree with you on the silvers (though it's an amusing discussion why my silver oak leaf outranks my prior gold oak leaf), I would agree that Good>Evil is bad monster design. I'd like to see roughly analogous pairings. So Gold = Red, Silver = Green, Bronze = Blue, etc. Match the dragons within environments so they can compete for territory.

As to the Lawful/Chaotic axis, I don't think it should matter other than having a roughly equal pairing across the chromatics & metallics. I'd love to see an adventure confuse the PCs because all of the Chaotic dragons have teamed together against the Lawful ones, and have metallics and chromatics on the same side.

Or perhaps, better still, divorce dragon color from alignment entirely.

The Gold Dragon is the father of dragonkind.

Literally. He is the only male dragon in existence.

All of the other dragon kinds can lay eggs. Most of those eggs hatch lowly kobolds. A few turn into lizardmen/dragonborn/draconians. Very few grow into drakes, wyvern size creatures that can fly and have a few magical abilities.

But only eggs sired by the Gold Dragon can turn into true, immortal dragons.