D&D 5E Dragons as Gods (+)

[pukunui]

I really like the idea introduced in Fizban's that some of the classic dragon gods are really just uber-powerful greatwyrm dragons that have merged with various echoes across the dimensions. I think it would be cool to play in a setting where the "gods" are all just greatwyrm dragons of various types. (There's also a short section on using dragons as gods in the "Dragons in Play" section of the book that has inspired me.)

For fun, I've been attempting to map various dragon types to the religions in my homebrew setting.

Firstly, there's the Andarian Septry, which is a pretty blatant rip-off of the Faith of the Seven from Game of Thrones. It's a religion that preaches devotion to a single deity made up of seven distinct aspects: the Father, Mother, Warrior, Maiden, Smith, Crone, and Stranger. Some of these are easier to map to a dragon type than others.

• The Father is all about meting out divine justice and offering his protection to his faithful and the like. Bahamut the Platinum Dragon fits the bill nicely here. Otherwise a gold dragon would do the trick.
• The Mother oversees fertility and childbirth and is seen as merciful and kind. A silver dragon is probably the best fit for her.
• The Warrior covers courage, strength, discipline, etc. A pretty perfect match for a bronze dragon.
• The Maiden is all about innocence, love, beauty, etc. She's pretty hard to pick. I think silver is probably the best, but I've already gone with silver for the Mother, and I don't want to double up. Lacking a better reason, I've gone with brass, since brass dragons are all about talking, and we all know how much young women love to talk!
• The Smith oversees creation, craftsmen, strength in labor and that sort of thing. None of the dragons really fit the bill that well. I've put copper simply because I can't think of anything else.
• The Crone's purview is knowledge, wisdom, foresight. If I use Bahamut for the Father, then a gold dragon fits best for the Crone, I think.
• The Stranger is basically the Grim Reaper. While the Father judges the dead, the Stranger is the one who takes them into the next life. The Stranger represents the scariness of the unknown. In my setting, magic (or perhaps just the darker kinds) is also part of the Stranger's portfolio. I was thinking a topaz dragon would work well here, but I could go with a dracolich of some kind instead perhaps. I would say that the Stranger is opposed to undead creatures in general, but given the Grim Reaper connotations, it makes the most sense to depict them as a skeletal dragon at the very least. I suppose a black or shadow dragon could work in a pinch.

Next is the Sisterhood, a trio of halfling goddesses. Yes, there's a little bit of a witch's coven vibe there, but it is somewhat unintentional.

• Yondalla is her classic D&D self, all about protecting/defending halflings and their culture and such. I think either a gold dragon or a silver dragon makes the most sense for her.
• Cyrrollalee is also her classic D&D self, all about hearth, home and hospitality. Brass is probably the best fit, although it is by no means a good match. Perhaps if I make Yondalla a gold dragon, then Cyrrollalee can be a silver one.
• Avandra (aka "The Lady") is inspired by the 4e goddess of that name. She's the goddess of luck and the like. It's considered bad luck to say her name. Obviously a copper dragon.

Then there are the Lords of the Golden Hills, the all-male pantheon of gnomish deities. I haven't changed any of them from their typical D&D depictions. Some of them are easier to match then others as so often seems to be the case. I like the idea that they are mostly metallic or gem dragons, since that fits with the earthy nature of gnomes.

• Garl Glittergold: Despite having "gold" in his name, Garl is all about humor and tricks and such, so he should definitely be a copper dragon.
• Gaerdal Ironhand: The gnomes' warrior deity. Either bronze or sapphire.
• Flandal Steelskin: The gnomes' god of smithing and metallurgy. Again, there isn't a very good fit among dragonkind for this kind of work, so brass or copper or something?
• Baervan Wildwanderer: The gnomish deity of the wilderness. I've gone with a moonstone dragon.
• Baravar Cloakshadow: The gnomish deity of illusions and sneakiness and stuff. Emerald dragon fits well here.
• Callarduran Smoothhands: The gnomish deity of stone and mining (and the patron of deep gnomes). Maybe a deep dragon?
• Segojan Earthcaller: The gnomish god of death, earth, Underdark stuff. Maybe another deep dragon?
• Rill Cleverthrush: He's into inventions but also the sky, so a crystal dragon he shall be.
• Nebelun the Meddler: This guy has got faerie dragon written all over him.
• Urdlen: The gnomish god of all things evil. Probably a black dragon.

I'm having the most difficulty with my elven pantheon, since they're all much more nature-oriented than most dragons are.

My dwarves don't worship gods. Taking a page from Dragon Age, my dwarves revere "the Stone" as a Mother Earth-like entity. They also practice a kind of ancestor worship in which the greatest of them become immortalized as Paragons.

The Lightbringers are another of my GoT rip-offs, a dualistic faith that involves a constant struggle between the Lord of Light and the Great Other. I will make these Bahamut and Tiamat respectively. I might work the destruction of Sardior into this religion somehow as well, because I want to adopt the whole Eberron/First World creation myth (in which Khyber/Tiamat kills Siberys/Sardior and is then imprisoned "within" Eberron/Bahamut) into my setting.


Alternatively, I might scrap most/all of the above and just come up with a whole new pantheon of gods based around the full slate of main dragons in Fizban's (so one each for the metallics, gems, and chromatics, plus deep, moonstone, faerie, shadow, and dragon turtle). That would give me 22 "gods". (I like the book's suggestion of taking the gods of Theros and turning them into dragons.)


I've just shared all this for fun, but I'm open to feedback. Please let me know what you think!

 

[Voadam]

I use cults for dragons in my mashup homebrew and half of the party right now are followers of the cult of Aasterinian/Hlaal the copper dragon inventor trickster god from the Draconomicons and FR. In my game it is not clear whether the object of the cult is a straight copper dragon who exists in the world or if she has actual god powers and a divine nature and resides on the planes. Clerics are a divine power spellcasting tradition and do not require gods at all to tap and use divine magic so the fact that the cult has spellcasters and one of the PCs is a cleric of her cult is not conclusive proof.

Using powerful individual beings from the world as gods can be a lot of fun, but you need to think a little about what happens cosmologically when things like a dragon slaying party happens to them.

 

[Maxperson]

I really like the idea introduced in Fizban's that some of the classic dragon gods are really just uber-powerful greatwyrm dragons that have merged with various echoes across the dimensions. I think it would be cool to play in a setting where the "gods" are all just greatwyrm dragons of various types. (There's also a short section on using dragons as gods in the "Dragons in Play" section of the book that has inspired me.)

For fun, I've been attempting to map various dragon types to the religions in my homebrew setting.

Firstly, there's the Andarian Septry, which is a pretty blatant rip-off of the Faith of the Seven from Game of Thrones. It's a religion that preaches devotion to a single deity made up of seven distinct aspects: the Father, Mother, Warrior, Maiden, Smith, Crone, and Stranger. Some of these are easier to map to a dragon type than others.

• The Father is all about meting out divine justice and offering his protection to his faithful and the like. Bahamut the Platinum Dragon fits the bill nicely here. Otherwise a gold dragon would do the trick.
• The Mother oversees fertility and childbirth and is seen as merciful and kind. A silver dragon is probably the best fit for her.
• The Warrior covers courage, strength, discipline, etc. A pretty perfect match for a bronze dragon.
• The Maiden is all about innocence, love, beauty, etc. She's pretty hard to pick. I think silver is probably the best, but I've already gone with silver for the Mother, and I don't want to double up. Lacking a better reason, I've gone with brass, since brass dragons are all about talking, and we all know how much young women love to talk!
• The Smith oversees creation, craftsmen, strength in labor and that sort of thing. None of the dragons really fit the bill that well. I've put copper simply because I can't think of anything else.
• The Crone's purview is knowledge, wisdom, foresight. If I use Bahamut for the Father, then a gold dragon fits best for the Crone, I think.
• The Stranger is basically the Grim Reaper. While the Father judges the dead, the Stranger is the one who takes them into the next life. The Stranger represents the scariness of the unknown. In my setting, magic (or perhaps just the darker kinds) is also part of the Stranger's portfolio. I was thinking a topaz dragon would work well here, but I could go with a dracolich of some kind instead perhaps. I would say that the Stranger is opposed to undead creatures in general, but given the Grim Reaper connotations, it makes the most sense to depict them as a skeletal dragon at the very least. I suppose a black or shadow dragon could work in a pinch.

Next is the Sisterhood, a trio of halfling goddesses. Yes, there's a little bit of a witch's coven vibe there, but it is somewhat unintentional.

• Yondalla is her classic D&D self, all about protecting/defending halflings and their culture and such. I think either a gold dragon or a silver dragon makes the most sense for her.
• Cyrrollalee is also her classic D&D self, all about hearth, home and hospitality. Brass is probably the best fit, although it is by no means a good match. Perhaps if I make Yondalla a gold dragon, then Cyrrollalee can be a silver one.
• Avandra (aka "The Lady") is inspired by the 4e goddess of that name. She's the goddess of luck and the like. It's considered bad luck to say her name. Obviously a copper dragon.

Then there are the Lords of the Golden Hills, the all-male pantheon of gnomish deities. I haven't changed any of them from their typical D&D depictions. Some of them are easier to match then others as so often seems to be the case. I like the idea that they are mostly metallic or gem dragons, since that fits with the earthy nature of gnomes.

• Garl Glittergold: Despite having "gold" in his name, Garl is all about humor and tricks and such, so he should definitely be a copper dragon.
• Gaerdal Ironhand: The gnomes' warrior deity. Either bronze or sapphire.
• Flandal Steelskin: The gnomes' god of smithing and metallurgy. Again, there isn't a very good fit among dragonkind for this kind of work, so brass or copper or something?
• Baervan Wildwanderer: The gnomish deity of the wilderness. I've gone with a moonstone dragon.
• Baravar Cloakshadow: The gnomish deity of illusions and sneakiness and stuff. Emerald dragon fits well here.
• Callarduran Smoothhands: The gnomish deity of stone and mining (and the patron of deep gnomes). Maybe a deep dragon?
• Segojan Earthcaller: The gnomish god of death, earth, Underdark stuff. Maybe another deep dragon?
• Rill Cleverthrush: He's into inventions but also the sky, so a crystal dragon he shall be.
• Nebelun the Meddler: This guy has got faerie dragon written all over him.
• Urdlen: The gnomish god of all things evil. Probably a black dragon.

I'm having the most difficulty with my elven pantheon, since they're all much more nature-oriented than most dragons are.

My dwarves don't worship gods. Taking a page from Dragon Age, my dwarves revere "the Stone" as a Mother Earth-like entity. They also practice a kind of ancestor worship in which the greatest of them become immortalized as Paragons.

The Lightbringers are another of my GoT rip-offs, a dualistic faith that involves a constant struggle between the Lord of Light and the Great Other. I will make these Bahamut and Tiamat respectively. I might work the destruction of Sardior into this religion somehow as well, because I want to adopt the whole Eberron/First World creation myth (in which Khyber/Tiamat kills Siberys/Sardior and is then imprisoned "within" Eberron/Bahamut) into my setting.


Alternatively, I might scrap most/all of the above and just come up with a whole new pantheon of gods based around the full slate of main dragons in Fizban's (so one each for the metallics, gems, and chromatics, plus deep, moonstone, faerie, shadow, and dragon turtle). That would give me 22 "gods". (I like the book's suggestion of taking the gods of Theros and turning them into dragons.)


I've just shared all this for fun, but I'm open to feedback. Please let me know what you think!

I like your idea. You could even use some dragons from the books. For instance, Silvara from Dragonlance could have moved on to become The Mother.

For your elven pantheon, not all dragons of colors have the typical alignments listed. You could have an evolved green dragon or two in there. Perhaps a super evolved Faerie Dragon. Or even some of the gem dragons. Elves often have amethyst eyes.

 

[dave2008]

I really like the idea introduced in Fizban's that some of the classic dragon gods are really just uber-powerful greatwyrm dragons that have merged with various echoes across the dimensions. I think it would be cool to play in a setting where the "gods" are all just greatwyrm dragons of various types. (There's also a short section on using dragons as gods in the "Dragons in Play" section of the book that has inspired me.)

• The Mother oversees fertility and childbirth and is seen as merciful and kind. A silver dragon is probably the best fit for her.

Personally I always think of Silvers as the warrior dragons.

• The Stranger is basically the Grim Reaper. While the Father judges the dead, the Stranger is the one who takes them into the next life. The Stranger represents the scariness of the unknown. In my setting, magic (or perhaps just the darker kinds) is also part of the Stranger's portfolio. I was thinking a topaz dragon would work well here, but I could go with a dracolich of some kind instead perhaps. I would say that the Stranger is opposed to undead creatures in general, but given the Grim Reaper connotations, it makes the most sense to depict them as a skeletal dragon at the very least. I suppose a black or shadow dragon could work in a pinch.

I would go with a black or shadow dragon.

• Baravar Cloakshadow: The gnomish deity of illusions and sneakiness and stuff. Emerald dragon fits well here.

I could see a green dragon too.

• Urdlen: The gnomish god of all things evil. Probably a black dragon.

Could be a red too.

I've just shared all this for fun, but I'm open to feedback. Please let me know what you think!

Thank you for sharing. I like the idea of dragon gods presented in Fizban's too. I will say in your initial draft there is a severe lack of chromatic dragons.

 

[pukunui]

I use cults for dragons in my mashup homebrew and half of the party right now are followers of the cult of Aasterinian/Hlaal the copper dragon inventor trickster god from the Draconomicons and FR. In my game it is not clear whether the object of the cult is a straight copper dragon who exists in the world or if she has actual god powers and a divine nature and resides on the planes. Clerics are a divine power spellcasting tradition and do not require gods at all to tap and use divine magic so the fact that the cult has spellcasters and one of the PCs is a cleric of her cult is not conclusive proof.

Using powerful individual beings from the world as gods can be a lot of fun, but you need to think a little about what happens cosmologically when things like a dragon slaying party happens to them.

That's a cool idea. I think if it ever got to the point in a campaign of mine where the PCs were taking on one of the dragon gods, I'd just say that they can't be truly killed thanks to all the echoes.

I like your idea. You could even use some dragons from the books. For instance, Silvara from Dragonlance could have moved on to become The Mother.

For your elven pantheon, not all dragons of colors have the typical alignments listed. You could have an evolved green dragon or two in there. Perhaps a super evolved Faerie Dragon. Or even some of the gem dragons. Elves often have amethyst eyes.

Yeah, I need to spend some more time thinking about the elven pantheon. As it stands, it's kind of a mash-up of the traditional D&D elven pantheon and the Dragon Age elven pantheon. (The latter being another spoilery inspiration.)

Personally I always think of Silvers as the warrior dragons.

Interesting. How come? Their flavor text paints them as being friendly, sociable, highly moral, but not into actively rooting out evil the way gold and bronze dragons do. On the converse, bronze dragons are described as being fascinated by warfare and always ready to join a war for a just cause. I have a further idea of setting up a famed mercenary company led by a bronze dragon in humanoid form.

I like the idea of dragon gods presented in Fizban's too. I will say in your initial draft there is a severe lack of chromatic dragons.

Thanks for your suggestions. I think the reason there's a lack of chromatics is 1) I've mostly been going off their evil natures as established in the MM and Fizban's and the like, and I just don't currently have much in the way of evil gods (see this other thread on that topic: D&D General - The Role and Purpose of Evil Gods). I suppose I could make it so the archdevils and demon lords are also secretly dragons, though.

 

[Tales and Chronicles]

I suppose I could make it so the archdevils and demon lords are also secretly dragons, though.

That could be cool.

Demogorgon, the Twinned Madness: two headed sapphire/ruby dragon.
Fraz'Urblu, the Gargoyle of Mirages: moss covered blue dragon almost petrified.
Juiblex, the Sludge King: a mostly-melted black dragon, more ooze than dragon.
Lolth, the Web of Deceit: a bloated Moonstone dragon covered by spider eggs.

etc etc

I'd make Archdevils ''fallen'' metallic dragons.

 

[pukunui]

That could be cool.

Demogorgon, the Twinned Madness: two headed sapphire/ruby dragon.
Fraz'Urblu, the Gargoyle of Mirages: moss covered blue dragon almost petrified.
Juiblex, the Sludge King: a mostly-melted black dragon, more ooze than dragon.
Lolth, the Web of Deceit: a bloated Moonstone dragon covered by spider eggs.

etc etc

I'd make Archdevils ''fallen'' metallic dragons.

I dig it!

 

[Voadam]

I suppose I could make it so the archdevils and demon lords are also secretly dragons, though.

Ahem. Don't be ridiculous. As everyone knows, at no point has that ever been the actual secret D&D history backstory of

Spoiler

Asmodeus

any fiend.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

Dragon lords could be demigods but then lots of candidates could fight for the "throne in the Olympus". Or they could create their own demiplanes, maybe within the elemental limbo, with planar gates to the world of "Councyl of Wyrms".

 

[overgeeked]

I really like the idea of dragons as gods. But I’d work up a custom pantheon of dragon gods from across editions instead of trying to fit existing gods to a new paradigm.

The hard part is names and lore. But you don’t need much to get by. Start with the chromatics. Red: fire & greed. Blue: sky & lightning. Black: death & decay. Green: trickery & poison. White: winter & cold. And move down the list. Metallic. Etc. But you cannot forget the catastrophic dragons, though. Blizzard, earthquake, and volcanic.