D&D General Why do we color-code Dragons?

[Corinnguard]

They might get thrown off by gem dragons or linnorms or other less common stuff but the basics should be mostly well-known.

I am not so sure about some people getting thrown off by the gem dragons since they too are color-coded. The linnorms otoh aren't color-coded, at least the ones in PF1's many bestiaries aren't color-coded. I haven't seen the ones in D&D yet.

 

[EzekielRaiden]

I am not so sure about some people getting thrown off by the gem dragons since they too are color-coded. The linnorms otoh aren't color-coded, at least the ones in PF1's many bestiaries aren't color-coded. I haven't seen the ones in D&D yet.

Folks could get thrown off by PF's draconal agathions, however.

Draconals come in five colors: black, green, red, white, yellow. Of those, four are traditional chromatic dragon colors, and each can appear in varying ways, including a more straightforward flat color, a gemstone-like or even pearlescent version, or metallic. But all of them are pure Neutral Good, being as they are the leadership of the agathions, PF's equivalent of D&D's guardinals.

 

[Voadam]

I am not so sure about some people getting thrown off by the gem dragons since they too are color-coded. The linnorms otoh aren't color-coded, at least the ones in PF1's many bestiaries aren't color-coded. I haven't seen the ones in D&D yet.

I know gem dragons are neutral and sometimes associated with psionics. I could not tell you their breath weapons, themes, weaknesses, or what the individual gems covered are. And I had the 1e Dragon article and the 3e web enhancement article on them.

Linnorms are evil two legged wyrms, Norse themed and Niddhog is one. In pathfinder they have curses. Associated with natural features, maybe, like forest or swamps?

Oriental dragons from 1e FF are associated with things like rivers, are called lungs, can command scaly creatures, and have breath weapons like steam, I think.

Metallics I only know the breath weapons for gold and brass are fire plus something else, sleep for golds? Metallics have two breath weapons an energy and some magical effect like slow or repulsion, but I could not tell you who got what. A little about characterization such as bronze at sea, brass in desert, copper as enjoying puzzles and jokes and silver and gold as noble champions of good, sometimes behind the scenes. Gold are lawful good.

Planar dragons exist as do expansions such as deep/purple ones and things like iron dragons but I could not tell you a lot about them. I remember reading about rust dragons from Acheron with a rust breath weapons for.

Mostly I know chromatic fairly well off the top of my head, metallics a little, and that others exist.

 

[Corinnguard]

I know gem dragons are neutral and sometimes associated with psionics. I could not tell you their breath weapons, themes, weaknesses, or what the individual gems covered are. And I had the 1e Dragon article and the 3e web enhancement article on them.

D&D has five official Gem Dragons in 5e- Amethyst, Crystal, Topaz, Sapphire and Emerald. With regards to their breath weapons, the Amethyst had Force, the Topaz had Necrotic, Crystal had Radiant, Emerald had Psychic and Sapphire had Thunder.

Oriental dragons from 1e FF are associated with things like rivers, are called lungs, can command scaly creatures, and have breath weapons like steam, I think.

They were called Imperial Dragons in PF1 and in that RPG, they didn't start out as something fishy. Forest, Sky, Sea, Sovereign and Underworld. In Level Up, Oriental dragons are known as Essence Dragons and have a strong tie to nature that's sort of like a Dryad's.

Planar dragons exist as do expansions such as deep/purple ones and things like iron dragons but I could not tell you a lot about them. I remember reading about rust dragons from Acheron with a rust breath weapons for.

Every plane in the Great Wheel had a dragon.

 

[Corinnguard]

Folks could get thrown off by PF's draconal agathions, however.

Draconals come in five colors: black, green, red, white, yellow. Of those, four are traditional chromatic dragon colors, and each can appear in varying ways, including a more straightforward flat color, a gemstone-like or even pearlescent version, or metallic. But all of them are pure Neutral Good, being as they are the leadership of the agathions, PF's equivalent of D&D's guardinals.

True, back in PF1, they were sometimes mistaken for Chromatic Half-Dragons. Each color of Draconal in PF1 actually represented something. From d20PFSRD:

Black: Black is a balance between male and female energy, and represents the sky, stars, immortality, and leadership. Black draconals are immune to fire damage, and their breath weapon is fire. A black draconal adds Fire, Glory, and Luck to its list of possible domains.

Green: Green is slightly skewed toward masculinity. It represents wood, plants, and flowers. Green draconals are immune to cold damage, and their breath weapon is cold. A green draconal adds Animal, Plant, and Water to its list of possible domains.

Red: Red is a strongly masculine color, and most red draconals are male or have aggressive or gregarious personalities. Red represents fire, light, and warding against bad luck. Red draconals are immune to fire damage, and their breath weapon is fire. A red draconal adds Fire, Protection, and Sun to its list of possible domains.

White: White is slightly skewed toward femininity, and most white draconals are female or have protective or serene personalities. White represents brightness, fulfillment, metal, mourning, and purity. White draconals are immune to cold damage, and their breath weapon is cold. A white draconal adds Artifice, Liberation, and Repose to its list of possible domains.

Yellow: Like black, yellow is a balance between male and female energy. Yellow represents earth, oracles, stone, and luck. Yellow draconals are immune to acid, and their breath weapon is acid. A yellow draconal adds Earth, Glory, and Luck to its list of possible domains.

I am not sure if PF2 kept this feature for its' Draconals. But I can imagine that their Aasimar descendants could be mistaken for Dragonborn.

 

[Staffan]

Linnorms are evil two legged wyrms, Norse themed and Niddhog is one. In pathfinder they have curses. Associated with natural features, maybe, like forest or swamps?

Oriental dragons from 1e FF are associated with things like rivers, are called lungs, can command scaly creatures, and have breath weapons like steam, I think.

I think those would generally be regional things. So a character from, say, Isger would know the basics of the Chromatic dragons (OK, I know the classic chromatics and metallics got retconned out in the remaster, but bear with me) and have to roll to know the basics of a linnorm, while someone from the Land of the Linnorm Kings (where rulership is based on the ability to defeat a linnorm) would know those basics but need to roll to know that a green dragon breathes poison.

 

[Corinnguard]

A Draconal in 1st edition Pathfinder resembled a cross between a humanoid, a serpent and a dragon. Its' second edition version kind of resembles an anthromorphic dragon.

They went from looking like this:

to looking like a winged Dragonborn.

If you were looking at this pic for the very first time, would you mistake it for a Dragonborn?

 

[CreamCloud0]

A Draconal in 1st edition Pathfinder resembled a cross between a humanoid, a serpent and a dragon. Its' second edition version kind of resembles an anthromorphic dragon.

They went from looking like this:

to looking like a winged Dragonborn.

If you were looking at this pic for the very first time, would you mistake it for a Dragonborn?

no more than i would also mistake the first one too, what's the difference? the first has more whiskers?

 

[Corinnguard]

no more than i would also mistake the first one too, what's the difference? the first has more whiskers?

The Draconal in the first pic is more like a serpentaur. No legs for it to stand on.

 

[jmartkdr2]

Mostly I know chromatic fairly well off the top of my head, metallics a little, and that others exist.

I think this is true of most players; which is basically my point.