Dragons are kinda boring...

[Reynard]

The name of the game is Dungeons and DRAGONS. Why, then, are dragons so particularly bland. Sure, you can spice them up as viallins with rituals and narrative elements, but once the dice start rolling they don't have much going for them. Even the biggest have only 2 or 3 encounter powers, and for the most part they all look the same.

Dragons should be the coolest enemies in the game, IMO, and they just aren't.

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

Western dragons haven't had a lot of power, traditionally. I think Tolkien started the trend by giving dragons some minor mind-altering powers. (Only Ancalagon had anything big there, and he was the first dragon.)

I think DnD almost ruined dragons by giving them spells, a bunch of weird abilities (Corrupt water? The heck?) and basically turning them into fire-breathing fiends with their own cults of half-dragon/half-nonsensical minions.

IMO, the dragon from DDXP did way too little damage (and had too many hit points). But I haven't actually seen any other dragons, just had the white dragon described to me. (I think it has up to three differently-flavored but nearly identical non-breath cold attacks.)

 

[FitzTheRuke]

Out of curiosity, have you actually ran one as a DM or fought one as a player yet? 'Cause I've done both several times and I think they're awesome.

It's either lost in just reading or I think you must be doing something wrong...

Fitz

 

[FourthBear]

I think the straightforward rules make for easy use "out of the book". For a DM with more time to prepare, I would think that customization with abilities tailored to a particular dragon would be appropriate. That will keep individual and important dragon encounters unique. Chances are, no matter what special abilities they granted the dragon type, a DM with an interest in creating a special encounter will still want to to personalize that particular dragon. Considering that we've got a Draconomicon on the way this year, I'm guessing that we will soon have more draconic options than people will probably want to wade through.

 

[Henry]

The lack of lots of dragon powers has been a reaction to the "dragons are too complicated" movements of the past 8 years. The argument goes that dragons in 3e had so many powers that they never even got to use them all against PCs. This was true in my experience - I mean, sure, they had lots of room for utility powers, buffs, etc. But how much of that was spelled out in the MM?

At one point last year I took note of all the "big ticket" monsters and their special powers, while I was preparing a shapechanging character. I took note of how many of them had special powers that WEREN'T in the stat block; are you aware that monsters like Pit Fiends, Solars, etc. have anywhere from TWO TO FIVE powers that SHOULD be on at all times, but AREN'T in the stat block? The pit fiend should probably be at least four points higher thanks to unholy aura, but it isn't in the block. The solar has a +4 in the spells list that isn't in the stat block, and as a 20th level cleric has at least a dozen multi-hour spells that would affect his armor, saves, and to hits, but don't because they're wary of things like dispel magic, etc. affecting the totals.

Same thing with dragons; even something like a Mage armor spell (or greater mage armor, if you're a spell compendium kind of guy or gal) would add +4 to +6 to AC, and it's not accounted for, unless you're just that into bookkeeping. They've simplified some of this for DMs by assuming such effects are already in there, and they've also as a side product reduced the number of ways you can dispel magic, if the dispel magic example is any judge. So the truth of the matter is, if you want a more versatile dragon dragon, there are ways to do it; however, it's been my experience that that multi-faceted dragon with all the different class levels, and spells, and special qualities wind up dying within two or 4 rounds of meeting the PCs, and the 8 1/2 x 11 or A4 page of stats you just typed up wind up getting tossed, or recycled on the next time you run a dragon of similar age and type. If it's been a DM advice for years not to overprepare your NPCs more than you need, then the same wisdom should apply to monsters, as well.

 

[Mouseferatu]

Have you seen one in play? Dragons get a lot of "interrupt" abilities. They don't look that interesting to read, but they're nasty in combat.

 

[Wolfspider]

I think Tolkien started the trend by giving dragons some minor mind-altering powers. (Only Ancalagon had anything big there, and he was the first dragon.)

Ancalagon was the biggest of the dragons and the most powerful physically, but it was Glaurung, the Father of Dragons, who had the mental powers, and they were anything but minor.

 

[Rechan]

It also wouldn't surprise me to see various 'dragoncaster' plug and play powers popping up in the "Chromatic Dragon" book coming out.

 

[The_Fan]

I sometimes wonder if I'm reading the same book...I was thoroughly impressed with how well they differentiated each one of the dragons. The ancient dragons are true terrors with a wide variety of ways to ruin your day. Even the lower level ones are wildly different. A white will tear into you viciously, a green forces you to keep moving, and a red is all "Bad rogue! No flank!"

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

Ancalagon was the biggest of the dragons and the most powerful physically, but it was Glaurung, the Father of Dragons, who had the mental powers, and they were anything but minor.

However, most dragons, like Smaug, had very little. Smaug could "bamboozle" people; the ability seemed like Suggestion (but without having to say anything) or maybe a weak Charm effect instead.