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Message: <blockquote data-quote="I'm A Banana" data-source="post: 6036499" data-attributes="member: 2067">Chaotic in D&D isn't necessarily about poor impulse control. Keep in mind that demon lords with multi-millennia plots and gods who never die and were never born are Chaotic. Chaotic in D&D is more about how you interact with others. Reds are independent -- they don't organize, they don't unify, they don't trust outside authority. But they don't have to be easily distracted. They can have plans. Those plans are just self-interested, Chaotic ones. That's why I mentioned the "plot to collapse an empire just to own its ruins." They wouldn't LEAD that empire, but they'd absolutely terrorize it until it dies. I'm not sure we're talking about the bulge in the same way. The Lockwood muscles look sleek to me -- smooth. The new concept's muscles look bulky, chunky. I think they're much more BBEG than sidekick. In the game called Dungeons and Dragons that is about heroism and treasure they ARE the antagonists. They ARE the dragons. Their lairs ARE the dungeons. Their hoards ARE the treasure. They help define the tone of evil for the game. Personally, I wouldn't want to demote them to "easily duped arrogant guy."What, boa constrictors and coral snakes are suddenly temperate critters? <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" /> And have you ever seen the belly of a rattlesnake?Chaotic Evil, not Chaotic Stupid. Chaos + Evil + Godlike intellect = schemes of vast an incalculable chaos and evil.That IS a pretty cool visual. But that breath weapon in an illo featuring the villain needs to be menacing and foreboding, not action-scene confrontation. I should look at the picture of the Red Dragon and see the reason I want to be a hero.I think hands can help achieve that feel, but they can also have long, dexterous claws. The point is that they aren't on a reckless rampage, they're operating confidently, with efficiency.True, it's a balancing act. Still, unfurled and confident and majestic > tense and alert and aggressive, for the Red Dragon IMO.I don't see Reds as so obviously aggressive. They don't need to be. Consummate badasses and some of the most eternal evil in the world. They're not going to go scream and frighten the villagers. They're going to terrify the villagers -- with their mere shadow. I don't see Reds as reckless and untamed, I see them as the long-waiting entropy, beings who unravel entire civilizations for their own amusement, who have no real need to be frightened or aggressive. Anger is an emotion for those who don't get their way with a wave of their wing. It's a display to show others you're scary. Reds don't need to SHOW that. They are that. They KNOW they are that. Rather than simply an untamed force of nature, they are a creature that CAUSES the forces of nature. "Rar!" is what you say when you want somebody to be afraid of you. "Hello." is what a Red Dragon says when they want somebody to be afraid of them. IMO, of course. I know this is probably part of the controversy JS was talking about. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" />Perhaps weirdly, I don't see greens and blacks as particularly subtle. When I think Green Dragon, I think, Vanity. Green dragons are the sly snakes, the all-too-arrogant creatures likely to respond to flattery. They're not the highest dragon on the totem pole, and they make up for it by trying to be the center of a power structure that supports them and all their needs, reassuring their egos. They reflect the Fey in this way (which is why they have charm magic and plant magic) -- if they feel powerful, they're happy.When I think Black Dragon, I think Cruelty. Black dragons are sadistic and mean for the sake of it,  petty, jealous, and reprehensible about twisting whatever knife they have in you. They aren't as concerned with power, they just want to see you yelp in pain, beg for release. This is why they focus on disease and acid and plague: a long drawn out death is vastly more amusing to them than a quick one.For completeness, White = Brutality (barbarism, savegry, anger, rage) and Blue = Deception (lies, trickery, deceit, mind games) for me.Reds don't need cults (though they're not above taking advantage of them). Reds don't delight in your particular suffering (what do YOU matter to a being of infinite aeons and unmatched power?). Reds don't care for unrestrained brutality (why rampage against an anthill?), and don't particularly get off on their own cleverness (what should they have to prove to children?). They value wealth, they value power, and they value themselves. Crass displays of fury and petty cries for attention are for creatures who aren't already absolutely assured of their own superiority. They have no need to prove it.</blockquote>

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