Dragons... has the icon been lost?

[Raven Crowking]

Removed

 

[Ranger REG]

So now I wonder if this is the kind of dragon today’s DMs like to run and I’m just being too Olde School here... or does this resonate with anyone else in the same way?

I have to be honest with you, in my naive younger days that I realize now, I have not taken full advantage of the abilities the dragons have, mainly their spellcasting.

I treat them more like fairy-tale dragons using the best of their inherent yet iconic abilities rather than D&D dragons with spells.

 

[pogre]

BBEGs almost have to have some spell capacities.

 

[Ogrork the Mighty]

With the coming of 3E, dragons almost have to buff to stand a fighting chance against parties of equivalent power level.

 

[Fishbone]

A'koss,
PREACH IT, OH MY BROTHER!
I've thought and said this for years, and you've said it better than I ever have. This gets linked to in every dragon discussion I ever have online for months, if not years. I might even favorite the mofo.

 

[shilsen]

Kinda makes you miss ol' Smaug, doesn't it?

For reading purposes, yes. For fighting against (as a PC) or using against my players (as a DM) - gods, no!

 

[Numion]

I always thought that the archetypal dragon with eldritch powers and knowledge wasn't even started by D&D. I don't know where it came from, if not D&D, thinking about it now though.

 

[Aeric]

I've always been bugged by the whole spellcasting, speaking dragon in D&D. When you've got something that big and that physically-powerful, why on Earth (or Faerun, etc.) do you need to throw magic into the mix??

In my campaign world, dragons are about as smart as the velociraptors from Jurassic Park. They don't speak, and they don't cast spells, but they're tough and clever and they will eat you.

 

[WayneLigon]

So now I wonder if this is the kind of dragon today’s DMs like to run and I’m just being too Olde School here... or does this resonate with anyone else in the same way?

You're being too old school. Dragons in D&D have always had spells. Now that someone takes the time to remind people of that fact and suggest some ways an intelligent dragon would use his spells intelligently, this causes you to twitch? Most dragons in fantasy novels are magically powerful as well. If you're looking for historical/mytholgical icons, you need to either (1) play a different game or (2) quit reading design articles and rebuild the creature the way you want to.

 

[zoroaster100]

I don't mind dragons as smart and powerful spellcasters. I do wish that buffing was less important to the game. It would be great to have more high level opponents that can challenge a high level party without having to buff to avoid being taken down in a single round by a prepared party.

As for where smart, magically powerful dragons come from, the have been at the core of the dragon myths since the earliest known time. The story of Beowulf has a dragon that represents destiny and fate. The dragons of Chinese mythology are part of the Celestial Beaurocracy, and help run the order of the world such as the flow of rivers and oceans, etc. More recently, Tolkien's dragons spoke and could cast powerful spells. If I remember correctly, in Tolkien's Silmarilion, Glaurung the Golden, the first dragon created by Morgoth, puts a spell on a hero that leaves the hero frozen through a long period of time only to awaken from this paralysis or sleep when everyone else has left the area.