GMs: Do you change the colors of your dragons?

[Shade]

I never change the dragons color, but I will give them feats, spells, and magic items (like those found in Draconomicon) that allow them to use different breath weapons.

Honestly, there are so many varieties of dragons out there besides those in the Monster Manual, that my players will never be sure that a red-scaled dragon actually is a red dragon, for example. In fact, most of the time they suspect that they aren't!

 

[mythusmage]

Dragons on Dragon Earth tend to vary in basic behavior depending on species. Morality is another manner.

Reds are dominating and controlling. They can also be anything from rotten bastards to upstanding fellows. Whites can be contemplative, blacks trustworthy, and coppers can be underhanded and sly.

It helps that on Dragon Earth the really rotten ones tended to get killed off before they could breed. It's sort of like what happened to the Kzinti in Larry Niven's Known Space stories.

Then you have the fact dragons police their own. They don't want humans with all their advanced (often magical) weapons systems going after them. As a mature bronze once told a juvenile bronze, "It doesn't matter how much larger, stronger, and smarter you are than the typical human; a hellfire up the tailpipe still trumps you."

 

[JohnSnow]

I voted "mix them up" with one exception.

Color-coded dragons is a D&Dism that I dislike immensely. Players shouldn't be able to tell a dragon's powers, alignment or anything else based on a glimpse. Too many people know the "default" abilities of dragons that it becomes boring. However, I still keep most "cold drakes" as white (or maybe light blue/grey) for camouflage reasons...

Of course, in Midnight and Arcana Unearthed, both of which I have, dragons are "unique." Between those two rulesets for "true dragons" and the rules for making lesser drakes in Relics & Rituals: Excalibur, I don't think I'll lack for dragons that my PCs can encounter. And I can't wait to see if the Iron Heroes Bestiary includes some dragon rules.

My favorite breath weapons are, in order, fire, acid, and cold (and maybe electricity & poison gas). All the others seem a bit...silly. But that's my opinion. I always figured two dragons fighting would use their breath weapons as distractions but only really damage each other with their teeth and claws. Hence dragon/dragon fights are highly destructive to their surroundings...

 

[AFGNCAAP]

By the book, but just for now...

For my current campaign, I pretty much stick with the traditional chromatic/gemstone/metallic mixes of dragons, more or less for ease of use for now. I was considering to trimming down the # of dragons to 6--basically using the basic 6 dragons introduced in the Basic D&D boxed set (white[N]/black[C]/green[C]/blue[N]/red[C]/gold[L]), & even going w/ the L/N/C alignments they had in that game, though changing around the G/N/E AL... But, I still wanted to include old favorites like the silver, amethyst, & copper somehow.

However, I still want to reduce the number of dragons in game, & I've worked on a plot/setting idea for this:

The sheer number/variety of dragons are a result of times when dragons were dominant and plentiful--days which are long over. Dragons are pressed for resources by the mortal races & other dragons, & their numbers dwindle rapidly. However, rather than facing utter extinction, the dragons are "evolving" along another path: many are interbreeding. Species which would never have mixed normally are pairing off, creating offspring that shares in both of their parents' traits/legacies.

For the most part, many of these pairings are of dragons of similar color: emerald & green dragons; topaz, brass, yellow, & gold dragons; sapphire and blue dragons; crystal & white dragons; black & shadow dragons; orange & copper dragons; etc.

The "new" breeds of these unions are referred to in simple terms of color: shadow/black dragon mixes are reffered to as black dragons; emerald & green dragons are referred to as green dragons; etc. However, their abilities & their personalities are a unique mix of their parents.

Stepping away from the story element & into a mechanics-based perspective, I'm basically creating 1 dragon species of each color: red, blue, yellow/gold, green, black, white, silver/grey, orange/copper, brown/bronze, & purple. Alignments tend to lean towards a certain mix, but anything's possible. Despite the mix, all of these new dragons have 1 breath weapon/immunity. Appearance is a mix of the parent dragons (so not all dragons of a particular color look the same).

Then again, I'm considering reducing the # of dragons even further, and basing each dragon species around a particular element/energy/magic: fire, earth/acid, air/electricity, water/cold, sonic/thunder, force. Color would most certainly not be fixed, though it'd be within particular ranges (fire dragons being reds, oranges, golds, browns; etc.). I'm still considering it, but I'm up in the air about it.