How common are dragons in YOUR world?

[shadow]

Since I'm geting a little sick of all the various types of dragons (metallic, chromatic, gem, dragon-kin, etc.) I decided to make all dragons in my campaign world belong to the same family (I use the red dragon statistics for all dragons). Dragons, IMC, are an ancient, powerful, elder race. However, they are also a dying race. Once they were the masters of the earth, but because of warring with themselves, and then being slain by the "upstart" races (men, dwarves, etc.) they are nearly extinct. Only a small number of dragons remain. Dragons can be any alignment, but even good dragons hate and loathe humans and other demi-human races, seeing them as inferior and the cause of their demise.

 

[Nifft]

IMC Dragons are like humanoids: I use the Red Dragon stats for all of them, but change the shape & type of their breath weapon depending on the sub-type. Like humanoids, they have individual alignments, agendas and class levels.

-- Nifft

 

[BiggusGeekus@Work]

About once every five levels.

I'm a little casual with their use. My players like to kill the occasional dragon, so what the heck, I let 'em. That said the encounter is suitably difficult, but not a Total Party Kill.

 

[Darth Shoju]

Dragons

IMC, there are two dragons: a gold great-wyrm who sleeps almost constantly and only responds to the summons of the ruler of the Elven nation, and the Great Dragon of Darkness, Adkharis who is the main villain for the campaign and the greatest source of evil the world has ever known. Adkharis has several "offspring" that I've had the party fight, including a hydra, wyverns and a mature black dragon. Adkharis himself is said to be black in colour, but he breathes a fire-based breath weapon (according to legend). His offspring take many forms and have many abilities, but all are the same black of utter darkness as their sire.

I've tried to keep the two uber dragons as semi-deific as possible, and I've given them powers that normal dragons (even great-wyrms) don't usually have. I did this mainly to make sure the party regarded them with the appropriate level of awe, as I've got a rather veteran group of players and it takes a little bit of "punching-up" of dragons to make them really go wow (although they do respect the power of the basic great wyrm too...they aren't stupid )

 

[Kweezil]

IMC dragons are said to be one of the Firstborn races, the Children of Fire. [For reference, the other Firstborn are the Elves (air), Dwarves (earth) and an extinct forebearer to sahuagin, kuatoa and locathah (water)]

In game I've used dragons as foes and occasionally as allies. As my players would attest, I run dragons hard and smart. As a result of this every single encounter with a dragon in my games has resulted in one or more PC casualties, and they've been forced to resort to insane last-ditch efforts or retreat more than once.

 

[Desdichado]

I prefer dragons to be like they are in Iron Kingdoms -- unique, named individuals of a power level that mere mortals can't even begin to comprehend. CRs in the 40s for young, weak ones. CRs in the 80s or more for ancient ones.

But, you can count the number of individual dragons on one hand.

Alternatively, I don't really use them at all.

Or, I make them relatively common, but weaker (only up to adult status or so) for a more Pern-like setting.

 

[Larry Fitz]

In my Twin Crowns campaign dragons are ridiculously powerful and fairly rare. There are 26 dragons that are as far above regular dragons (MM type dragons) as regular dragons are above cobblers, bakers and aristocrats. These 26 are the direct servants of the God of Destruction and other Dragons can work with or against them as part of their own greater intrigues. A Silver Dragon may work with one of the 26 (or at least not directly against) in order to serve the greater good of destroying the followers of the Great Kraken. A Red Dragon may choose to fight with PC's against a Greater Dragon for share of it's legendary hoard if they drive it from it's current home. All of this can of course be read in the Twin Crowns Sourcebook, the stats for Greater Dragons places them right where they belong, at the top of the list of things your players should not mess around with.

edited because the dragons made me nervous and I made some spelling errors.

 

[Monte At Home]

Dragons in the lands of the Diamond Throne are rarer than in standard D&D. Metallic dragons are now a thing of myth--creatures which, if they ever existed at all, fled to the Unknown West long ago.

Even chromatic dragons are fairly rare. In ages past, they created creatures known as the dramojh, sort of a terrible cross between demon and dragon. The dramojh on their own conquered most of the realm, enslaved most of the races and drove even their draconic creators into hiding. When the giants arrived almost a thousand years later and libertated the lands, the dragons--ancestral opponents of the giants--remained hidden.

Now the dragon birth rate is low. That means that when you do meet a dragon here, it's probably a very dangerous--meaning of course, older, larger--one.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

Well, since adventurers like to kill dragons on sight, it seems that in order to produce the small handful of great wyrm types that exist in the world, the number at younger ages needs to increase rather dramatically.

So while there aren't many big 'uns, younger ones are more common -- at least in the sense that everyone's heard of them, even if virtually no one has ever actually seen one. They're at the top of the predator food chain, so they're kind of like lions, tigers, and wolves are today -- existing in some numbers but not generally too close to populated areas, unless they've gone rogue.

 

[mythusmage]

"Life has been so much quieter since I ate Billy"
---silver dragon mother

Young dragons are rather common, adolescents more common than they need to be in the opinion of some (especially their parents). The older dragons get, the rarer they get; thanks to various events, with accidents and disease low on the list.

"You would condemn a man to years of torment in a broken body when death would release him to a better life. And you call yourself a paladin."
---Garas the Black

Dragon morality is not human morality. The greatest punishment a dragon can conceive of is to live for hundreds of years as a cripple. Dragons of all species will kill young who are disabled in some way, weak, stupid, or otherwise impaired. 'Tis a rough life dragons lead, and it does them no kindness to coddle them as young when the world will be out to kill them when they mature. The lone exception are red dragons, who will nurture and cherish a particular type of mentally retarded young up to the day the child dies. Most often in early adolescence, though one did live to early adulthood. According to red belief such children are gifts sent to teach them patience and forbearance. Not that must humans can tell the difference.

"You don't know how old we are. You don't want to know how old we are.
---Stephen the White

Stephen himself was only about 1100 years old (1112) 1112 years old when he said that. But as a group dragons are indeed very old. The modern genus goes back about 50,000 years -making them younger than modern humans, but as a family dragons can be traced back some 150 million years, with proto-dragons going back to the middle Permian.

"The reason I don't eliminate my competition is because then I'd have nobody to talk with."
---Malcolm the Blue

The oldest of dragons, the elder wyrms (Slayer's Guide to Dragons, Mongoose Press and Gary Gygax) are rare in the extreme. You've met three of the eight above. The Silver Whisp (a green dragon) was not lucid the day I tried interviewing him for this overview, and the other four don't give interviews, period. All elder wyrms are considered forces of nature. In the past some have been worshipped as gods... (Have you ever cleaned up after a major pilgrimage?) (I don't think they have, Steve, and I have to get this missive finished... ...Thank you.) ...and others reviled as demons. All dragons with an ounce of smarts take classes. Steve, for example has training as a wizard, fighter, priest, rogue, and druid. (And I have a PHD in two of them. [sardonic]He's proud of himself.[/sardonic] (If it weren't for the agreement, Kellogg, if it weren't for the agreement...

Dragons are also a pragmatic people, willing to make compromises when such compromises mean greater benefits than being prideful. But, never mistake a dragon's agreement now with a willingness to compromise later. Besides, a favorite dragon saying is, "Revenge is a treasure to be passed on down to the descendents." As the old saying goes, never humiliate a dragon.

So there you have the dragons of my world.