D&D General How Do You All Use Dragons In Your Worlds And Campaigns?

[RoughCoronet0]

I use them as the base game does, but with one major difference that I've recently been playing with making an official part of my multiverse's lore:

Siberys, Eberron, and Khyber are all avatars of Sardior, Bahamut, and Tiamat (in their respective orders). I had to do a gender-swap on Eberron for it to work, but otherwise I thought it fit well.

Khyber and Tiamat are both fiendish dragons, the mother of fierce, mighty monsters, and a dark god/god-like figure that wishes to rule the world and escape her imprisonment. They're draconic queens of evil that have followings of deranged cultists attempting to free them from their captivity, as well as being the creator of many fiends.

Eberron and Bahamut are both at least equal in power to their evil counterpart (Khyber and Tiamat), which is how they were able to stop Tiamat/Khyber from destroying/ruling the world for so long. Bahamut is a god of balance and protection, and Eberron made her sacrifice in order to balance out the world that Eberron takes place in and works to protect the races that live on her. Bahamut can't kill Tiamat anymore than Eberron could kill Khyber, so the only way to stop her was to imprison her.

Siberys and Sardior are both god-like draconic entities that are lesser than the other two (based on the fact that Khyber was able to kill Siberys, and that Sardior and Gem Dragons are less important than Bahamut, Tiamat, and the rest of the True Dragons), are connected to psionics and magical crystals in some way (Siberys as the source of Siberys Dragonshards, which enhance psionic powers, and Sardior as a god of the psionic gem dragons), and being connected to extraplanetary objects (Siberys through the Ring of Siberys orbiting the planet of Eberron, and Sardior through the Ruby Palace).

Furthermore, due to this bit of lore recently being officialized by Fizban's Treasury of Dragons, Tiamat and Bahamut created the Material Plane of Existence, just as Khyber and Eberron created the world of Eberron.

Additionally, as, in my Eberron, the 3 Progenitor Dragons are/were merely avatars of the 3 Core Draconic Deities, so their deaths in the world of Eberron didn't affect the aspects of the deities in the rest of the multiverse's worlds.

Any thoughts?

I really like this connection and I think it works really well. Another connection that actually adds to this is that Coualts, which are said to be formed from the pure blood of Siberys that didn't touch the soils of Eberron, are celestial that are also psionic in nature.

 

[Redwizard007]

In my current campaign there is only The Dragon. The other sorcerer kings haven't gotten close yet.

In others, I've done dragons as presented in the MM. Smart, spellcasting schemers. Sometimes as common as in a War of the Lance campaign.

My favorite, is as primal forces of nature. Agents of destruction with a desire for slaughter and hoard gathering tempered by centuries of sleep. Individual dragons rather than a color palette. Some wingless, some with a breath weapon. All unique.

 

[iserith]

Usually I have them sitting on big piles of treasure in dark places called dungeons and unlikely heroes try to kill and rob them.

 

[JEB]

Our most recent setting has a nation ruled by a coalition of chromatic and metallic dragons (led by the "Council of Wyrms" - I like my lore in-jokes), with dragonborn and kobolds forming most of the commoner population. It's been in a cold war with a neighboring human-ruled kingdom (an enemy of the main multi-species nation the players operate from) for generations, with dragon in-fighting and human dragon-slaying weapons keeping each side in check.

However, the war escalated after the humans gained access to a magical plot-device mineral that let them (essentially) mass-produce spellcasting items and airships and warforged and even magical WMDs, allowing them to break the stalemate and invade... but when last we left off (pre-Covid) a devastating dragon counter-offensive was about to happen.

We also had the occasional solo dragon in specific adventures. But most of them live in the dragon nation.

 

[Stormonu]

Dragons are too high CR to generally show up in my campaign (I prefer not to use anything younger than "adult" when they show up).

I think I'm going to start changing that - I have a country that is composed of dragons, and it's high time lower CR versions start making appearances (I'm talking CR 6-9), and even "young" dragons are still nearly a hundred years old...

 

[cbwjm]

Usually I have them sitting on big piles of treasure in dark places called dungeons and unlikely heroes try to kill and rob them.

Classic.

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

I really like this connection and I think it works really well.

Thanks!

Another connection that actually adds to this is that Coualts, which are said to be formed from the pure blood of Siberys that didn't touch the soils of Eberron, are celestial that are also psionic in nature.

Yep! I was trying to find something on the Eberron Wiki that said that, but couldn't, so I just left it out. Thanks for confirming that, though. Keith Baker also stated in a blog post that the Rings of Siberys might be populated by Couatls that didn't sacrifice themselves to form the Silver Flame.

Hmm. Psionic celestials that sacrificed themselves to create a magical force that keeps the Demon Overlords and Daelkyr imprisoned in Khyber that also happens to manifest as silver-colored fire. You could then say that the body of the Platinum Dragon is what causes force to appear as fire, (as dragons are known for breathing fire), and that it also causes the fire to be silver-colored (cause platinum is silver-colored).

 

[RoughCoronet0]

Thanks!

Yep! I was trying to find something on the Eberron Wiki that said that, but couldn't, so I just left it out. Thanks for confirming that, though. Keith Baker also stated in a blog post that the Rings of Siberys might be populated by Couatls that didn't sacrifice themselves to form the Silver Flame.

Hmm. Psionic celestials that sacrificed themselves to create a magical force that keeps the Demon Overlords and Daelkyr imprisoned in Khyber that also happens to manifest as silver-colored fire. You could then say that the body of the Platinum Dragon is what causes force to appear as fire, (as dragons are known for breathing fire), and that it also causes the fire to be silver-colored (cause platinum is silver-colored).

I think that fits fine, though I'm not as familiar with the Church of the Silver Flames as I am with other parts of Eberron lore so I'm not the best judge. You could also explain it that while the Coualts needed to sacrifice themselves so their divine essence could seal the Overlords away, the dragon's aided in strengthening that sacrificial sealing ritual with draconic magic that manifested in pure dragonfire. So the Divine Psionic force of the Coualts mixed with the raw dragon magic to create a holy silver flame. Just a different idea that popped into my head.

Have you considered how the Draconic Prophecy ties into this, and the Dragonmarked houses? Also you have the Siberys, Eberron, and Khyber dragonshards, which could have some interesting effects if you expand what they are capable of being used for with the themes and powers typical of Sardior, Bahamut, and Tiamat.

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

I think that fits fine, though I'm not as familiar with the Church of the Silver Flames as I am with other parts of Eberron lore so I'm not the best judge. You could also explain it that while the Coualts needed to sacrifice themselves so their divine essence could seal the Overlords away, the dragon's aided in strengthening that sacrificial sealing ritual with draconic magic that manifested in pure dragonfire. So the Divine Psionic force of the Coualts mixed with the raw dragon magic to create a holy silver flame. Just a different idea that popped into my head.

That would work, too. I'll consider that. Thanks for the idea.

Have you considered how the Draconic Prophecy ties into this, and the Dragonmarked houses?

The Draconic Prophecy was created by Siberys/Sardior as a "backup plan" in the case of his death to give to his children (and consequently Eberron/Bahamut's children) as a way to foil Khyber/Tiamat. The dragons were the first to discover the Draconic Prophecy, and the other races eventually discovered it. It's Siberys/Sardior's magic that created the 13 original Dragonmarks, and the magic of Khyber/Tiamat that created Aberrant Dragonmarks as a means to pervert her rival's power. Khyber/Tiamat knows of the Draconic Prophecy and is attempting to corrupt it to her own means, the same way that an enemy state would use the intel about our military tactics to their own advantage (which is why the Draconic Prophecy is slowly revealing itself in order to prevent Khyber/Tiamat from abusing it, and allowing multiple different outcomes to exist).

Also you have the Siberys, Eberron, and Khyber dragonshards, which could have some interesting effects if you expand what they are capable of being used for with the themes and powers typical of Sardior, Bahamut, and Tiamat.

Yep. As Sardior is the God of Gem Dragons, I'd say that the first dragonshards to exist were Siberys Dragonshards, and that the other 2 exist as a consequence of the magic of the Draconic Prophecy, which is why they can amplify the powers of those with Dragonmarks. Khyber Dragonshards amplify binding magic because of the imprisonment of Khyber/Tiamat, Eberron Dragonshards are used to create magic items because Eberron/Bahamut wanted to let those dwelling on her/him create magic items to protect themselves, and Siberys Dragonshards amplify psionic power and protection because Siberys/Sardior is connected to psionics and protecting those in need.

 

[RoughCoronet0]

That would work, too. I'll consider that. Thanks for the idea.

The Draconic Prophecy was created by Siberys/Sardior as a "backup plan" in the case of his death to give to his children (and consequently Eberron/Bahamut's children) as a way to foil Khyber/Tiamat. The dragons were the first to discover the Draconic Prophecy, and the other races eventually discovered it. It's Siberys/Sardior's magic that created the 13 original Dragonmarks, and the magic of Khyber/Tiamat that created Aberrant Dragonmarks as a means to pervert her rival's power. Khyber/Tiamat knows of the Draconic Prophecy and is attempting to corrupt it to her own means, the same way that an enemy state would use the intel about our military tactics to their own advantage (which is why the Draconic Prophecy is slowly revealing itself in order to prevent Khyber/Tiamat from abusing it, and allowing multiple different outcomes to exist).

Yep. As Sardior is the God of Gem Dragons, I'd say that the first dragonshards to exist were Siberys Dragonshards, and that the other 2 exist as a consequence of the magic of the Draconic Prophecy, which is why they can amplify the powers of those with Dragonmarks. Khyber Dragonshards amplify binding magic because of the imprisonment of Khyber/Tiamat, Eberron Dragonshards are used to create magic items because Eberron/Bahamut wanted to let those dwelling on her/him create magic items to protect themselves, and Siberys Dragonshards amplify psionic power and protection because Siberys/Sardior is connected to psionics and protecting those in need.

That all sounds great!