Pathfinder 1E Is there any good suggestion to replace Gem Dragons for Pathfinder?

[Matthias]

Like others, I miss the Gem dragons from previous editions of D&D. While it would take time, I feel they could be faithfully ported over to PF by comparing the D&D versions of the Chromatics and Metallics and what changes were made to them by Paizo, then apply the same method to the Gem dragons.


But here is a different point: It's always seemed odd to me for the evil batch to be abstract colors and not some kind of valuable physical substance like the good or neutral batches (i.e. metals or gems). I feel it should be all one (colors) or all the other (substances). Alternately, the evil batch of dragons might be terrain-based--"terrestrial dragons":

(just-for-example names)
black - marshes/swamps - "Bog Dragon"
blue - warm deserts - "Sand Dragon"
green - jungles/rain forests - "Jungle Dragon"
red - mountains/volcanoes - "Magma Dragon"
white - tundra/glaciers - "Frost Dragon"
And there might be evil dragons which dominate other terrains...steppes, archipelagoes, deep sea, rivers, etc.


There's nothing inherently valuable about land other than breathing room, construction materials (rock, mud, etc.) living things that grow on the land which yield food or raw materials (lumber, livestock, etc.) and the useful minerals that can be mined from the land. Precious metals and gems come out of the land but aren't generally thought of as 'alive' like the others, but metallic and gem dragons can change that. Or does this stray too close to the unique flavor of linnorms?

 

[cablop]

Dragons don't get a boost from 3.5 to Pathfinder, rather they are nerfed. Take a look at the adult red, he looses 5 HD and 80+ HP.

I did not see them as nerfed... despite PF dragons have less hit points and seem weaker, they have additional abilities that 3.5 dragons don't have, like the fire aura of the red wyrm or the electric aura of the blue one... that really changes the game, the concept of 'i am going close the dragon and hit him with my sword'... and the additional effects, like controlling fire spells cast near the dragon... i think the red dragon of PF is a nightmare to fight against...

Back to the question... Yes, not many people use gem dragons, so why that many? if someone wants a psionic dragon, then just one race is enough... o well... maybe just three, not more... the concept of psionic dragons related to egos concept is very interesting... make much more sense than gems... but again, we have to wait

 

[gamerprinter]

Yeah, I agree, dragons weren't nerfed in Pathfinder. Hit dice might have been lessened, but it wasn't hit dice that made them badass, those 'badass' aspects have been improved in PF.