Dragon (Dungeons & Dragons)

Powerful and intelligent, the fictional dragons of Dungeons & Dragons are reptiles with magical abilities and breath weapons. The different sub-species, distinguished by their coloring, vary in power. Despite the variety of dragons in D&D, a number of traits are common to nearly all types of dragons. All species are portrayed as generally reptilian or serpentine in their natural form. Except for the youngest dragons, they are described as quite large—usually at least the size of a horse, and often much larger. Most species are depicted to have wings and be capable of flight, and nearly all are quadrupedal. Almost all species of dragon are depicted as highly intelligent (at least as intelligent as a human being) and are able to speak. All species of dragon are noted to be magical in nature, and in most species, this nature is expressed as an affinity for some type of elemental power. Some dragon species are naturally able to cast magical spells as well. Most dragons in D&D have the ability to breathe or expel one or more types of energy associated with their elemental affinity, as well as to resist some damage or injury from other sources of such energy. Some dragons have two different kinds of breath weapons, usually one that can cause physical harm to player characters (fire, ice, acid, lightning, etc.) and another which typically causes an impairment (paralysis, repulsion, confusion, etc.). Dragons are noted to be egg-layers, and most are described with sharp teeth, horns, and claws. A dragon in D&D is protected by its scaly hide, the color of which is determined by the dragon's species, and also offers a visual clue to the specific elemental nature of each species of dragon. Each species of dragon has a particular temperament associated with it, as well as a moral outlook derived from that temperament. These factors underlie the personality and behavior of individual dragons. While dragons typically are not portrayed with wide variances in appearance or personality within a species, exceptions are possible, especially in certain in-game settings, such as Eberron. Since dragons in D&D are portrayed as monstrous creatures designed to antagonize player characters, the majority of dragons in D&D are described as evil by default. This was more prominent in the original Dungeons & Dragons releases (such as the Dungeons & Dragons "white box" set (1974) and Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set) where only the gold dragon was specified to be lawful good while all other colors were noted to be chaotic evil (red, green, black) or neutral evil (blue, white). Detailed information about dragonkind in the 2nd, 3rd, or 4th editions of D&D may be found in their respective editions of the Draconomicon, a supplement book designed to provide players with more information about dragons; the fifth edition has the similarly-themed ''Fizban's Treasury of Dragons. No such book was published for the first edition, although the Basic game had a Bestiary of Dragons and Giants'' (coded AC10). ==Publication history==

Origins Medieval literature scholar Thomas Honegger considered it "no coincidence" that the seminal role-playing game "features the dragon, a most formidable opponent, as the second element of its name" as the "recognition of the dragon as the most dangerous animal is traditional" in epic literature. Five evil-aligned dragons (white dragon, black dragon, green dragon, blue dragon, and red dragon), and the lawful-good aligned golden dragon (in ascending order of magic power and capabilities) first appeared in the original Dungeons & Dragons "white box" set (1974). The white dragon, black dragon, red dragon and brass dragon reappeared in the original Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set (1977). The six dragons from the 1974 boxed set appeared in the Dungeons & Dragons Basic Rulebook (1981), and again in the 1983 version of the Basic Set (1983). These six appeared along with the gemstone dragons (crystal dragon, onyx dragon, jade dragon, sapphire dragon, ruby dragon and amber dragon), and the dragon rulers (Pearl (the Moon Dragon), Ruler of all Chaotic Dragons; Diamond (the Star Dragon), Ruler of all Lawful Dragons; Opal (the Sun Dragon), Ruler of all Neutral Dragons; and the Great One, Ruler of All Dragonkind) in the Dungeons & Dragons Rules Cyclopedia (1991). The five chaotic-aligned dragon types from the 1974 boxed set, as well as the gold dragon and the four new dragon types from the Greyhawk supplement (the copper dragon, brass dragon, bronze dragon, and silver dragon) appeared in first edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons in the original Monster Manual (1977), along with Bahamut and Tiamat. The former five dragon types were given as evil-aligned, while the latter five dragon types were given as good-aligned. The ten dragon types were given pseudoscientific names as follows: black (draco causticus sputem), blue (draco electricus), brass (draco impudentus gallus), bronze (draco gerus bronzo), copper (draco comes stabuli), gold (draco orientalus sino dux), green (draco chlorinous nauseous respiratorus), red (draco conflagratio horriblis), silver (draco nobilis argentum), and white (draco rigidus frigidus). The Oriental dragons appeared in the original Fiend Folio (1981), including the li lung (earth dragon), the lung wang (sea dragon), the pan lung (coiled dragon), the shen lung (spirit dragon), the t'ien lung (celestial dragon), and the yu lung (carp dragon). The cloud dragon, the faerie dragon, the mist dragon, and the shadow dragon appeared in the original Monster Manual II (1983). Second edition In the second edition of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (AD&D), dragons were altered heavily from their first edition equivalents and were made much more powerful with magic resistance, removing the subdual rules, and now had more physical attack forms besides claws and bites. AD&D 2nd edition and D&D 3rd edition divided true dragons further into three main categories: chromatic dragons which are evil-aligned; metallic dragons which are good; and neutral-aligned gem dragons, rare creatures that possess psionic abilities. In addition, there were other subspecies of true dragons that did not fit into the three main categories. For example, mercury and steel dragons would seem to be metallic dragons, but in the Dungeons & Dragons world they are considered to be outside of the main family of metallic dragons because of various biological differences (though the book Dragons of Faerûn did list them as metallic dragons). The "lung dragons" or spirit-dragons of Oriental Adventures are also true dragons. The black dragon, blue dragon, brass dragon, bronze dragon, copper dragon, gold dragon, green dragon, red dragon, silver dragon, and white dragon appeared in second edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons in the Monstrous Compendium Volume One (1989). The faerie dragon, and the Oriental dragons—lung wang (sea dragon), pan lung (coiled dragon), shen lung (spirit dragon), t'ien lung (celestial dragon), tun mi lung (typhoon dragon), yu lung (carp dragon), chiang ling (river dragon), and li lung (earth dragon)—appeared in the Monstrous Compendium Forgotten Realms Appendix (1989). The radiant dragon appeared in the Spelljammer: AD&D Adventures in Space boxed set (1989). The dragons of Krynn', the , the astral dragon, the , the , and the sea dragon appeared in the Monstrous Compendium Dragonlance Appendix (1990). The cloud dragon, the Greyhawk dragon, the mist dragon, and the shadow dragon appeared in the Monstrous Compendium Greyhawk Appendix (1990). The adamantite dragon appeared in the Monstrous Compendium Outer Planes Appendix (1991). The moon dragon, the sun dragon, and the stellar dragon appeared in the Monstrous Compendium Spelljammer Appendix (1991). The deep dragon appeared in the Monstrous Compendium Forgotten Realms Appendix II (1991). The gem dragons (the amethyst dragon, the crystal dragon, the emerald dragon, the sapphire dragon, and the topaz dragon) first appeared in The Dragon magazine #037 (May 1980), and then appeared again in the Monstrous Compendium Fiend Folio Appendix (1992). The chromatic dragons (black dragon, blue dragon, green dragon, red dragon, and white dragon), the gem dragons (amethyst dragon, crystal dragon, emerald dragon, sapphire dragon, and topaz dragon), metallic dragons (brass dragon, bronze dragon, copper dragon, gold dragon, and silver dragon), brown dragon, cloud dragon, deep dragon, mercury dragon, mist dragon, shadow dragon, steel dragon, and yellow dragon appeared in the Monstrous Manual (1993). The onyx dragon, jade dragon, ruby dragon and amber dragon appeared in the Monstrous Compendium Mystara Appendix (1994). Third edition The chromatic dragons (black, blue, green, red, and white), and the metallic dragons (brass, bronze, copper, gold, and silver) appeared in the third edition in the Monster Manual (2000), and in the revised 3.5 Monster Manual (2003). Their depictions by Todd Lockwood and Sam Wood tried to incorporate the "very inventive" original designs by Dave Sutherland from 1st edition while making them anatomically more credible, and differentiate all species through distinctions in wing-shape in addition to head details. 3rd edition's is "what Wizards designers now consider the "definitive" representations of these monsters." The third edition of D&D classifies dragon as a type of creature, simply defined as "a reptilelike creature, usually winged, with magical or unusual abilities". The dragon type is broken down into several classifications. True dragons are dragons which increase in power by age categories (wyrmling to great wyrm). Lesser dragons do not improve in age categories and may lack all of the abilities of true dragons. Examples of lesser dragons include dragon turtles and wyverns. Other creatures with the dragon type include drakes, , elemental drakes, landwyrms, linnorms and wurms. Fourth edition With D&D 4th edition, the classifications were changed: chromatic dragons turned not strictly evil, and metallic dragons proved not necessarily good. There are also several new categories (although the gem dragons did not return): "planar dragons" which are defined as dragons that were warped by living on a plane of existence other than the Material Plane, "catastrophe dragons", which take on the aspects of natural disasters that are chaotic evil and cause chaos for its own sake, and "scourge dragons". The five chromatic dragon types (black, blue, green, red, and white) appeared in young, adult, elder, and ancient variants in the fourth edition Monster Manual (2008). Chromatic dragons were again presented in the Draconomicon: Chromatic Dragons. This supplement also included three more chromatic dragon types: the brown dragon (aka, sand dragon), the grey dragon (aka, fang dragon), and the purple dragon (aka, deep dragon). The adamantine dragon, copper dragon, gold dragon, iron dragon, and silver dragon appeared in the Monster Manual 2 (2009). Metallic dragons are presented in the Monster Manual 2 and Draconomicon: Metallic Dragons. Catastrophe dragons are presented in Monster Manual 3. Planar dragons have been presented in both Draconomicon: Chromatic Dragons and Draconomicon: Metallic Dragons. Fifth edition The five basic chromatic dragons (red, blue, green, black, and white) and metallic dragons (copper, brass, silver, gold, and bronze) appeared in the fifth edition Monster Manual (2014) in wyrmling, young, adult, and ancient. Gem dragons and other new-to-fifth-edition dragons appeared in ''Fizban's Treasury of Dragons'' (2021). == Game mechanics ==

In D&D, true dragons continue to become more powerful as they mature and age. They grow larger and stronger, and become more resistant to damage and magic. Their breath weapon also becomes increasingly dangerous and their knowledge and magical abilities improves. Old dragons can cast draconic magic which is a special form of D&D magic. Dragons can cast spells with just a few words, rather than a sometimes long and complex ritual involving speech, gestures and preparations like other D&D wizards. In the 3 and 3.5 editions, dragons cast spells spontaneously like sorcerers, and sometimes have a wider variety of spells. Dragons also radiate a mystical fear aura around them. After a millennium or two, a dragon reaches their maximum development. Many D&D dragons have innate magical abilities, but they vary from race to race. Metallic dragons are often able to shapeshift into small animals or human forms, and use this ability to secretly help or watch over humans. Dragons also have some innate powers over the element they are linked to. For example, a red dragon (fire) will have some control over fires. Like all other draconic powers, they gain more as they grow older. Lesser dragons (like wyverns, halfdragons or dragonwrought kobolds) may lack innate magical abilities, while still counting as dragons for purpose of all other effects. Breath weapon A breath weapon is the cone or line shaped weapon exhaled by dragons in D&D. Each type of dragon has a different breath weapon. The chromatic dragons have one breath weapon and the metallic dragons have two. Other dragons and semi-dragons frequently have breath weapons. One example is the dragon turtle's cone of steam breath weapon. Form Breath weapons typically come in one of three forms. • Line: Does damage in a straight line. • Cone: Does damage in a wide cone shape. • Cloud: Does damage with a cloud of gas. Composition Breath weapons typically are composed of one of several materials (gem dragons may have breath weapons of other materials, such as psychic energy and thunderous bursts of sound). • Fire: Magical fire is used by gold dragons, brass dragons and red dragons. • Electricity: Lightning is exhaled by blue dragons and bronze dragons. • Acid: The black and copper dragon exhale a powerful acid. • Poison: The green dragon's breath weapon is a cloud of chlorine gas. • Cold: The white and silver dragons both release a cone of sub zero air and ice. Magic True dragons are born with a natural flair for magic, but they need to practice and hone their skills and come of age before they are able to use it to any meaningful effect. == Fictional traits ==

Biology Dragons are inherently magical beings, and are, contrary to appearances, not reptilian in nature. All true dragons are endothermic, with its body temperature varying based on their age and species. However, unlike most endothermic creatures, dragons have no way of shedding excess heat. Instead, the heat is extracted via an organ known as the draconis fundamentum, where it is transformed into energy for the creature. A dragon is also unaffected by a lack of external heat, without slowing their metabolism nor activity level. The number of eggs laid each time depends on the race of the dragon, but is usually low (between one and ten). Dragons can also cross-breed with virtually any other creature, creating a half-dragon. The most commonly heard of are in the humanoid races, particularly with human and elves. Nearly any combination is possible, even with devils or angels. While varying depending on species, dragon senses are often superior in most ways to other creatures. Like any predator, they have exceptionally acute senses, which only increase with age. Like avian creatures, they have excellent depth perception and comparingly good peripheral vision, and are able to see twice as well as a human in daylight. Unlike avian, they have great night vision, and are able to see even when conditions have no light to offer, although in such conditions they cannot discern between colors. Behavior All true dragons in Dungeons & Dragons are depicted as intelligent beings. A dragon's personality varies by individual, but dragons of the same subrace tend to have similar mindsets. This is not always true however, and several exceptions exist in official D&D material. Dragon subraces encompass all Dungeons & Dragons alignments, going from lawful good paladin-like gold dragons to the cruel and greedy chaotic evil red dragons. All dragons share a common desire to collect treasure, be it precious, beautiful, magical or just shiny. Indeed, the treasure in question need not always be gold, and may sometimes be aesthetic in nature, ranging from popular artwork or sculptures or even rare books and tomes that might otherwise have an overwhelming monetary value. For evil-aligned dragons, this generally directs a greedy attitude to achieve such wealth by whatever means suit them. For good dragons, this lust for treasure is tempered, although they are certainly not averse to earning such wealth, and still appreciate gifts (while being insulted if offered an obvious bribe). Being stronger, faster, generally smarter, and possessing longer life than humans and most other races, dragons tend to consider themselves superior creatures. For good-aligned dragons, this may simply mean they consider humanoid races as children, trying to take care of them and educate them. For evil-aligned dragons, they consider humanoids as mere animals, or as toys to play with. At best, they are minions and slaves, while at worst, they are the dragon's next meal. The longevity of dragons is evident in their often unenthusiastic attitudes. Good-aligned dragons, while concerned with defeating evil, are able to see a much broader scope of the world, and although certain crises arise that may seem very important to good-aligned humans, their dragon counterparts have the ability to view the event as an unimportant hiccup which will pass in mere centuries. Even those that adventure with others tend show a sense of incredible patience, including in situations where everyone feels they have not a second to lose. Similarly, evil-aligned dragons that are crossed by belligerent adventurers may plot for dozens of generations before exacting revenge on the trespasser's line. It is not uncommon for those descended from the mentioned adventurer to find themselves the target of a dragon based simply on their lineage. == In campaign settings ==

In many settings, the god-king of the metallic dragons is Bahamut, the Platinum Dragon, and the goddess and queen of the chromatic dragons is Tiamat, the Five-Headed Dragon. She is based on the Tiamat from Babylonian mythology, who was considered the evil mother of dragons, though the appearances of the fictional deity differs greatly from its model. They are much like the other races of metallic dragon with one primary exception: they prefer to maintain the form of another sentient race in order to mingle with, infiltrate, and study the cultures of men and their sort. Few people know when they are interacting with a Steel Dragon, but they always have a feature which betrays them by resembling their natural complexion. Within the Greyhawk setting, such dragons are known to have made journeys into other material planes where they have come to be called steel dragons. Council of Wyrms setting The Council of Wyrms campaign setting is the only one that allows for dragon player characters in its base rules. The Draconomicon introduces rules for dragon PCs in standard Dungeons & Dragons. The setting is based around a society of dragons and their servitors and uses the standard D&D dragon races and dragon gods. It has detailed rules for creating and playing dragon PCs and NPCs, including various draconic character classes. Eberron setting In the Eberron campaign setting, three dragon gods have created the world: Siberys, Eberron and Khyber. Siberys and Eberron waged war against Khyber and imprisoned it within the depths of the earth. In the end, all three dragons merged with the land: Siberys becoming the sky, Eberron the continents and Khyber the underground world. Dragons are apart from civilization, which is mostly concentrated on the continent of Khorvaire. They live on the continent of Argonnessen, a rather unknown place, since dragons are very territorial, it makes exploration often hazardous. The dragons used to rule over Eberron many centuries ago, but at the end of the Dragon-Fiend war, against the demons and devils of Khyber, they departed from Khorvaire to go to Argonnessen. Dragons are immersed in the Draconic Prophecy, a legend which all bits of information are scattered throughout the world and that the outcome is unknown. They see every event as an important event in the Prophecy, and they even form an organization called the Chamber, where they send their brethren in search of clues. They can be of any alignment, like all creatures in Eberron, so a good red dragon (usually evil) is as common as an evil gold dragon (usually good). This rule might throw some players off-balance. Dragons also consider themselves superior, treating all other races as inferior. Furthermore, any half-dragon spotted by these dragons is vowed to be hunted, as they treat these half-breeds as a disgrace to their image. Birthright setting The Birthright campaign setting had its own version of a Dragon, named Cerilian Dragon, Cerilia being the main continent in the setting. They resemble more the eastern-type dragons being long and serpentine with leathery wings. Their backs are protected by iron-hard scales, their bellies by layers of thick, leathery skin. Their color ranges from reddish rust-brown to iron grey, with their bellies usually of a paler tone than their scales. Cerilian dragons are among the most ancient inhabitants of the continent, predating even elves and dwarves. Perhaps there used to be many, but over the years, in-fighting and fighting the younger races have taken their toll. There are only a half dozen dragons known to be left. All living dragons are of the Old age or higher. Dragons are extremely intelligent and knowledgeable, conserving much lore that has been lost to the younger races. They speak their own language and some can also speak Elven or Dwarven. Some of these dragons took part in the Battle of Deismaar, and the only verified alive and awake dragons right now are the dragon of Vstaive Peaks in Vosgaard, also known as Vore Lekiniskiy and Kappenkriaucheran who inhabits the Drachenward mountains and controls their magic. The most famous of the dragons is Tarazin the Grey who has not been seen for several decades when the official campaign begins. The only known Dracolich is Komassa who lives in the Shadow World. Dragons in Birthright are meant to be uncommon and powerful beings and only rarely if ever appear in any adventure. ==Chromatic dragons==

Chromatic dragon is a classification of fictional dragon. Chromatic dragons are typically of evil alignment, in contrast to the metallic dragons, which are typically of good alignment. Chromatic dragons have played a large role in various D&D monster compilation books: white, black, green, blue and red dragons being the classic chromatic dragons. Tiamat is the queen of chromatic dragons, based on the Tiamat from Babylonian mythology. giving the different races more distinctive characteristics aside from color. Red dragon Red dragons are the largest and most powerful of the classic chromatic dragons. They are very large with a wide wingspan and have two back-swept horns on their heads. Once they hatch, the wyrmlings are left to fend for themselves. A red wyrmling is roughly human-sized at hatching and dangerous. They are capable of breathing fire, and revel in wreaking destruction and havoc on almost anything that moves. The latter trait is carried fully into adulthood. They regard all other chromatic dragons as inferiors, with the amount of disdain proportional to the general power level of the variety. All other chromatic dragons that red dragons encounter are either killed, driven away, or bullied into servitude depending on the red dragon's mood and personality, with the exception of white dragons who are allowed to leave since red dragons do not consider them worth the effort to kill. Due to their choice of living space, they cross paths with many of the metallic dragons, most notably the silver dragons who are their worst enemies, and holding the greatest disdain for copper dragons with whom they often clash. Red dragons have an eye for value, and can determine the monetary worth of any object at a glance. The gaining and keeping of treasure is the focus of a red dragon's adult life, and they tend to quickly amass incredible hoards. Red dragons prefer to make their homes inside active volcanoes. If a volcano is not available, they will reside in any mountain, provided that it has a good ledge from which the dragon can survey its territory. A red dragon's lair may have only a single entrance, high above ground level. Red dragons are very dangerous in combat. Proficient in magic, they are also fast in the air, but clumsy, so prefer to fight on the ground. They spend years designing battle strategies, and wait until the best moment to call upon them. Their blasts of fire end most battles before they begin. The red dragon Themberchaud, which first appeared in Drizzt Do’Urden’s Guide to the Underdark (1999) and reappeared in subsequent modules such as Out of the Abyss (2015), was featured in the live-action film Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023). David M. Ewalt described ancient red dragons' place in the game as "there are few beasts more powerful". The young white dragon was ranked eighth among the ten best low-level monsters by the authors of Dungeons & Dragons For Dummies. The authors chose the young white dragon over a wyrmling, feeling that "it's more satisfying for characters to battle against a dragon that's at least as big as a person, if not bigger. The young white dragon offers the best chance for this kind of fight". == Metallic dragons ==

Metallic dragon is a classification of dragon found in Dungeons & Dragons. In many campaign settings, metallic dragons are of good alignment. Bahamut is the deity of good-aligned dragons and metallic dragons, and currently the only known Platinum dragon in existence. Metallic dragons have played a large role in D&D's various monster compilation books, and for most of the game's history, five main types – brass, copper, bronze, silver, and gold – were presented as roughly analogous to the five types of chromatic dragons. The fourth edition of the second Monster Manual substituted iron and adamantine dragons for brass and bronze, and released the latter dragons in a later book alongside cobalt, mercury, mithral, orium, and steel dragons. Publication history The classification of "metallic dragons" was used in the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons second edition Monstrous Manual (1993), and the other dragons comprising the category had been in print since the first edition Monster Manual (1977). Bronze dragon Duty-bound and honorable to a fault, bronze dragons commit themselves to order and are among the greatest and most devout champions of that ideal. As order's sworn servants, bronze dragons can seem arrogant and haughty, with an inflated sense of self, a tendency that can put them at odds with those they meet. Bronze dragons claim coastlines, inlets, and islands as their own, constructing lairs in coastal caves that have access to the sea. All bronze dragons share a deep and abiding hatred for blue dragons, and they are vigilant in protecting their homes from these interlopers. Physically, the bronze dragon is quite fierce in appearance, despite its good nature. While most of its body is a reflective copper color, the wings are often tipped with green. The eyes of a bronze dragon begin with a green iris and as they age the eye slowly becomes a solid green with no distinct iris. The dragon has three main large horns protruding from each cheek, pointing back towards the tail. It also has a couple of smaller horns. The tips of these points are black and very sharp, and are often used for grooming. The tongue is purple-grey, long and pointed, and not forked. A large frill runs down the upper part of its neck. Bronze dragons mate for life and they lay their eggs in a dry cave. Upon hatching, the wyrmlings are raised, taught, and protected by their parents. A newly hatched bronze wyrmling appears yellow with a tinge of green, and the scales will gradually shift to bronze as it matures. Bronze wyrmlings hold a strong sense of responsibility from the moment it leaves the egg. Given its exceptional abilities as a swimmer, the entrance to a bronze dragon's lair is quite naturally underwater, and often disguised with seaweed and coral. The bulk of the lair is above water level, however, consisting of multiple tunnels and large chambers, some as much as a thousand feet above sea level. While bronze dragons are often fascinated with battles, especially fighting to defeat evil, they have strong moral compunctions against killing living beings unless absolutely necessary. They will typically join good-aligned armies to fight the forces of evil, either in human form or their own. Copper Dragon Copper dragons are the second weakest of the metallic dragons. They are born tricksters and jokesters. Physically, the copper dragon is very striking, with scales of a warm copper color tinged with blue. Like the brass dragon, the copper dragon's wings connect to its body all the way to the tip of its tail. However, its wings have a pronounced bend to them, giving them the appearance of a "V" from below, rather than the brass dragon's triangular appearance. Copper dragons are powerful jumpers and climbers, with massive thigh and shoulder muscles. Their two horns are broad and flat, pointing backwards towards the tail from the top of their heads. They also have a distinctive frill protruding from either jaw. When the mouth is closed, the teeth are completely hidden. When newly hatched, the scales of a copper wyrmling are a muddy brown in color, which gradually shifts to a glowing copper as it matures. Adult copper dragons are quite social, mainly due to the desire to play tricks upon each other. A typical copper dragon's lair is a cave, whose entrance is concealed by rocks and boulders. Upon entering, visitors find themselves in a huge labyrinth of tunnels. Copper dragons compete amongst themselves to see who can design the most confusing layout. When it comes to combat, copper dragons prefer to avoid it. Rather than fighting openly, they prefer to taunt, humiliate, and tease their opponents until they simply give up and run away. Their ability to dramatically slow opponents often gives them ample time to run away. When forced, however, a copper dragon will fight to the very end, and is an incredibly devious antagonist. Gold dragon Gold dragons are based on creatures from Chinese mythology. In the game, they are the most powerful of the metallic dragons (in some versions they are the strongest of all dragons), and the most dedicated to defeating evil. They spend the bulk of their lives in human form, seeking out evil and punishing wrongdoers to the best of their considerable abilities. Gold dragons are also voracious learners who freely share their knowledge and experience. Gold dragons have several large horns tipped with umber shoot sideways from their cheeks, and two very prominent horns point backwards along their heads. The most obvious feature is probably the tentacle whiskers that sprout from the top and bottom of the gold dragon's jaw, giving the appearance of a beard of sorts. Their wings, like those of brass and copper dragons, connect to the body all the way to the tip of the tail. From below, the overall shape resembles that of a brass dragon, but the different coloring and dramatic difference in size enables easy differentiation. When in flight, the gold dragon's wings ripple, giving the appearance of swimming rather than flying. A newly hatched gold wyrmling appears similar to an adult, except that it lacks horns or tentacle whiskers. Gold dragons devote immense time and energy to the construction of their lairs. The layout of their lairs often resemble those of elegant human mansions, albeit buried underground. Unlike many species of dragons, gold dragons have a very firm and hierarchical social structure, encompassing all members of the species. Gold dragons prefer to talk rather than to fight. While powerful opponents, they avoid unnecessary combat since they dislike killing. Silver Dragon Silver dragons are the second most powerful of the metallic dragons, and are true friends to all. The silver dragon enjoys the company of humans and elves so much that it will often take the form of a human or elf and live among them for the majority of its life. At first glance, the silver dragon appears very similar to the white dragon. Their wings are more curved though, and they have two talons on their wings rather than the single talon of most dragons. The silver dragon also has a frill that starts at the top of its head and flows all the way down its neck and body to the tip of the tail. The frill is silver towards the body, fading to a purple hue at the edge. They have two long, smooth silver horns with black tips, pointing up and back from the head. They also have a pronounced sharp frill under the chin, which has the rough appearance of a goatee. Silver dragons are extremely rare and elusive, preferring to take the guise of kind and elderly humanoids or very young humanoids. Most silver dragons group together in "clans", a loose organization of dragons who choose to live together as a family. Clans take communal responsibility for protecting and raising their wyrmlings which are intelligent, kind, extremely curious, and adorable. A senior member of the clan may act as a leader, but no true leader actually exists. However, many silver dragons leave their clans for long lengths of time to live among non-dragons. Unlike the gold or bronze dragon, the silver dragon does not usually go out of its way to bring justice to the world. They are more interested in protecting the humanoids they have come to care for than in looking for evil. Like most metallic dragons, silver dragons do not enjoy combat, and are averse to killing. If forced to fight, however, they are as deadly as any other dragon. Silver dragons' favored enemy are red dragons because these chromatic dragons are nearly always evil and have a talent for destruction. Additionally, silver dragons and red dragons favor the same sort of mountainous terrain for lairs, which leads to territorial disputes on top of having attitudes and philosophies at odds with the others'. A silver dragon's lair is generally found within an icy mountain, with the main entrance only accessible by air. Rare types == Gem dragons ==

Gem dragons are a classification of dragon based on "gem type rather than color or metal". Sardior is the deity of gem dragons. Although Obsidian Dragons are also technically gem dragons, they are opposed to Sardior and most other gem dragons. Publication history The gem dragons (the amethyst dragon, the crystal dragon, the emerald dragon, the sapphire dragon and the topaz dragon) and Sardior the Ruby Dragon first appeared in the first edition in Dragon #37 (May 1980). The gem dragons appeared in the second edition in the Monstrous Compendium Fiend Folio Appendix (1992), and the Monstrous Manual (1993). They appeared as player character races in the Council of Wyrms set (1994) and the Campaign Option: Council of Wyrms book (1999). The gem dragons appeared in the third edition in Monster Manual II (2002). The sapphire dragon was introduced in the fifth edition as a stat block, along with some history on gem dragons, in a charity supplement to raise money for Extra Life. SyFy Wire highlighted that "they have new abilities and breath weapons that use the less-common damage types of radiant, necrotic, thunder, psychic, and force. Fizban's contains stat blocks for gem dragons at different ages and challenge ratings, same as the dragons in the basic Monster Manual". Reception Mark Theurer, in a 2002 review for Fictional Reality, remarked that gem dragons "have some interesting breath weapons". She stated that these dragons range in temperament and "while some of them enjoy (and even long for) conversation with intelligent creatures, they tend to be solitary, preferring to maintain their distance from the world and its problems in hopes that the world keeps its distance from them". Thomas considered gem dragons "exciting" due to "their versatility, utility, and contribution to world-building efforts". ==Other types of dragons==

In most descriptions, true dragons only comprise the two families of chromatic dragons and metallic dragons. There are, however, many more families among the true dragons, and some kinds exist outside any specific category. Lesser dragons Lesser Dragons comprise all dragonkind that are not true dragons, and includes a broad range of creatures. ==Critical reception==

Dungeons & Dragons for Dummies assigned the dragon a central role, stating that for many characters "the opportunity to fight a dragon (and pillage its hoard) is the reason you play the game". The authors also chose a specific dragon each among the ten best monsters for low- and mid-level characters. Michael Witwer et al. observed that few dragons appeared in adventures published early in the game's history, however, due to their extreme danger to characters: "Dragons were great for book and box covers; in games they were impractical. There simply wasn't a playable D&D framework for including dragons as a regular feature." The Dragonlance setting was developed as one means to remedy this discrepancy. Similarly, Philip J. Clements wrote about Dungeons & Dragons: "Even the name suggests" that "both dungeons and dragons exist to be overcome and exploited by the power and cunning of the characters". The ancient blue dragon was ranked third among the ten best high-level 4th Edition monsters by the authors of Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition For Dummies. The authors described the ancient dragons as "the most powerful versions of these majestic and deadly creatures, and the ancient blue dragon approaches the pinnacle of all dragon-kin", surpassed only by the red dragon. The authors concluded that "Few single challengers can stand long against the fury of this terrible dragon as it unleashes lightning and thunder." Screen Rant compiled a list of the game's "10 Most Powerful (And 10 Weakest) Monsters, Ranked" in 2018, calling the prismatic dragon one of the strongest, saying "It represents the ultimate challenge for any party of adventurers, though it would easily dispose of all but the most insanely overleveled groups. Defeating a prismatic dragon would also represent the ultimate challenge for the actual players, as they would likely expire from old age before rolling all of the dice necessary to finish an encounter with the creature." Inverse reviewer Corey Plante observed that the dragons' "foundational" nature for the game was given a counterpart in the in-universe lore by ''Fizban's Treasury of Dragons, where they are linked with the creation myth of the Material Plane, the part of D&D' "physical multiverse in which almost all D&D'' adventures take place". ==Other publishers==

A dragon was the main antagonist in the early handheld electronic games licensed to Mattel, the Dungeons & Dragons Computer Labyrinth Game (1980) and Dungeons & Dragons Computer Fantasy Game (1981) and appeared in the Intellivision games Cloudy Mountain (1982) and Treasure of Tarmin (1983). The black dragon, blue dragon, brass dragon, bronze dragon, copper dragon, gold dragon, green dragon, red dragon, silver dragon, and white dragon are fully detailed in Paizo Publishing's book Dragons Revisited (2009). ==Notes==

• Wyatt, James and Rob Heinsoo. Monstrous Compendium: Monsters of Faerun (Wizards of the Coast, 2001). • Andy Collins, Skip Williams, and James Wyatt. Draconomicon (Wizards of the Coast, 2003). ==Further reading==