Needs Design/Concept Ideas for New Dragon Species

[AFGNCAAP]

Hello,

One of the things I'm working on for a D&D campaign is creating new varieties of dragons. I'm having a bit of difficulty trying to determine how I'll design the dragons, so I thought I'd bring up the issue here & get a bit of feedback on the matter.

First, some background data:

• My campaign world has most of the different types fo dragons mentioned in the Monster Manuals & the Draconomicon: all the chromatics, metallics, & gem dragons, plus other varieties like the shadow, force, brown, fang, & other sorts.
• However, many of these species of dragons are on the decline--too much competition over the barely-enough resources to really thrive.
• As a result, some species of dragons are starting to intermingle, creating new species from these unions. These new breeds are proving to be much more formidable/capable than either of the "parent" species.
• In addition, a few new species of dragon have appeared due to magical experimentation/breeding (think of dragons going through a program similar to the one used by Saruman for orcs in order to produce Uruk-Hai. They're much worse than anything natural.)
• Eventually, the new species of dragons will totally supplant the standard/existing ones. (By this timeline, the existing species of dragons are all but extinct, with a tiny grouping of each still around).

Basically, I'm trying to decrease the different kinds of dragons out there, & create something new that players wouldn't have knowledge of (by researching stats in the MM, etc.). So far, I've only had 2 approaches.

• 1 Color, 1 Dragon: Basically, dragons of similar colors interbred, creating a new variety of dragon: Blue dragons & Sapphire dragons; Emerald dragons & Green dragons; Gold dragons and brass dragons; etc. It's still a fair # of dragons, overall, but it'll have enough variety to make things a bit unpredicable.
• Elemental-themed/Energy-themed Dragons. The dragons will be built around mastery/immunity to a particular element/type of energy: Fire dragons; Earth/Acid dragons; Air/Electricity dragons; Water/Cold dragons; Sonic dragons; Force dragons; etc. I could keep the color-based theme/labels for the different breeds, but it's not necessary. Besides, with these dragons, it may be cool to have a wide variety of appearances for them (so PCs can't automatically guess the dragon type by appearance).

Any other possible ideas would be appreciated, as would any elaboration on the stuff I've had so far. Also, I'd appreciate any info/advice/experience on your experiences with using newly-created types of dragons, too.

 

[kolikeos]

how about a pink dragon?

breath weapon: stiky marshmelo

 

[AFGNCAAP]

how about a pink dragon?

breath weapon: stiky marshmelo

Nah... not that. IIRC, there was a set of stats for a Pink Dragon in an April issue of Dragon. I think it blew bubbles, IIRC.

I'm still trying to figure out ways to work around this concept. However, there is another thing that I've been contemplating:

I'm considering changing the spellcasting abilities of dragons. I'm not sure if I want to dump them & replace them with spell-like abilities, have dragons possess both magic & psionics, make dragons divine spellcasters instead, or what. I think that figuring out the 1st issue (what theme to redesign the dragons with) will help out with this 2nd one.

 

[Nebt Bhakau]

Dragon Magazine # 248 included an article ("Return of the Missing Dragons" by Richard Alan Lloyd) which proposed new dragons to complete the 'color wheel' of evil chromatic dragons. These included: Yellow (lives in salty water and breathes cone of salt), Purple (lives in grasslands and low hills, breathes a mixture of flame and lightning), and my favorite, the Orange (lives in tropical rainforests and lakeshores, and breathes sodium).

 

[Cheesegreetings]

I've worked on and off on a world that has dragons in a similar situation, with too few left to maintain their separate species, interbreeding to create new ones.

I figured that they'd be most likely to interbreed with dragons of similar alignments, or with related dragon breeds. So for example the chromatic dragons would interbreed with each other, while the gemstone dragons would breed with other gemstones and the metallics would breed with metallics. I came up with names for hybrids of all the main chromatic, gemstone, and metallic dragons, but just names.

I'd also guess that dragons which require the fewest resources (because they're smaller) or which can survive on resources that are still relatively abundant, would last longer in larger numbers, and thus their blood would tend to be dominant in the new hybrid dragons.

On the other hand, dragons which have inherent planeshifting abilities (doesn't the Shadow Dragon?) might just bail and abandon the world, rather than interbreeding.

 

[Quickleaf]

[MENTION=871]AFGNCAAP[/MENTION]
I've always liked dragons to be very rare in the world, so there are only a handful or two of dragons of each type in existence, period. In my world, I had dragons put into a slumber for many centuries so that the land grew around them and kind of swallowed them up. As they awaken from their magically induced hibernation, they erupt from the earth and waters, causing changes in the landscape. Also, all my dragons are named and given unique individual abilities, so players are always surprised by what the dragon they're facing can do.

I don't think you need one unifying theme, like a color scheme or terrain or element to "classify" dragons, For example, the Dragon Age universe just has dragons. Sure they might be classified by age or power, but thats it. And it works.

Now, if you have a really interesting world or campaign hook that explains where dragons come from, what they seek to accomplish, or something else, that's another story.

 

[steeldragons]

This is really an interesting challenge you've taken on...as, particularly within D&D, I tend to think that all of the options have been...well, optioned by now.

If you are following the traditional D&D MM & dragon books' types, then your options would be to follow the established fields: Color, Metal, Gem, Element, Terrain, and Planar...then, weren't there something like "Catastrophic dragons" or something to like that? The "pyroclastic" dragon, or whatever it was, in Dragonlance and such like.

Chromatics: Red, Green, Blue, Black, White [given]. Yellow, Purple, Brown...I think Grey but dunno what their breath weapon was...and Orange, apparently have been done. Then there's the "Pink" which I've seen done with sticky marshmallow, bubbles, bubblegum and, in fact, pepto-bismul or straight bismuth (the effects of which on humanoids I do not know/recall).

So for colors...you're kind left with some repeats and/or making up your own hybrids: Purple (red & blue), Pink (red & white), Brown (red & green?) and Grey (black & white) you can make up your own variations of...and then Teal (blue & green), Olive (green & black), Maroon (red & black or red & brown?), et al...with whatever you want them to have...Puce? Taupe? Chartreuse? Go nuts.

Metallics are more difficult: Brass, Copper, Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum (given). Mercury, Iron, [eh-hem] Steel and a coupla others I know I'm forgetting...been done. Your only real option is to look at different metals, ores...maybe minerals?....and pick some.

Maybe between these, or between Metallics and Gems, they create a new line of "Alchemical" dragons. Of course, you'd have to brush up on your alchemy to figure out some cool combos/effects for the offspring to have...but might be a decent "theme" for a new line.

Then there's the Element=Terrain Eastern ones: Sea, Storm, Wood/Tree/Forest, Stone/Earth, Fire...was "Lake" separate from Sea? I think ti was...Volcano, is that one? If not you could make a Earth/Fire hybrid. The Sea & Storm dragons could produce a "Hurricane/Typhoon" dragon (that sounds nasty, actually). Of course, these have all been done [I think] as the "catastrophe dragons." But no reason you couldn't make them your own.

You could go straight "terrain" types...I'm sure some systems/3pp have these floating around...alter origins for your world, blues & brass create "Desert dragons"...green & black make "Swamp dragons", etc...

Gemstone, I think, might be the simplest as there are plenty (to my knowledge) gems, precious and semi-precious stones that haven't been covered. Sapphire, Ruby, Emerald, Diamond...straight Quartz/Crystal, Pearl, Amethyst...has Onyx been done? Garnet, Amber, Topaz, Jet, Obsidian, Catseye? Turquoise?...I think Jade is floating around somewhere? These don't really "combine." All you can do is pick some that haven't been done and make they're own.

Then there's the [relatively few, I think] Planar ones: "Faerie" (which I count as a separate plane), Shadow,...someone's come up with a "Light" dragon by now, right? Associated with the Positive Energy plane? Astral's been done, right? Not sure what else you could do with this..."Celestial/Higher planes", "Infernal/Hellish", "Demonic/Abyssal"? Again, not really something that lends itself to "melding together."

You could, I guess, maybe, perhaps, come up with "faye" style evil/hell/shadow dragons, call 'em "Imp dragons"?

There's the straight "energy/breath type" dragons...which kinda overlaps with Shadow or other planar bits, the Sonic breath weapon, the Positive/Negative energy breath weapon, your standard "energy" types [in quotes cuz acid, sand, poison and gases are not an energy type]. Come up with some of your own variations on those...

Maybe, as a result of their magical experimentation/desperation to continue their existence, you get dragons, of any color, sheen or markings, with things like green-beam "Disintegrate" breath...petrifying "Flesh to Stone" gas breath [and the reverse]...metallic/good dragons, maybe, in appeals to their deities, create types of breath weapons with clerical effects? "Bless" or "Heal" breath (in addition to some type of defensive/destructive types).

Way back when, my very first Choose Your Own Adventure book was the one with the "Rainbow Dragons"...who breathe rainbow colors, but I don't really recall what their powers were. It might have been kinda faye-ish, color spray, illusionary kinda thing...or it could have been (or you could make it) a Prismatic Spray effect...that'd be kinda sweet.

Picture a sky-blue dragon with frills and wings in shifting rainbow hues and an overly polite/solicitous gentile demeanor. Party comes across a multi-colored prissy-looking dragon, acting kinda goofy, inviting them to stay for tea, that kinda thing...Guess what, it doesn't like to be laughed at and breathes prismatic spray...nastay!

You could go straight for damage/physical type dragons...like if dragons mated with some drakes/linnorms to try to spread their draconic seeds as far as possible...so there's your Fanged, Clawed, "Spiked" [a porcupine-like spike-hurler?], "Horned"...how 'bout "Webbed" and "Winged" [make most of these guys non-flying and then have the Winged one that can fly? Death from above! AAAHHH!!!!] maybe with some minor terrain-based power/association.

I dunno...that's about all I have. Dragons in D&D have been sooo done. The idea of coming up with "new" ones just kinda seems like...spreading the paint a bit too thin, ya know? My best recommendation would be to take the dragons the players are going to know...and make them something else.

Visual changes through offspring/evolution normally takes a LOOONG time [granted with dragons/magic you can do it in a blink, but stay with me for a sec].

Have the Red dragon, whatever it mated with, still has what appears to be Red dragon offspring...but then, when the battle is joined and it opens its mouth, it's "breathing" a psionic blast...save for consciousness.

You've trekked through the arctic tundra to search out [what you believe is] the great-granddaddy of all White dragons (and his "Glacier Diamond" said to be the size of a giant's head). You find him relaxing peacefully in a steaming hot spring in a cavern filled with massive icicles and ice-covered stalactites. It casually notices you and...breathes fire?!...at the ceiling?!!! Structural damage [the dragon can easily dig and melt its way out whenever it wants] and saves from ev'rybody for the huge icy spikes and chunks of rock coming for your head.

I think this, not only, furthers your story but will comPLETEly throw off even the most experienced players. It won' be "Blue Dragon! Cleric/Druid makes us all immune to electricity while half the party pulls out their 'good against electricity [and/or blue dragons]' magic items."

It'll be "Dragon! [shake in boots] It's blue...but $#!t! [shake in boots] What's it gonna do/breathe?! TAKE COVER!!!"

Which is, really, all any of us [DMs] want from a dragon encounter in the first place, right?

 

[JellyfishGames]

Elemental dragons are always fun. Nothing like having a Balrog-like Lava Dragon to harry your adventurers.

In a unique twist, you could look at Dragons being shaped by powerful emotions coursing through the world at the time of their birth. Their nature would be defined by world events. You could have the Fury Dragon (Dragon of Fury?), Serene Dragon, etc.