What makes different coloured dragons so variable? And if so, where in the real world would they most likely to live?

What makes different coloured dragons so variable? And if so, where in the real world would they most likely to live?

Also brass is best.

>pf dragons
How disgusting.

>white
>not a reatrded, 6 INT look

One job.

PF does - because there are a set in every Bestiary - better than WotC ever has.

Players fear dragons in PF if they're smart.

>Veeky Forums thread
>first three comments are cucks refusing to discuss the actual topic
How surprising.

Anyway, they vary for the same reason birds vary. They're not that closely related, instead being different branches of an evolutionary tree that adapted to distinct ecological niches.

If we try to translate them to the real world without too much thinking about how plausible their biology is, we at least know they'd need to eat a bunch, have a slow metabolism like snakes do, or probably some combination of both. So they'd find easily defensible location in a food-rich environment. Swamps are great for the green and black dragons, since they can handle heavily acidic bogwater like few other species can and there's plenty of biomass. Mountains are also good home bases if they're near foothills and plains, easy to defend and hide. White dragons are probably apex predators preying on shit like polar bears and leopard seals.

there is a pathfinder or 3.5 book that covers dragons exclusively and it is really good fluff.

also dinosaurs had feathers

I wish the dragons in later bestiaries got more than one sentence of flavor text apiece. I want to know more about space dragons!

>And if so, where in the real world would they most likely to live?
I don't know the metallics that well, but:
White - near the poles. Just one more reason to avoid Canada and Russia.
Black - swamps, especially in Florida. Their chaotic evil is the cause of Florida Man.
Green - dense forests and jungles. Stay in your houses, people.
Blue - Arabian niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiights~
Red - another reason to avoid mountain climbing.

Which color is the one that loves corny jokes? Was it copper or brass?

copper

those are best

Silver Dragons live very close to human settlements.

Wouldn't it be cool if they did a dragon and gave it all those heads? Like a Queen of dragons or something

Aren't there two Dragon Gods, one with all of the Chromatic Heads, and one with all the Metallic Heads?

That was user's joke, for the chromatic ones. Metallics usually just get a platinum dragon with one head as their deity.

>What makes different coloured dragons so variable? And if so, where in the real world would they most likely to live?

Well to answer part of the second question let's look at the Brass Dragons

>Brass dragons were the weakest of the metallic dragons, and also one of the most benign of all species of dragon. They loved to talk, to the exclusion of most else. They loved to engage friends and foes alike in hours of long-winded conversation. It was not unusual for a brass dragon to be fluent in several hundred different languages, although they obviously preferred to converse in Draconic whenever possible.

Utah, hands down. Brass dragons are the Mormons/Flanders of Dragonkind. Nice to the point of being awkward, visiting potlucks and neighborhood BBQs, fluent in a multitude of different languages for no reason. Also Brass Dragons like arid regions like Blue Dragons so I could see them settling in Moab or Zion.

And maybe Blue Dragons would live in the area as well, its just funny to imagine them being annoyed constantly by mormons/brass dragons.

Was it the Draconomicon?

>Florida man arrested for sexually assaulting a dragon

>Florida man found to have kept a dragon locked up in his basement for repeated sexual assault

>Brass Dragons are the one character in every sitcom of the one annoying neigbour friend who just opens the door and walks in and is always up to chill and will just ramble about inane bullshit

The stone door explodes and in bursts a Brass Dragon as the door slowly pulls itself together having been enchanted for just this reason
>"Jerryanzro, you will never guess what Mayor Newmanstraz is up to!"
The Group of Blue Dragons glance up from the Scrying Box where Jerry's Orcish Monster Pit Team is losing to a team of Half-Giants
>"NEWMANSTRAZ! I knew he was up to something always schemeing in the Humanoid Town of his, thinking he's better than us! What's he up to this time?
Kramerzbranzen jolts his eyebrows up and looks on the verge of hysteria
>"He's gathering Adventurers, Jerry, to come and raid our Lairs-"
Jerryanzro cuts him off with a laugh
>"Adventurers are no problem, we've dealt with adventurers before, why Elainestraza ate and Adventurer last week-"
>"I did indeed and he was tasty, my Mother always tells me about eating adventurers though she says they make me fat, just like my Father, she says, of course he always yells from the other room that it's her cooking that made him fat."
>"There, you see Adventurers are fine, let him send as many as he wants!"
Kramerbranzen looks horrified and trembles with barely contained rage and a number of other unclear emotions his eyebrows detatching from his face to float around in a swirl above his head
>"Jerry you don't understand, the Adventurers arent just your run of the mill, everyday, joe-shmoes from down the valley. Jerry, the adventurers Newmanstraz recruited are all NIGGERS!!!"
Jerry looks shocked before raising his fists to cure the heavens through the roof of his cave lair howling with draconic rage
>"NEWMANNNSTRAZZZZ!!!!!!"

>Florida man attacks town guards while masturbating, high on dragon dust

Last time i played pf i one shotted an old white Dragon

Half of those dragons look like shit

Brass looks like its inbred

Not going /radred/
It's like you faggots hate fun

Yeah they just want to watch the world burn, when they aren't sleeping.

>Metallics and Chromatics getting along

Anyone else not like the colour coding for dragons?

I'd rather run dragons as NPCs with personalities than combat monsters that get encountered so frequently that they need to be categorised, so I'd ignore the suggested alignment, appearance and elemental attack combination that the various dragon colours represent. Let the players/PCs figure out whether the dragon is friendly or not by talking to it.

>blue dragons are oily and sleek
gross
chunky jagged rhino blues were one of the few good things about 3e

>not wanting to fuck pathfinder blue dragons

>being a furry and/or grill

Brass Dragons: The Outback mate. They're well suited to the harsh conditions of Australia's interior.

Bronze: The Mediterranean.

Copper: Central America

Gold: China and Japan

Silver: Western Europe.

>Full BAB
>Largest HD shy of Immortal's Handbook.
>Decent skills per HD.
>SLA's and Supernatural powers.
>Natural Attack suite reaches Bite/Claw/Claw/Wing/Wing/Tail plus any others granted by feats or spells.
>Speaking of spells, Sorcerer Casting for free just by growing older.
>Horde presumed, plenty of magical gear and equipment to add to their resources in addition to copious gold and jewels.

If your DM didn't make you fear dragons it's because they didn't take the time to make use of all of their features and defenses, or took it easy on you. Any dragon whose CR was halfway decent compared to the party's level could make an absolute menace of themselves without too much trouble, and a terror if optimized at all.

Then there's all the variants in Dragon Magic, Draconomicon and various other sources like Incarnum Dragons or the setting-specific dragons from Faerun or Krynn and the psionic gem dragons in MM2 which got psion levels instead of sorc.

God help you if they took Class Levels too.

Honestly.

And if it's /ss/, the dragon is the perfect size.

They branch off from the various multi-headed draconic progenitors, or otherwise were diluted half-dragons in their own right of the primal draconic deity and the different colors denote the difference of their non-dragon parent, either an elemental or other natural spirit.

Maybe all dragons can be born multi-colored and it stabilizes early on to grow into a singular color based on their temperment (metalic/chromatic based on what sort of hormones come up due to rearing and childhood) and magical inclinations (elemental alignments).

>so I'd ignore the suggested alignment, appearance and elemental attack combination that the various dragon colours represent
You'd get rid of every mechanic for dragons?

Amethyst Dragon: Inner Planes, Underground. They thrive in places with great caverns and dead volcanic systems. Good plot hook to have a major tunneling system for a transit project or mining/drilling/oil project awakening a slumbering one.

Crystal Dragons: Temperate and Cold mountains. Put those things along the Rockies and Apalacia, maybe eastern Europe having their own variations, and a small clan that roams the Chilean borders.

Emerald Dragons: Active volcanic regions. These ones are a rare spot, but can be found along the Pacific Ring of Fire.

Sapphire Dragons: Underground again, these are probably hidden deep in the mantle, but have probably organized themselves to hunt down any abberation type dealies that show up and so work with the Order of the Cerulean Sign to coordinate efforts with the mortal order driving surface delves away from known problem/danger zones and the Sapphire dragons preventing the bigger abberations from breaching to the surface on their own.

Topaz Dragons: Rarest seen, but actually the most plentiful. They're aquatic by nature and tend to the oceans, visiting isles and coasts regularly on their paths; they swim by nature and habit rather than for fun though, and enjoy shore-leave more than their trips through the depths for food and foraging.

Obsidian Dragons were mostly hunted to extinction both by mortals and other dragons for being shit-disturbing jackasses to everyone. The few that remain might be found in warm, mountainous regions near the equator, but do so in secrecy as much as possible.

Eh, I don't mind it that much. In my setting, dragons are barely ever seen or focused on due to their native lands, but I do have them divided by colors but that's also part of the mythology of them. Essentially crib on the 4E version of events where the ur-dragon Io was split in twain back in the dawning days of the world, divided into the five-headed Tiamat and the five-headed Bahamut.

Each of the five heads of Tiamat correspond to the Five Draconic Vices of Ignorance, Greed, Envy, Wrath, and Pride which each of these lineages embody, while the five heads of Bahamut correspond to the Five Draconic Virtues of Righteousness, Forbearance, Loyalty, Honor, and Benevolence.

With that said, the chromatics and the vices that they represent are not seen as inherently evil or in need of destruction by the people that live in that region but rather as burdens to be accepted and overcome. Which has led to a semi-feudal Japan culture with the Five Draconic Virtues lifted from the ideals of Bushido and chivalry while the vices form the core of a Buddhist-like tradition that seeks to banish the five heads of Tiamat within one's soul.

Dragonborn are more akin to their 3.5 versions where it is the result of a human undergoing a mystic ritual typically only performed by wealthy scholar-warriors in the case of metallics or heinous bandit lords in the case of chromatics.

Basically because I wanted a legitimate Dragon Emperor and draconian ronin. So what?

Interesting topic, shame to see it slip.

But what about Volcano dragons? Where do they live?

In shallow coastal waters! Think before you post!

gold in dnd were considered the good guys
such as fizbans familiar "pyrite" in dragonlance

red were basically really really bad news..

in the game a large or ancient one of these was a sure fire pc killer (i know that from experience !)

great elmore pic on this box btw

I'd like to hear more on how each of the colours/metals aligns with a vice/virtue. Seems like a neat way to run Dragons as symbolic forces of nature.

Well, in that region, it is generally considered that every person has each of the ten heads guiding them either to enlightenment or to self-deceit. Bahamut shelters the scaleless with his own flesh, and his tenets of sacrifice and duty offer lessons particularly for the scholar-warrior caste but also the common man. The five heads of Bahamut and the associated colors and virtues are as follows:

>Brass - Righteousness
The power of deciding upon a certain course of conduct in accordance with reason, without wavering; to die when it is right to die, to strike when it is right to strike.
>Bronze - Forbearance
Calmness of behavior, composure of mind, one should not be disturbed by passion of any kind.
>Copper - Loyalty
Homage and fealty to a superior, as life is the means whereby to serve your master faithfully.
>Gold - Honor
Nobility of soul, magnanimity, and a scorn of cruelty.
>Silver - Benevolence
To rule over the nations and impose the ways of peace, to spare the subdued, and pull down the proud.

The society's elite are expected to balance these virtues, though individuals that show a greater devotion to any one virtue are common enough which is something one should overcome. It's not necessarily a pointed insult to say that a man has a soul of silver, but it would serve as a slight barb as it indicates that their benevolence might overpower their sense of righteousness or sway their loyalty to a superior.

Meanwhile, the Tiamat is seen as more of a pitiable character than simply a being of pure evil. Rather, where Bahamut is guided by his enlightened thinking and enlightened action, Tiamat is weighed down by her desires and attachments. Where Bahamut was willing to sacrifice his own flesh to protect the scaleless, Tiamat sits atop her horde of material possessions, her body encrusted with gleaming gems. Each of her heads represents an unwellness of the mind as follows:

>Black - Ignorance
More akin to the avidya in Buddhism than simple stupidity, this is an ignorance to the nature of the world and reality, preferring to live in delusion and ignorance rather than opening one's mind and one's eyes.
>Blue - Greed
Attachment to material objects as well as individuals. All things are passing and impermanent, and to hold fast to wealth, to another person, or to one's own life is to refuse the impermanence of all things.
>Green - Envy
Envy here is tinged with doubt, as it represents one's desire for the life or possessions of another and your unwillingness to change yourself in order to achieve what you are capable of. You should be satisfied with your life for all that must change in order to achieve your goals is you.
>Red - Wrath
Hostile attitude towards sentient beings, towards frustration, and towards that which gives rise to one's frustrations; it functions as a basis for faultfinding, for negative actions, and for not finding a moment of peace or happiness.
>White - Pride
Pride comes from an inflated ego which places too much bearing in some strength -- wealth, learning, physical strength. This assumption of inherent superiority creates the basis for disrespecting others.

Much as Tiamat is used as an example of how one suffers if one does not follow the austerity of the Draconic Virtues, she and her brood are nonetheless exalted by those who refuse to bind themselves to the lessons of self-control and self-sacrifice. Unlike the devotion given all five heads of Bahamut, the devotees of Tiamat more commonly err to one of the Draconic Vices, fueled ever further by dark gifts that many receive to entice them further off of the path to enlightenment.

At any time, Tiamat likely has more Dragonborn in the world that Bahamut, but hers are generally much less powerful due to the very thing which drew them to her in the first place.

>implying anyone got along with Kramer

pyrite is Iron

How so? or are you saying that what they were called later? because iron's elemental name is ferrite.

>pyrite
The entire point in that is that Fizban is the foolish wizard avatar of the major god of good who goes about as an addle-brained wizard without any sense. And his gold dragon friend is named after Fool's Gold.

Rump bump.

Pyroclastic Dragons are planar dragons, usually hanging out in the Plane of Fire. It would be kinda like having a Balrog type critter on the surface of the world otherwise; giant sentient manifestation of volcanic destruction doesn't get to stick around unless it already killed everything in sight and range.


Could make a hook of it being that one was the cause of Pompei or some other similar volcanic disasterscape and only wakes up or shuffles in brief stints of restlessness before going back to dormancy, but I wouldn't advise having them be at all prevalent.

All metallic dragons were good in dragonlance, and Fizban was platinum in dragon form.

...

>Black - Ignorance
Bix nood muh fugga