Editing Periodic Table of Dragons/Rules and World Description (section)

==Dragon General==
There are 3 types of dragon, Metallics which look metallic but aren't necessarily metal, Crystal which cover the non-metallic solids, and Fluid, which cover the gasses. Radiants are any radioactive element and are a subtype of any of the above. Nobles are a subtype of Fluid, though many uneducated people use the terms interchangeably.

*Fluid dragons live in cold climates exclusively, they cannot survive in non-arctic regions.
*Metallic dragons live in all non-polar regions, barring those that cannot tolerate water or sunlight.
*Crystalline dragons have the broadest range of habitation, ranging everywhere the Metallics do, and somewhat into the polar climates.
*Radiant dragons are dangerous beasts, deadly to be around and exceptionally powerful by and large. The more radioactive the element, and the shorter the half-life, generally the more mentally unstable and shorter-lived the dragon is. Francium is the most extreme case.
*Elements more massive than Plutonium are exceptionally rare, and are essentially mythological. If one did appear, it would be part of the setting, like describing a Primarch, not something that people would homebrew their very own Nobelium dragon to play with.
*Runic dragons exist, taking great pains to etch spells into their scales, and are exceptionally powerful, though it takes them a thousand years or more to achieve this. They are not innately magic beyond what allows their Elemental bodies to exist, and in this regard they are different from D&D dragons, for whom magic runs in their blood. 
**A scale's lifespan depends on the breed and age of the dragon, but a spelled scale will last 3 times the duration of a normal one
*Elemental dragons have to EARN their wizard skills, and have to learn them from the younger races, since draconic wizards are loathe to let other dragons "skip the work" so to speak. 

===Runic Dragons===

Dragons can do magic the "normal" way, but it's embarrassing and inconvenient to be a dragon caster that needs a spellbook.
*Dragons with exceptionally hard scales have a hard time carving spellrunes into their scales. Thus, wizardry is less common among their species. (Run like hell from a Diamond with spells.)
*It's difficult for a dragon to carve a spell into his own scales, so paying someone to do it (a common service in the scale trade) for you is the norm.
*Naturally, dragons shed their scales. Rune-carved scales are eventually shed, but they take 3 times longer. A dragon has to replace the lost rune when such a scale is shed before they can use that spell again.
*Runic dragons usually don't help other dragons become Runics. They don't share the knowledge of their runes, nor do they lightly offer to carve a rune for another dragon. The philosophy is "Earn it to learn it".
*Scales taken from a Runic while alive or shortly after death do not require mana to power, making them incredibly valuable for crafting shields and armor.

===Alloys and Breeding===
*Alloys can be produced through breeding
**Alloys will not breed true, instead producing one of the elements present in the mating, use Mendelian genetics square
*A dragon can eat another dragon or dragon's scales to gain an alloy's properties, but this is temporary
**More mass consumed = longer duration
**A dragon can eat a born-Alloy or a Pure and gain its properties, but can only 'hold' three elements including their own. Ex: Iron eats Chromium and Carbon, they become stainless steel, but eating another dragon will cause the oldest of the previous elements to "drop".
***Some Alloys cannot be done (Au+any Hg-containing alloy for example) and result in either weakening or death. 
***Elements that do not react will not form an alloy.
**Eating the scales or body of a dragon that ate another dragon will only confer the original element, not the element of the dragon they ate.

*Combinations of Metallic and Fluid dragons never end well, because the two species are incompatible. The Metallic dragons burn the Fluid dragons, and the Fluid dragons cool and shatter the Metallics. This is to prevent having to describe the insanely huge range of chemical compounds that might result, and keep the narrative focused on the Elemental Dragons, not their hybrids.

*Fluids cannot eat each other to make compounds because their blood evaporates once outside their bodies, leaving no element for the other dragon to absorb. Also, few Fluids possess teeth strong enough to penetrate flesh.
*Fluids can crossbreed, but the hybrids are universally sterile.