Midgard Dragons
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Perhaps due to the fact it has shifted through several editions/spin-offs of Dungeons & Dragons, the setting of Midgard, written by Kobold Press, has long forsaken the traditional Chromatic Dragons and Metallic Dragons of D&D for its own eclectic mixture of dragons, which have been slowly fleshed out through the Tome of Beasts series (at least for Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition players).
Cave Dragon[edit]
Now, you might be thinking; how does a D&D dragon, a giant flying reptile with big ol' bat-like wings, adapt to a life permanently underground? In the Cave Dragon's case, the answer is "not very well". Definitely the creepiest looking of the Midgard Dragons, the Cave Dragon is a distorted, serpentine-looking thing whose eyes have been swallowed by its own skin due to how useless they are in the deep, whose body bristles with fleshy tendrils used to feel out its world, and whose wings have basically devolved into giant, fleshy-fingered hands far longer and stronger than its own relatively tiny forelimbs. Aside from leaving them blind and flightless, the other major influences of their subterranean lifestyle are a) cave dragons hoard food rather than gold, since food is hard to come by down there, and b) cave dragons rarely live to a ripe old age by dragon standards, since they grow too big to be effective hunters below, but they're pretty damn awful at hunting above ground.
As part of the original batch of Midgard Dragons, these are found in the Tome of Beasts 1.
Flame Dragon[edit]
Midgard's answer to Red Dragons, flame dragons are capricious creatures ruled by their passions and emotions - especially the dark, destructive ones! Proud, jealous, quick to anger and utterly merciless, they are also sadistic, hot-tempered, and a lot smarter than they look, especially those flame dragons who survive past their youth. Extremely goal-orientated, their hoards serve as personal trophy displays that allow them to better remember every triumph and victory they have ever enjoyed. Mess with it at your own peril.
As part of the original batch of Midgard Dragons, these are found in the Tome of Beasts 1.
Mithral Dragon[edit]
The closest thing in the Midgard setting to a Metallic Dragon, mithral dragons are brilliant silvery-colored dragons who are legendary for their dedication to making peace. They even attempted to bring about an end to the conflict between metallics and Chromatic Dragons in Midgard, and in the present try to convince the Dragon Empire to abandon its brutally expansionist ways. These natural inclinations to act as arbitrators (or referees, in the opinions of some dragons) are aided by the fact that as they age, mithral dragons become increasingly stupidly tough and all but indestructible.
As part of the original batch of Midgard Dragons, these are found in the Tome of Beasts 1.
Sea Dragon[edit]
Whilst their distinctive "shark-headed eel dragon" appearance would be notable enough, sea dragons are notable for a couple of other reasons. One; their god complex - sea dragons believe themselves to be the demigod offspring of the sea itself or various oceanic deities, and expect to be worshipped accordingly. In fairness, they often do serve as companions or steeds to sea gods. Two; they are actually very whimsical creatures, although their size and destructive capabilities means that a sea dragon's "games" can easily shatter hulls and drown sailors with blithe obliviousness. Three; they are, each and every one, self-proclaimed artists, and meticulously arrange their hoards and lairs to appeal to their own distinctive tastes - sunken ships spilling their valuable bounty from shattered hulls are a major component of every sea dragon's hoard, and they can immediately recognize if somebody has been messing with it.
As part of the original batch of Midgard Dragons, these are found in the Tome of Beasts 1.
Void Dragon[edit]
Touched by the maddening powers that lurk between the stars, void dragons look like draconic chunks of star-studded sky, travel as they see fit through outer space, and are each and every one of them utterly raving mad. They hoard knowledge (and also gems), and are master archivists of forbidden and forgotten lore. Their insanity is infectious, and even if you can kill the ancients of their kind, you risk being destroyed in turn by their Collapsing Star trait, which causes them to explode in a mile-wide blast of bludgeoning, cold and psychic damage (10d10 of each!) that can also hurl survivors either up to 500 miles away or onto other planes of reality.
As part of the original batch of Midgard Dragons, these are found in the Tome of Beasts 1.
Wind Dragon[edit]
Regarded as perhaps the most arrogant and narcissistic of all dragons, which is really saying something, wind dragons view "anywhere touched by air" as their property. Whilst their wyrmlings are officially the weakest of all newborn dragons, they grow into their power much quicker than other breeds, and when combined with their wanderlust and their might-makes-right mentality, they're trouble. Fortunately for the other peoples of the world, they are incredibly territorial even by dragon standards, and react to each other's presence with a ferocity even other dragons find alarming; this keeps their numbers the lowest of any draconic breed.
As part of the original batch of Midgard Dragons, these are found in the Tome of Beasts 1.
Light Dragon[edit]
Descended from dragons who spent eons wandering across the Ethereal Plane, Astral Plane, and "the godly Outer Planes", light dragons are only partially physical creatures now. They are obsessed with beauty and use their laundry list of powers to observe it in places that other mortals can't, such as within the void of space. They're typically found in years-long trance-like states as they bask in the beauty of celestial structures or planar conjunctions, but invariably they move on. They enter the material plane only to rear their young, and always choose remote, desolate places - typically deserts and the most inhospitable of rocky coastlines - to do so, as their presence creates unnatural areas of searing heat and light.
Unusually for dragons, light dragons are quite friendly towards each other, and regularly communicate with each other, mostly to share tales of the things they've seen and pass on warnings of dangers. When dealing with mortal creatures, they maintain a, quote, "benevolent but remote approach, wishing all creatures well, but preferring to only interact with others of their kind or creatures who exhibit and appreciate beauty."
There is one creature that light dragons hate, however, and that's void dragons: they fear the unpredictable insanity and dangerous knowledge that their fellow spacefaring dragons possess, and seek to destroy them where they can do so without endangering themselves.
Light dragons are found in the Creature Codex.
Wasteland Dragon[edit]
As their name suggests, wasteland dragons are found in areas that have been blasted into barren, mutant-haunted wastes by the powers of apocalyptic magic. Mutated from dragons that survived the apocalypse, they invariably have a deep loathing of spellcasters. Whilst they would be just another hazard of the spell-wastes, these dragons prefer to eat creatures from outside of their tainted homelands, and so often launch raids on settlements within a dragon's flight range of the wastes so they won't have to risk the potential poisons, infections, infestations and foul taste of mutant prey.
Wasteland dragons are found in the Creature Codex.
Boreal Dragon[edit]
Covered in a mixture of hard, blue-white scales and patches of silvery blue fur, boreal dragons buck the trend of "cold dragons live in cold places" by being fire-themed dragons that inhabit the arctic and alpine lands of Midgard; they breathe fire (well "clouds of super-heated air full of white-hot embers", at least), ancient boreals can engulf themselves in an aura of blue-white embers 1/day, and they favor lairs that contain natural heat sources in the form of geothermal activity - magma deposits, lava fissures, volcanic craters, even hot springs or the abandoned ruins of Fire Giant settlements.
Personality-wise, boreals are a lot like the World Axis version of the Cobalt Dragon; they're simple, straightforward brutes who respect strength and courage above all else, and refuse to fight weaklings or target the defenseless unless they're hunting. They often allow large arctic predators to share their lairs for this reason. Also, they hate other dragons with a burning passion and seek to drive off or kill them wherever they encounter them.
Boreals are detailed in the Tome of Beasts 2.
Imperial Dragon[edit]
Remember how Oriental Dragons were a thing in D&D? The Imperial Dragon basically boils the archetype down to its fundamental form: a serpentine dragon associated with the elements of water and wind, and looking like the archetypal Japanese/Chinese dragon. Imperial dragons are said to be "tied to the world of celestials, fiends and spirits", and can be found in many different colors; golden-yellow, azure, jade, vermillion, white and black. These colors do not get treated as unique subraces, which is odd for a D&D dragon.
Imperials are detailed in the Tome of Beasts 2.
The Dragons of Dungeons & Dragons | |
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Dragons | Albino Wyrm - Arcane Dragon - Aquatic Dragon - Brine Dragon - Catastrophic Dragon - Cerilian Dragon - Chromatic Dragon - Cloud Dragon - Cobra Dragon - Crimson Dragon - Deep Dragon - Dragonet - Epic Dragon - Faerie Dragon - Fang Dragon - Ferrous Dragon - Gem Dragon - Half-Dragon - Linnorm - Metallic Dragon - Minidragon - Mist Dragon - Moon Dragon - Obsidian Dragon - Oriental Dragon - Planar Dragon - Prismatic Dragon - Pseudodragon - Radiant Dragon - Red Hawk Dragon - Sand Dragon - Sea Wyrm - Shadow Dragon - Song Dragon - Stellar Dragon - Stone Dragon - Sun Dragon - Dragon Turtle |