Natural 7

Dragons

Dragons are really cool. They create a sense of fantastical wonder that I find hard to evoke with other creatures or places. I love introducing dragons in my roleplaying games, whether as friends or foes. In this post, we'll look at a few ways you might design your own dragons, and a few examples from my adventures.

Some things to think about:

What is a Dragon?

I took a mythology class a year ago at school, and my professor explained the concept of dragons as 'monsters made up of all the things people found scary way back when' (heavily paraphrased). Maybe I made some of that up, but it made a lot of sense to me that dragons, this crazy creature, were the combination of the most deadly, frightening, or majestic things that people wanted to talk about in their stories.

For example, you can tell that some early representations of dragons had body parts that might remind you of lions, bats, or snakes. Those are scary animals in the real world, so to make something even scarier in a story, you can combine all three into one being: call it a dragon.

Anyways, that all doesn't really matter so much now, but it's cool to contemplate how the idea of a dragon can be formed. In our fantasy stories, dragons come from all sorts of cultures and inspirations. I personally enjoy dragons with claws and wings and weird breath attacks. I also think dragons should be able to cast spells and shapeshift into people. Dragon's shouldn't be immortal, but they are exceptionally long-lived.

There are other ways to design your dragons though.

You might like dragons from Ursula K. Le Guin's Earthsea books. Those dragons are ancient, powerful, and it means a lot to be able to speak to one of them and live.

You might like Smaug from the Hobbit. He is a hoarding dragon that would do anything to protect his treasure and lair. Smaug doesn't really get out much, until he's ready to burn a city to the ground. Not a very nice guy.

You also might like the dragons from How to Train Your Dragon, they are mostly friendly and have complicated, but natural, lives. They come in lots of different shapes; more than you could catalogue. People ride the dragons and befriend them often. Dragons aren't much different than people, except they have tangible claws and sharp teeth and are sometimes really big.

What about dragons from D&D? Those are polychromatic and come in all different age groups and mindsets. They fall on an even split across the lines of law, neutrality, and chaos. They also have weird breath weapons and sometimes cast spells or shapeshift.

There's a dragon in Damsel too. She's old and weary and mourning. She's also profoundly lonely. There aren't many of her kind left nowadays. Do you like your dragons unique?

Some dragons talk and others don't. Some dragons fly and others swim or dig tunnels beneath the ground. Some are really big. Some have two heads. What do your dragons look like? How do they act around each other? How do they treat the little folk (mortals, humans, etc.)? How old are they? How powerful are they? What do people think of dragons?

If you want to center an adventure or story on a dragon, it's worth spending the time to answer a few of these kinds of questions to help bring your dragon to life.

Sardalis Icetongue

Adult White Dragon, in D&D terms.

Sardalis Icetongue claimed her lair deep within icy caverns of Coldstone Mountain. She wasn't the first dragon to use this place as a lair, and she likely won't be the last, but she's determined to keep it to herself until her frozen heart eventually melts. Her scales are silver and white, and in the spring they change colors to light blue and pink; not that anyone would notice, since she hardly ever flies below the snowy clouds around her lair. She has lived for just over two centuries, and plans to live for many more.

If the monks and nuns and prophets around Coldstone could describe Sardalis in a single word, they would all say the same thing: greedy. Sardalis only cares about her lair and its vast treasuries of gold. Some say that the caverns of her lair make up the entirety of the interior of Coldstone, and if anyone were to venture within they could return with enough handfuls of gold to never work again.

This is true. You could go into the caverns and you most certainly would find a pile of gold without too much trouble. The tricky bit is escaping the lair without Sardalis catching you. She works entirely alone, but one dragon is usually all you need when it comes to shepherds and cheeky adventurers. Especially when every coin in her lair is enchanted with an icy curse: touch one gold dubloon and your feet and hands will become encased with nigh-unbreakable ice. Stealing from Sardalis takes an enormous amount of caution, preparation, and gall.

Alternatively, one might seek an audience with the she-drake. Sardalis accepts (she's not the welcoming kind) visitors regularly into her icy halls to discuss routine trade opportunities. Supply Sardalis with an ample amount of gold and she'll let you borrow a magical trinket or two (better make sure you return it, or she'll put a permanent freeze on your bloodline). Trade her a flock of sheep and she might pay you a handful of gold coins. In recent years, Sardalis has learned that pampering is worth the money.

Kerubazia

Adult Red Dragon, in D&D terms.

Kerubazia lost her lair when she was a young dragon and has never given up the grudge she bears for it. Rather than hunt for a new lair, she instead used her polymorphic abilities to join human society as a bandit captain, first stealing gold and treasure from dragon hunters, then seeking and assassinating each member of the original adventurer crew that invaded her lair. Even after reclaiming every individual gold piece and art piece that she originally held (and much more), Kerubazia's hunger for revenge has yet to be sated. She also kind of enjoys playing "human" in social circles.

As a dragon, Kerubazia has gold and red scales and a crest of nettle-like spikes around her throat. Her wings are torn and useless, a side-effect of being attacked during her youth. After so much time among mortals though, Kerubazia spends most of her time as a mature elven woman with gleaming red eyes and a fiery attitude. She is ingrained into the criminal underworld, managing illegal good production and shipping, as well as political assassinations and facades. You would never see her leading a projet though. Kerubazia prefers to stick herself right next to the person in charge: secretary to the head executor of a bank, the advisor to this city's governor, the companion of a renowned magician. No one ever looks twice.

Except, maybe, speculative adventurers who find the patterns in her activities, and get a draconic sense from her jewelry, speech, and taste. You also might be clued in to her newfound obsession: locating and wielding the Crown of the Celedrax. Wearing the crown would anoint her as the Celedrax, or Queen of Dragons, Empress of the Sky, The Chosen Comet. Not a bad title. Perhaps adventurers could be useful in finding the crown for her, then she can show the world that she is truly the greatest dragon of all time.

Final Thoughts

We looked at some ideas to help you identify your favorite dragons, as well as how to make your dragons stand out in your world. Then I gave a couple examples of dragons that I have incorporated into my own game worlds.

Dragons are great villains, allies, rivals, opportunities for treasure, opportunities for political intrigue, and schemers. How will you use a dragon in your next game?

Things on my radar: