You know, as silly as the Mercury Dragon is, I could see it in Spelljammer or even Eberron settings. Worth noting that, per the DMG, Star-Wars style lasers do force damage now, if I remember right.
This is an untapped area for homebrew. If I were to make a world I'd mess with the dragons so that the players that have read everything in the monster manual wouldn't know automatically what they were dealing with. There are boatloads of colors that could be used and there are plenty of metals they haven't used yet either. How about a tungsten dragon?
If I were to have mercury, I'd make it a wyvern, a slippery looking giant beast. For the "counterpart" to a Black Dragon, I'd have a Hematite dragon. What other metals … Gold, Platinum, Silver, Pewter, Copper, Bronze, Brass, Tin (well maybe not tin), Zinc (well maybe not zinc either), Steel, Iron, Tungsten, Titanium, Aluminum, Nickel, maybe even Lead … Lots of new metals and colors to homebrew I think.
BTW, I was thinking of making my own species of trees to give my druids more flavor and to mess with the players that think they know a lot.
Have fun … !!!
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Cum catapultae proscriptae erunt tum soli proscript catapultas habebunt
Poison Damage was introduced in 5e (unless it was introduced in 4e, I didn't really get to play that edition). That's why there is currently no Poison Metallic Dragon. Originally Green Dragons did Acid Damage. It should also be noted that not all Dragons in DnD have had something put out for them yet. Purple Dragons don't have any statistics yet despite being in the name of "Purple Dragon Knight", not a single Gem Dragon has been mentioned, nor Chromium Dragons.
There are metallic dragons for each chromatic dragon, following that elemental type, with the notable exception of Poison, for the green dragon. Is there an in lore reason for this? Or is it just a weird coincidence?
I though Brass was the odd one out because there are only 3 fire breathing dragons
Poison Damage was introduced in 5e (unless it was introduced in 4e, I didn't really get to play that edition). That's why there is currently no Poison Metallic Dragon.
Gold is the metallic 'counterpart' of Green dragons.
Green dragons had poison breath in 1e, 2e, 4e & 5e (I have no idea why they called it "acid" in 3e).
Because in 3rd Edition, poison didn't deal hitpoint damage, it dealt ability score damage. Changing the green dragon's breath weapon to acid kept it on par with the other chromatic types.
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Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
The other thing to remember about dragons is that initially they didn't have five metallic and five chromatic dragons. They had, IIRC, reds, golds, silvers, greens, and whites. There was no attempt to have them stuck into elemental themes- at one point I believe that all dragons had a fire breathe weapon regardless of type.
Also, the Steel Dragon is a (usually) good-aligned dragon that had a poisonous breath weapon, if memory serves.
The knights' name came from Thauglor, an ancient black dragon who once dominated the area encompassed by the present kingdom. As Thauglor matured, his scales faded from ebony to violet .
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"Where words fail, swords prevail. Where blood is spilled, my cup is filled" -Cartaphilus
"I have found the answer to the meaning of life. You ask me what the answer is? You already know what the answer to life is. You fear it more than the strike of a viper, the ravages of disease, the ire of a lover. The answer is always death. But death is a gentle mistress with a sweet embrace, and you owe her a debt of restitution. Life is not a gift, it is a loan."
Poison Damage was introduced in 5e (unless it was introduced in 4e, I didn't really get to play that edition). That's why there is currently no Poison Metallic Dragon.
Gold is the metallic 'counterpart' of Green dragons.
Green dragons had poison breath in 1e, 2e, 4e & 5e (I have no idea why they called it "acid" in 3e).
Because in 3rd Edition, poison didn't deal hitpoint damage, it dealt ability score damage. Changing the green dragon's breath weapon to acid kept it on par with the other chromatic types.
Wait I thought red and gold were the counterparts being the most powerful, complete opposite alignments, and the same breath weapon
There's probably a setting where there is a link between a Metallic Dragon type with a related Chromatic Dragon type that's based on an oxidized color of the equivalent metal. (The setting will have to have specific metals with specific oxidized toning for each so there's no mistaking which Dragon is the counterpart to which other Dragon as oxidation can sometimes result in different tones for the same metal. Like Copper with Red and Iron with Black.)
If there isn't a setting like that, there should be.
Maybe as the Chromatic Dragons age, they could change color in the same way that higher levels of oxidation of specific metals can result in different colors. It would be confusing and require some Lore checks to know what Chromatic Dragon at what age is what color.
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Human. Male. Possibly. Don't be a divider. My characters' backgrounds are written like instruction manuals rather than stories. My opinion and preferences don't mean you're wrong. I am 99.7603% convinced that the digital dice are messing with me. I roll high when nobody's looking and low when anyone else can see.🎲 “It's a bit early to be thinking about an epitaph. No?” will be my epitaph.
Older editions had Rust Dragons, but they were Lawful Neutral/Lawful Evil and native to Acheron. They weren't considered chromatic or metallic dragons, they were an unaligned type.
Wait I thought red and gold were the counterparts being the most powerful, complete opposite alignments, and the same breath weapon
Each dragon has a Strength (CR) counterpart, but it is different from their Breath-weapon counterpart. Example: Silver dragons are the 2nd most powerful metallic, but White dragons (the cold breath weapon counterpart) are the weakest chromatic.
From strongest to weakest:
Gold/Red (CR 24/17/10)
Silver/Blue (CR 23/16/9)
Green/Bronze (CR 22/15/8)
Copper/Black Dragon (CR 21/14/7)
Brass/White (CR 20/13/6)
And although metallic dragons have two breath weapons, in AD&D one of them lined-up with a chromatic counterpart:
Purple Dragons, AKA Deep Dragons breath Psychic, like many Underdark flavored opponents, with a side effect of dazing or domination. I think there was an older version that did a hybrid beam of plasma, fire/lightning, but I'm bringing this information second hand. There's also a Yellow and Orange Dragon.
Saying Mercury or Lead Dragons should do poison breath is just as reductive as saying Gold should do lightning, because silver and gold conduct electricity better. Drawing a direct correlation between the color and naming of a dragon and their physiology is Pokémon, not quality fantasy lore. Does Black breath dark damage? Or how about necrotic?
There's apparently an Adamantine Dragon, Steel and Iron, Fang Dragon which transformed into Gray Dragon, and the Shadow Dragons, which used to be interchanged with Deep Dragons, but are now an affliction like a Dracolich or Zombie Dragon.
The D&D lore is all over the place with Dragons.
I'm more disappointed with the exclusion of different anatomies of "True Dragon" in D&D rather than Chromatic and Metallic Symmetry. They banished Lóngs to the Celestial Bureaucracy, and artificially designated just about every other inspiration to Lesser Dragons... adding Wings to the Gold Dragon was a travesty. They can retire the run away list of typified European Dragon, and bring back Mist Dragon, or some Lindorm. The classic Leviathan was a fire breathing sea serpent.
If they desire a Metallic poison dragon they should just bring back Steel, no reason to reinvent another wheel. At least Steel dragons have some unique anatomy with their wings of blade like feathers. Steel and Gray are pretty sick, Adamantine needs a remake...
Purple Dragons, AKA Deep Dragons breath Psychic, like many Underdark flavored opponents, with a side effect of dazing or domination. I think there was an older version that did a hybrid beam of plasma, fire/lightning, but I'm bringing this information second hand.
Correct. That was the description of purple dragons in 2nd Edition, where they were said to be the result of hybridization between red and blue dragons.
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Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
I almost wish that the chromatics where the rusted/unsmelted color of the equivalent metallic with in inverted CR (high chromatic has low metallic equivalent and vise versa). That would result with a strong Red Dragon and a weak iron dragon and, just for the sake of having a color - not really accurate, a weak yellow dragon and a strong Gold Dragon.
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Human. Male. Possibly. Don't be a divider. My characters' backgrounds are written like instruction manuals rather than stories. My opinion and preferences don't mean you're wrong. I am 99.7603% convinced that the digital dice are messing with me. I roll high when nobody's looking and low when anyone else can see.🎲 “It's a bit early to be thinking about an epitaph. No?” will be my epitaph.
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You know, as silly as the Mercury Dragon is, I could see it in Spelljammer or even Eberron settings. Worth noting that, per the DMG, Star-Wars style lasers do force damage now, if I remember right.
Wizard (Gandalf) of the Tolkien Club
Laser Pistols and Rifles do Radiant Damage. If Mercury Dragons pop-up, I'll expect them to do Radiant Damage as well.
Antimatter Rifles do necrotic, as well.
I have a spelljammer campaign, and they are about to encounter a Void Dragon, from Tome of Beasts.
Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
Spells, Monsters, Subclasses, Races, Arcknight Class, Occultist Class, World, Enigmatic Esoterica forms
This is an untapped area for homebrew. If I were to make a world I'd mess with the dragons so that the players that have read everything in the monster manual wouldn't know automatically what they were dealing with. There are boatloads of colors that could be used and there are plenty of metals they haven't used yet either. How about a tungsten dragon?
If I were to have mercury, I'd make it a wyvern, a slippery looking giant beast. For the "counterpart" to a Black Dragon, I'd have a Hematite dragon. What other metals … Gold, Platinum, Silver, Pewter, Copper, Bronze, Brass, Tin (well maybe not tin), Zinc (well maybe not zinc either), Steel, Iron, Tungsten, Titanium, Aluminum, Nickel, maybe even Lead … Lots of new metals and colors to homebrew I think.
BTW, I was thinking of making my own species of trees to give my druids more flavor and to mess with the players that think they know a lot.
Have fun … !!!
Cum catapultae proscriptae erunt tum soli proscript catapultas habebunt
Sapphire Dragon came out a month or 2 ago
A Lead Dragon with poison would be epic.
Or Electrum Dragons, every coin has a dragon except electrum, platinum being Bahamut.
I though Brass was the odd one out because there are only 3 fire breathing dragons
Because in 3rd Edition, poison didn't deal hitpoint damage, it dealt ability score damage. Changing the green dragon's breath weapon to acid kept it on par with the other chromatic types.
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
The other thing to remember about dragons is that initially they didn't have five metallic and five chromatic dragons. They had, IIRC, reds, golds, silvers, greens, and whites. There was no attempt to have them stuck into elemental themes- at one point I believe that all dragons had a fire breathe weapon regardless of type.
Also, the Steel Dragon is a (usually) good-aligned dragon that had a poisonous breath weapon, if memory serves.
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
Point of clarity for purple dragons.
The knights' name came from Thauglor, an ancient black dragon who once dominated the area encompassed by the present kingdom. As Thauglor matured, his scales faded from ebony to violet .
"Where words fail, swords prevail. Where blood is spilled, my cup is filled" -Cartaphilus
"I have found the answer to the meaning of life. You ask me what the answer is? You already know what the answer to life is. You fear it more than the strike of a viper, the ravages of disease, the ire of a lover. The answer is always death. But death is a gentle mistress with a sweet embrace, and you owe her a debt of restitution. Life is not a gift, it is a loan."
Wait I thought red and gold were the counterparts being the most powerful, complete opposite alignments, and the same breath weapon
They were. That's why they match not just breath weapons, but size and strength as well.
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
There's probably a setting where there is a link between a Metallic Dragon type with a related Chromatic Dragon type that's based on an oxidized color of the equivalent metal. (The setting will have to have specific metals with specific oxidized toning for each so there's no mistaking which Dragon is the counterpart to which other Dragon as oxidation can sometimes result in different tones for the same metal. Like Copper with Red and Iron with Black.)
If there isn't a setting like that, there should be.
Maybe as the Chromatic Dragons age, they could change color in the same way that higher levels of oxidation of specific metals can result in different colors. It would be confusing and require some Lore checks to know what Chromatic Dragon at what age is what color.
Human. Male. Possibly. Don't be a divider.
My characters' backgrounds are written like instruction manuals rather than stories. My opinion and preferences don't mean you're wrong.
I am 99.7603% convinced that the digital dice are messing with me. I roll high when nobody's looking and low when anyone else can see.🎲
“It's a bit early to be thinking about an epitaph. No?” will be my epitaph.
Older editions had Rust Dragons, but they were Lawful Neutral/Lawful Evil and native to Acheron. They weren't considered chromatic or metallic dragons, they were an unaligned type.
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
Each dragon has a Strength (CR) counterpart, but it is different from their Breath-weapon counterpart. Example: Silver dragons are the 2nd most powerful metallic, but White dragons (the cold breath weapon counterpart) are the weakest chromatic.
From strongest to weakest:
And although metallic dragons have two breath weapons, in AD&D one of them lined-up with a chromatic counterpart:
Purple Dragons, AKA Deep Dragons breath Psychic, like many Underdark flavored opponents, with a side effect of dazing or domination. I think there was an older version that did a hybrid beam of plasma, fire/lightning, but I'm bringing this information second hand. There's also a Yellow and Orange Dragon.
Saying Mercury or Lead Dragons should do poison breath is just as reductive as saying Gold should do lightning, because silver and gold conduct electricity better. Drawing a direct correlation between the color and naming of a dragon and their physiology is Pokémon, not quality fantasy lore. Does Black breath dark damage? Or how about necrotic?
There's apparently an Adamantine Dragon, Steel and Iron, Fang Dragon which transformed into Gray Dragon, and the Shadow Dragons, which used to be interchanged with Deep Dragons, but are now an affliction like a Dracolich or Zombie Dragon.
The D&D lore is all over the place with Dragons.
I'm more disappointed with the exclusion of different anatomies of "True Dragon" in D&D rather than Chromatic and Metallic Symmetry. They banished Lóngs to the Celestial Bureaucracy, and artificially designated just about every other inspiration to Lesser Dragons... adding Wings to the Gold Dragon was a travesty. They can retire the run away list of typified European Dragon, and bring back Mist Dragon, or some Lindorm. The classic Leviathan was a fire breathing sea serpent.
If they desire a Metallic poison dragon they should just bring back Steel, no reason to reinvent another wheel. At least Steel dragons have some unique anatomy with their wings of blade like feathers. Steel and Gray are pretty sick, Adamantine needs a remake...
Correct. That was the description of purple dragons in 2nd Edition, where they were said to be the result of hybridization between red and blue dragons.
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
They both like to party hard.
I almost wish that the chromatics where the rusted/unsmelted color of the equivalent metallic with in inverted CR (high chromatic has low metallic equivalent and vise versa). That would result with a strong Red Dragon and a weak iron dragon and, just for the sake of having a color - not really accurate, a weak yellow dragon and a strong Gold Dragon.
Human. Male. Possibly. Don't be a divider.
My characters' backgrounds are written like instruction manuals rather than stories. My opinion and preferences don't mean you're wrong.
I am 99.7603% convinced that the digital dice are messing with me. I roll high when nobody's looking and low when anyone else can see.🎲
“It's a bit early to be thinking about an epitaph. No?” will be my epitaph.