The forest-loving green dragons sometimes compete for territory with black dragons in marshy woods and with white dragons in subarctic taiga. However, a forest controlled by a green dragon is easy to spot. A perpetual fog hangs in the air in a legendary green dragon’s wood, carrying an acrid whiff of the creature’s poison breath. The moss-covered trees grow close together except where winding pathways trace their way like a maze into the heart of the forest. The light that reaches the forest floor carries an emerald green cast, and every sound seems muffled. At the center of its forest, a green dragon chooses a cave in a sheer cliff or hillside for its lair, preferring an entrance hidden from prying eyes. Some seek out cave mouths concealed behind waterfalls, or partly submerged caverns that can be accessed through lakes or streams. Others conceal the entrances to their lairs with vegetation. Alignment: Lawful Neutral, Lawful Evil

Red Dragons The odor of sulfur and pumice surrounds a red dragon, whose swept-back horns and spinal frill define its silhouette. Its beaked snout vents smoke at all times, and its eyes dance with flame when it is angry.

Red dragons lair in high mountains or hills, dwelling in caverns under snow-capped peaks, or within the deep halls of abandoned mines and dwarven strongholds. Caves with volcanic or geothermal activity are the most highly prized red dragon lairs, creating hazards that hinder intruders and letting searing heat and volcanic gases wash over a dragon as it sleeps. With its hoard well protected deep within the lair, a red dragon spends as much of its time outside the mountain as in it. For a red dragon, the great heights of the world are the throne from which it can look out to survey all it controls—and the wider world it seeks to control. Throughout the lair complex, servants erect monuments to the dragon’s power, telling the grim story of its life, the enemies it has slain, and the nations it has conquered. Alignment: Chaotic Evil, Chaotic Neutral

White Dragons White dragons lair in icy caves and deep subterranean chambers far from the sun. They favor high mountain vales accessible only by flying, caverns in cliff faces, and labyrinthine ice caves in glaciers. White dragons love vertical heights in their caverns, flying up to the ceiling to latch on like bats or slithering down icy crevasses. A legendary white dragon’s innate magic deepens the cold in the area around its lair. Mountain caverns are fast frozen by the white dragon’s presence. A white dragon can often detect intruders by the way the keening wind in its lair changes tone. A white dragon rests on high ice shelves and cliffs in its lair, the floor around it a treacherous morass of broken ice and stone, hidden pits, and slippery slopes. As foes struggle to move toward it, the dragon flies from perch to perch and destroys them with its freezing breath. Alignment: Chaotic Evil, Chaotic Neutral

Metallic 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.

Physically, the brass dragon was highly distinctive. From below, its outstretched wings formed a triangular shape, as they were attached to its body all the way to the tip of its tail. The wings were longest at the shoulder, and tapered gently as they reached the tail. Their scales seemed to radiate heat and light. As their name implied, brass dragons tended to have brass-colored scales. Their scales were a dull brown at a young age, becoming more glossy and brass-like in appearance as they aged. The shape of the head was quite unusual, as it included a large, curved plate that extended from the dragon's eyes and cheeks on either side and curved upwards into two points. They had two sharp horns on the chin, which became steadily pointier as the dragon aged. They smelled like metal.

Bronze Dragons were a race of metallic dragons. Curious and inquisitive, they possessed a strong sense of justice and did not tolerate any form of cruelty.

Physically, the bronze dragon was quite fierce in appearance, despite its good nature. While most of its body was a reflective bronze color, the wings were often tipped with green. The dragon had four large horns on each side of their heads, three protruding from each cheek and one from the top of their head, pointing back towards the tail. The tips of these points were black and very sharp, and were often used for grooming. The tongue was purple-gray, long and pointed, and not forked. A large frill ran down the upper part of its neck. Bronze dragons smelled like sea spray.

Copper Dragons had short faces, with features that included cheek ridges that pointed backwards, as well as frills on the back of their lower jaws. Their long segmented horns started as smooth brow plates above their eyes that extended backwards. From their chins, layers of triangular blades grew downward, growing more numerous as they aged. Combined together, those features gave copper dragons a pensive look. As they aged, their pupils faded away until their eyes acquired an appearance of glowing turquoise. Their wings were manta-like, mottled with red and green discolorations near the end. They were supported at the front by relatively short articulated alar limbs that gave them a characteristic U shape when viewed from below, as well as spines that ran the wings' length to the back, at an angle from the backbone. Newly hatched copper dragons had brown scales with a metallic tint, which grew coppery and glossy in color as the dragon aged. The scales of very old copper dragons acquired a green shade. Copper dragons gave off a stony scent.

Gold Dragons were the strongest and most majestic of the metallic dragons, and were considered the apex of the draconic race. Graceful and wise, they were relentless and dedicated foes of evil, injustice, and foul play. While respected for their fairness and knowledge, they were also grim and reserved, and usually avoided casual contact with other dragons.

A gold dragon's head was characterized by a short face with long and smooth metallic horns that swept back from its nose and brow, as well as the neck frills that adorned both sides of its neck. From the mouth and nostrils descended four pairs of long, flexible muscular spines that resembled whiskers or barbells. Along with the dragon's narrow eyes, these features contributed to give them a look of sagacity. As the dragon aged, its pupils faded away until the eyes acquired an appearance of shiny, liquid gold. Other facial features included a pointed tongue and small cheek horns that grew sideways. Gold dragons had broad sail-like wings that started from their shoulders and extended all the way to the end of their extremely long tails. During flight, the wings moved in a graceful rippling motion that resembled swimming. This elegant flying motion was considered by many scholars, as well as by the gold dragons themselves, to be the most graceful among true dragons. When on the ground, the wings were kept closed upright over its back if the dragon was at rest, or folded facing back if the dragon was walking or running. A newly hatched gold dragon had dark yellow scales dotted with metallic specks that increased in size with age, until they totally covered the scales, giving a shiny and radiant golden color to the adult dragon's entire body. Despite being capable of eating almost anything, gold dragons tended to hunt large and dangerous monsters and were particularly fond of including pearls and gems in their diet. Older dragons even had the ability to supernaturally locate gems in their vicinity. They tended to receive such gifts well, except if they were given as bribes. Gold dragons could breathe underwater. They gave off scents of saffron and incense, and sometimes a faint smell of molten metal.

Silver Dragons sometimes referred to as shield dragons, were a breed of metallic dragon. A silver dragon enjoyed the company of humans and elves so much that it would often take the form of a human or elf and live among them for the majority of its life. However, it should be noted that silvers, like all dragons, believed themselves the most superior creatures in the world. However, apart from the ability to fly, which they enjoyed greatly, they tended to prefer the physical forms of humanoids for everyday life.

The silver dragon was regal and statuesque. At first glance, a silver dragon appeared very similar to a white dragon. The wings were more curved than a white's, however, and a silver had two talons on its wings rather than the single talon of most dragons. The silver dragon also had a beautiful frill that began at the top of its head and flowed all the way down its neck and body to the tip of its tail. The frill was silver towards the body, fading to a purple hue at the edge. They had two long, smooth silver horns with black tips, pointing up and back from the head. They also had a pronounced sharp frill under the chin, which had the rough appearance of a goatee. They smelled like rain. They were very intelligent, more so than most humans, extremely powerful, breathtakingly beautiful, and had lifespans that could reach 4,200 years.

Prismatic dragons

Light Dragons

Prismatic dragons were legendary beasts of folktales and myths. These dragons had tiny shimmering scales that glowed with bright light. Their scales were so small it appeared as if the dragons had skin as smooth as a snake's. Prismatic dragons did not have any odor or scent. Prismatic dragons were outspoken and dramatic creatures. Unlike force dragons, these dragons enjoyed the company of humanoids. Like most dragons, prismatic dragons preferred quiet places to make their lairs, such as in a ruin or a forest. While these monsters liked to hunt, they were constantly aware not to use all the resources in any given area. While enjoying meat, there were rumors these beasts could gain sustenance from light sources, such as the sun.

Dracolich

Dark Dragons

More than a powerful form of undead, a dracolich was a dragon who had voluntarily tied its soul to a phylactery, freeing itself from death. A type of lich, the creature's spirit could possess any dead reptilian body, usually their original form, and retained all the powers and abilities of the former body. That meant a dracolich had the supernatural fear aura, spells, and breath weapon it had in life, plus the terrible might of the undead. The process of becoming a dracolich was discovered by Sammaster the Mad, a fallen Chosen of Mystra, who was inspired after re-translating The Chronicle of Things to Come by the prophet Maglas. He was convinced that Toril would suffer a great apocalypse and "naught will be left save shattered thrones with no rulers. But the dead dragons shall rule the world entire..." Sammaster's first success was with the great red wyrm Shargrailar the Dark in the Year of Queen's Tears, 902 DR. Since then, Sammaster and his followers, the Cult of the Dragon, created many more, preparing for the apocalypse they "know" will come." A dracolich had the strange ability to inhabit the body of any reptilian corpse upon death, though they were at their most powerful when inhabiting the corpse of a dragon. When killed in its corporeal body, the dracolich didn't "die". Instead, its spirit fled and hid in the phylactery, awaiting another suitable body to animate and inhabit. Like other types of lich, a dracolich was only truly annihilated when its phylactery was destroyed.