Arthur W. Collins
| - | - | Psionic disciplines | - | - |
| Crystal dragon | Topaz dragon | Emerald dragon | Sapphire dragon | Amethyst dragon |
| - | - | Ruby dragon | - | - |
| Monsters | Dragons | Dragon 37 | Best of Dragon, Vol. III | Dragon |
Taxonomic types have no doubt noticed that
the dragons in the
AD&D Monster
Manual are easily separated into two types: Colored
dragons, ruled by Tiamat, the Chromatic
Dragon (evil); and Metallic
dragons, ruled by Bahamut, the Platinum
Dragon (good). And a
very well-balanced and fascinating assortment
of beasties they are.
So why am I about to propose six new types
of dragons?
Part of the problem is with alignment.
How come there are no
neutral dragons? Surely there must be
a place for the occasional
dragon who doesn’t give a hoot about good
or evil as long as people
leave his treasure alone. Likewise, half
of these fascinating creatures
are of good alignment, which really cuts
down on the pillage an
adventurer of basically good alignment
can attempt without incurring the wrath of the gods (or at least the DM).
Another part of the problem is that everyone
and his brother has
a Monster Manual, which cuts down on the
DM’s options to surprise
his adventurers with something that they
have to think about to deal
with successfully. It’s very frustrating
to be graphically describing an
unknown beast a party has encountered,
only to have some encyclopedic fanatic quote you chapter and verse on what
it is, and what
all of its abilities are. Finally, there
is just something fascinating about
dragons, which leads us to explore new
variations simply to enjoy
the essence of dragon-ness.
In proposing this new breed of dragon,
I am assuming that all
these types conform to the characteristics
of dragons in general,
except where otherwise noted. In addition,
all of these dragons share
the following standard characteristics.
FREQUENCY: Very rare.
NO. APPEARING: 1-3, except in the case
of the Ruby Dragon.
NO. OF ATTACKS: 3
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Breath weapon + possible
magic use,
except for Sardior, who definitely uses
magic.
ALIGNMENT: Neutral.
The Neutral dragons are basically reclusive
creatures, dwelling in
out-of-the-way places, and not too receptive
to unexpected visitors.
Like all dragons, they get their kicks
from lolling around on a pile of
treasure. Being named after precious and
semi-precious stones, they
are especially fond of gems and jewelry.
They are generally smaller
and slower than other dragons, but make
up for this with their
outstanding intelligence and overwhelming
personalities.
The Neutral dragons are all very charismatic
and suave. They
delight in riddling talk, and seek to
entrap the creatures they en-
counter by charming them with their voices.
Anyone not engaged in
such things as combat who listens to the
dragon’s voice faces a 10%
cumulative chance per round of being entranced.
While he is entranced, the dragon has a chance of implanting a suggestion
in his
mind. The dragon gets one attempt per
creature to suggest, and if the
creature makes his saving throw by rolling
the required percentage,
the charm is broken for 6 rounds. The
dragon will try to keep him
talking, in order to try again, but this
time will get only a 5% cumulative chance per round of charming the creature(s).
If the dragon fails
in his suggestion this time, the creature
cannot be charmed again.
Going along with their intelligence and
charisma, all Neutral
dragons have a 50% chance of being psionically
endowed. They are
also telepathic, although they cannot
communicate telepathically
with non-telepathic creatures or characters
with an intelligence below 17. Magic-using Neutral dragons employ both
Magic-User and
Druidic spells.
Being smaller than other dragons, Neutral
dragons’ fear aura in
attacking is saved against at a +4 to
all opponents. Neutral dragons
cannot polymorph themselves, unless they
know the spell. They do
have the innate ability to blink 6 times
per day, however, as in the
spell. Particulars about each type of
dragon are listed below.
So much for Neutral dragons. Put one of
these in your campaign,
and listen to the music of agonizing wails
when your hardened
dragon-slayers encounter something that
they’ve never heard of
before. (Chortle, chortle!) After all,
keeping them on their toes is
what makes for exciting play. May your
Paladins go to bed tonight
with clear consciences.
SPELLS GAINED:
*“1 1st-D” means one first-level Druidic
spell; “2 3rd-MU” means two third-level Magic-User spells, etc.
It is assumed that as dragons’ M-U spells
are of a special, verbalonly kind, so also the Neutral dragons’ Druidic
spells are of a special
kind, attuned to their natures, and not
requiring mistletoe, etc.
PSIONIC DISCIPLINES
(where applicable)
Going along with their intelligence and
charisma, all Neutral
dragons have a 50% chance of being psionically
endowed.
Crystal dragons have 2 minor disciplines
each. Topaz dragons, 3
minors each; Emerald, 2 minors and 1 major;
Sapphire, 3 minors
and 1 major; Amethyst, 3 minors and 2
majors; Sardior the Ruby
Dragon has 4 minor and 3 major disciplines,
as follows—Domination, ESP, Invisibility, Levitation, Molecular Rearrangement,
Energy
Control, Dimension Walk. All Neutral dragons
consider their level of
mastery for all disciplines to be equivalent
to twice their age level.
OUT ON A LIMB
‘Four legs, not two’
Dear Dragon-people:
I just happened to notice a mistake in TD-37.
It was in the illustration for Arthur W. Collins’
article “That’s Not in the Monster Manual!”
A dragon (white, black, emerald, sapphire,
brass, or platinum) has four legs, not two. Whoever
painted it should re-read Monsters
&
Treasure.
Craig Kopcik
Clifton Park, N.Y.
(Dragon #40)
No mistake, Craig. First of all, we didn’t have
the illustration done to “match” the article.
Artist Melody Pena sent us the striking “technicolor
dragon” several months ago, and some
time later we received Arthur Collins’ article on
neutral dragons, which gave us an excellent opportunity
to publish a fine article and a fine piece
of art at the same time.
Second of all, it wouldn’t have made any
sense for us to try to adhere to any established
conceptions of dragons (like worrying about
whether one has the “right” number of legs) in
choosing an illustration for some all-new types
of dragons. Maybe neutral dragons have five
legs, or three, or two; who knows?
The point is that, unless specifically stated
otherwise, the material which is published in
The Dragon is not meant as, and should
not be
interpreted as, official additions or changes to
the rules of AD&D, D&D
or any other game.
We’re not coming out in favor of two-legged
dragons by publishing a picture of one, and
we’re not pushing neutral dragons into anyone’s
game by using such an article. Both the art and
the article were presented for your enjoyment,
not for forced consumption or blind acceptance.
-- Kim
(Dragon #40)
"No real need"
Dear Sirs.
While I found the article in #37 on neutral
dragons interesting, I should like to point out that
there is no real need for them in anyone’s world.
The five metallic dragon types, though not
normally evil, are motivated primarily by their desires
for food and treasure, in that order.
Thus, a
determined character might bribe and otherwise
pressure one of the good-aligned dragons into
committing evil deeds to the point where it could
not regain its former alignment, possibly even to
the point of becoming evil.
This process is especially simplified if the dragon
is raised from hatching, but may also be accomplished
through (repeated) subdual, threat to
withhold or prevent access to food or offering of
much treasure. Of the five types, only two may be
unbribable (note: A wealthy dragon may be
bribed, but its price will be mighty steep), the gold
(80% unbribable) and silver (40% unbribable).
Thus, among evil metallic dragons, silvers are rare
and golds extraordinary, though possible.
Thus, there will be a number of “fallen” dragons
of neutral and other alignments, though rarely,
and they will be all the more difficult to deal with
because of the difficulty of distinguishing them
from their ordinary counterparts.
Dragons are the closest things to gods on earth
(the material plane); their individual power and
egoism alike are exceptional. Because of the
egoism factor, it is very difficult for a dragon to not
be of an extreme alignment, for only the strictest
adherence to an alignment can supply them with
the mental discipline needed to give life meaning.
Mentally, chaos is as demanding as law, for the
chaotic must frequently act on his central theme of
acting randomly and unpredictably, and this can
place an extreme strain on creative abilities. If you
don’t believe this, try adding four and four one
dozen times, never using the same method twice
and always arriving at an answer of eight. It can be
done more ways than a dozen, but the differences
become trivial and the task boring after a time —
which is another reason why chaos is demanding:
It is no less dull (to the practitioner) than law.
Ferrin Harrison
Columbia, MO
(Dragon #42)
Philosophical questions such as the one Ferrin
addresses here are hearty food for thought, and in
a way they’re essential to the further growth and
sophistication of the AD&D
game system. And,
for that matter, where would this magazine be
without people who have varying opinions on
aspects of gaming, and care enough to express
them to our readers?
But on another level, Ferrin’s contention that
“there is no real need” for a new set of neutral
dragons is not something that needs to be made a
point of counter-contention. If Ferrin Harrison or
anyone else doesn’t want to use the new neutral
dragons, he or she is quite free to act as though
they don’t exist — and presto, they don’t. Those
readers who don’t subscribe to Ferrin’s theory
about how good dragons can evolve into neutral
ones can use “ours,” if they so desire. And even
someone who does employ neutral versions of the
Monster Manual dragons
can enjoy injecting some
new and unknown adversaries into an adventure.
The rules of AD&D are flexible enough
and
rigid enough at the same time to allow for many
changes such as the ones Ferrin and “neutral
dragons” author Arthur Collins have proposed, or
to allow the game to be played strictly by the book.
It doesn’t matter whether you permit the MM
dragons to shift alignment, whether you play with
all-new neutral dragons, or whether you do
neither, as long as the game you’re in is stimulating
and entertaining for everyone involved.
— Kim
(Dragon #42)