Nope. In D&D there are a crap-ton of Dragon types. All separated by color, which is a little racist but there you go. Most of the "evil" dragons are chromatic colors. The big five bad guys are: Black, Blue, Green, Red, and White. Most of the "good" dragons are metallic colors. The big five good guys are: Brass, Bronze, Copper, Gold, and Silver.
Each type/color dragon breathes a different type of breath weapon. Red breathes good ol' Fire. Black vomits out an Acid spray, Blue "breathes" lightning bolts (don't ask), Green breathes out Chlorine gas, and White breathes out Frost. The good dragons breathe out ridiculous stuff like sleep gas and slow gas and something called "repulsion" gas. Kinda dumb if you ask me. Good dragons aren't that interesting.
So which dragon is my favorite? Some would guess its the dreaded Blue dragon since Quinn spent years seeking out a Blue dragon as part of a quest to create the ultimate undead-killing sword? Sadly, no, he never did find that blasted Blue dragon, he was too busy saving towns from ghoul packs and vampires.
No, my favorite Dragon is the Black Dragon. They're really cunning but not conversationalists, making them a verified "monster" and not something you'll end up playing chess with or answer a riddle or something to survive an encounter. No, Black Dragons hide and hunt in swamps and they spray acid everywhere and melt stuff. That means if you've got Black Dragon infestation outside your hamlet you know it pretty quick, because there'll be melted cows and stuff as evidence. But Black Dragons like to hide in swampy undergrowth so its not like they're easy to just see before you get acidified. Kinda like a Medusa, it easy to figure out what kind of monster you're facing, but still not super-easy to find and kill. Good plot trigger for monster-hunting adventurers. The kind of problem a town Burgomeister would hang an "Adventurer's Reward" poster for the hunting down of the "Acid Monster." Plus just hunting a Black Dragon means you're going to be fighting a very dangerous monster in a swampy area, giving a great opportunity for all sorts of slippery terrain or waist-deep swamp water or other fun combat problems.
So here's to the Black Dragons!
3 comments:
I have to agree. Everything you said was exactly true. Black dragons are great. They're the best. Oh, and if they're in Cormyr, and they get real old, they actually look purple. Everyone knows that. That ain't new, baby.
A lot of the reason I like/dislike certain monsters was the way they were drawn in that 2nd edition white book. Green dragons had too many fins and membrane webbing. They just didn't look good.
Black dragons tend to be drawn with the forward sweeping horns like in your picture. And I've always liked that. And when you look at a map, you always know where the black drakes live. In the Trollmoors, or the Lizard Marshes, etc.
I thought you were going to say white dragon on this one, because your crew killed one, and is sporting the coolest white dragon armor. From a drake so old that the scales are pretty much grey/blue.
White dragon armor, with a white wolf cloak. That's pretty much the tippy top gear for adventuring in the North. For camouflage and such. You'd just need some albino stag gloves, and some white mink underoos and you'd be ready to slay ghouls in style.
But the more I think about it, Quinn would probably love wearing black dragon armor, and black python boots. Heck, he would even refuse to buy any non-black horse. He even bought "dinner clothes" that were black with red piping. I think you described them as double breasted. It was the early 90's so double breasted suits were big back then. Quinn is the Johnny Cash of Forgotten Realms.
So of course he'd be pimped out to the 9's with black dragon armor.
Then then next time he met a vampire, he's pause for a round, just so the undead could admire him, and his (now enchanted) Ghoulslayer sword.
Vampire: I like the cut of your jib.
Quinn: Well, thank you. Now die you nefarious worm!"
Quinn's just that vain.
Yeah, we used every last bit of that White Dragon like every piece was made of gold. You don't leave Dragon parts to rot, regardless of color. You gather them up and make the DM give you sale prices on every toenail clipping you can haul back to town. Some wizard somewhere wants a White Dragon ankle tendon, right?
Quinn was like the most hipster goth dude in the Realms. Yeah, he was always impeccably dressed, but "totally didn't even care or whatever." When all you do is hunt vampires all day I'm sure it ends up effecting your fashion sense.
Maybe he was wearing the white armor... ironically.
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