Silver Dragon

Usually the challenge with good monsters is differentiating them from one another—how this good agathion differs from that good lammasu…or that good angel…or that foo manatee…or whatever. 

That’s not a problem with silver dragons.  The members of Draco nobilis argentum have always been shapechangers and meddlers.  As far back as 1e a silver dragon, Silvara (of course), was one of the tragic figures of the Dragonlance setting.  And when Dragon Magazine #146 introduced the new, beefed-up 2e dragons, it was via a group of adventurers trading dragon-slaying tips with a Sterling (again with the obvious names) and Hypatia, who were then revealed to be silver dragons.

Pathfinder’s silver dragons have taken on a new role courtesy of Mike McArtor’s work in Pathfinder and Dragons Revisited: dragonkind’s paladins.  In DR, silver dragons are righteous and often religious warriors with a yearning for restrictions, rituals, and mentors (oddly, from other species—typically gold dragons or lawful good outsiders).  Their craving for missions and mentors means they have lots of excuses to mix it up with PCs, either as allies, rivals, or even foes.

Why foes?  Because silver dragons tarnish easily.  The heavy weight of responsibilities placed on them and their constant struggle against evil sullies more than a few of their souls. And a silver dragon that falls from grace falls far, often “degenerating into strange creatures that resemble draconic crossbreeds,” according to DR.  In other words, if you want your PCs to fight a metallic dragon, silvers are the way to go, and don’t hold back on swapping out abilities or adding templates.  Just as the best blackguards and death knights are former paladins, the best dragon to fight your PCs might just be a silver with its scales and spirit corroded unto dull, lifeless rot…

Craving the spiritual security of strong restrictions and stronger penances, a silver dragon left his lammasu mentor for a more stringent guide.  Now he serves (and bears the marks of) a scourge-wielding cavalier who may be a Knight of the Thorn’s Song…or who may be an erinyes carefully leading the silver dragon down a lawful road that has no mercy or light at its destination.

The Wight-King of Lemoria stirs, and a council of silver dragons is eager to lead an army to war.  In their zeal, they aspire to hold open the Bridge of Seven Spires for their soldiers to cross…and that means thwarting a group of equally good-hearted (if far less noble) adventurers recently charged with demolishing the bridge to hem in the Wight-King’s undead hordes.

When the noble and much-noted Argidox tarnished, it is said that even the chattiest brasses fell silent in horror.  Now the ancient silver dragon has scales the color of rain-washed lead, and instead of control weather he wields plague storms and scouring winds (see Ultimate Magic) instead.

—Pathfinder Bestiary 110-111

Back from the beach!  We now resume our regularly scheduled monsters…

Gold Dragon

Most parties shouldn’t ever have to fight a gold dragon.  Typically they’re either far above the fray or far behind the scenes, and even when a party does encounter one, it’s much more likely to be a mentor or ally to good-aligned PCs (or even a mount, if a truly righteous cause and rider is involved) than an adversary.

Yet gold dragons can tarnish (albeit rarely).  And their vision for the greater good may involve cold math that does not jibe with the PC’s views of right, choice, and freedom.  (To make a crude analogy, as a society we value vaccine research, for instance, but we rarely ask the lab mice’s opinions on the matter.)  And just conversing with or outthinking a gold dragon may be worth a substantial story award.

After years of planning, a demilich manages to arrange circumstances so that one of its gems gets selected by a gold dragon as her luck gem.  Now an imprint of the horrific undead has imposed itself on the gold dragon’s consciousness, driving her to fulfill darker and darker urges as she quickly begins to tarnish.

Tired of their riddle games, a gold dragon and a sphinx embark in a new series of mental and physical challenges.  In their latest bout, the gold dragon has allowed the sphinx to send a party of adventurers against him, who will try to subdue the drake according the old customs long abandoned.  Should they succeed, each member of the company shall each receive a magic item, as well as a book for group to return to the sphinx’s library.

An entire flight of silver dragons is knocked out assaulting an Abyssal rift.  Maddened with grief, their gold dragon mentor drives back the invading demons—but she does not stop there.  Determined to bring the fight to the enemy, she has impressed every adult humanoid male in a fifty-mile radius and has begun building an army.

—Pathfinder Bestiary 108–109

Regarding dragon subdual: Browsing through old editions of the world’s oldest role-playing game should give you some idea how to handle it, and there are plenty of rules and discussions online you can adapt.  A good rule of thumb is reaching 50 or 100 percent of the dragon’s hit points with nonlethal damage (using the flat of the blade, etc.) and no damage-causing spells directed at the dragon.

Of all the dragons, I feel like golds need the most thought before they get inserted into campaign.  They’re beings of such potential power that I think how the approach life in your world says something about that world and the role of dragons in general.  Are they wise counselors?  Open rulers?  Mystic sages?  Warriors for good?  Carefully hidden points of light?  Removed from the affairs of men entirely?  It’s worth thinking about.

Obviously, more about gold dragons can be found in Mike McArtor’s Dragons Revisited and in any Golarion setting book that references the island nation of Hermea.

I did almost zero planning for my show Saturday, so it’s even more old-school, fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants free-form radio that usual…which may explain why it’s more testosteroney than usual as well.  Listen (although forgive me if something seems slightly off, sound-wise—I think one of the channels was feeling weak).

(Music starts just over one minute into the file.  If it skips, you know the drill: Let load in Firefox or Chrome, Save As an mp3, and enjoy in iTunes.  Link good until Friday, 5/25, at midnight.)

Also, whether or not you download my show, you owe it to yourself to check out TV Girls’ The Wild, The Innocent, The TV Shuffle mixtape.

Copper Dragon

Freedom fighters and pranksters, copper dragons are likely to get involved in revolutions, slave revolts, and other noble causes...whether the PCs might want them to or not.  Their impulsiveness when choosing causes, as well as their tendency to tarnish, make them one of the few metallic species a party might in good conscience have to fight.

Bards still sing of Verdigris, a copper dragon whose sins tarnished his wings near to turquoise after his role in the Siege of Seven Sabbaths.  He still lives as a recluse, avoiding the silver dragon paladins who would bring him to justice.

Slaves fleeing Pharaoh find an ally in a copper dragon, whose skill with illusions, traps, and magical stone-sculpting soon becomes invaluable to the refugees.  Unfortunately, a party of adventurers is also following the slaves, trying to bring them word of aid while outracing Pharaoh’s charioteers.  Sadly, the copper’s traps and deadfalls, once set, don’t discriminate.

Most sages regard the copper dragon’s deadly joke ability to be a myth.  A clan of assassins is not so sure, and seeks to wrest from a copper great wyrm the words that can kill in situations where their weapons can’t reach.

—Pathfinder Bestiary 106–107

Bronze Dragon

Bronze dragons seem to be the forgotten metallic species.  The others have well-defined characters—gold dragons are kings and counselors, silvers are crusaders, coppers are pranksters and dilettantes, and brasses are incorrigible gossips—and tend to show up relatively commonly in published adventures.  Bronzes tend to appear only as companions to powerful wizards or paladins.  But maybe that’s how bronzes like it.  They are guardians, wardens, librarians, and lighthouse keepers.  They gladly fight for a good cause—especially if the pay is right—but don’t go seeking out such causes like silvers do, and their seaside lairs already get more visitors than they need.  They’re happy to tend their scrolls, hunt pirates, and keep evil from their beloved shores.

Quentark is a young bronze dragon trying to regain his home from a coven of sea hags and their merrow thralls.  He will consent to be a mount or companion in order to gain allies and experience.

The lighthouse at Breaker Point is run by an old man with bronze skin who rarely speaks.  A few local shipwrights claim he is an expert on the movement of pirates.  His knowledge can be purchased with expensive treatises on engineering, preferably wrapped in waterproof oilcloth.

Two naval powers battle over the Strait of Horns—a war that is equal parts territorial squabble and pure political wrangling.  A bronze dragon who lairs in the area will have none of it, sinking any ships she catches fighting in her realm.  Having failed to get the bronze to join a side, the two nations now seek emissaries to persuade her to allow them to fight unopposed—and possibly kill her if she refuses.

—Pathfinder Bestiary 104–105

Brass Dragon

Sociable, chatty, and more than a little rumormongering, brass dragons are excellent contacts and information gatherers for PCs.  Though a party will likely never need to fight one (brasses rarely tarnish), if they are in a desert setting there is always profit to be had in conversing with one.

Once a fixture in the market of Akwat, the brass dragon Cyrillisense was recently scarred in battle against undead and has turned morose and antisocial.  His best friend, a caravan master and local raconteur, fears for his sanity.  Meanwhile, travelers have been disappearing out past the oases, and the few tracks that have been found point to a great clawed beast.  Are the undead to blame or has the brass tarnished?

After a thrilling encounter defeating some relic smugglers, the brass dragon Paramus became enamored of a pale-skinned detective from the North.  Using a magic ring to adopt human form, Paramus now travels as the inquisitor’s turban-bedecked manservant and bodyguard.  The pair solves mysteries in the rainy capital of Londinium, and while Paramus bitterly complains about the weather, he loves his work and has become quite good with a falchion—though he is not above returning to draconic form when the needs of a case dictate.

In the Land of the Crescent Moon, brass dragons are the only species of true dragon.  These chaotic neutral brasses are spoken of in whispers, since they are as likely to eat a man as they are to speak with him.  They are regarded as lords of the desert, able to control the sands as ably as any genie—and in fact, they often treat with genies and divs alike in their lairs, depending on their natures.

—Pathfinder Bestiary 102–103

We’ve mentioned Mike McArtor’s Dragons Revisited before, but let’s give the book another nod for explaining how to deftly role-play a brass dragon.