In a home brew setting I’m currently brewing, young wyrmlings are born grey, and as they grow up and develop, their color changes based on what they treasure. For instance, those that treasure friendships and relationships may become silver dragons, those that treasure conquest become blue dragons, etc…. This is just an idea I had for it.
Edit: This blew up, I’m thinking of expanding this into a post to help me further develop the setting, cause all I have in my home brew setting is two named characters, who don’t even have names, four locations, and a system of the classification of magic items for the world.
The party could encounter an adult Gray Dragon--the first dragon to ever grow up without developing a different color. There could be a quest to find out why.
Something something grays have internal power, but cannot fully harness it until they get their color.
Maybe a lich or rogue sorcerer is harnessing it, eternally stunting the dragon, and using the power for himself. I like double twists with moral dilemmas so I'd probably write he was using the power to sustain his part dragon daughter so she doesn't die to magic disease while he tries to cure her.
Traditionally if you go by older editions, the gem dragons are the neutral dragons. Most of those are psionic rather than magical. Matt Colville (YouTube DM advice channel) has updated rules for them in one his books, I think in the stronghold one, but it might be reprinted in the new monster one as well.
Also, knowing my dnd party (and how well they know me by now) if I had them encounter this thing and present them this quest they'd literally just say your comment.
Them: "Oh ok dragon color is a metaphor, we tell the gray dragon to get therapy. What's next?"
Me: "...and that's where we're going to end the session see u next week"
Or/and general nihillistic point of view. If they don't believe their actions mean anything to the cosmos and don't have the maturity to move past it then it makes sense they just... exist.
What the party thinks is depression. The dragon never really felt like they treasured anything. But, they're just vibin, finding beauty in all things, especially the little ones. Probably the most content with life color a dragon can have.
But the party still drags them around to experience all the things that give dragons their color because they think the gray dragon is sad. The dragon does not give anything much attention, they describe how cool things are and moves on. They don't mind getting dragged around, the company is good.
This, of course, frustrates the party so much it's funny.
Typically if a dragon treasures the world or the life of the world, they become a gold dragon. They can really vary in alignment. Think “I treasure the world”. Protecting it could mean being a classic protector who tries to stop world ending events, or it could mean destroying humanity because they are destroying the natural beauty of it. Yes, there is a council of Gold Dragons that meet up every decade or so in various locations to discuss how to protect it.
Perhaps a fey stole their desire from them, and it's requesting you get it back, but what color of dragon will you be faced with when it's true nature returns.
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u/darkshadow543 Dec 19 '23 edited Dec 20 '23
In a home brew setting I’m currently brewing, young wyrmlings are born grey, and as they grow up and develop, their color changes based on what they treasure. For instance, those that treasure friendships and relationships may become silver dragons, those that treasure conquest become blue dragons, etc…. This is just an idea I had for it.
Edit: This blew up, I’m thinking of expanding this into a post to help me further develop the setting, cause all I have in my home brew setting is two named characters, who don’t even have names, four locations, and a system of the classification of magic items for the world.