Let's say that you've created a homebrew setting. You've done what you can to create interesting details and create opportunities for player stories. The best way to do that is to keep developing your world. Pick a realm that's interesting to you and build more around it. That's the process that led me to create a special system of lore for what constitutes the most legendary forces in D&D: dragons. I rewrote the rules for dragons to change the tone of my homebrew setting, and it has been a great success in creating opportunities for my players. Let's break down the lore I've created to get a sense of what it changes.
The first big change is that rather than having hundreds or even thousands of dragons flying around, I wanted to limit the appearance of dragons to truly momentous occasions. I have always felt like combat with young dragons is kind of a cheat; you get to cool feeling of fighting a dragon, but you're not dealing with a very serious threat. I think that if dragons are to be legendary and intimidating, they should be closer to demigods than monsters. So I resolved that there exist only ten dragons, one of each color (brass, copper, bronze, silver, gold, black, white, green, blue, and red). This means that encountering a dragon is an especially big deal--there are only ten in existence, and each of them are big deal dragons.
I also liked the idea of a dragon being more of a title than a form. So each color of dragon passes their dragonhood along to a successor, who becomes the new dragon while the old dragon returns to humanoid form. This creates a legacy of moral values; a dragon is unlikely to pass their title and powers along to someone who isn't going to uphold what they have worked for. This means that dragonhood carries a certain weight--that a future dragon must align with the past dragon. This creates storytelling moments, as a dragon will wait until an appropriate successor comes along. It also means that dragons who are looking to replace themselves must interact with society as a whole to find a replacement. The physical mechanics are simple: a humanoid can inhabit their own physical form or transform into a dragon at will.
With this framework, I created a few more details about the process of exchanging dragonhood. Here's how it appears in the document I've created:
All dragons have their dragonhood passed on to them by the previous dragon of the same color. At
the point that they pass their dragonhood along, they lose their invulnerability to aging. A small
ceremony presided over by Boccob allows for the power to be passed along. The copper dragon died in battle with the era’s
white dragon about 8,000 years ago but was reintroduced in 4720.
Then there was the process of designing profiles for each dragon. With only ten--nine, actually, given the copper dragon's death detail--dragons existing, it only makes sense to fill in all the details. So I created each dragon with some basic information: how long they had been a dragon, how old they were when they became a dragon, where they live, what their name in draconic is, and some general info about their motivations and livelihoods. Their place of residence was especially important; I set up each dragon in one of the biggest cities, where I thought they were likely to roost in interest of being able to influence things. Here's the list:
The Good Dragons
Torga: Gold, Kobold – Aurix Irthos, LG – Bensvern
Aurix, 1672, is the most powerful of all of the
dragons. A dissident kobold, he left the small
camp he was raised in at the age of 28. As he
began to wander south from the Liggen Forest,
Fharlanghn gave him a test of morality and
discovered that Aurix tended toward goodness
toward all creatures. Fharlanghn contacted
the last gold dragon, the elf Quigelf Sentin,
and told him that an heir to the gold dragon
throne had been found. After an interview
and training with Sentin, Aurix was bestowed
with dragonhood at the age of 33. Aurix
learned that Sentin had shared Mishara in an
uneasy truce with the black dragon, Niela Destill
of Mishara, and was forced to make a choice
between continuing the situation or settling
in the Southern half of Evanoch where evil
dragons dominate. He chose to inhabit the
area that would conglomerate to become
Torga, the only city in the Big Nine (then
the Big Eight) without a dragon. There, he
settled in the ruins of Churdamz and began
to teach himself how to engineer and build.
After studying the strange ruins of Churdamz,
he built a series of tunnels from the ruins to
Torga. He resides in the tunnels and the various
strongholds within the tunnels. He maintains a
friendship with Glint Spark Wing Argon of
Vestry, whose inventive but often impractical
blueprints Aurix modifies and builds. Aurix
feels slightly suspicious of people because of
the difficulty he has in relating to humanoids,
as they often treat him with prejudice.
Nevertheless, he is willing to trust and help
whenever he won’t be hurt by it. He does his
best to help those who dissent against evil
and prejudice. He mentors Rupert Andazi,
the copper dragon. (Wiz 30, Rog 20)
Finiel: Brass, Faninite – Hriskin Geld, NG – Versvesh
Geld, 251, is the second-youngest of the living dragons. Endowed with her dragonhood by the last brass dragon when she was only 23 years old, Geld had been a popular combatant in competitions in Finiel but has been forced to stop competing for fear of her identity being discovered. She completes adventuring jobs with a brass golem she had built after the death of her husband. She lives in a small cabin on a ridge overlooking Finiel. Though often forlorn, she always helps others when she can. (Ftr20, Rgr10)
Vestry: Bronze, Gnome – Glint Spark Wing Argon, NG – Aujirasvim
Argon, 1894, is a miner by trade and an inventor by hobby. Endowed with her dragonhood at the age of 69, Argon runs a small mining company called “Take Your Pick” through a puppet employee. She picks an unintelligent and manipulable employee and leads through them. She enjoys mining immensely and remains in the mines as much as she can. In her off-time, he creates blueprints for items, which she sends to friend Aurix Irthos of Torga to be made. Argon has a feud with Thomas Forgestoker of Underhar over a nearly fatal duel centuries ago. Argon does what she can to protect Vestry, but gives protecting her identity higher priority. (Wiz20, Rog20)
Talon Gorge: Silver, Half-Elf – Jarva Isquin, CG – Aasimar
Isquin, 1421, is a con artist. She enjoys the thrill of fooling people whom she judges to be impure. She loves people genuinely, but recognizes the need to protect her identity from those close to her. When her loneliness gets the better of her, she takes a family. The only dragon to have borne children, she often abandons her family after she begins to feel too comfortable in her position. Sh watches over those who are oppressed and those who are good. Given her dragonhood at age 36, Isquin considers herself the protector of all of the land surrounding the Empira Sea, and the sudden and fairly recent rise of Talon Gorge was not his choice but coincidence. Isquin is also the only good dragon not known to the evil dragons. (Sor20, Rog15, Brd10)
No Geographical Affiliation: Copper, Daltoner - Rupert Andazi, CG - Rachaurach
Andazi, 77, experienced severe hardship in his life, losing his wife and son to bandits before taking up a life of adventuring. He taught himself the fundamentals of magic and soon stumbled upon the school of glyphism, which rapidly increased his power. He established a friendship with the gold dragon, Aurix Irthos of Torga, who helped Andazi and his allies to defeat an avatar of Gruumsh, fulfilling a prophecy and thereby liberating Torga from the god’s tyranny and halting the possibility of a celestial invasion of Evanoch. Aurix took Andazi as his student, and Andazi was bestowed with copper dragonhood. He chose to rove across Evanoch, fighting against evil and stirring up trouble wherever he goes. Andazi is slow to trust others but delights in finding reliable friends with whom he can share practical jokes. He is adventurous and unafraid to take risks, particularly in his studies of glyphism. (Wiz20, Gly15)
The Evil Dragons
Mishara: Black, Elf – Niela Desstil, LE – Vuthiejir
Desstil, 1196, has spent her life protecting Mishara from invasion. She was bestowed with dragonhood by the last black dragon at age 170. She stays removed from politics and does not dislike orcs. She owns a business selling calligraphy tools and specializes in ink production. Her business is called “Black as Night” and keeps her easily supported. Desstil works entirely alone and is incredibly interested in study. (Wiz25, Sor10)
Curagon: Green, Halfling – Xavier Scale, CE – Achausin
Scale, 610, is a banker. He specializes in the handling of raw precious metals. He is never seen without a pin with the shape of a weighing balance on his chest. Given his dragonhood at age 49, Scale maintains close ties with Regg Diln of Ringsdale by way of letter correspondence in which the two argue about everything imaginable. He established a banking operation as a means of swindling unsuspecting traders, using bizarre and imaginative conversion rates to make a profit. He enjoys practical jokes, but only when he is the perpetrator. (Rog15, Brd15)
Ringsdale: White, Orc – Regg Diln, LE – Aussirusk
Diln, 836, is an incredibly intellectual orc who works as a private detective in the areas surrounding Ringsdale. She is known in a very few circles as the only detective who will work in the Kalletts. Diln was given her dragonhood at the age of 39. She writes often to Xavier Scale of Curagon, whom she finds to be an interesting case of confused and contradicting ideas. She lives with a wide array of pets at the base of the Kalletts a few miles north of Ringsdale—the pets include a pack of dogs, twin mountain lions, a small fleet of hawks, and a tamed bulette. (Rgr20, Ftr15, Rog15)
Underhar: Red, Dwarf – Thomas Forgestoker, NE – Charirtrix
Forgestoker, 2610, is the oldest living dragon.
He was bestowed with his dragonhood at
the age of 115 and has spent all that time
perfecting his craft as an armorer. He is a
mythic figure in the circles of Underhar which
know armor and weapons well—an unseen
and scarcely believed presence in the city.
He lives in an elaborately carved system
of caves just outside of Underhar, further
under the Kalletts. He maintains a contact
from Underhar whom he uses to obtain
high-paying armor-making jobs. Every 30
years, Forgestoker gets a new liaison. His
longevity has led to his ambivalence about
the fate of Underhar. He has a feud with
Glint Spark Wing Argon of Vestry based
on a battle which nearly led to both of their
deaths. (Ftr20, Clr15, Bbn10)
New Dalton: Blue, Daltoner – Horton Darkwater, NE – Ulharivex
Darkwater, 329, is a prosecuting attorney.
Endowed with his dragonhood at the age
of 51, Darkwater has gone by various names
over his career (Seagram, Wellham, Rainford,
and Shoreman). He is a financial supporter
of the Dalton Church of Pelor. He has lost in
court only once, and saw fit to kill the children
of the opposing lawyer’s and judge’s children
a generation later. Darkwater has no political
aspirations, but wants for the Daltoner Empire
to conquer all of Evanoch. He is somewhat
estranged from the other evil dragons as he
is quite racist against non-Daltoners.
(Rog15, Brd15, Sor10)
I mentioned at the beginning of this post that the copper dragon was dead, and yet the last dragon I mentioned was the copper dragon. That's because this model of lore really lends itself to storytelling. When I made my D&D podcast years ago, I included as a major character Aurix, the gold dragon. Aurix helped the party throughout the campaign, and in the end (spoiler alert), a player character was gifted the copper dragon's title for his work with Aurix. Think about this: your player ends a campaign by becoming one of the ten most powerful people in the world, and a dragon to boot. Isn't that a huge story? Doesn't that place power in the hands of the players? Doesn't that enrich the world I've built? I think that Rupert's transition from angry old man to noble copper dragon is fascinating, and it really impressed on Rupert's player that what he had done was notable. Now, I have an NPC version of Rupert running around the world, serving as an ambassador of all that is good. Rupert's player has left a legacy on my homebrew setting, not only by changing the city the campaign took place in, but also because he remains a fixture of power and good in the world that follows.
I personally recommend a homebrew tweak like this--it can really spice up the game and make you feel like your world is richer in detail. Feel free to adopt the dragon lore in your game in whatever form you like, and always be thinking about what can make your homebrew setting more unique.As always, if there's something I didn't cover here or you would like to see written about here, comment below! Look out for upcoming guides to using dice, how to describe magic, and a guide to the accessories you need to play. Until next time, happy gaming!
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