How To Train Your Dragon For a D&D Game

[@HowtobeaGreatGM]

*Thanks for watching!* What ideas can you come up with for a dragon character in your next adventure? Let us know in the comments below. Check out The Draconomicon by DMs Guild here: bit.ly/greatdragons Use the code GREATDRAGONS to save 10% off $10+ DMsGuild community content PDFs. *Valid until November 6, 2022* Find each chapter of the video easily by clicking on the timestamps in the description.

[@kelpiekit4002]

In a campaign I ran once there was an ancient blue dragon that had got to a reflective age and realised all the problems in her life had been due to her draconic compulsions. So she had started a dragon monastery to gather other dragons and learn to control compulsions like hoarding and arrogance. (She didn't quite realise she was living up to blue dragon hoarding by having a hoard of dragons listening to her teachings). As part of the training they also learnt to transform into humanoids so they needed an adventuring group to look after dragons trying to blend in with humanoids for the first time and to pretend to slay them and get them out if it went wrong.

[@mattt9278]

The main dragon in our campaign was Sparklefang (the name humans gave her) She was an Amethyst dragon that we met fleeing pirates. She destroyed them but spared us as we didn't know that we had stumbled into her territory but the pirates did. I returned with very generous gifts as a thanks and we started to work together. The campaign continued and we eventually found out that she was an aspect of Tiamat, however she had also come to like me, so became invested in my survival as I was "helpful". When the real big bad showed up, she aided us in the war as she had "dumped too much time and resources into developing us as a useful tool to just let some pathetic liche kill you off". So many great times!!!

[@bloementuintje9356]

adult- taking a bath in an dwarven forge, in this forge the smelter is connected to elemental plane of fire.

[@benjaminmcmullan8243]

My ancient red dragon, Growfalax, owns a hotel restaurant and casino complex. Hey e doesn't get very involved in the day to day running off the thing but leaves that up to a Sphinx, an oni and a beholder. He has hundreds of goblins and kobold living in the on site warrens and he doesn't pay them well enough. They recently went on strike an the bards in my party played at the picket line and riled up the strikers enough that they ransacked the hotel lobby

[@coolman4202]

A young blue dragon prizes people as part of his collection, so he is especially interested in elves, dwarves, gnomes, and other races that live long lives. Kobolds that worship a young blue dragon will kidnap interesting people they find in the world on the dragon's behalf.

[@ppk3882]

There's a young black dragon on the lowest tier of the Forge of Fury adventure (from Tales of the Yawning Portal). At first I thought it would just be a very tough encounter for the by-then 5th level PCs ... but after seeing this video I started wondering about its goals. To me it seems it just wants the entire forge for itself, without the orcs, troglodytes, and all the rest. If the PCs can give it a cleaned-out forge, it might be willing to part with a little bit of its treasure ... or become a long-term ally?

[@macoppy6571]

That time when Smaug and Strahd had a summer vacation fling, broke up, and now the Party is stuck in the middle.

[@bullrusher77]

I was thinking of running a campaign with a setting that lots of dragons were everywhere and that there was an Adult Gold Dragon spying on other dragons secretly as a dog or another creature to make sure that they don't do anything bad, having a talking dog in the party would be interesting. Still don't know all of the ideas but I think it might be fun.

[@DiyEcoProjects]

Sounds cool... as an idea have the talking dog exhibit dragon like traites like, wanting to sit on gold. When attacks happen it sometimes starts coughing hacking up (until they remember cant fireball). Bit too nosey about players plans and interjects deep wisdom. Dog goes off for to do its own thing having a crap - - - and Explain to the party from now on, for some wierd reason you keep finding dead sheep and cows with chunks out of them. Have it swoosh over the tree line, the party not being abkle to see and wondering what it is, have this invisable force and situation follow them lol. Sometimes find dead NPCS with chunks out of them who have been rude to the party hahaha

[@colemccomas3922]

@@DiyEcoProjects Yeah, I was thinking of the dog keeping more of a secretive nature with the dog acting more as a dog for a while until it starts talking and then if the Dog ever gets attacked then they will figure out it is not a normal dog. For the breed I was thinking a Golden Lab (because golden dragon) and if things ever got too tough the Golden Dragon would reveal his true colors and change back into a dragon to save the party. Also having the dog saying that it is actually a dragon to throw off the party would be funny as well(unless of they caught on early).

[@CJ-hh3gx]

Very good information. I think this is a much better use of dragons.

[@LordOfFlies]

A adult white dragon has recently become a real menace on the dragon societies. The white dragon is a cannibal and eats other dragons, a act that is considered truly foul by all dragonkind. Even though the white dragon still is young, the eating of other dragons seem to increase the aging and power gaining process drastically. A worried dragon tasks the party to help the other dragons stop this cannibal by gathering intel and coming up with a plan for them then to enact with the help of other dragons.

[@danielleenglish2092]

In my campaign one of my PCs looted a crystal dagger off a high rank cultist. She doesn't know yet that the dagger is actually a crystal dragon. Sometimes the dagger will light up or warm up when danger is near. At some point during a moment of extreme danger I'm going to have the dagger transform and save the PC.

[@kief453]

Ah the timing! Right when I'm preparing a dragon fight!

[@commiedeer]

Odd, I thought I just heard an Australian voice shouting "But what about Dragons?" Anyway good video, something I will have to consider if I ever do fantasy again.

[@toritori2323]

I understood that reference! But in all honesty, Shadiversity is an excellent ressource for medieval life and Castles in particular. Got a lot of inspirations from his videos, especially how castle defenses work, or what 'real' tavern were like.

[@NevisYsbryd]

@@toritori2323 Shad is a decent introductory resource on castles, and generally mediocre to bad on everything else historical.

[@commiedeer]

@@NevisYsbryd Still better then MatPat at least.

[@commiedeer]

@@toritori2323 Shad's not bad. Not perfect but not bad either. Especially since I've seen that he applies the same enthusiasm for medieval history to tabletop roleplaying which is great. He is definitely the kind of player I'd want at my table.

[@zzervas1]

I always like the idea that the map as we know it would be based on dragon territories, so while countries might have changed and evolved, the original divide of land was done by dragons and some still run countries and territories. These people are my resource to exploit type attitude.

[@lordleedom]

Been DMing a Drakewarden-Only campaign for around 4 months now. They managed to escape a dragon hunting Terminator by fleeing into the Feywild. Fell straight into a Black Dragon's leprechaun hunting ground.

[@seanbreen5346]

I came up with an interesting idea for a dragon: A young Red Dragon seeking power and wealth, attempted to steal from a kings tomb. An ancient Brass Dragon witnessing this, cursed the red dragon, shackling him, and forcing him to protect the tomb he sought to rob. The red dragon sends his mouthpiece to the party, requesting they find the one relic that can break the curse put on him, and free him from his eternal servitude.

[@MrRourk]

Or have a nice House of Dragon Game - Midderlands Setting + Barrow Keep Den of Spies + Keep on the Borderlands = lots of castle backstabbing and intrigue. Wyvern Riders and Rookery Optional.

[@Neophoia]

I'm actually playing a solo campaign atm where my PC is a dragon. It's using the book "Dragon Flight" by C2Gaming, and if one wants to play a dragon I would highly recommend it. The dragon I play is a wyrmling, and she finds tea and pottery extremely interesting, currently being on the lookout to find skilled potters to help expand her collection of tea wear. She recently while on an outing assisted a group with clearing out an old mine, because the construction company that was hired to remodel said mine had problems with an ooze infestation, and in return the boss of the company offered that if ever she needed anything built or fixed up they would do it at a fraction of their usual charges.

[@benlowes6470]

Would never have thought to go this way with handling dragons, really interesting to think about

[@MrTohma88]

In an ancient animated movie from the early 80s called The Flight of Dragons they said dragons used gold for their beds because it was more comfortable. I’m going back in the old memory banks so I may be wrong but it’s a good excuse for hoarding gold either way

[@jamescollette1296]

The dragon I've been using goes by the name Galathyon (or Galas Yonne, but I'll get to that in a bit). Essentially, a long story made short, chose a territory near a major port city ran by corrupt baron who was selling his own people into slavery and would regularly make shady deals with pirates, brigands, and an underwater city of sahuagin. For an evil dragon this place might have been a veritable paradise. The problem is that this was a bronze dragon. The city didn't last too long at that point. Within a decade or two, he had effectively become a sort of Batman-like figure, but to the point it scared the crap out of the civilian populace and started ruling with an iron fist over them as well. Soon, they started a sort of cult to try to appease that dragon and a sort of shaman-like religion started taking root. All of this was about 50 years ago. Now, Galathyon runs an underground spy network through a local tavern, has several clans of kobolds working under him (actually a really long and awkward story for a bronze dragon), several neighboring kingdoms now hating his guts and wanting him dead, and now has effectively declared a war on the Marid for slaying one of their sultans in a fit of rage. Oh, and he is nearing the beginning of an all-out war with those past pirates the baron worked with in the past and that baron is now a phantom creature working alongside them after being slain so many years ago. All the while, Galathyon has grown a gambling habit due to frequenting so many underground dens and other underbellies of scum, and as a result has to use an alias under the name of Galas Yonne to gather intelligence and sneak into locations unseen. I still have no idea how nobody has figured this out, but it might do with the fact that most people do not even know the dragon's actual name. They simply call him by his nicknames: the Scarlet Star (for the color of lightning breath: red), the Pirate's Dread, and the Hunter (for his ability to disappear on the spot despite his massive size and track people down almost anywhere)

[@beverleybee1309]

I have an npc character that is a young adult red dragon. His common name is FireStrike. He is currently going around and killing the most ancient of dragons and taking their heart stones. He places them in a armored harness he believes will make him an immortal dracolich. Of course, the truths behind it all must be discovered, and the dragon rescued. Or slain.

[@arkdeniz]

A city state that retains its independence from the bigger kingdoms that surround it for two reasons. First, it is on top of a hard to climb plateau. Second, because an old red dragon lives in its own city-like complex of caverns within the plateau. The humans think they live in a symbiotic relationship with a protector. The dragon knows it has been playing a city builder game for centuries.

[@gordymc5777]

How have I only just listened to all of this lol amazing content Guy! Much love!

[@MikChaos]

Young black dragon who is searching out ghosts in an effort to get them to prematurely age him so that he can become more powerful quicker.

[@macoppy6571]

Dragons: putting the "Fun" in "Fundamentals", since 1974

[@TheStrangerIII]

I have young adult red that came to my world after sending his younger years fighting in gith vs. Mind war. He has been testing the party and recently had them kill a rival dragon.

[@BubblewrapHighway]

Dragons ARE awesome. I worship Peryite, the Lord of Pestilence and Taskmaster of Oblivion. My daily ritual is to clean my apt and his tiny green plastic figurine sits atop my outdated globe. 💚

[@DiyEcoProjects]

Hi... as a DM i placed a baby Yellow dragon caught in some washed up netting on the beach (a member of our party is feeling left out of strong abilities and is a mage) So far weve role played rescuing it, discovering what it eats, what types of abilities it has. Jumps 8ft along, jumps 5 ft up. Will be able to attack Beak, claw-claw. Cant fly yet. Will be able to talk when its older. Its about 5yrs old. The ages ive chosen to make go like 5-10(dog size) 10-25(16yrs breath, ride horse size)25-130(19yrs adult teen can ride and fly)-240(21yrs adult)-1700. So effectively Her PC will be able to fly her dragon 25yrs from now, putting her character around 48yrs old. Im asking her to train the baby with voice commands and discover what it able to do. Has squirrel like abilities. Wonderful scene where i describe her coming back to the boat thinking it had gone missing. Only to find it basking on its back in some of the sails, like a hammock. Little claws over the edge, and when she arrives running up to her like a dog would and going "Eep" wiggling. Unwanted Attention: new game scenarios of "ok so you have this bonded dragon, its not like you can walk around with them unnoticed" Other people might want him / other people are scared / other people want its body parts for potions / Kids want to pet him or trty and steal him. So Alba has taken to riding on her shoulders for now tucked behind her head inside a hood. When travelling in the wilderness, it likes to sleep looking out over the side of her hood, actiing like a (bag). Im enjoying this situation just as much as our player. I also have more dragons who tend to stay out of each others way. They enjoy twartiing the other dragons plans as a form of sport. Plans involving nations going to war with others, gathering resources and commanding areas. If something major is happening its probably to do with a dragon, or an evil mage who thinking they have a dragon under thier command. I have a Red Dragon teamed up with a mage, and White Dragon they party will need to convince to get involved and help stop them. But how can you find the white dragon, and will they even listen to the pleas of ants. p.s. how old do you allow your players characters to become??? in reality medieval times people got married and became kings&queens at 12yrs, and most died at 35yrs, royal 48yrs

[@I.Re-em]

cool video, and I believe you say "third edition point five"

[@jellyfishhunter]

In my setting dragons control half a continent for themselves. The most powerful of them strive for godhood. They do that by immersing themselves into certain aspects befitting for them. Some of them start wars to achieve total domination, others want to achieve great wisdom and collect knowledge or they simply amass huge piles of gold by stealing it from their dwarven neighbors. They even go as far as to design and steer the civilizations which work for them across many generations. For example warring dragons settle in rough territory and employ a warrior culture so their people become tough soldiers.

[@destinyotto3201]

I love bronze dragonborn, but I love blue dragons

[@captainthorrek262]

A copper dragon who's obsessed with technological R&D, and used their hoard to finance plane-hopping... maybe even worked on the Manhattan Project.

[@edwarduribe2910]

I am doing just that with an adult female blue dragon with a new party. They are loving the change taking jobs from the creature who has created a thieves guild and has taken over an old stone giant keep in a mountain as her home base and starter community as she readies her eggs to hatch. It's proving fun...

[@DiyEcoProjects]

Nice one, tjhats cool. What would the other dragons think about this situation? would they present a threat to her plans? Are other adverturers tasked with killing her? What back up plans does she have for escape? Is shes loyal to the party or just using them a meat? What spell combinations does she want to learn and why? whats does she need? - all the best

[@davidanddragons5339]

I've been writing a late game adventure where an ancient black dragon became incredibly bored and he gets off on torturing and killing heroes. He has his cult kidnap the princess of the kingdom and leave a map to the swamp. Little do the heroes know that the swamp is filled with tons of traps such as bear traps under the black swamp water combined with oil that lights the PCs on fire. After a large number of ambushes and tricks. Eventually they find the black dragon's Tower and have to climb to the top, where the princess is being kept. While the characters are running up the dragon is mostly breath weaponing them through windows and the cult has rigged the bottom of the tower to blow. The adventure is over the top but it's bound to be intense. The dragon is kind of like the joker. He really loves torturing the characters and isn't as interested in money

[@RylanBones1]

Looking sharp, Guy!

[@jortmungandr1112]

brilliant exposition this time aroun.d SUPER useful vid for the climactic final act of my Tiamat campaign. players are having a blast so far and this is terrific content to help prep for the final encounter. Any advice for running Tiamat in particular?

[@russelljacob7955]

I do one thing quite different with dragons in my game. With rewards and tasks, you sort of touched on it. But for me, it starts with one thing -A dragon will not see the world the way the PCs do- Even a very young dragon is more intelligent than most humans. Ignorant and intelligent. They think in centuries for plans. Their power exceeding the mightiest of warriors. Those stronger than a dragon? Rarer than a dragon. So when I play a dragon NPC? How they speak and think is in grand terms. The players are little infants. This goes along with how you pointed out thar great quests are too tedious to be worth their time or just too difficult because just the presence in a city can shake great kingdoms. Grand treasures? mere baubles. Dragons are feared/praised and even worshiped on par with gods. Famous dragons known across the world. So when you GM a dragon? Make that reputation be well earned!

[@Sellesion]

When discussing the Ancient Dragons and how they would have the potential to be smarter, patient enough to out wait their opponents to get what they want, and collect things that are unique I thought of this: An ancient Crystal dragon living in a very large mountain cavern. The PCs approach in the dark, the dragon almost radiates with a blue hue, which is refracted in Frost and ice crystals that cover the space. She is taken with the players, they are unique heros with grand stories of their own. The PCs likely have a favor to ask or want an item from her hoard. The dragons voice echos as if from a distant plane, radiating like an omniscient presence. She tells them, after some persuasion, "I will give you what you seek. But in return you must give me yourselves. " The DM of such an encounter could decide exactly what she means by that, but in my mind the players have to come up with a creative way to give themselves to her. Such as making a simulacrum or clone, entrusting their bodies to her if they die, copying all their memories and stories into a magic book or orb for her to enjoy, or making a Warlock Pact with her and living in service.

[@ajdynon]

I still like the idea of (evil) dragons hoarding gold and other valuables due to their mythical symbolism as greed incarnate.

[@Daves_Not_Here_Man_76]

The local young green dragon was embarassed and shamed by a traveling band of gnomes. Her petty revenge sends the party on a wild goose chase across the continent. The gnomes have an airship with an experimental power plant derived from imprisoning a beholder inside a miniature spelljammer ship. What could possibly go wrong?

[@MyWoWAccount100]

This is good video ty much!

[@gordymc5777]

loved this video!

[@kimdoolin3002]

Why are dragons awesome, because they are dragons. Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk, end of video 😂

[@merxanity1625]

Something a lot of people forget too is that dragons, even in their statblock, are vastly smarter than most PC's. If you aren't playing them that way, you are doing it wrong. The only ones I can forgive that on is Reds and Whites, for their respective alpha and unga bunga tendencies, though I would still argue an Ancient White should be more than a cold scaly wrecking ball.

[@leahl5007]

How dare you make that title exist. 😂😋

[@galinor7]

Why are Dragons awesome. Because one is on our national Flag.🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Ours anyway.

[@DarinMcGrew]

Have you ever discussed the other kind of dragon, the figurative dragon who is the big bad's right hand man? An example would be Gentleman Dave Turner in the western movie Forsaken.

[@anathema1828]

Dragon-ho!

[@bigsarge2085]

👍👍

[@dirtywhitellama]

Dragons are powerful NPCs, not monster of the week. Although you could make an interesting monster of the week game out of a group of elves hired to guard a dragon's egg...for the 3 centuries it takes to hatch....

[@jeffreybomba]

First!

[@remingtonwright6796]

dragons in my setting reproduce sexually, but have both sets of genitalia, but can only "bring forth" (as it were) one at a time. As a result, they are non-binary or genderfluid, but it goes a step further in their culture. Gender identity is so alien a concept to them, that they mostly don't even know what it means. If you ask a dragon how they identify, they will mostly likely tell you their name, or that they're a dragon. gender to them is a human construct that they neither understand, nor indulge.