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Gmdirewolfe Posted - 29 Sep 2014 : 18:18:52
I was wondering if anyone knew what dragons eat. Obviously they are more then willing to devour their adversaries if need be, but what about on a day to day basis. It seems to me a creature of that relative size would require quite a bit of sustenance each day, and it would certainly be a plague on the land if they had to destroy a village each day in order to eat it's inhabitants. That also poses a question about Chromatic Dragons specifically, since they are traditionally of Good Alignment they would not partake in such feeding frenzies, and would be subject possibly to coming the forest in search of deer, and a lot of them at that, each day to gain their nourishment. Thanks.
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sleyvas Posted - 15 Jan 2021 : 14:31:04
quote:
Originally posted by Ayrik

My understanding is that dragons also like to eat gems and precious metals. Not a lot, especially since these things are so valuable. But they do enjoy the taste and somehow digest these things in some quantity. The 2E Draconomicon speculates this is necessary for hardening their scales and fuelling their magical energy.

On a related topic, dragon metabolism is described as magically 100% efficient. Their biology does not produce or eliminate any waste, they leave no spoor for hunters to track.
Perhaps the best way to explain this impossibility is that their waste products are somehow transmuted into fuel for breath weapons. (Which is mildly alarming when you consider that dragons can eat a cow, a horse, or a few adventurers in a single meal. That's a lot of mass to burn.)



Kind of a side topic, but its stuff like this and the amount of gems used in magic, etc... that makes me wonder if Toril doesn't produce more gems and precious metals than our own world, but they get consumed in one form or another. I also wonder if gems on Toril don't reach much larger sizes than we would ever see here (i.e. a chunk of amethyst that might be the size of a kobold not being out of the ballpark, or quartz crystals the size of a carriage, etc...).
SaMoCon Posted - 15 Jan 2021 : 04:45:28
Quoting from the FR wiki:
quote:
All dragons were omnivorous and could eat almost anything,[31] thanks to their innate elemental nature that allowed them to consume and digest all sorts of food, including substances that wouldn't qualify as food to other living creatures.[32] Most dragons preferred a carnivorous diet, but a few of them had developing unique dietary habits. Metallic dragons, for instance, preferred to eat primarily inorganic fare.[31]

The great "spellwyrm" Helgaldegar believed that each dragon had its own "unique body chemistry" so that their specific, individualized diet would effect their longevity, vigor natural proficiency for casting magic and proclivity for other activities.[33]

Most dragons usually consumed half their own weight in meat every day. Dragons seldom got fat, as their bodies converted all the eaten food into elemental energy, storing it for later use. Much of this stored energy was expended using their breath weapons and when their bodies changed because of them advancing in age.[31] When eating inorganic materials, dragons needed to eat as much as its own body weight per day to maintain healthy bodies.[32]

In some instances, dragons also ate magic items. These instances were rare however. While dragons could "inherit" the magical properties of some magic items for a day or so, and as such this would had some tactical value, few dragons would resort to do such a thing unless they were starving to the point of death.[34]
The citations in parentheses are as follows:
31 - Andy Collins, James Wyatt, and Skip Williams (November 2003). Draconomicon: The Book of Dragons. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 10. ISBN 0-7869-2884-0.
32 - Bruce R. Cordell, Ari Marmell and Robert J. Schwalb (November 2008). Draconomicon: Chromatic Dragons. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 12. ISBN 978-0786949809.
33 - Ed Greenwood (2014-07-23). The Spellwyrm's Search. Forging the Realms. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2014-08-02. Retrieved on 2017-08-27.
34 - Bruce R. Cordell, Ari Marmell and Robert J. Schwalb (November 2008). Draconomicon: Chromatic Dragons. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 12–13. ISBN 978-0786949809.

That underlined part about unique dietary habits stood out to me as a way of saying that individual dragons develop their own tastes. And now I have an idea for an ostensibly "good" metallic dragon that has a sweet-tooth for devouring "long pig."
Zeromaru X Posted - 07 Jan 2021 : 01:36:26
Perhaps all that mass is sent to their fundamentuns? Or that was retconned later... I'm going to check the 3e and 4e Draconimicons to check out.
Ayrik Posted - 06 Jan 2021 : 22:58:15
My understanding is that dragons also like to eat gems and precious metals. Not a lot, especially since these things are so valuable. But they do enjoy the taste and somehow digest these things in some quantity. The 2E Draconomicon speculates this is necessary for hardening their scales and fuelling their magical energy.

On a related topic, dragon metabolism is described as magically 100% efficient. Their biology does not produce or eliminate any waste, they leave no spoor for hunters to track.
Perhaps the best way to explain this impossibility is that their waste products are somehow transmuted into fuel for breath weapons. (Which is mildly alarming when you consider that dragons can eat a cow, a horse, or a few adventurers in a single meal. That's a lot of mass to burn.)
Zeromaru X Posted - 06 Jan 2021 : 16:30:49
3e Draconomicon states dragons are omnivorous, in the literal sense of the world. They can eat and draw sustenance from anything, thanks to their fundamentun (the magical organ that allows the elemental breath). It's even stated they can even eat rocks if the necessity arises. They can also eat magic items, to acquire the magical propierties of such item (I don't recall if that magic has a time limit).

And as everyone has said, each individual dragon has their own tastes based in their species and personalities. I recommend that book (or either the ones from 4e)
Delnyn Posted - 06 Jan 2021 : 03:11:27
quote:
Originally posted by Fellfire

Off the top of my head, I recall a few craving sea food. Clams, kuo-tuo, sharks,whales, I don't know. Some of them definitely gorge themselves on gems and precious metals. I believe they can digest most anything. I imagine, much like a monster constrictor, they can go for a very long time I between meals unless they're just being rapacious.



Bronze dragons love seafood, especially sharks. Whether their love for shark flesh extends to sahuagin is a question potentially more suitable for the thread about Eating Intelligent Foes. If I remember correctly, deep dragons love aboleth and kuo-toa as "seafood" as well.

Copper dragons hunt and eat giant scorpions. Their digestive systems handle the venom just fine, although copper dragons possess no particular immunity to venom. Ask a copper dragon and it will tell you giant scorpion venom sharpens their wit. Feel free to ask a copper dragon if it is jesting with you.

Gold dragons definitely love gems and percious metals. They graciously accept such gifts, so long as you don't not present them a blatant bribes, for which you will receive a cynical reaction.
Wooly Rupert Posted - 06 Jan 2021 : 02:24:32
*sigh* That's the second spammer linking to that site, this week...

The banhammer has been dropped upon them. Dalor, feel free to remove that URL from your quote.
Dalor Darden Posted - 06 Jan 2021 : 01:06:16
quote:
Originally posted by Nahid

Is really fire-breathing dragon exist in our universe ?

No fantasy world is complete without a legendary creature, like a fire-breathing dragon . A good mix between an eagle with horns and a centaur with scales and sharp claws. But if dragons were real, how could they have that fiery breath?

Nature seems to have all the elements a dragon needs to breathe fire. Creatures only need a few chemicals, a few microbes, and maybe the principles of a little desert fish that we'll see later.

I found a very effective article about fire-breathing dragon : Does a fire-breathing dragon really exist?




This feels "off" to me to say the least.

EDIT:

I hope thy hammer hast resounded upon their innards and squashed them.
Dragon Slayer Posted - 27 Nov 2019 : 23:51:19
I think different kinds of dragons eat different kinds of food.

Clearly most dragons from Western mythology are carnivore and even enjoy a few crunchy humans for dinner when possible .
However Asian dragons are much nicer to mankind and some of them only eat plants.

I read a pretty good article on that topic: What do dragons eat?.
Their calculation of how much dragons eat seems exaggerated though.
George Krashos Posted - 30 Sep 2014 : 04:02:20
Ed's Wyrms articles make it clear that dragons like different things. Some love orcs, others prefer frost giants. The lesser metallics like particular ores. I think it varies quite simply in terms of both availability and choice.

-- George Krashos
Fellfire Posted - 29 Sep 2014 : 22:40:34
Off the top of my head, I recall a few craving sea food. Clams, kuo-tuo, sharks,whales, I don't know. Some of them definitely gorge themselves on gems and precious metals. I believe they can digest most anything. I imagine, much like a monster constrictor, they can go for a very long time I between meals unless they're just being rapacious.
Wooly Rupert Posted - 29 Sep 2014 : 21:11:28
The 2E Monstrous Compendiums were great for that kind of info... I'd imagine that the more in-depth sources for later editions, like the various books named The Draconomicon, would have the relevant info, as well.
Kentinal Posted - 29 Sep 2014 : 18:25:37
Well I am not sure of FR canon of a typical diet for a dragon, however I offer the following.

Deer, Cattle, horse and in general bu preference anything that weighs 100 pounds or more, this though not to say they clearly will eat smaller items for flavor or preference. Some tasty fish, chicken etc.
I will also offer idea that Dragons do eat plants as well, that they do not have a meat only diet. So many of Dragons in human shape clearly eat fruits and vegetables.

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