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Lyiat
Seeker
91 Posts |
 Posted - 21 Oct 2014 : 06:22:02
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The 4e draconomicons changed some things about dragons around, including the apparent "goodness" of metallic dragons to a more aloof neutral. How cannon are these changes to the realms? Are the new added dragons, like Purple, Grey, Mercury, and Orium, wandering around Faerun?
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"Stand and deliver, that my hamster might have a better look at you." ~ Minsc |
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31701 Posts |
Posted - 21 Oct 2014 : 08:42:14
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The 4e Realms campaign books really didn't elaborate all that much on how the dynamics of alignments and/or "variant dragons" for dragonkind worked in the post-Spellplague era.
I'd say it's probably easiest to extrapolate from what we knew of stuff like variant dragon types and alignments among Realms dragons, from previous sources like Dragons of Faerūn, and go with what works for your own campaign. |
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George Krashos
Master of Realmslore
Australia
6645 Posts |
Posted - 21 Oct 2014 : 09:54:30
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The Realms has room for anything - as long as you provide an appropriate justification/reason in the lore. I find that 'magic' works well for most everything!
-- George Krashos |
"Because only we, contrary to the barbarians, never count the enemy in battle." -- Aeschylus |
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Markustay
Realms Explorer extraordinaire
USA
15724 Posts |
Posted - 21 Oct 2014 : 13:42:17
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Ed has always maintained that non-humans are NON-HUMAN. He has also maintained that in The Realms there really isn't any 'black & white', just a billion shades of grey. Thus, every human isn't 100% bad or good - they react differently depending upon the situation. Now apply that to the unknowable, alien nature of non-humans and it gets magnified a million-fold.
Thus, the Realms are NOT made-up of 'good' and 'bad' people/creatures, but rather, a plethora of individuals, each with their own agenda. How can something as powerful and unique as a dragon be anything other then 'complicated'? Metallic dragons have killed 'good' people because its served its purposes, and chromatic dragons occasionally help people, for their own mysterious reasons.
Reading some of Ed's Dragon articles is a good start; there really is no such thing as a 'good' or 'bad' dragon... it all depends on what mood you catch them in... and how useful you are.  |
"I have never in my life learned anything from any man who agreed with me" --- Dudley Field Malone
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Edited by - Markustay on 21 Oct 2014 13:43:01 |
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Gary Dallison
Great Reader
United Kingdom
6351 Posts |
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hashimashadoo
Master of Realmslore
United Kingdom
1150 Posts |
Posted - 21 Oct 2014 : 19:07:19
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Put very simply 4e designers didn't see much point in having a plethora of good monsters for PCs *not* to fight, so they made some of them less good.
This would work well in Eberron where most dragons are aloof and relatively neutral but not so much in the Forgotten Realms where non-good metallic dragons are in the minority (though they do indeed exist in significant (in terms of dragons) numbers). |
When life turns it's back on you...sneak attack for extra damage.
Head admin of the FR wiki:
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Bladewind
Master of Realmslore
Netherlands
1280 Posts |
Posted - 21 Oct 2014 : 19:14:11
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I found 4e's way of handling alignment pretty good on the role play side, but its mechanics (or lack there off) were a little too drastic of a departure from previous lore. The Unaligned alignment is far easier to convey than the awkward true neutral one, for example.
But emphasizing dragons inflated egos is a nice way to keep even encounters with 'goodly' metallic dragons appropriately tense. Interacting with a hungry 12 ton winged firebreathing lizard should be scary, no matter the color of its scales. |
My campaign sketches
Druidic Groves
Creature Feature: Giant Spiders |
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Diffan
Great Reader
USA
4429 Posts |
Posted - 21 Oct 2014 : 19:47:52
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quote:
Originally posted by Lyiat
The 4e draconomicons changed some things about dragons around, including the apparent "goodness" of metallic dragons to a more aloof neutral. How cannon are these changes to the realms? Are the new added dragons, like Purple, Grey, Mercury, and Orium, wandering around Faerun?
If I'm not mistaken, a lot of dragons were added during 3E's run too like Gem dragons. So I'm assuming that there's a good chance all the 4E ones are there too. |
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36779 Posts |
Posted - 21 Oct 2014 : 21:11:48
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quote:
Originally posted by Diffan
quote:
Originally posted by Lyiat
The 4e draconomicons changed some things about dragons around, including the apparent "goodness" of metallic dragons to a more aloof neutral. How cannon are these changes to the realms? Are the new added dragons, like Purple, Grey, Mercury, and Orium, wandering around Faerun?
If I'm not mistaken, a lot of dragons were added during 3E's run too like Gem dragons. So I'm assuming that there's a good chance all the 4E ones are there too.
Pretty sure most of those date back to 2E, actually. If there is one thing that has never been in short supply in this game, it's flavors of dragons and their kin. |
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31701 Posts |
Posted - 22 Oct 2014 : 03:38:48
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| Oh, yeah, gem dragons were introduced in 2e. Or, at least, that's as far back as I can recall ever first finding info about them and then wanting to desperately include them in one of my games. |
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Zhoth'ilam Folio -- The Electronic Misadventures of a Rambling Sage |
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36779 Posts |
Posted - 22 Oct 2014 : 05:00:20
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quote:
Originally posted by The Sage
Oh, yeah, gem dragons were introduced in 2e. Or, at least, that's as far back as I can recall ever first finding info about them and then wanting to desperately include them in one of my games.
... The sad thing is, he put including gem dragons on his To-Do List... So he's still not gotten to it! |
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31701 Posts |
Posted - 22 Oct 2014 : 09:34:22
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quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
quote:
Originally posted by The Sage
Oh, yeah, gem dragons were introduced in 2e. Or, at least, that's as far back as I can recall ever first finding info about them and then wanting to desperately include them in one of my games.
... The sad thing is, he put including gem dragons on his To-Do List... So he's still not gotten to it!
Funnily enough, it did take me over a year to finally work a gem dragon into my campaign, so... |
Candlekeep Forums Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
http://www.candlekeep.com -- Candlekeep Forum Code of Conduct
Scribe for the Candlekeep Compendium -- Volume IX now available (Oct 2007)
"So Saith Ed" -- the collected Candlekeep replies of Ed Greenwood
Zhoth'ilam Folio -- The Electronic Misadventures of a Rambling Sage |
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4E and it's Draconomicons
