Dragons of Blackmoor

[Zeromaru X]

Hi, guys. I'm here with a few questions.

Dragons is why I like D&D, so when I become interested in a campaign world, I eventually began to study about the dragons of that world. Now that my campaign about the Temple of the Frog is going to end (and I have to update my post here about it), is time for some lore of Blackmorian dragons. Thing is, there is no much lore about them in the 4e and d20 Blackmoor books.

So, my questions:
-What makes Blackmoor dragons different to dragons of other worlds? (such Greyhawk or the Realms)
-Are there any unique blackmoorian races of dragons? Or only the classic ones?
-What about their society? if they have one.
-Is there any lore about the dragon gods besides what is said the books I have?

Thanks in advance!

[bobjester]

Hi Zeromaru X, and welcome to the Comeback Inn! 8)

I might be in the minority here about what I am about to recommend, but, that is precisely why I want to recommend it; no one else might. :wink:

Dave Arneson came up with a random Dragon generator for Adventures in Fantasy, but this is not a product that is easily found. I happened across a physical copy - literally a xeroxed copy of it.

Now, the thing with AiF's system, is that it is barely compatible with D&D at worst, or at best, it is a system with a lot of Dave Arneson's add-on ideas. But Dave's dragon generator was such a spring-board for randomly created dragons, that compelled others to create other random dragon generators, which I did, following a DFer named EGPalmer.

Unfortunately, I cannot locate my PDF of this document, but I'll keep looking at alternate file caches, and if I find it, I'll come back & post a link to My Google docs. :oops:

[Havard]

That is an excellent point Bobjester!

We love the Adventures in Fantasy here at the Comeback Inn, warts and all. Hardly a perfect RPG, but I totally agree that this is a game worth mining for Dave Arneson ideas and concepts. The Dragon Generator allows you to design dragons with different body types, different head shapes, wings, wingless, tails etc. I think this is a sign that all of Dave Arneson's Dragons were visually unique. This is very different from how later editions came to standardize the appearance of each type of dragon, at least through art direction.

I have quite a bit on Blackmoor's dragons lying around, but will have to get back to work so will post that later

-Havard

[Zeromaru X]

Thank you both for the answer.

So, for what it seems, dragons in Blackmoor are unique compared to that of other worlds... at least in the visuals.

I'll wait for the infos you can post

[Havard]

Cross-posted from The Piazza:


At one point, I was planning on a series of artices on the Dragons of Blackmoor as a follow-up to my series on the Demons of Blackmoor that I posted on my blog. I only have time for a short reply right now, but will be back with more later on.

So, my questions:
-What makes Blackmoor dragons different to dragons of other worlds? (such Greyhawk or the Realms)
-Are there any unique blackmoorian races of dragons? Or only the classic ones?

Dragons were always an important race on Blackmoor. They were allies and enemies, involved in all the key conflicts of Dave Arneson's Campaign. According to the D20 Sourcebook, another unique feature is that the Dragon Gods walk around on the world of Blackmoor and don't have a separate home plane. Visually, Blackmoorian dragons have a wide range of appearance. Some are lizardlike, others serpentine and yet others seem more humanoid (See Bobjester's comments above)

Two types of Dragons exist in Blackmoor that are rare or unheard of on other worlds. These are the Grey Dragons and the Brown Dragons.

-What about their society? if they have one.

Dragons are similar on all worlds in that they like to hoard treasure and seek out isolation. But Blackmoor dragons have always been willing to serve the mortal forces in their conflicts as well. Some are allied with the Egg of Coot and its demonic forces, while others have chosen to ally themselves with the Kingdom of Blackmoor and unique individuals such as the Wizard of the Woods.

Dragon Names, as they are spoken in the language of Dragons is incredibly difficult for mortals to pronounce. The people of Blackmoor with their typical sense of humor have adapted a tradition of giving Dragons their own names in the style that they would normally name their house cats. Gertie, Sophie and Tuffy are some of the better known dragons of Blackmoor, but don't let their names fool you into thinking they could not turn you into a quick roast :twisted:

Since Blackmoor came to be before the current Alignment system, I suggest using the conventions from the AD&D Mystara Monstrous Compendium Appendix for Dragon Alignments: Color determines the Law/Chaos axis, but the Good/Evil axis varies by individual.

-Is there any lore about the dragon gods besides what is said the books I have?

The Father of Dragons (later: Insellageth), , is briefly mentioned in the First Fantasy Campaign (1977) as is Gertrude (Tsartha). Gertrude is also mentioned in many of the unpublished tales from the original campaign although it was not known to the original players that she was a deity. Or perhaps she had not reached that status yet at that point.

I also wrote an article on my blog about the relationship between the Peshwah and the Dragon Gods, although this is not official.

-Havard

[Havard]

Here's an overview of the most famous Dragons of Blackmoor.

-Havard

[Hyrieus]

Am I missing something, but there's a mention of Purple dragons in the First Fantasy Campaign. It doesn't get much notice though. And I'm still fascinated by the idea of the Ran of An Foo breeding dragons (and building robots) again not much mentioned.

[aldarron]

Am I missing something, but there's a mention of Purple dragons in the First Fantasy Campaign. It doesn't get much notice though. And I'm still fascinated by the idea of the Ran of An Foo breeding dragons (and building robots) again not much mentioned.

Purple dragons are purple worms.

One of Arneson's ideas you don't see mentioned much is the idea of breeder dragons. Only a small percentage of dragons breed, and apparently only brown dragons breed. In any case the eggs of the breeder dragon can grow up to be any kind/color of dragon - they don't breed true to type.

[Zeromaru X]

Oh, that's pretty interesting. So, I guess that make the blackmoorian dragons pretty unique. Thanks for that little tidbit of info. :mrgreen:

[Hyrieus]

Are you sure Purple Dragons are mean't to be Purple Worms, I'm taking them from the Dragon list on page 61 of the revised First Fantasy Campaign, I know that's the Snider section and part of the Father of Dragons bit.

The dragon breeding part does get me thinking, what with Uther as King in the North, the Peshwah nomads, and Tosca Russ (Bride of Fire and Ice), presumably seizing the dragon farms in the invasion of Ten, it has some interesting hints of Game of Thrones.