Does Metallic Dragons Believe In Mercy?

[Bartmanhomer]

I know that metallic dragons are good. But I feel like that metallic dragons will kill anything that evil. (Mostly chromatic dragons.) So I'm asking does metallic dragons believe in mercy or sparing lives?

[noob]

I know that metallic dragons are good. But I feel like that metallic dragons will kill anything that evil. (Mostly chromatic dragons.) So I'm asking does metallic dragons believe in mercy or sparing lives?

It depends on which one.
The ones I threw into a redeemery believes in mercy.
Because without mercy you become evil very swiftly and thus you have to be thrown into a redeemery.

[Jeraa]

I know that metallic dragons are good. But I feel like that metallic dragons will kill anything that evil. (Mostly chromatic dragons.) So I'm asking does metallic dragons believe in mercy or sparing lives?

You are essentially asking something along the lines of "Do humans believe in mercy?" or "Do elves like cake?". That is something that can't be answered as a whole. It would depend on the individual dragon's personal views. Good-aligned creatures may believe in mercy, or they may not. They may believe in mercy for some but not others. It is a question that can't really be answered for good dragons as a whole, but on an individual basis.

[tyckspoon]

In traditional D&D alignment, Evil is to be destroyed and is not worthy of mercy - allowing it to exist is the same as encouraging Evil in the world. So, I'd say they are at best not inclined to grant mercy to anything that would ping strongly on Detect Evil - Undead, Always Evil creatures, fiends, Clerics and Paladins of Evil gods, etc. Such beings are active agents of Evil and should be removed from the world for the literal Good of all.

For enemies who are not already fully dedicated to Evil (they may be alignment evil, but they're not aligned with the divine/cosmic force of Evil) mercy is a possibility, but you are not required to grant it just because you're Good, or to offer your foes a chance to surrender in every battle; if somebody takes up arms against you or against those beings or things you want to protect, you can kill them. If they realize they are overmatched and offer to surrender in good faith, then a Good being should at least consider it, since mercy and a belief in the sanctity of life are Good-related concepts. But again, just because you're Good does not mean you're required to accept every surrender, or that you can't take preventative measures to make sure those you do spare don't violate their parole, or go ahead and kill 'em anyway when the DM tries to be sneaky and has them steal your stuff and run away in the night or try to attack you while you're dealing with a random encounter.

[gkathellar]

But I feel like that metallic dragons will kill anything that evil.

What gives you that impression?

[Deophaun]

In traditional D&D alignment, Evil is to be destroyed and is not worthy of mercy
Nothing is worthy of mercy by definition. That's what makes it mercy; you are not giving that which is richly deserved. If you only displayed mercy to the worthy, you wouldn't be merciful.

[Psyren]

I know that metallic dragons are good. But I feel like that metallic dragons will kill anything that evil. (Mostly chromatic dragons.) So I'm asking does metallic dragons believe in mercy or sparing lives?

There's evil and there's Evil. The idea is that, aside from things that are supernaturally held to a particular outlook (like fiends and undead), everyone has a shot, so you should judge the individual and not the race. This goes for dragons too, though of course they are less likely than most to want to be "saved."

[Resileaf]

I would assume that metallic dragons will give mercy to mortals when they feel inclined to, or if they wish to give a lesson without involving themselves into their affairs too strongly...

But I think it's stated that metallic dragons will always kill chromatic dragons they encounter. I'm fairly sure that the hatred between reds and golds always results in the death of one side because neither will ever allow the other to leave alive.

[Thurbane]

It also depends a lot on the DM in charge. Some will play Metallic dragons as de-facto "kill evil on sight" Paladin types; others will play them as zen and benevolent philosophers.

Varies by specific type too, of course. Some are playful pranksters, some are ultra serious enforcers of good.

[ezekielraiden]

I know that metallic dragons are good. But I feel like that metallic dragons will kill anything that evil. (Mostly chromatic dragons.) So I'm asking does metallic dragons believe in mercy or sparing lives?

The answer depends on both setting and DM. Eberron dragons can be of any alignment, for example. And even in a setting that leans heavily into the "dragon type corresponds to alignment perfectly," it is still implicitly within the DM's purview to make individual dragons differ. (Even Gary did this back in the day, complete with defying MM entries labelled "always chaotic evil.") This gets tangled fast though, as it becomes fantasy racism to label all dragons automatic allies if they're one color and automatic enemies if they're another. If they do have the ability to choose, many DMs find cognitive dissonance in the idea that they can be KOS.

Most of the time, it seems DMs who don't like the dissonance prefer to defy the expectation, making (stereotypical) gold and silver dragons into vicious Knight Templar types (or even just Blood Knights with nothing but racism to back up their hollow assertions of moral superiority), and making chromatic dragons just bigger more dangerous versions of tieflings (misunderstood and hated, so they "have" to resort to dirty tactics and manipulation just to survive, etc.) And I can see why they choose to, though I find all too often it comes across not as "light is not good and dark is not evil" (which is a perfectly cromulent message), and instead feels like "there is no such thing as goodness and anyone who claims otherwise is THE WORST FOREVER, and I will PROVE it by making every so-called 'good' NPC unambiguously vile!!"

I have a proto-setting that inverts this, embracing the alignment thing and trying to find a reason why that would be true. In this setting, dragons are celestial beings. All the gods are dragons, and their "angel" servitors are other, lesser dragons; dragon "eggs" are just rocks until a celestial spirit--whether newly-spun by Bahamut or Tiamat, or an old one returning to physical life after being "slain"--comes to claim it. This explains most draconic physiology and ecology (e.g. why their populations remain mostly flat, why they don't decimate animal populations to feed themselves, etc.) And because metallic and chromatics (originally prismatics) were created personally by Bahamut and Tiamat respectively (the only ones of Dead Io's children who received the gift of creating new souls), they are each metaphysically bound to their progenitor. So when Tiamat, who was supposed to rule the pantheon, fell into madness and corruption, their brood followed. There are no more of the noble Ruby dragons, only their fallen counterparts, Red dragons, etc. A Red or Blue (etc) dragon is as inherently evil as a devil or demon would be, its physical form defined by its spiritual nature.

So...yeah. It all depends. If I were DMing a classic setting, chromatic dragons would have serious problems with being good because their instinct is to (a) control, (b) destroy, or (c) expulse, in that order, all other beings, and they were created that way because Tiamat genuinely believes that is the best way to live. In other words, exceptions to this pattern would be like Paarthurnax from Skyrim, beings who have through effort and meditation tried to control and channel their instincts into other behavior. So, while it wouldn't be automatic KOS status...the vast majority of the time, if you encounter a red dragon not living a life of austere seclusion, you have every right to be suspicious, and behavior inconsistent with "I'm trying to be a good person" is a fairly reliable indicator of bad-ness. By that same token, though, a gold dragon can easily become a tyrant if it isn't , which is why they don't tend to live among people. (Silvers do, but never in positions of authority, etc.) A gold acting substantially outside the instincts Bahamut gave it is just as likely as a red acting outside the instincts given by Tiamat.

[jintoya]

Metallic dragons are good, but as I understand it, while they follow certain guidelines, at the end of the day they are still individuals, so it likely varies from dragon to dragon, and DM to DM.

Metallica dragons on the other hand never show mercy

[thoroughlyS]

The draconic goddess Tamara (Draconomicon p.35, Races of the Dragon p.157) is the lesser deity of life, light, and mercy. She's described as a silver dragon, which makes the most sense because they are frequently described as the kindest variety. Her continued existence leads to the idea that she has at least some followers, who presumably follow her dogma.