What gets these dragons out of bed in the morning?

[Ion]

So, I've been smooshing a bunch of adventures set around Phandalin together (Lost Mines of Phandelver, Dragons of Icespire Peak and the Forge of Fury being relevant for the moment) because they've each got a dragon!

I've sort of set up this territory struggle between these three young dragons trying to get established, Cryovain at Icespire Hold, Venomfang in Thundertree and Nightscale under the Stone Tooth in the Starmetal Hills... so the Players know the three exist and have seen the world be changed by the presence of these dragons without directly confronting them yet.

Their stats and stuff are all up in the air and I'll figure it out when my players are ready to face off against each one-- the part that is tripping me up in the moment is thinking about what motivates them. What makes these three dragons into characters? What do they like / hate / want / need?

Sure they have instincts... I think in the same way beavers instinctually build damns and lodges, dragons must build lairs and hoard treasures; but beyond that, what do you think gets them out of bed in the morning?

[Amnestic]

I have zero experience with the three adventures in question, so...

Being exceedingly literal with names, Cryovain is extremely...vain. They don't wish to merely be known of. They wish to be feared. They wish to respected. People should be in awe of them. They are a dragon after all, far beyond the strength of any mere mortals. Beyond merely wanting a hoard of coins or gems or art, they want a hoard of worshippers, people who pay tribute to the Great and Mighty Cryovain! As such, their ego is easily fluffed, and a party who pays deference (truthful or otherwise) may find it easier to navigate a conversation. Maybe they have disadvantage on Insight checks to see if it's false praise. Likewise, insults, mockery or showing a lack of respect receives exceedingly harsh responses - though perhaps they prefer to break people and turn them into loyal followers than kill them outright. Chances are Cryovain would be satisfied with a dedicated village, perhaps maybe a small town, so long as they continued to worship them as a god and protector. Of course, as part of the 'hoard', the village/town also falls under Cryovain's protection. So long as they continue to pay the necessary deference and tribute, Cryovain keeps them safe from any major threats. Minor threats are their own problem though.

Venomfang is a schemer. They want power and will do anything to get it. They'll debase themselves, they'll hide themselves, they have no 'draconic pride', so to speak. They will lie, trick, steal and do whatever is required to gain power - both magical and political. They want to rule nations, and eventually conquer the world from the shadows. Conversely however, they do not much care for cruelty for cruelty's sake. They take no pleasure out of exacting pain, nor do they kill for fun or sport. Everything they do is solely dedicated to their one goal. Venomfang is deeply intelligent and skeptical of 'good' parties who offer to help for no or little apparent reward. They confuse Venomfang, who sees the power adventurers hold and wonders why they do not exert it to take further power and lead nations of their own. Venomfang will sacrifice anyone or anything at the drop of a hat, seeing them as little more than tools and paving stones on the road to domination.

Shadowscale is paranoid, owing to a traumatic betrayal earlier in life that left them missing an eye. They trust no one, care for no one, and wish only to be left alone. This leaves them torn between their natural desire to expand their hoard and their crippling paranoia. Their lair is empty of creatures, save the dragon themself, but is littered with traps and hazards to keep people away. They leave their lair extremely rarely, and only ever under cover of night. While "cowardly" might not be the kindest of descriptors, it does describe Shadowscale's usual response to combat, unless a party challenges them in the depths of their lair. They flee at the first sign of real danger, trusting that the intricate network of traps will end any threat to their life.

[Ettina]

I did a similar thing with Venomfang and Cryovain when I combined LMOP and DOIP, but I haven't played Forge of Fury.

I think of the typical white dragon as having a personality like the Marvel villain Kraven the Hunter. Basically the ultimate predator, always striving to prove themselves by completing bigger and better hunts. Could be a good motivation for Cryovain.

Venomfang meanwhile I played as really conniving and ambitious. Venomfang, much more than Cryovain, knows that he's just a young dragon and not that tough as far as dragons are concerned, so his main focus is to build a power base and try to keep himself safe until he can grow more powerful. He's got Cult of the Dragon guys trying to curry favor with him, but he's not sure if he can really trust them to not a) switch to serving another dragon, or b) use him for their own gain. So he's trying to manipulate them into giving him as much power as possible without putting himself in their power, and also keeping them away from any other dragons.

[J-H]

For those of us unfamiliar - what are the colors/alignments/habitats of each dragon?

[Ion]

Cryovain is a White Dragon, Venomfang is a Green Dragon, and Nightscale is a Black Dragon. There hasn't been a ton about their habits established on screen or in the adventures, so there is a lot of flexibility there.

The players have seen more of the "trophic cascade" of having young dragons move into an area. For example, Cryovain moved into Icespire Hold, driving some orcs, wyverns and a manticore down towards the plains and the village of Phandalin. The players have found the remains of dragon attacks on roads and been able to deduce some things about the dragons (like their colour and general territory boundaries) but few specifics yet.

[J-H]

Cryovain is a White Dragon, Venomfang is a Green Dragon, and Nightscale is a Black Dragon. There hasn't been a ton about their habits established on screen or in the adventures, so there is a lot of flexibility there.

The players have seen more of the "trophic cascade" of having young dragons move into an area. For example, Cryovain moved into Icespire Hold, driving some orcs, wyverns and a manticore down towards the plains and the village of Phandalin. The players have found the remains of dragon attacks on roads and been able to deduce some things about the dragons (like their colour and general territory boundaries) but few specifics yet.

Thanks.
We want to keep this manageable for the DM, but also have some nuance and some room for the party to work with (diplomacy/bribes/alliances), so I'll target 2-3+3 characteristics for each. I think that's plenty.

+3
All are chromatic (color coded evil) dragons. They all share:
-A desire for loot, preferably gold and gems for a hoard to sleep on and pretty objects of value to comfort their eyes with. In loot distribution, they are more likely to take 2,000 gp than a pair of magical pointy sticks that are ugly and boring.
-Pride. They want to be seen as grand, majestic beings worthy of respect and fear. Minions would be nice. Minions are also a good emergency food source.
-Insecurity. They are, in fact, not grand, majestic beings yet - although this may be a subconscious realization only for some of them. This may lead them to over-react or under-react. If you're not sure how to handle this, I'd give each of them an Insecurity score of between 4 and 8. If it comes up, roll 1d10, with their insecurity score in the middle (so a score of 6 would be 4-7). If they roll below (1-3) they retreat, quit, or back down when they perhaps shouldn't. If they roll above (8-10), they instead react with thoughtless aggression.

Cryovain, White Dragon
-Cryovain is a hunter. He wants to regularly have exciting hunts and chases ending in a yummy meal. Druids, with their instinctive understanding of animals, have an easier time interacting with one of the least-intelligent dragon types, if they can promise to help ensure plenty of game around for him to hunt (this may include enhanced animals). Too many people (of whatever type) around means the quantity and quality of hunting will cease. He will, like some Native American tribes, conduct raids with the purpose of making life too near his lair unappealing, to create more open and buffer space where animals may thrive.
-Cryovain is a lair-builder. He has taken over an existing hold, but it doesn't bear his stamp yet. Some openings need to be closed; others need to be opened. The whole thing needs to be redecorated. He would like some suitable minions to make Icespire Hold more appealing. Kobolds would be perfect.
-Cold is Good. Cryovain is advantaged by icy terrain, and most enemies are disadvantaged. He will particularly seek out cold-related items for his lair and spells for his minions. Conversely, he will particularly dislike anyone who makes excessive use of fire.

Venomfang, Green Dragon
-Mobile. Green dragons are creatures of swamps and forests. This is not conducive to a great cavernous lair. Venomfang may carry his hoard with him via magical items, or adhering it to his scales... or he may have 2-4 smaller lairs that he travels between. If so, each lair has some sort of magical trap or alert system. Venomfang will be hard to pin down initially, but may become a creature of habit traveling between his favored spots. This also means he particularly favors small, high-value objects over large amounts of coin. Signet rings, pendants, gems, crowns, etc. are favored.
-Venomous. If Venomfang can, he will seek out or hire minions that are immune to poison, so that he doesn't have to bother too much about killing minions by patting one on the back or coughing in the wrong place.. This could include constructs, many types of undead, dragonborn, or yuan-ti. Any minions he has will probably travel about via flat-boat in the swamps if there are no magical forms of transport available for them.
-Magic-seeking. Because of the aforementioned issues, Venomfang is most likely to try to get magical items or scrolls. His poison breath is non-destructive to anything that's not alive, so he is the one most likely to raid caravans, outposts, and mage towers seeking loot.

Nightscale, Black Dragon
-Understone. It sounds like he's taken over an underground area. This synergizes well with a line-based breath weapon. Nightscale favors long, straight corridors just wide enough for himself, with no place to hide. His acid is a natural counter for many rock-type creatures, so he will likely try to have creatures such as dwarves, earth mephits, and earth elementals serve him. Counterpoint: Xorns eat treasure. Nightscale hates Xorns. If any Xorns are known to be in the area, he will look favorably upon any who destroy such defilers-of-gold.
-Untrustworthy. Nightscale (CE) will only keep a deal as long as it is in his best interest. Some individuals may amuse him or earn his favor, but otherwise, he only cares about what is good for him right now. Nightscale is, of the 3, the most likely to cause minions to quit (run away), possibly creating information sources for the party.
-Amphibious. Nightscale can travel underwater. Rivers and streams let him skulk about unheard and unseen. This makes him likely to clash particularly with Venomfang. Local water-based fey are not happy about this.
-Loser. Nightscale has an older sister who chased him out of her territory not long ago. He's got several prominent scars and missing scales, and has not gotten over it yet. His pride is easily offended.

[Tvtyrant]

So, I've been smooshing a bunch of adventures set around Phandalin together (Lost Mines of Phandelver, Dragons of Icespire Peak and the Forge of Fury being relevant for the moment) because they've each got a dragon!

I've sort of set up this territory struggle between these three young dragons trying to get established, Cryovain at Icespire Hold, Venomfang in Thundertree and Nightscale under the Stone Tooth in the Starmetal Hills... so the Players know the three exist and have seen the world be changed by the presence of these dragons without directly confronting them yet.

Their stats and stuff are all up in the air and I'll figure it out when my players are ready to face off against each one-- the part that is tripping me up in the moment is thinking about what motivates them. What makes these three dragons into characters? What do they like / hate / want / need?

Sure they have instincts... I think in the same way beavers instinctually build damns and lodges, dragons must build lairs and hoard treasures; but beyond that, what do you think gets them out of bed in the morning?

I would probably have it be the territory of an older dragon that recently died. In my ideation of dragons in D&D they are extremely territorial, and their territories are very large. The dragons are too young to fight over taken territory, and are trying to move from their parent's territory into the open land before anyone else does. The three of them are in competition then, and are afraid of a larger dragon moving in before they can defeat the other two.

[lall]

Eating, mating, and three-dragon ante.

[Sparky McDibben]

Eating, mating, and three-dragon ante.

Dragon canasta tournaments would awesome. However, something like an economic cartel could really work: each dragon has a loose set of territory and controls all tribute therein.