Dragon Personalities; Help Requested

[Falcos]

Hi all!

While working on my own home-brew setting, I have begun work on developing a set of characters, that I would like to ask the playground's help on fleshing out a bit!

Brief context: home-brew pantheon of gods, one of them, named Davaris, shaped ten dragons, one of each of the basic chromatic and metallic types.
I'm currently trying to brainstorm what their personalities would be like - they are each the quintessential essence and ur-example of that type of dragon, with the added benefit of being nearly inconceivably ancient. I most pressingly need to flesh out the First White, but I'm in need of help developing all of them, and I'd like some input, if anybody has any!

Thank you all in advance.

[firelistener]

If you're wanting the quintessential personalities, the Monster Manual actual has great descriptions for each type of dragon. For example, white dragons are described as being "the smallest, least intelligent, and most animalistic of the chromatic dragons". They are said to have excellent memories though, and are motivated a great deal by revenge. Because of that, they will freeze enemies to keep as trophies in their lair, if they don't eat them. There's more details in the book, and each color dragon, chromatic and metallic, has that level of detail given.

[Unoriginal]

Hi all!

While working on my own home-brew setting, I have begun work on developing a set of characters, that I would like to ask the playground's help on fleshing out a bit!

Brief context: home-brew pantheon of gods, one of them, named Davaris, shaped ten dragons, one of each of the basic chromatic and metallic types.
I'm currently trying to brainstorm what their personalities would be like - they are each the quintessential essence and ur-example of that type of dragon, with the added benefit of being nearly inconceivably ancient. I most pressingly need to flesh out the First White, but I'm in need of help developing all of them, and I'd like some input, if anybody has any!

Thank you all in advance.

Well, if you want to lean into the typical D&D tropes:

-Dragons, as a default, are prideful. But not prideful in the sense that they have to prove their superiority to others or to themselves, or that they are insecure about it. A dragon knows they are powerful, and that power affects all they do.

-White Dragons are hunters. They know they are the less intellectually inclined of their kind, and they do not care. A white dragon is all about perseverance, harassment of the foe over time, and using the whole world around you to get an edge. Theirs is not the clean victories, the grand challenges, theirs is the blood and the scratches, the prey exhausted st the end of their rope, the primal fact that whoever can walk out of a fight with their life is the winner.

[Falcos]

I was planning to lean into the white-hunter thing, but the main thing I'm wondering is how such a thing would be altered by age and experience. What does a primal, uncaring hunter look like when it is older than the mountains, older than humankind, older than you can conceive?

[JonBeowulf]

I was planning to lean into the white-hunter thing, but the main thing I'm wondering is how such a thing would be altered by age and experience. What does a primal, uncaring hunter look like when it is older than the mountains, older than humankind, older than you can conceive?

An extreme version of "been there, done that" attitude. Somewhat bored because there seems to be no more significant challenges to its existence. Desperately craving something new to defeat and jaw-droppingly aggressive and violent when one arrives. Even its oldest offspring are afraid of it.

[Unoriginal]

I was planning to lean into the white-hunter thing, but the main thing I'm wondering is how such a thing would be altered by age and experience. What does a primal, uncaring hunter look like when it is older than the mountains, older than humankind, older than you can conceive?

Is the dragon a mortal dragon, just unbelievably old, or a demigod-like entity?

It makes a big difference in how they would handle that kind of age, I think.

[Kane0]

Brief context: home-brew pantheon of gods, one of them, named Davaris, shaped ten dragons, one of each of the basic chromatic and metallic types.
I'm currently trying to brainstorm what their personalities would be like - they are each the quintessential essence and ur-example of that type of dragon, with the added benefit of being nearly inconceivably ancient. I most pressingly need to flesh out the First White, but I'm in need of help developing all of them, and I'd like some input, if anybody has any!


Would it be viable to have them embody a single concept each? White could be 'hunger'

[J-H]

What does a primal, uncaring hunter look like when it is older than the mountains, older than humankind, older than you can conceive?
I use this general description as a starting point for most dragons:

Dragons are like cats. They like to hunt, they like to play with their food, they are selfish, and they do what they want without caring if it bothers others. They are apex predators with no serious challengers and know it. They keep others around for their own convenience, and tolerate the existence of everything else because it's more important to take a nap in a comfortable place than it is to destroy everything.

[SouthpawSoldier]

I use this general description as a starting point for most dragons:

Dragons are like cats. They like to hunt, they like to play with their food, they are selfish, and they do what they want without caring if it bothers others. They are apex predators with no serious challengers and know it. They keep others around for their own convenience, and tolerate the existence of everything else because it's more important to take a nap in a comfortable place than it is to destroy everything.

There was an anthology I read decades ago of dragon stories, in which the first housecat came about from a dragon being tamed with milk and chicken, IIRC.

To the OP;

Much depends on how much WOTC influences you want in your setting. The chromatic/metallic alignment difference, the personality tropes, etc from the Monster Manual are great, but if you're looking for Ur-dragons, maybe theme them differently?

[Envyus]

Get Fizban’s treasury of Dragons. It has tons of Dragon personality stuff.

[Tawmis]

Frost was the first of the White Dragons, and the most ancient – and despite her size in comparison to the other ancient dragons – the others feared her. Frost, though smaller than the others, was far more cruel. Her heart was colder than her breath; her eyes were ice blue, but behind them, the stars and cosmos seemed to swirl about wildly. Stories say that it was her breath that brought frost to the north and south in the world. In her youth, she collected things in her den – she would freeze them with her breath and arrange them around her den – whether it was adventurers or animals – her den was covered in things she’d frozen and collected. But eventually, she grew tired as nothing presented a challenge to her. Now her gaze goes to the other First Dragons, and she wonders which one she could take on first… now that would truly make a fine collection and give her the respect she so richly deserved.

[Kane0]

Get Fizban’s treasury of Dragons. It has tons of Dragon personality stuff.

Or even prior edition Draconomicon, there's 2e, 3e and 4e varieties.

[SouthpawSoldier]

Or even prior edition Draconomicon, there's 2e, 3e and 4e varieties.

There's also good third party stuff. Gamemaster's Book of Legendary Dragons is inspiring material.