Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Domriso 07-30-05, 08:57 PM	If you apply the half-dragon template to a dragon, but use a separate type of dragon what would happen? Would the dragon simply have two elementa abilities or something else entirely?
adamb0nd 07-30-05, 09:00 PM	You cant add a half dragon to a whole dragon... logicaly thats a 150% dragon... which cant exist unless it has some sort of cancerous growth that has been hit with an awakened spell.
Domriso 07-30-05, 09:03 PM	No what i mean is that it is a half- one breed of dragon, half-another breed of dragon. Like a half Red hlaf Blue dragon. It is plausible considering they take other forms.
Kothardarastrix 07-30-05, 09:09 PM	It is a perplexing question, I'd say itd make a new dragon type Black+Blue=Navy Black+Green=Olive Black+Red=Maroon Black+White=Grey Blue+Green=Sea Green Blue+Red=Purple Blue+White=Robins Egg Blue Green+Red=Brick Red Green+White=Granny Smith Apple Red+White=Pink(Complete with love inducing breath weapon which causes you to lose your trailor. j/k) This whole post is a joke.
Vaalingrade Ashland 07-30-05, 09:09 PM	Yes you can and they're incredably dangerous monsters in game, especially if you mix metallic/chromatic. Hald silver reds have a deadly suprise for adventurers seeking a red. Now hthe real fun comes when the half dragon dragon breeds...
Domriso 07-30-05, 09:21 PM	Now THERE'S an idea. My groups gonna have alot of fun....
obrysii 07-30-05, 09:24 PM	The half-dragon template can be added to any "living, corporeal" creature. Including dragons. The draconomicon confirms this.
Domriso 07-30-05, 09:34 PM	I must have missed that
Slagger the Chuul 07-30-05, 11:57 PM	I never did find out good names for what all the metallic alloys would be. From what I recall, electrum was obvious, but I also considered billon (copper/silver) and tumbaga (copper/gold). Brass and bronze cause particular troubles since they're already alloys (despite the complete lack of zinc or tin dragons). As for what would happen, you'd have a dragon of the base type, with the increase abilities scores, 1/day breath weapon, and immunity of the half-dragon template. It means the dragon would be physically and mentally more capable than normal with immunity to multiple energy types, but only one "real" breath weapon. As has been mentioned before, the funniest thing about a pink dragon is that it's going to be evil. :)
runestar 07-31-05, 01:03 AM	That was one of the suggested solutions to the "what is the offspring of 2 different dragons" conumdrum. Either that or some polka-dotted or zebra striped dragon hybrid.
xver 07-31-05, 06:55 AM	It is a perplexing question, I'd say itd make a new dragon type Black+Blue=Navy ...snip... This whole post is a joke. I have my own dragons that can breed like this in my homebrew.
Slagger the Chuul 07-31-05, 07:27 AM	The trouble with cross-colour dragon breeding is that after a few generations you're heading down to the local paint shop for samplers and end up with dragon breeds like "Cornflower" and "Spring Morning".
Traevanon 07-31-05, 09:42 AM	Heck... go ahead and add three or four half dragon templates while you are "bending" the rules. Example: 1/8 Red 1/8 Black 1/8 Blue 1/8 White 1/8 Green 1/8 Gold 1/8 Silver 1/8 Copper Result: Proof that adding even a single Half-Dragon template to a full dragon should not be legal.
RavinRay 07-31-05, 09:56 AM	I never did find out good names for what all the metallic alloys would be. From what I recall, electrum was obvious, but I also considered billon (copper/silver) and tumbaga (copper/gold). Brass and bronze cause particular troubles since they're already alloys (despite the complete lack of zinc or tin dragons). That's the fun (and frustration) of using real-world alloys for all those names. Check out Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_alloys) for a list of alloys and you'll get an idea. Any half-mercury dragon (but particularly half-silver) would be an amalgam dragon. Pewter is tin with copper and/or lead. Beyond that, other names are either trademarked or sound too technical. This is a fairly popular topic and pops up every now and then here. If search weren't disabled about half a dozen threads will be listed. It's your call, IMO. Either give it two energy-damaging breath weapons, or use breath weapon admixture (50% 1st energy damage 50% 2nd energy damage). As for energy immunity, you can reduce it to energy resistance (either increasing with age category or constant) for both parent immunities.
Mentat55 07-31-05, 12:05 PM	I have actually used the half-dragon template on dragon type creatures, but not true dragons. For example, I've used a half-blue dragon wyvern, a little tougher than your normal wyvern, more intelligent, and with a nasty breath weapon to surprise my PCs.
Slagger the Chuul 07-31-05, 12:08 PM	Result: Proof that adding even a single Half-Dragon template to a full dragon should not be legal. The extra immunity is nice, but the dragon loses ground on saving throws, breath weapon damage, size (which includes reach, attack routine options, and size bonuses), flight speed, damage reduction, magical ability, and spell resistance, plus the attendant feats and skills that normally go with Hit Dice (it makes up for BAB and Hit Points with the stat boosts, which is pretty even unless its in its first few age categories, where the lower HD really hurts). In essence, the mixture makes the dragon a combat brute with a reduced ability to use or resist magic. I don't actually think the trade is that great, and the dragon becomes significantly less dangerous if you don't stand toe-to-toe and try to slug it out with full attacks. A normal true dragon has a better variety of options (the loss of higher sorcerous spells really hurts its versatility at the upper end) and is much better equipped to deal with a diverse party.
Sarlax 07-31-05, 05:25 PM	I don't find it reasonable to directly apply the half-dragon template to one of the dragons. The base idea of the half-dragon template is that the addition of draconic blood to the base creature makes it stronger, but if the base creature is an actual true dragon, it already has full draconic blood. Here's what I'd do. Randomly assign one of the dragons as the "base creature" and the other dragon as the "added creature." The blended dragon uses all of the base creature's abilities, except as follows: it gains the energy immunities of the added creature, if any. Its breath weapon damage is the same, but half the damage is that of the base creature and half is that of the added creature (IE, a half-black half-red deals half acid and half fire damage). It does not retain breath weapons which have non-damaging effects. It retains the spell-like abilities of the base creature and none of the added creature. It is usually sterile. I include this to explain why this kind breeding rarely occurs and why there aren't a bunch of dragon hybrids wandering around. ** That's what I use as the quick "generic template" for dragon interbreeding. If I were making a specific creature, I'd be more nuanced. I'd set the older dragon partner as the base creature - if they are the same age, then it'd still be random. I'd pick some of the extraordinary, spell-like, and supernatural abilities from each and assign them in whatever way best suited the particular monster's needs.
pita 07-31-05, 05:41 PM	My characters are going to be surprised when they find the pink dragon. heh.... i'll finally find a way to kill those epic ppl! that, and my new abomination. DOOM. I'd say a red dragon with a breath weapon that deals half cold half fire in a cone, has all spell like abilities of the both dragons, and is immune to both kinds of damage. Supernatural abilities are like the spell like ones. Oh, and it's Tiny with pink fur
Sildatorak 07-31-05, 06:28 PM	Though it is legal by the RAW to add 1/2 dragon to a true dragon, I think care should be exercised in choosing which dragon is the base. I think that the weaker of the two dragons should be the base creature so that the half-breed doesn't end up stronger than its more potent parent. If the dragon does happen to have a higher ability score or two than its stronger parent, just chalk it up to hybrid vigor.
Slagger the Chuul 07-31-05, 06:46 PM	I think that the weaker of the two dragons should be the base creature so that the half-breed doesn't end up stronger than its more potent parent. If the dragon does happen to have a higher ability score or two than its stronger parent, just chalk it up to hybrid vigor. I put that down to having the strength of two draconic bloodlines instead of one. Naturally (dragons being the arrogant creatures they are) one bloodline ends up dominant. Sure the creature might be stronger than its parent, but that's what the +2 CR is for. I don't have a problem with the logic of it, I just consider it a curiosity of mixing dragon blood.
Kothardarastrix 08-01-05, 03:16 AM	No the Pink Dragon induces almost irresistable love(DC 999999) to the creature it is used on, the creature falls in love with the first creature of his/her type s/he sees, they usually determine it was a mistake later after marriage. Following is multiple calls about a magical spell called 'Domestic Dispute'(permanent and cant be dispelled, even by deities and wish spells), neighboring people are interrupted during sleep by screaming and yelling and the effects of not having a full nights rest. The male of the relationship ends up losing his household to the female(in a curse called 'divorce court'), who gets into more relationships which also have the curse Domestic Dispute, which end the same way, until she is arrested for use of a spell called 'welfare fraud'. :D :P Now here's what happens when a Red and a Blacks child grows up: Great Wyrm Maroon Dragon Colossal Dragon (Fire, Water) Hit Dice: 39d12+351 (598) Initiative: +4 Speed: 50 ft., fly 200 ft. (clumsy), swim 30ft. Armor Class: 40 (-8 size, +38 Natural), Touch 2, Flat-Footed 40 Base Attack/Grapple: +39/+70 Attack: +54 Melee (4d8+15, Bite), +49 Melee (4d6+7, 2 Claws), +49 Melee (2d8+17, 2 Wings), +49 Melee (4d6+30, Tail Slap) Full Attack: +54 Bite and +49/+49 Claws and +49/+49 Wings and +49 Tail Slap Space/reach: 30 ft./20 ft. (30 ft. with Bite) Special Attacks: Breath Weapon, Crush, Frightful Presence, Spell-like Abilities, Spells, Tail Sweep Special Qualities: Damage Reduction 20/magic, Darkvision 120 ft., Immunity to paralysis, poison, and sleep attacks; low-light vision, special resistances, spell-resistance 30, vulnerable to cold Saves: Fort +30, Ref +21, Will +28 Abilities: Str 41, Dex 10, Con 29, Int 23, Wis 24, Cha 23 Skills: Appraise +38, Bluff +37, Concentration +40, Diplomacy +37, Escape Artist +31, Hide +31, Intimidate +37, Jump +46, Listen +40, Move Silently +31, Search +37, Sense Motive +38, Spellcraft +7, Spot +40, Swim +46, Use Magic Device +37 Feats: Alertness, Blind-Fight, Cleave, Combat Casting, Flyby Attack, Hover, Improved Initiative, Improved Sunder, Power Attack, Snatch, Wingover, Weapon Focus (Bite), Weapon Focus (Claw) Environment: Warm Marshes or Mountains Organization: Solitary, Pair, or family (1-2 plus 2-4 offspring) Challenge Rating: 24 Treasure: Triple Standard Alignment: Always Chaotic Evil Advancement: Great Wyrm 39+ HD Breath Weapon (Su): 70-ft cone of acidic gas, damage 12d10 fire 12d10 Acid, Reflex DC 35 for half Crush (Ex): Area 30 ft. by 30 ft; Large or smaller opponents take 4d8+60 points of bludgeoning damage, and must succeed on a DC 35 Reflex save or be pinned; grapple bonus +70. Frightful Presence (Ex): 360-ft. radius, HD 38 or less, Will DC 35 negates. Special Resistances (Ex): Maroon Dragons take half damage from acid and/or fire attacks, caused by the fusion of the acid and fire in his Drakonus Fundamentum. Spell-like Abilities: 3/day- darkness, suggestion, insect plague, charm reptiles; 1/day- corrupt water. Caster level 18th; save DC 18+spell level Spells: As 18th-level Sorcerer. Tail Sweep (Ex): Half-Circle 40 ft. in diameter, Medium or smaller opponents take 2d8+30 points of bludgeoning damage, Reflex DC 53 for half. Water Breathing (Ex): A maroon dragon can breathe underwater indefinitely and can freely use its breath weapon, spells, and other abilities while submerged.
RavinRay 08-01-05, 08:00 AM	Since hybrid or cross-breed dragons are a popular and recurring topic, I thought I'd post my homebrew rules for creating such. Creating a hybrid dragon "Hybrid" is a template that combines the features of two true dragons that have standard Hit Dice advancement (+3 HD per age category, which excludes epic dragons and lung dragons), referred to hereafter as the base dragons. The hybrid dragon uses all the base dragons' statistics and special abilities except as noted here. Size and Type: The hybrid dragon retains the dragon type and is a true dragon. It loses any elemental subtype that is not common to both base dragons. Size is based on the HD of the hybrid dragon. Hit Dice: Average the HD of both base dragons at wyrmling age (round down), then apply the normal HD advancement for older age categories. Special Qualities Extraordinary Abilities: The hybrid dragon retains those extraordinary abilities that are common to both base dragons (ie. water breathing for a gold dragon/bronze dragon hybrid). The hybrid may require an appropriate skill check (circumstantial bonuses apply) to use other extraordinary abilities. (This is subject to individual rulings.) Frightful Presence (Ex): Average the save DC of both base dragons at all age categories. Energy Resistance (Ex): The hybrid dragon has energy resistance to the energy immunities of both base dragons, beginning with energy resistance 5 at wyrmling age and increasing by 5 for every two age categories thereafter (or every three age categories if preferred), maximum energy resistance 30. If one base dragon has more than one energy immunity (like acid and cold for silver dragons), the hybrid dragon loses immunity to that energy which is less related to that base dragon's breath weapon or elemental subtype. Spell Resistance (Ex): Average the spell resistance of both base dragons at all age categories.* If both dragons are innate psionic manifesters, the hybrid dragon can specialize in either base dragon's primary discipline (50% chance for either). Special Attacks Breath Weapon (Su): If both base dragons have different damaging, energy-based breath weapons, the energy damage dealt by the hybrid dragon deals half the damage each per energy type (similar to the pyroclastic dragon). Die is intermediate between the two breath weapon dice. If the breath weapon advancement is +1 per age category for one base dragon (brass and white dragons only), the hybrid's breath weapon advancement is +1 if the other base dragon is in the same size category (ie. Tiny at wyrmling age). If both base dragon's breath weapon energy damage is the same but the form is different (ie. gaseous cone for green dragons and liquid line for black dragons), the hybrid can choose either form. The hybrid loses any non-damaging breath weapon unless both base dragons have non-damaging breath weapons, in which case there is 50% chance for either breath weapon.** Spell-like Abilites: The diverse spell-like abilities of true dragons means there is no hard-and-fast rule for determining which abilities the hybrid dragon inherits from its base dragon parents, except that it usually loses those abilities which have a descriptor that is opposed to any elemental subtype or alignment of either base dragon. (This is subject to individual rulings.) Caster Level: If both base dragons are innate arcane spellcasters, the hybrid dragon acquires this ability at an age category intermediate between the starting age categories for both base dragons (favoring the later age category). If both base dragons can cast clerical spells as arcane spells, the hybrid loses access to any elemental domain spells either of the base dragon can cast unless both base dragons have the same elemental subtype. The hybrid also loses access to any alignment domain spells which are opposed to any alignment aspect of either base dragon. If only one base dragon can cast clerical spells as arcane spells, the hybrid's clerical spell list is restricted to clerical domain spells (the total number of domains it can choose from remains the same as that of the base dragon that can cast domain spells), subject to the restrictions noted above.*** Abilites: Average the ability scores of both base dragons at all age categories. Environment: Same as either of the base dragons'. Challenge Rating: Average the CR of both base dragons at all age categories. Alignment: Intermediate between both alignment axes of the base dragons' alignments. If two alignments are adjacent on one axis, 50% chance for either (ie. neutral evil x chaotic evil = always neutral evil or chaotic evil). Level Adjustment: As the base dragon (or another true dragon) with the closest Hit Dice advancement and CR. *If one base dragon has spell resistance and the other base dragon has power resistance, the hybrid dragon can have either, and its spellcasting / manifesting abilities likewise corresponds as noted below. **Hybrid fang dragons and hybrid shadow dragons are special cases. A hybrid fang dragon's bite deals Constitution drain equal to half the value a fang dragon inflicts (minimum 1). A hybrid shadow dragon's breath weapon bestows half the negative energy levels that a shadow dragon inflicts (minimum 1). A hybrid shadow dragon has a racial bonus on save DCs for energy drain effects equal to its Constitution modifier. ***If one base dragon is an innate arcane spellcaster and the other base dragon is an innate psionic manifester, the hybrid dragon can either be a spellcaster or manifester (50% chance for either). If it is a spellcaster, it can learn spells from the Mind domain as arcane spells. It can also learn spells from either an elemental clerical domain if both base dragons have a common elemental subtype; an alignment clerical domain if both base dragons have a common alignment aspect; or a clerical domain related to the discipline that the psionic base dragon specializes in, as arcane spells, as indicated in the table below: Clairsentience Knowledge or Oracle (Complete Divine) Metacreativity Artifice (Eberron campaign setting), Craft (Forgotten Realms campaign setting), or Creation (Complete Divine) Psychokinesis Force or Celerity (both Complete Divine) Psychometabolism Death, Healing, Life (Eberron) or Repose (Forgotten Realms) Psychoportation Travel or Summoner (Complete Divine) Telepathy Charm (Forgotten Realms) or Domination (Complete Divine) The hybrid dragon may have a tendency to learn the psionic spells listed in the Expanded Psionics Handbook or the psionic spells SRD. (The Mind domain is in both as well as in Complete Divine.) If the hybrid dragon is a manifester, it acquires the psionic subtype, and may be loath to learn (or use) powers with descriptors that are opposed to any elemental subtype or (less likely) alignment aspect of the spellcasting base dragon. Elemental Master draconic prestige class variant: A hybrid dragon that does not have an elemental subtype can still take this prestige class by focusing on one of the elemental heritages bestowed by its base dragon parent as a class feature at 1st level. When it does so, it gains the appropriate elemental subtype but retains the mixed breath weapon damage and energy resistances. See Draconomicon for more information on the elemental master.
digoraccoon 08-01-05, 09:41 AM	I have the old 2e Draconomicon and I believe it says that two different species of dragon could possibly have offspring. The babies would look predominantly like one parent, but may have one or two abilities from the other parent. For example, one NPC my players have met is a Half Red/Half Gold dragon. She looked much like a red dragon should and had all the red dragon stats, but has the gold dragon's two breath weapons and HD progression. This dragon was raised by the gold parent, taking on it's alignment of LG. Of course dragon slayers don't really pay attention to that last detail. I find this method of dragon gene mixing to be the most sane & Flexible (and still offers a couple surprises to a Party looking to fight one).
Hammerclaw 08-01-05, 10:37 AM	Since hybrid or cross-breed dragons are a popular and recurring topic, I thought I'd post my homebrew rules for creating such. Breath Weapon (Su): If both base dragons have different damaging, energy-based breath weapons, the energy damage dealt by the hybrid dragon deals half the damage each per energy type (similar to the pyroclastic dragon). Die is intermediate between the two breath weapon dice. If the breath weapon advancement is +1 per age category for one base dragon (brass and white dragons only), the hybrid's breath weapon advancement is +1 if the other base dragon is in the same size category (ie. Tiny at wyrmling age). If both base dragon's breath weapon energy damage is the same but the form is different (ie. gaseous cone for green dragons and liquid line for black dragons), the hybrid can choose either form. The hybrid loses any non-damaging breath weapon unless both base dragons have non-damaging breath weapons, in which case there is 50% chance for either breath weapon.** Ravin, Excellent work. You put a lot of thought into this. I would only suggest the that the hybrid dragon would have the possibility of having only the breath weapon of one of the parent dragon types. Some of the old times might remember the original Draconomicon created for 2nd addition. It address the crossbreeding of chormatic dragons only, thinking that chromatics would be the only ones to do so. In its rules, it gave 40% chance of one breath weapons type, 40% chance of the other, and 20% chance of a combination. Just something to consider. Others might also remember articles in Dragon Magazine for both 1st and 2nd addition about the other chromatics. This article presumes that all of the standard colors used in the artistic color wheel have dragon representatives and fills in the holes by creating yellow, purple, and orange dragons. They attempt to use logic to come up with apropriate breath weapons that are either an combination of the parents (Blue and red equal purple) or the extrapolation of the elimination of one of the combinations (green minus blue equals yellow). They don't go into the idea that cross breeding actually lead to these other dragon types. More of, they hint at evolution leading to them existing and those that weren't currently in the public eye had died out or were extremely rare. Two things to think about in your cross-breeding experiments. Note: The yellow dragon of the article is very different than the yellow dragon of the Forgotten Realms.
Hammerclaw 08-01-05, 10:44 AM	I have the old 2e Draconomicon and I believe it says that two different species of dragon could possibly have offspring. The babies would look predominantly like one parent, but may have one or two abilities from the other parent. For example, one NPC my players have met is a Half Red/Half Gold dragon. She looked much like a red dragon should and had all the red dragon stats, but has the gold dragon's two breath weapons and HD progression. This dragon was raised by the gold parent, taking on it's alignment of LG. Of course dragon slayers don't really pay attention to that last detail. I find this method of dragon gene mixing to be the most sane & Flexible (and still offers a couple surprises to a Party looking to fight one). Actually, it is a little more complex than that, Digora. I dug my copy of it out for making my previous response. It says the scale color will be an blending of the two dragons, but brothers and sisters in one clutch could actually have different shades of that blending. They also hit at the possibility of a crossbreed being striped or spotted, but also argue against it. Still, one could conceive of a dragon crossbreed looking so much like one of the parents that it would be hard to detect, except for some telltale sign.
Wyrd Bearer 08-01-05, 02:21 PM	Hmm, this reminds me of when, back a few years ago, I was asked to play a red-gold hybrid for a Council of Wyrms campaign (2ed). The campaign never got off the ground because the first human party session irked the DM so much that he just outright quit. @ RavinRay: I think that you've hit the nail on the head for figuring out how to determine the results of a crossbreed. I was going to suggest something similar half-way through reading this thread but there is no need now. I don't think that the delineation between the dragon's different colour-heritages (dang, there is no easy way to say that) would be as obvious as stripe, polka dots or a straight up mix of colours (red head and gold tail? no way). I think it would come off more as a blending. Since the offspring would be compromised of both heritages simultaneously, the colours would exist simulataneously. Sort of like an iridescent ripple. (For those who've had the benefit of owning wacky pants, you'll understand what I'm talking about. I had a pair of cords once that had iridescent threads woven in so the pair appeared yellow from one angle, blue from another, striped from another and totally green and shiney from a fourth.) Back when I worked more with water based paints, I found a brand that didn't mix completely well but had interesting side effects that are similar to what I am thinking. Take for example red and black paints of this type (I've forgotten the brand). Mix them and the resulting splotch, when dry, appears to be red, brown, black, or purple, depending on what angle you observe it from and the lighting conditions. I think that dragons, with their inherent magical natures, would have a more extreme form of this improbable but apparently possible colour switching. A half-gold red dragon (in this case a red was the base dragon, perhaps the red was of an older age category?). The offspring would appear to be mostly as a normal red would, however it would also possesss a few traits common for golds. But the giveaway would be that when it walked, a ripple of colour could be seen as the scales shift and catch the light. Its skin would appear red in some places and gold in others but they wouldn't stay like that for long. Colours would appear and shift as the dragon's muscles and bones move and rearrange the surface of its skin. The affect wouldn't be as pronounced in the larger scales, as more of the scale would remain at the same angle, but as the scales decrease in size towards the tip of the tail or along the wings, the effect of rippling would be much more pronounced. Of course, this would be most dramatic with metallic/chromatic hybrids, alignment implications aside, as the metallics and chromatic colours would compliment each other. Silver and blue, gold and red, etc. Metallic/metallic hybrids would be particularly stunning while chromatic/chromatics would have their menacing appearance amplified.
Dunelord 08-01-05, 02:42 PM	Just because you CAN doesn't mean you should.
Nuntius128 08-01-05, 02:45 PM	I remember reading in Savage Species that adding the Half-Dragon to a full-blooded Dragon is perfectly logical, and is just a mixing of the breeds. Just like you can add Half-Celestial to a Celestial(one parent an Archon, the other an Angel, for example).
Kingrames 08-01-05, 11:45 PM	Yes you can and they're incredably dangerous monsters in game, especially if you mix metallic/chromatic. Hald silver reds have a deadly suprise for adventurers seeking a red. Now hthe real fun comes when the half dragon dragon breeds... oh please. that's nothing compared to the Wight Dragon. (check my sig, it's in there. Click "Get your fireballs ready!")
Slagger the Chuul 08-02-05, 03:41 AM	I don't think that the delineation between the dragon's different colour-heritages (dang, there is no easy way to say that) would be as obvious as stripe, polka dots or a straight up mix of colours (red head and gold tail? no way). I don't think it's actually such a bad idea; there are quite a number of real animals decorated with stripes, spots, or other patterns, and I think you could easily manage a dragon that didn't look like a joke depending on how you describe it. In fact, most of the true dragons already have a significant variation of colour between different areas of the body, typically shading between the upper and underside.
digoraccoon 08-02-05, 09:05 AM	Actually, it is a little more complex than that, Digora. I dug my copy of it out for making my previous response. It says the scale color will be an blending of the two dragons, but brothers and sisters in one clutch could actually have different shades of that blending. They also hit at the possibility of a crossbreed being striped or spotted, but also argue against it. Still, one could conceive of a dragon crossbreed looking so much like one of the parents that it would be hard to detect, except for some telltale sign. I don't argue that blending of the colors may occur (I recall a group discussion with some of my players about a purple dragon), but I prefer the simplicity of picking one parent as the template and then add slight modifications to it. The simplicity suits my campaigns best and keeps the players guessing too. :) Though as I think about it, I do recall a baby black dragon I created a long while back with some slight red stripes to it. That would go with the odd stripe/spotted coloring theory, wouldn't it?
Hammerclaw 08-02-05, 10:32 AM	That is not a bad idea either. It would certainly make it easier adjudicating CR if you keep an eye toward balancing the offspring with the same power level of the parent you choose as the base. That baby black dragon sounds interesting. Maybe a grand parent or great-grand parent was red and by now, the only sign of the red dragon heritage was those tell tale strips. Might make the party encountering it think it was fully half dragon and refrain from fire based spells. a mistaken assumption. :D I don't argue that blending of the colors may occur (I recall a group discussion with some of my players about a purple dragon), but I prefer the simplicity of picking one parent as the template and then add slight modifications to it. The simplicity suits my campaigns best and keeps the players guessing too. :) Though as I think about it, I do recall a baby black dragon I created a long while back with some slight red stripes to it. That would go with the odd stripe/spotted coloring theory, wouldn't it?
RavinRay 08-02-05, 04:15 PM	Since the offspring would be compromised of both heritages simultaneously, the colours would exist simulataneously. Sort of like an iridescent ripple. (For those who've had the benefit of owning wacky pants, you'll understand what I'm talking about.) I know exactly what you mean, my dad has an iridescent shirt. When cross-breeding chromatic dragons, I use the additive primary color rule. This is the system used for the monitor you are now staring at, where the primary colors are red, blue, and green, incidentally the three most powerful chromatic dragon colors. A mix of all three at maximum intensity is white, while the absence of all is black. Mixing the first three results in the following colors (along with the breath weapon mixture if using my template): red x blue = magenta; superheated lightning (which does occur in nature) red x green = yellow; acidic steam blue x green = cyan; electrically-charged acid gas (similar to the song dragon's electrically-charged gaseous breath weapon) Mixing these three with black or white is slightly different, as if we're using the rules for pigments instead of colors (red x blue = violet, red x yellow = orange, and blue x yellow = green). red x black = crimson?; boiling acid red x white = pink; scalding steam that immediately freezes? blue x black = navy?; electrically-charged acid blue x white = azure?; electrically-charged frost green x black = ?; acid fog (moist) green x white = ?; acidic frost black x white = gray; freezing acid I'm not familiar about the details of the classic 2e Dragon article about the missing chromatic dragons (purple?, orange, and yellow), except that, this yellow dragon is different from the yellow dragon of Mulhorand (land of the Pharaonic pantheon), south of Faerūn in the Forgotten Realms world; and it is also different from the hypothetical yellow hybrid dragon born of a red and green dragon. I read somewhere that there was an April Fool's pink dragon in Dragon magazine, whose breath weapon was soap bubbles. A pink hybrid dragon would, theoretically, deal fire and cold damage simultaneously with its breath weapon. (There is precedent for this with the breath admixture spell in Draconomicon, which allows opposing energy types to be used in a single breath weapon.) Keep those suggestions coming. My template was meant for a peer review, like an article submission. :)