While mighty golden dragons commune across dreamscapes and monitor the more cosmic influences
on the world of Toril and beyond, and silver dragons actively fight the forces of evil,
self-appointed paladins very much involved in their own culture, waiting for days to
come again where each is lord protector, kings and queens or regents serving in the more
aloof gold dragons stead as rulers of the world, the bronze and brass dragons are generals
and marshals of forces, strategists and commanders, the bronze love of warfare and the history
of conflict, the brass love of information and clever tactics, the copper dragons are
somewhat different.
In many ways, the copper dragons are the flip side of the black dragon, the foreboding sense
of dread one feels in the pit of the stomach when entering the territory of a Black dragon,
is instead replaced with a light and giddy feeling where the copper dragon is nearby,
instead of a shriek coming easily from the lungs, instead it is chuckles and giggles
at even the most faintly humorous things.
Both dragons are very focused on the other creatures around them, in the case of the
black dragon, it is a terrible, obsessive lust to kill and cause suffering, they are
creatures that course with the energy of decay, spite and hatred, while copper dragons are
obsessed with pranks, laughter, acquiring cool stuff and making sure everything is running
smoothly and the creatures around them are happy, healthy and don't take life too seriously,
they are known as the dragons who are friends to man, they are patrons of artists and bards,
they love to attend festivals and will often take on the guise of a jovial priest who performs
blessings and wedding ceremonies, just so they always have a good excuse to attend as
many celebrations as they can.
While black dragons drain vitality form the world around them, the copper dragons instead
enrich it, they fizz with it.
They have an irrepressible nature than can be exhausting to other creatures attempting
to keep up with them, but, they are also social butterflies, never spending too long in one
party or another, after all, they can consume enormous amounts of food and drink, so, spreading
their activities and entertainment across several weddings, celebrations and what not
during a couple of days is a good way to ensure they are a welcome guest, not a burdensome
one.
In the wild, copper dragons prefer the terrain of arid, broken hills, ravines and badlands,
the dry and sandy monuments of stone that form mesas and the backdrop of classic western
movies.
They are very agile in flight, making use of those difficult and tight confines, cliffs
and chasms to dart through the air like a seal zips around rocks on a shore with surging
currents and crashing waves.
Copper dragons spin around dust devils with delight, they leap from sheer drops and pull
out of power dives with graceful ease, only a few feet from the ground, snapping up a
rabbit or chicken or some such.
Their elemental influence permeates the environment, the springs flow with sweet water, the plants
grow a little faster, the desert flowers bloom a little longer and the worst conditions of
such a rough and rugged habitat are eased somewhat.
Small game thrives, people in the area have better luck with farming and medicinal herb
gathering, livestock is less prone to disease and people have more free time.
Time enough to have celebrations, to share the excess of their harvest and to show appreciation
for the dragon.
They know the dragon is behind the good fortune, they can feel it.
Also, metallic dragons have a great love of cavorting in their chosen environments in
their natural form, of course they do, who wouldn't?
But they are also quite comfortable with their power to experience life in the shapes of
other creatures in the world around them, for copper dragons, this is usually humanoids,
humans in particular, and here is the fun thing that copper dragons know.. humans have
always been on Toril, in one form or another, they are a truly ancient species, much like
the dragons, they have adapted and changed, thrived and declined, had moments of wonder
where they reached for the power of the gods and still, even after getting slapped back
down in disastrous conflagration and ruin, they survived, they adapted and are on the
rise again.
The Elves are recent arrivals by comparison, the dwarves even more so, Orcs have been on
the planet for a very long time as well, and other races once common on the surface, such
as the furred and fierce Quaggoth, now reside solely in the Underdark, many, many others
have perished, gone extinct, only some relics and some parts of very old spells remain,
their ruins and culture now long gone and forgotten.
Copper dragons don't get hung up on the sorrow of those losses, its just part of life, the
cycle of things, nothing can be done about it, so, why worry?
Life is for living and enjoying, for experiences and magical moments.
Their long association for humanoids has given them a great appreciation for the artwork
of those races, particularly fine metalwork, tapestries, sculpted objects, paintings and
all manner of fine jewellery, which is handy as they tend to gain a few really nice items
every year as tributes and gifts from appreciative folks, but also a source of constant temptation
for copper dragons.
As good natured as most of them are, they do have a serious weakness for greed, the
dwarves call it the dragon sickness, and copper dragons, much as they joke around and love
a good prank, they really, really love a good caper as well, the art of the heist is one
of their key strengths in the great game.
Oh, the Great game, Xorvintaal, I should probably talk about that, since we are on the subject
of one of the dragon species that play it quite a bit, I can quote 3.5 edition's Monster
Manual 5 directly.
"A few dragons, young and old, devote their lives to a competition called xorvintaal,
the “great game.”
They scheme against their fellows, wagering their hoards and manipulating their minions
like chess pieces.
Sometimes those that don’t directly serve a dragon find themselves caught up in the
game.
Dragons choose to take up xorvintaal when they’re young adults, drawn by the allure
of besting their fellow dragons and the promise of vast treasure.
But the great game demands commitment from its players.
Dragons are proud and solitary creatures, so xorvintaal is one of the few ways a dragon
can earn draconic prestige.
Masters of xorvintaal are regarded as the finest minds among dragonkind, and that is
saying something, some legendary dragons, such as Niv Mizzet, are so intelligent they
can concentrate on two spells simultaneously and are simply immune to illusion magics of
any kind, let that sink in for a moment.
To join the great game, a dragon must first research and perform the Ritual of Xorvintaal.
The ritual requires the dragon to spend a month meditating in a magic cocoon.
When the dragon emerges, it is forever marked as a dragon of the great game, having sacrificed
its innate spellcasting ability for the ability to manipulate its minions, to interact telepathically
with other xorvintaal dragons, and to gain power as it advances in the great game, this
is a psionic transformation, the crystal mind, but for the purposes of 5th edition Dungeons
& Dragons, its a set of spell-like abilities, I imagine the next edition will be able to
represent this even more accurately with tailored spell actions individual dragons can take.
Xorvintaal is not really a practical ability for combat encounters, but it does allow a
dragon to command allies with unexpected power.
The other side effect of the transformation is that it locks the Xorvintaal dragons into
the rules and conditions of the great game, they literally can't break the rules, without
simultaneously driving themselves insane, not the 'Nya ha ha, I am wicked evil dragon
now' insane, the drawing pictures in their own blood, locked in a chamber forever kind
of insane.
Xorvintaal takes years to learn and centuries to play.
Only dragons understand the finer points of the rules, and this is kind of an important
point.
At its heart, Xorvintaal is a convoluted mess of seeming contradictions and exceptions that
only dragons have the time and tenacity to figure out.
Get yourself a lawyer son, make it a real good one, this game plays for keeps and its
in it for the long run.
Direct, dragon vs dragon combat is forbidden in the game except for rare circumstances,
the game can be brutal enough as it is without the dragons also weakening themselves by fighting
each other, leaving themselves vulnerable to other creatures.
Dragons certainly prefer to be top of the food chain at all times, weak dragons getting
picked off by lesser creatures makes them all look bad, so, with direct combat off the
cards, Xorvintaal Dragons use lackeys to take over one another’s territories and hoards,
but they must also place their own hoards and lairs at risk.
Xorvintaal has a feudal element as well, with older, successful players taking new players
under their wings.
A new player that does well earns esteem and influence for its older draconic patrons,
and the older dragon earns a share of the younger dragon’s hoard and of its future
conquests.
This means their is a deep history and lineage of play, like kung fu masters and schools
of martial art styles, some moves are classic hallmarks of a particular tradition, with
classic counter moves, like chess, while some gambits can have fairly chaotic results, but
each result is a well known and cherished outcome, points are scored for pretty rare
and dicey outcomes that are handled particularly well by a Xorvintaal player.
Its not really important exactly how it is played, as the DM it is a tool in your story
telling arsenal.
The player characters may face powerful dragon minions who act in a manner contrary to what
they expect, its like some totally narcissistic jedi council is pulling the strings behind
the scenes, on the rare occasion you as DM choose to let characters penetrate the mystery,
they should be faced with a game of epic cat and mouse, where the dragons are the cats,
and the players characters are most certainly the mice... after all, minions who think they
know what is going on are just another element to the great game, I assure you, they don't
really know, and they are most likely quite expendable.
Copper dragons play the game well, after all, its not about how physically powerful they
are, so, there are marked advantages to them to become Xorvintaal players, one of which
is the fact they share a favored territory with Red Dragons, the mightiest and most in
your face chromatics.
This is not good for coppers, they can't compete with a red dragon unless it is significantly
younger than them, or seriously incapacitated, which is not off the table, copper dragons
are not bound to fighting a fair fight, thats more what the silver dragons do... no, frustrating
and humiliating a red dragon via traps and tricks and then beating it when it is down
is about the only way they can win, and its just going to make things worse unless they
kill the red dragon, or mate with it.
Cinder or Caldera dragons are one of the possible outcomes of a crossing between these two breeds,
but where a chromatic is involved, the resulting offspring is never really predictable.
One species of draconic creatures that are particularly drawn to the side of both copper
and red dragons are the winged kobolds, known as Urds.
All dragons attract the tireless services and fawning worship of the clever little kobolds,
but urds are a special case, they are not really part of the riff raff, they have an
attitude.
They also act very differently around other draconic races as opposed to how they react
to mammal species... they don't like mammals very much, around good dragon masters they
will be on their best behaviour, around evil dragons, they are encouraged to act on their
natural revulsion and seething spite directed at mammal humanoids in particular.
They are very sneaky, very cunning, on the orders of their dragon master, they will befriend
and put up with all the abuse and stupid questions and suspicion of an adventuring party, until
eventually, the stupid monkey people will allow the kobold to lead them right to their
doom.
Every time I double cross a table full of players with yet another cute and friendly
kobold, they always seem so shocked... quick tip, never get back with a cheating ex and
never trust a kobold completely.
Be particularly wary of Urds who walk with you, they fly, so, they are leading you to
a pit trap of some kind, mark my words.
From a copper dragons point of view, kobolds are great!
Like little tinker gnomes who mine tirelessly for gems and precious metals to gift to them.
The copper dragons trade modest amounts at a time in order to get the stuff transformed
into stunning works of art by other species, the kobolds don't have the sense of style
for really amazing jewellery.
If mineral deposits are poor, the kobolds will still carve many warrens and chambers
into the hills and mountains, but they will take to stealing precious loot for their masters
lair instead, the copper dragon is just greedy enough that, sometimes, they don't ask their
minions where the loot comes from, when deep down, they know the little kobolds are up
to no good.
Sometimes even the best dragons show a lot of bias towards kobolds, like pet cats who
kill the neighbour's birds... oh no, surely it was not my lovely cat?!
Oh yes it was.
Another sort of dragon worship going on, with a diverse bunch of races, is the infamous
Cult of the Dragon, but that is worthy of a video all of its own in the dragon series.
In their natural form, copper dragons are recognisable by a few key features, the first
is their distinctive wings, a lot like the gold dragon, they extend from the shoulders
with the membrane tapering to the back legs, but also running right down each side of their
long tail, their body is lean and strong with a shorter skull than other metallics, two
prominent and horns sweep back from the brow and there are two solid fins sweeping back
from the cheeks, protecting their eyes very well.
Their jaw also sports some frills and the horns on their head often have quite pronounced
scales on them, the scales on their body generally overlap and form very solid protection, the
scales are large and glossy, forming bands or plates that are smooth to the touch but
extremely durable, a scrape from a rock outcrop as they zoom through a tight turn in a twisted
canyon is about the same sort of force the swiping claw of a rival dragon can inflict,
an unskilled strike with a longsword is likely to just bounce off them, as an adult copper
dragon has an armor class of 18 and between 96 to 272 with an average of 184 hit points.
Their eyes are brilliant turquoise and unlike brass dragons who gradually become fully metallic
in appearance, even their eyes, or the bronze who always have patterns of green stripes
on their scales, the copper dragon gradually develops this vivid green on the outer edges
of the wing membranes and between the bands of scales, so that it looks just like the
copper rust, or verdigris you see on copper statues, domed rooftops and so on.
Copper dragons have two modes of breath weapon attack, one that slows victims and the other
a potent line of acid.
It should be mentioned that this acid is excellent for stripping precious metals out of raw ore
and greatly assists the hard working kobolds in their mining efforts for the dragon.
It may surprise you that a lot of thieves guilds are secretly run by copper dragons
shapeshifted into a humanoid alter ego, only transforming back into dragon form when they
are safely away from prying eyes, spending time flying, hunting, eating a lot and having
a long sleep among one of their stashes of fabulous wealth.. then, returning to their
guild and the hustle and bustle of humanoid life, I am not saying these copper dragons
are evil, they are just extremely greedy and covetous, the thieves guilds, bandit camps,
brigades of blades for hire and those non-humans who tend to attack innocent homesteaders and
wide eyed city tourists.
Metallic dragons vary greatly in how long they spend in humanoid disguise, the copper
is one of the more comfortable in that form, particularly the players of Xorvintaal.
So, master of a thieves guild, wedding celebrant, leader of a druid circle or bardic college,
the copper dragons can wear many different guises.
Dragons tend to sleep for longer and longer periods of time as they grow beyond adulthood,
in old school D&D there was always a percentage chance that a dragon encountered in its lair
would be sound asleep, the challenge was then getting some of its well protected treasure
without waking the dragon and dealing with its wrath.. copper dragons, despite being
metallics, are not dragons that you want to try that with, they will certainly be very,
very angry and... while not exactly intending to murder a party of adventurers, they are
very powerful creatures and, mistakes happen.
You may be getting the idea round about now that copper dragons are far more complicated
than the happy go lucky, friendly pranksters you had always assumed they were.
It may also shock you a little that metallic dragons in 5th edition have had their shape
changing ability seriously nerfed by restricting it to only ancient dragons for the most part.
I don't find that to be at all supported in the lore and its really boring, so, feel free
to ignore that non-sense, you may want to limit it a little for young dragons, so that
they can only polymorph into a set humanoid form for as many hours as they have constitution
points, something like that.
There are older sourcebooks for Dungeons & Dragons that allow you to play a young dragon as a
playable character, this is nothing new and generally it is quite difficult to play one
in a campaign, not because they are so powerful, but because they level up a hell of a lot
slower than any other player character race, so while the other players are level seven,
the dragon character is still half way through level two or some such... it kinda sucks unless
all the players are dragons.
There is an old sourcebook called Council of Wyrms designed to run a campaign just like
that.
Copper dragon lairs are as narrow and twisting as the terrain they prefer to fly through,
they hide many antechambers full of treasures and resources, easily overlooked with the
many choke points and switchback turns leading to their main chambers.
Any treasure that is openly on display is actually the least expensive stuff the dragon
owns, flashy stuff to draw the attention of stupid burglars who will dash off with the
first armful of loot they can grab.
Within their lair, copper dragons have greatly enhanced influence over the earth around them,
they can cause a 20 ft area of spikes to thrust from the floor within 120 feet, same effect
as a spike growth spell.
They can also transform 10 ft areas of their lair to chest deep bogs of mud, they can cause
this effect to reverse, often trapping victims up to their armpits in solid stone.
In the region permeated with the supernatural presence of a powerful copper dragon, magic
carvings of the dragons smiling face can be seen worked into surfaces, pillars, walls,
large boulders and so on, within six miles of the dragon's lair.
Somewhat bizarre is that small creatures and birds that are normally unable to speak gain
the magical ability to speak and understand Draconic while within 1 mile of the dragon’s
lair.
These creatures speak well of the dragon, but can’t divulge its whereabouts.
Finally, any intelligent creatures within 1 mile of the dragon’s lair are prone to
fits of giggling.
Even serious matters suddenly seem amusing.
This is quite noticeable, even for the stoic murder hobo players characters.
A copper dragon appreciates wit, a good joke, a humorous story, or a riddle.
A copper dragon becomes annoyed with any creature that doesn’t laugh at its jokes or accept
its tricks with good humour.
A copper dragon is wary when it comes to showing off its possessions.
If it knows that other creatures seek a specific item in its hoard, a copper dragon will not
admit to possessing the item.
Instead, it might send curious treasure hunters on a wild goose chase to search for the object
while it watches from afar for its own pleasure.
My name is AJ Pickett, if you have any questions about copper dragons for me or interesting
facts to share with the community about your experience with copper dragons in your games,
please comment down below and in the meantime, I am off to enjoy a tasty beverage, I'll be
back with more D&D lore for you very soon.