The Western Wyrms (Article)

:Appeared in Dragon Magazine Issue 263
:by Charlie Martin
: Great Io, the Ninefold Dragon, strove for centuries to halt the wars among his children, but to no avail. Although the Council of Wyrms established a tentative peace among the metallic, gem, and chromatic dragons, certain lesser wyrms fought on, heedless of the wisdom. of their betters. Ultimately, the Council of Wyrms banished these rebel wyrms from Io's Blood Isles.
:: - From the teachings of Aurynn Goldstar, 521st year of the 36th Cycle
The Council of Wyrms campaign, revised and republished this month, introduces Io's Blood Isles, a land in which dragons rule, served by their human and demihuman "kindred." These dragons care little for the outside world, but human-controlled lands exist, far to the west. There, the "lesser species" defend their kingdoms from constant attacks, their dragon slayers honing their skills for the inevitable confrontation with the dragon isles. Even in the west, however, so-called lesser dragons exert their influence.
These western wyrms resemble the traditional dragons of most AD&D campaigns. Hatchlings grow up with their parents, rather than benefiting from the teachings of dozens of demihuman kindred and adult dragons. Fully grown dragons think nothing of slaying one another in these kingdoms. Some, such as the steel dragons, even go so far as to associate with humans, fashioning themselves as protectors of the weaker species.
==The Wyrms of the West==
The western dragons come in several varieties, all but unknown to the powerful dragons of the east. They include the cloud, deep, mercury, mist, shadow, steel, and yellow dragons.
Tables 1-7 provide all the information needed to play these seven dragon types as player characters. Those seeking roleplaying suggestions for these dragons should consult the Habitat/Society and Ecology sections of the dragons' individual MONSTROUS MANUAL" entries.
 Table 1: Racial Ability Requirements
Ability 	Cloud	Deep	Mercury	Mist	Shadow	Steel	Yellow
Strength 	7/23 	7/23	4/20 	4/20	5/21 	4/20 	6/22
Dexterity 	3/14 	3/15	6/18 	5/15	5/16 	3/15 	3/17
Constitution	5/18 	5/18	3/18 	3/18	3/18 	3/18 	4/18
Intelligence	6/21 	5/20	3/18 	3/18	3/18 	3/18 	3/17
Wisdom 	3/18 	3/18	3/18 	3/18	3/18 	3/18 	3/18
Charisma 	7/21 	5/19	5/19 	4/18	4/18 	6/20 	4/19
: ﻿The above minimum and maximum values cannot be changed, although a dragon may gain or lose ability points through spell effects and certain magical items, such as a tome of clear thought. In such cases, the ability score ranges can be ignored.
 Table 2: Racial Ability Adjustments
 	Str	Dex	Con	Int	Wis	Cha
Cloud 	+5 	-4 	— 	+3 	— 	+3
Deep 	+5 	-3 	— 	+2 	— 	+1
Mercury	+2 	— 	— 	+1 	— 	+1
Mist 	+2 	-3 	— 	+2 	— 	—
Shadow 	+2 	-3 	— 	+3 	— 	—
Steel 	+2 	-3 	— 	+4 	— 	+2
Yellow 	+4 	-1 	— 	— 	— 	+1
 Table 3: Racial Class and Level Limits
 	Dragon PC	Dragon-Priest	Dragon-Mage
Cloud 	12 	12 	12
Deep 	12 	12 	12
Mercury	12 	12 	12
Mist 	12 	12 	12
Shadow 	12 	12 	12
Steel 	12 	12 	12
Yellow 	12 	— 	12
: ﻿None of the above dragons may normally become dragon-psionicists or possess psionic abilities.
: To determine the abilities and powers of the dragon PC at each level, refer to the entries in the MONSTROUS MANUAL tome.
 Table 4: Preferred Kindred
 	Elf 	Dwarf 	Gnome
Cloud 	Preferred	Rare 	Rare
Deep 	Never 	Preferred	Rare
Mercury	Rare 	Rare 	Preferred
Mist 	Preferred	Never 	Rare
Shadow 	Rare 	Preferred	Rare
Steel 	— 	— 	—
Yellow 	Never 	Preferred	Rare
 Table 5: XP & Advancement
{| class="article-table"	Level 	XP	Hit Dice
H 	0 	7 	
1 	64,000 	7 	
2 	250,000 	9 	
3 	750,000 	11	
4 	1.250.000	13	
5 	1,500,000	14	
6 	1,750,000	15	
7 	2,000,000	16	
8 	2,250,000	17	
9 	2,500,000	18	
10	2,750,000	19	
11	3,000,000	20	
12	3,250,000	21	
 Table 6: Dragon Proficiency Slots
DragonRace	Combat Proficiencies	Combat Proficiencies	Noncombat Proficiencies	Noncombat Proficiencies	#/Level
DragonRace	Initial 	#/Level 	Penalty 	Initial 	#/Level
Cloud 	4 	2/3 	-5 	3 	3/2
Deep 	5 	2/3 	-4 	3 	1
Mercury 	4 	2/3 	-5 	3 	1
Mist 	4 	2/3 	-5 	4 	3/2
Shadow 	4 	2/3 	-4 	3 	1
Steel 	4 	2/3 	-5 	4 	3/2
Yellow 	5 	2/3 	-3 	2 	1
 Table 6: Bonus Proficiencies
 	Bonus Proficiency
Cloud 	Weather Sense
Deep 	Direction Sense
Mercury	Gaming
Mist 	Swimming
Shadow 	Appraising
Steel 	Modern Language
Yellow 	Survival (Desert)
: ﻿Bonus proficiencies are received for free at 1st level, regardless of whether hatchling-level characters cart purchase the proficiency. If the PC has already bought the given skill, the wyrm gains a +2 bonus to the proficiency checks.
==Rogue Dragons==
Three of the seven main Council of Wyrms dragon races are inherently evil and thus not recommended as PCs. Those who wish to play such a dragon might like to play a good-aligned rogue dragon.
Dragons who rebel against their species' attitudes find themselves tolerated at best, persecuted at worst. A shift in the dragon's views of law, neutrality, and chaos is least offensive to other dragons of the same type. In such cases, the subrace of the PC is a significant factor. The open-minded steel wyrms, for instance, display more tolerance toward a neutral good rogue than would the fell deep dragons. In many cases, however, such a rogue dragon is considered merely an eccentric, not a rebel.
Rogue dragons who make at more drastic alignment shift, such as a good-aligned shadow dragon, are especially rare and almost never tolerated by others of their type. The only exceptions are dragons that can have more than one alignment, such as steel dragons, who tend toward lawful neutrality but might be lawful good. Among most dragons, however, radical alignments are intolerable to their kin. Such rogues are shunned by their brethren, while other dragons-even those of the rogue's alignment-almost always find themselves unable to look past the color of the rogue's scales.
Rogue wyrms who openly oppose the plans of their clan leaders usually end up dead or exiled. A lucky rogue might be drawn under the wings of (eccentric or insane) elders sympathetic to the youngster's plight.
Rogues who endanger other dragons are feared and hated by all dragons. These renegades are more common in the west than in the Blood Isles, especially among old and powerful wyrms who think of themselves as invincible. Most dragons avoid these creatures, while some find the courage to challenge the them. In either case, the rogue remains a threat until death.
Destructive rogues make excellent targets for human or demihuman dragon slayers. Such warriors will either kill the rogue outright or attempt to use the wyrm against other dragons. These options should not be open to dragon PCs at the start of a campaign, although they could end up like this variety of rogue through long adventuring, extensive roleplaying,
and more than a few misfortunes.
==Other Dragons of the West==
The lands of the west are vast and diverse. Despite the many options and races fit for play above, characters might wish to play other draconic races in this new area. DMs should feel free to extrapolate from the rules in Council of Wyrms and this article to expand the PC options even further.
Dragons from the eastern lands of Io's Island Chain might be allowed at the DM's option. After all, Io gave the world to his dragons, and with their vast abilities, they can easily travel far from the Council of Wyrms. Should they come to the west, such dragons are likely to face persecution. The wyrms of the west probably avoid the easterners or attack them in remembrance of the punishment they received so long ago. Humans will see the arrival of such wyrms as an attack from the east and will probably respond with a dragon hunt, purging the area of the threat. The dragon slayers believe that the eastern wyrms should stay where they are; the western lands were obviously meant for humans. In addition, the fact that Io's first children have even more power and abilities than the western dragons could inspire panic among humans and western dragons alike
: Charlie Martin has just turned eighteen and graduated from the St. Johnsbury Academy. Of over three hundred articles and proposals submitted to various game magazines, this is his fifth publication
Category:Dragon Magazine Race Articles