Dragon Hierarchy

It is a common observation/complaint that dragons have become less common as enemies as D&D has advanced through its editions. They have been hyped and their stat blocks inflated to make them exceptionally difficult enemies that many DMs reserve as "end boss" style baddies that, unfortunately, many campaigns do not reach.

I realized this back in 3e while reading the Monster Manual entries on dragons. I liked that they gave very young dragons that could be encountered at lower levels (and included one each in the first two adventure path modules to reinforce that) but it was clear that "real" dragons were meant to be quite powerful. In fact, a developer admitted that the CR values of dragons were artificially low to make sure they were apex difficulty encounters (i.e. a dragon with listed CR 5 was probably CR 7 or more in reality).

One of the ways I wanted to get around that problem in Trokair was to create a hierarchy of dragon creatures. Sure, the true dragons were the monumental bad-asses who could serve as ultimate challenges but there were also a wide variety of lesser dragons and dragon-adjacent creatures that were more straightforward enemies.

The lowest rung, in prominence more so than difficulty, were the dragon-adjacent. These were your half-dragons, dragonnes, dragon turtles, wyverns, etc. Dragon-shaped or dragon-derived creatures who add a bit of dragon flavor to the game.

The next rung were what I termed drakes. This came from a 2e Dragon Magazine article about greater drakes, dragon-like creatures with animal intelligence and non-magical abilities meant to serve as mounts. For example, the Arsalon (hive drake) cultivated a wasp nest in its throat and could spit out a cloud of angry wasps. I loved these guys and apparently it was a pretty popular article because it got a sequel in 3e. I like the idea of animalistic dragons, incapable of speech or spellcasting but still formidable physical foes who amass treasure. They serve the same ecological niche as dragons and provide a good low to mid-level challenge. They also let your players experience the joy of fighting a dragon and stealing its horde without it having to be something overly special (talking, spellcasting, web of allies dragons seem like campaign focuses, not monster of the week). This is also where other dragon-but-not-really-dragon creatures fall, like linnorms.

Finally, there are the true dragons, which for Trokair I divide into two tiers. The lower tier are the Monster Manual dragons of all varieties, the four-limbed, winged, weapon breathing, spellcasting dudes we all know and love. (As an aside, I remember reading in a 2e MM that things like brown dragons were not true dragons because they lacked wings, one of the required characteristics for true dragons.) The higher tier are the special Elder Dragons, creatures of godlike power that are not meant to be fought but serve as campaign anchors and plot devices. I just like the idea of dragons that are beyond any challenge from a mortal (without it maybe being a full epic-level campaign).

I go back and forth between referring to the Elder Dragons as Wyrms.