Brown Dragons?


3.5/d20/OGL


Brown Dragons, does anyone else miss them? I always liked them. I liked how they were chromatic yet they were still good dragons.


Are they from 2nd edition? They don't ring any bells in my head.


Rogar Stonebow wrote:

Brown Dragons, does anyone else miss them? I always liked them. I liked how they were chromatic yet they were still good dragons.

I don't remember any "good" brown dragons from 1st ed D&D on...there were evil chromatic variants and brown-ish dragon variants but unless it was back in Basic when golds were the only metallic I can't think of any


Brown Dragons weren't in 2nd Ed in the Monstrous Manual, but I do believe they existed in the Dragonlance Appendix of the Monstrous Compendium.

They were Sand Dragons in 3.5, and in 4E they were re-codified as Brown Dragons.

There were also Iron Dragons, Yellow Dragons, and Adamantine Dragons in 4E

Personally, in my games, I replace the Brass Dragon in name with "Iron Dragon" as the fifth Metallic (using minis), mostly because it's nearly impossible to tell the difference visually between Brass and Copper (as a color). Copper and Gold are much easier (copper is red, gold is more yellowish).

I miss the Sand Dragon, yes, but we still have the Blue Dragon.

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TO SAAAND!!!


Yep it was in 2e. Or the AD&D book page 80. And I was wrong they were still evil.


But they were listed right behind the metallic dragons. The chromatic dragons were first, then the gem dragons metallics, then just other dragons. Explains my confusion.


there was a brown/amber gemstone dragon in Basic...but the chromatic brown was introduced the Forgotten Realms (maybe 1st in Dragon magazine) as was the yellow dragon (there as a diffrent yellow brought in Dragon magazine, one of the missing chromatics)...both were desert dwelling dragons...and later in 3rd ed in Sandstorm they made the sand dragon, (which was brownish-yellowish) and the rattler dragon (purple/gray) in the Realm's Shining South, two more desert dragons lol


I kind of liked the Gem dragons, but I think their association with psionics was what kept them out of most materials.

And there were some very interesting dragons that showed up in Dragon Magazine that were hybrids of chromatic types. The Purple Dragon (aka "energy dragon") was fun because it's breath weapon was a cutting laser. The same article had a version of the yellow dragon, it didn't have wings but could swim through sand or sea like an eel and was very fast.

The other problem with variant dragons is; there are ever so many possibilities, how much is "too much"? I mean, I remember all the extra-planar dragons, it got a bit crazy.

Scarab Sages

Brown Dragons are my favorites... right after blues, of course.


Davor wrote:
Brown Dragons are my favorites... right after blues, of course.

of course.

RPG Superstar 2012 Top 16

The brown dragon in Basic D&D was the Chaotic alternative to the Gold dragon.

But, yes, the Brown Dragon for AD&D was introduced in the Mulhorandi book in FR, I believe.

The Yellow Dragon was in the Anauroch book.

==Aelryinth

Liberty's Edge

The brown dragon started with the dragon color wheel in an old Dragon issue from way back (early '80s, somewhere in the 50-70 range (issue #). Ditto for the yellow dragon.

Ok, just checked. issue #79, published in '83.


Aelryinth wrote:

The brown dragon in Basic D&D was the Chaotic alternative to the Gold dragon.

But, yes, the Brown Dragon for AD&D was introduced in the Mulhorandi book in FR, I believe.

The Yellow Dragon was in the Anauroch book.

==Aelryinth

Im not familiar with the Anauroch book. What was it?

RPG Superstar 2012 Top 16

Sands of Anauroch, one of the FR expansions, I believe? Came out right about the same time as that first novel of the wizardess from the sands of Anauroch. Jeez, 20 years ago, maybe?

==Aelryinth

The Exchange

Realy? The brown dragon was introduced in d&d rules cyclopedia as a chaotic mirror species of the gold dragon.

RPG Superstar 2012 Top 16

As I also noted above...(Basic D&D)

==Aelryinth

The Exchange

Aelryinth wrote:

As I also noted above...(Basic D&D)

==Aelryinth

Noted :facepalm

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