User:MisterSinister/Intro

The Problem With Dragons
''Dragon cock? I walk.''

Dragons are a key part of the DnD experience - hell, the game itself is called Dungeons and Dragons, after all. However, at the same time, the fixation of many gamers (among which number more than one of the game's designers) on what are essentially giant, fire-breathing lizards, has gone far too far. With dragon-this and dragon-that all over the place, the capabilities of dragons have gone far beyond what they should be, and thus, their prominence in games is excessive by far. To make matters worse, a dragon version of everything, from wizards to fighters, has come into existence, and avoid it has become difficult if not impossible. The sheer quantity of content, bad and good, has reached overwhelming proportions, and the rabid dragon fanboys demand more and more of it constantly. Another major problem has been the heavy reliance on 'daddy was a dragon'. This is not something I want to contemplate for too long, yet it is something that people seem to have a far-too-unhealthy interest in.

This has to end, because it means that inclusion of dragons in a sane and consistent manner for people who don't wish to fellate dragon penis (such as myself) has become this end of impossible. This sourcebook aims to analyse the problems of dragons, and solve them in ways that make dragons interesting, but avoiding the 'dragon cock' phenomenon.

What This Book Is Not
If you are a rabid dragon fanboy, and expect to find more dragon fellation material in here, where dragons are uber-smart, uber-powerful and better than everything else, you will find nothing for you here. Likewise, if you are of the mindset that dragons don't have enough variants and options, you are also in the wrong place. Lastly, if you think that combat is the only minigame that matters, and screw the rest of the world and how it makes sense, please also stop reading now. You'll save me many headaches and others many hours. There are many other sourcebooks you can consult to get what you want.

What This Book Is
This sourcebook aims to present a new take on dragons - impressive, but not slavish, varied, but not overwhelming, powerful, but not insane. Simplicity is the order of the day, and consistency the standard. This is designed to replace all dragon content - every single thing ever printed. It aims to simplify, consolidate and bring some sense, sanity and order to the flying circus that dragon-everything has become, to allow people to use dragons in their settings without needing to follow along with all the crazy non-logic given to us by people like the ones who wrote any Draconomicon.

Some Basic Assumptions
First of all, this content is written from the balance point of high rogue, low wizard, as is most of my content. Likewise, I believe flavour to be the driver of mechanics, and that monsters shouldn't simply be piles of hit points to kill in combat. On top of that, we're going to assume that you understand that wealth-by-level and treasure as given by the PHB and DMG is a sad joke, and be using something far more sensible (like my take on it here) instead of what is given conventionally. As long as you are aware of these assumptions and take them into account, this work shouldn't cause you any problems. At least any that you'll care about.