The game is called Dungeons and DRAGONS, after all.
Fantasy games and fiction have sort of placed the dragon as the quintessential boss monster. It’s the big fight with the big payoff. Examples abound with Smaug’s hoard, Fafnir in Norse Mythology, countless adventure modules, multiple video games, and so forth.
Dragons also have a reputation for puissance. They are strong, they are tough, they breath death upon their enemies, and they can fly. Some are even spell-casters. Scary stuff, yeah?
So why aren’t dragons tougher in BX?
The biggest, baddest, actual dragon* is the Gold. They have the most HD, best AC, do the most damage, and can always speak and cast spells. They are also the only Lawful dragon, and therefore less likely to be hostile (though it’s certainly still possible one might attack a party).
The truth is, dragons are not the scariest thing out there in a BX setting. If I were a PC, I’d rather face a dragon than several standard monsters that are scarier IMO. Monsters such as: Salamanders (frost and fire), Bronze Golems, some Hydras, Purple Worms, and most of the things that can petrify you or drain levels. So the question becomes why do these creatures have such a reputation? Sure they are formidable, but they are actually not as lethal as most people seem to think.
I think that it boils down to a few things. First is the popular perception developed literally over centuries of stories and legends. Dragons occupy a particular, almost Jungian, place in our cultural psyche. For people who are likely to read this blog, this is even more so, because we are more likely to have read or seen more fantasy fiction and games that reinforce the trope.
The second is a little more to do with the way the game itself is designed. By the book in BX, you can encounter a dragon randomly in most wilderness hexes, albeit not a high chance. Even though they are included in the Basic rules, that has more to do with them being a possible “dungeon encounter,” as that is Moldvay’s focus (as opposed to wilderness in Cook). This means it’s not that unusual for characters to encounter a dragon at relatively low levels (at least when rolling randomly), and for most inexperienced PCs, if it comes to a fight, it won’t likely go well for them. Thus dragons gain an in-world reputation for lethality. They certainly can burninate the peasants’ thatched roof cottages with little trouble.
Which
brings me to the breath weapon. Doing your current HP in damage where
a Save only halves it? That’s a brutal opening move. Even if the
damage goes down as they get hurt, they have that option 3x day, so
even a smaller dragon, say an average 6HD white, might dole out 50-60
points of damage to multiple foes
over a few rounds. That will wipe out most name level PCs, unless
they make their saves (plural) and/or have magical protection (Resist
Cold).
Third is intelligence. Dragons are played as smart, cunning predators that can live for centuries. Like intelligent undead (i.e. vampires), they have the time to plan their defenses well. Dragons are rarely without a plan or some sort of defenses in their lair. They will use smart tactics, or even magic, against their foes. This can make them far scarier than a dumb beast with similar stats.
Loot is a big factor in their reputations as well. While it does not directly affect their lethality, dragons’ Treasure Type H is a sweet haul, as it should be. There are other, tougher, creatures out there that have worse loot, so I think the dragon hits the “sweet spot” of maximum reward for a lot, but not impossible amount, of effort. As such, characters are motivated to seek the creatures out and many of them fail.
So what does all this mean for the dragon’s role in a BX setting? Well, this can vary a lot depending on the kind of world you are running, but I see them as sort of like a dying race. They are ancient, but few in number. They are solitary, predatory, and territorial. They crave wealth but rarely spend it. Their thinking is not like a human beings. Their perspective is one of centuries, not years. They are savage in the sense that they are not part of a “civilization.” But they are intelligent and can plan. They can (often) speak and so will sometimes choose to converse instead of fight. While there are things out there bigger and badder than dragons, there is almost no person or creature out there that would face a dragon lightly.
Dragons are generally smart enough to steer clear of heavy populations. It knows it will eventually attract attention. Either because the easiest hunting in populated areas is the livestock, or rumors of its treasure will spread, Any people who do live near a dragon are probably fairly isolated as well. They may see it somewhere between a predator, like a lion or shark, and a local nature spirit, like a river god. It may have been there forever, but rarely involved itself with people. There have been enough encounters to have given it a dangerous reputation, though.
I believe, and this really is just my opinion, that the fact that dragons aren’t actually so much “on paper” speaks to the massive opportunities they present in a campaign. They occupy such an interesting, almost unique, niche in the world that DMs can find a lot of interesting fodder for their games there. Most of the fun happens outside the combat rounds anyway. Even if the PCs just fight and kill the creature, that hoard might lead to a scramble to claim the wealth. Maybe five armies won’t show up for a normal sized hoard, but local bandits, a corrupt Bürgermeister? Who knows?
In other editions of the game, dragons can be far, FAR more dangerous, even godlike in their powers. There's nothing wrong with that, but I think it's sort of fun that the dragons here are more integrated into the world. They're rare, but known. I like to imagine that it's sort of like certain wildlife in the real world. To someone that lives near the Florida Everglades, seeing a large gator is hardly unheard of, but it's still noteworthy. And if someone from Ohio comes to visit, they'll probably be more amazed when that gator crawls across the grass than the locals, but it's not like they didn't know alligators existed!
*I’ve written before about “dragon-kin” like sea dragons and dragon turtles. For this post’s purposes, I’m sticking to the ones on page B26: White, Black, Green, Blue, Red, and Gold.
PS: While this isn’t directly related to this rant, I should mention that dragons in BX (and some other editions) can be subdued. This is where the dragon is reduced to zero hit points “non-lethally” and surrenders. I think this deserves its own post, as it is a really wild rule, but the fact that you can theoretically capture a dragon is an interesting facet of their role in BX worlds.
