07 Jun A Friend to the Righteous: The Silver Dragon
Silver dragons are a force to be reckoned with. If you are on the side of good, they will help you in your noble quest. If you are on the side of evil, you can neither run nor hide if you have caught the ire of these extremely powerful creatures.
What is a silver dragon (DnD)?
Silver dragons have two back legs, two front legs which serve as arms, two wings (they can fly!), and a tail. By the time they are fully grown, their scales look as though they are made from polished silver, reflective and gleaming.
They have beard-like chin spikes, and a spiny frill rising high above their heads that extends down their back all the way to the tips of their tails, giving them a sail along their spine. Their eyes look like pools of liquid mercury, and their senses are keen discerning.
Throughout their life, a silver dragon will go from medium, to large, to huge, to gargantuan size. These are massive, massive creatures. That is, they are a gargantuan creature when they are in dragon form; these monsters can (and often prefer to) take humanoid form!
Are silver dragons evil? Are Silver Dragons good? What’s the deal?
Silver dragons’ alignment is lawful good. But it goes beyond that; they actively help good creatures in need, or who are in service of virtuous goals.
Silver dragons believe that living a moral life involves actively doing good deeds and ensuring that one’s actions cause no unnecessary harm to other sentient beings.
They don’t take it upon themselves to hunt down and root out evil, as gold and bronze dragons do, but they will gladly oppose creatures that are committing evil acts or harming the innocent.
They are social creatures who enjoy making friends. They will search out humanoids known to be good and try to become their friends. Would you say no to having a visit with a dragon for a playdate activity? The choice is yours but you probably already know your answer! Of the two options you might want to pick the one that will be a blast 😉
Silver dragon friendships
Silver dragons also enjoy the friendship and company of other silver dragons. Their only true friendships outside their own kind arise in the company of humanoids, and many silver dragons spend as much time in humanoid form as they do in dragon form.
A silver dragon adopts a benign humanoid persona, such as a wise and well traveled trader or a fresh-faced and eager young explorer, and it often has mortal companions with whom it develops strong friendships.
The downside to these friendships is that the dragons must step away from their humanoid lives on a regular basis, returning to their true dragon forms to mate and rear offspring, or to tend to their hoards and personal dragonal affairs.
They tend to lose track of time while they are away in dragon form, and can return to their humanoid lives to find that their companions have grown old or died. 🙁 Silver dragons often end up befriending several generations of humanoids within a single family as a result.
So your grandmother might have talked for hours over the years about her silver dragon friend, and you always wondered if she was just making up cool tales to share with you… until you wake to see a huge mercury eye studying you. “You look just like her,” he says with a smile.
Silver dragons have a respect for humanity. They befriend humanoids of all races, but shorter-lived races such as humans spark their curiosity in a way the longer-lived elves and dwarves don’t.
Humans’ short lifespan makes them have a drive and zest for life that silver dragons find fascinating. Their 70-100 years is a flash in the pan compared to other races, and watching how they can effectively use their limited years interests a silver dragon greatly.
They’re valuable collectables mom I swear
One of their most stereotypically dragon activities is to hoard. Silver dragons love to acquire relics of humanoid history, perhaps as accompaniment to their fascination with human lives.
They collect great piles of coins which they covet, minted by both current and fallen humanoid empires, as well as art and fine jewelry crafted by numerous races.
Other more unusual treasures that can be included in their hoards are things like whole intact ships (“Admiral Sir, I swear to god it literally picked up the ship and started flying away; we had to abandon ship lest we be taken with her.”), the remains of kings and queens (skeletons, mummies, magically preserved bodies etc), thrones, the crown jewels of ancient empires (it belongs in a museum!), inventions and machine contraptions, and monoliths carried from the ruins of fallen cities.
What is the most powerful dragon in D&D?
Silver Dragons are third on the list of the most powerful dragons in D&D. The only two above them are (second) the Ancient Red Dragon, the strongest of the chromatic dragons, and (first) the Ancient Gold Dragon.
What color dragon is the strongest?
As far as statistics goes, those three, the Ancient Silver Dragons, Ancient Red Dragons, and the Ancient Gold Dragons all have a strength of 30 (+10), but what separates them is not their raw strength.
Gold and Red are both challenge rating 24, with both having 546 hitpoints, but the gold has the upper hand with higher dexterity, wisdom, and charisma, making it the ‘strongest’ dragon.
Where do silver dragons live?
Silver dragons live in lairs, which have a whole bunch of things going on with them!
A Silver Dragon’s Lair: Foggy with a chance of zero falling damage
Silver dragons make their lairs among the clouds and snow on secluded and cold mountain peaks. Though many are comfortable in natural cavern complexes or abandoned mines, silver dragons covet the lost outposts of humanoid civilizations.
An abandoned mountaintop stronghold or a remote tower raised by a long-dead wizard where they can coil their tail up among their hoard is the sort of dream-home lair that every young silver dragon hopes to make their own.
Lair Actions
On initiative count 20 (losing initiative ties), the dragon takes a lair action to cause one of the following effects:
- The dragon creates fog as if it had cast the fog cloud spell. The fog lasts until initiative count 20 on the next round.
- A blisteringly cold wind blows through the lair near the dragon. Each creature within 120 feet of the dragon must succeed on a DC 15 Constitution saving throw or take 5 (1d10) cold damage. Gases and vapors are dispersed by the wind, and unprotected flames are extinguished. Protected flames, such as lanterns, have a 50 percent chance of being extinguished.
Regional Effects
The region containing a legendary silver dragon’s lair is warped by the dragon’s magic, which creates one or more of the following effects.
- Once per day, the dragon can alter the weather in a 6-mile radius centered on its lair. The dragon doesn’t need to be outdoors; otherwise the effect is identical to the control weather spell. So they’re calling the shots on your weather while you’re around them! That is a huge AOE.
- Within 1 mile of the lair, winds buoy non-evil creatures that fall due to no act of the dragon’s or its allies. Such creatures descend at a rate of 60 feet per round and take no falling damage. So the dragon could be chilling at home, just admiring its latest bit of hoard, and, like a mile away, your klutzy butt trips and falls off a cliff. Do you die? No! Do you even take falling damage? Also no! All thanks to being near one of these amazing creatures.
- Given a few days or longer to work, the dragon can make clouds and fog within its lair as solid as stone, forming structures and other objects as it wishes. So it can manifest solid structures out of the air, cool cool cool.
- If the dragon dies, changed weather reverts to normal, as described in the spell, and the other effects fade in 1d10 days.
Silver Dragons Stats
Here are the basic stats for each kind of silver dragon. An account of their abilities, actions, and legendary actions can be found in the trust Monster Manual 5e put out by Wizards of the Coast.
They only get better with age, and an encounter with a fully grown Ancient Silver Dragon might be one of the most powerful entities you encounter in your D&D campaign.
Silver Dragon Wyrmling
- Medium dragon, lawful good
- Armor Class: 17 (natural armor)
- Hit Points: 45 (6d8 + 18)
- Speed: 30ft., fly 60ft.
- STR 19 (+4), DEX 10 (+0), CON 17 (+3), INT 12 (+1), WIS 11 (+0), CHA 15 (+2)
- Saving Throws: Dex +2, Con +5, Wis +2 , Cha +4
- Skills: Perception +4, Stealth +2
- Damage Immunities: cold
- Senses: blind sight 10ft., darkvision 60ft., passive Perception 14
- Languages: Draconic
- Challenge: 2 (450 XP)
Young Silver Dragon
- Large dragon, lawful good
- Armor Class: 18 (natural armor)
- Hit Points: 168 (16d10 + 80)
- Speed: 40ft., fly 80ft.
- STR 23 (+6), DEX 10 (+0), CON 21 (+5), INT 14 (+2), WIS 11 (+0), CHA 19 (+4)
- Saving Throws: Dex +4, Con +9, Wis +4, Cha +8
- Skills: Arcana +6, History +6, Perception +8, Stealth +4
- Damage Immunities: cold
- Senses: blindsight 30ft., darkvision 120ft., passive Perception 18
- Languages: Common, Draconic
- Challenge: 9 (5 ,000 XP)
Adult Silver Dragon
- Huge dragon, lawful good
- Armor Class: 19 (natural armor)
- Hit Points: 243 (18d12 + 126)
- Speed 40ft., fly 80ft.
- STR 27 (+8), DEX 10 (+0), CON 25 (+7), INT 16 (+3), WIS 13 (+1), CHA 21 (+5)
- Saving Throws Dex +S, Con +12, Wis +6, Cha +10
- Skills: Arcana +8, History +8, Perception +11, Stealth +5
- Damage Immunities: cold
- Senses: blindsight 60ft., darkvision 120ft., passive Perception 21
- Languages: Common, Draconic
- Challenge: 16 (15,000 XP)
Ancient Silver Dragon
- Gargantuan dragon, lawful good
- Armor Class 22 (natural armor)
- Hit Points 487 (25d20 + 225)
- Speed 40ft., fly 80ft.
- STR 30 (+10), DEX 10 (+0), CON 29 (+9), INT 18 (+4), WIS 15 (+2), CHA 23 (+6)
- Saving Throws: Dex +7, Con + 16, Wis +9, Cha + 13
- Skills: Arcana +11, History +11, Perception +16, Stealth +7
- Damage Immunities: cold
- Senses: blindsight 60ft., darkvision 120ft., passive Perception 26
- Languages: Common, Draconic
- Challenge: 23 (32,500 XP)
Optional Dragon Rules
If you are like me, then you will take advantage of the Optional dragon rules in the Monsters Manual, The Variant: Dragon as Innate Spellcasters.
Dragons are supposed to be one of the most iconic creatures in D&D. It’s in literally half the name. Dungeons and Dragons.
In your setting you should seriously consider equipping your dragons with this special rule. It gives dragons that extra bit of versatility and elevates them to a more fearsome status worthy of their reputation.
Perks
- A young or older dragon can innately cast a number of spells equal to its Charisma modifier.
- Each spell can be cast once per day, requiring no material components, and the spell’s level can be no higher than one-third the dragon’s challenge rating (rounded down).
- The dragon’s bonus to hit with spell attacks is equal to its proficiency bonus + its Charisma bonus.
- The dragon’s spell save DC equals 8 + its proficiency bonus + its Charisma modifier.
Stavros
The Tome of Syyx – A D&D Style Epic Fantasy
If you are a reader that enjoys both D&D and Epic Fantasy, then The Tome of Syyx is the book for you!
Tasked with helping secure the future of the town of Sanctuary, four young adventurers soon discover that armies of orcs and hobgoblins are far from the only threats to peace on the frontier.
Ancient evils stir. Deals must be brokered. But can everyone be trusted?
The Fateful Force Book Series
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Change of Fortune: Prequel Short Story to The Tome of Syyx
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