Silver dragons are graceful, majestic dragons that adopt humanoid forms to mentor good-hearted humanoids. They see potential for greatness everywhere, but demand nothing less than perfection from themselves and their students.

Tutors to Smallfolk. Once they grow to full adulthood, silver dragons often take humanoid form to sere as teachers to particularly gifted students. Being so long-lived gives the dragons time to become experts in a variety of fields, and they may pass on their knowledge of art, swordplay, various crafts, or spellcasting to their students. Once a silver dragon selects a protege, it will not rest until its lessons are complete. If the student’s conviction wavers, the dragon may take on drastic measures to keep its pupil on track — often to the student’s chagrin. 

Hoarders of Art and History. Silver dragons decorate their lairs with objects that remind them of their favorite students: a perfectly crafted blade, a masterwork painting, or even a collection of top-quality alchemical supplies. In addition to such keepsakes, a silver dragon might collect items of historical significance, such as the mast of a warship used in a pivotal battle, a renowned queen’s wedding dress, or a battlement from a castle demolished centuries ago.

Social Butterflies. Silver dragons can’t stand extended isolation and will travel immense distances to visit others of their kind. Without such interactions, a silver dragon may take humanoid form and befriend humanoids passing through its domain. Travellers who aren’t sufficiently receptive to this talkative stranger may find themselves face-to-face with a wrathful dragon.

Haughty and regal, gold dragons carry themselves with the swagger of a gallant knight. They are both indispensable allies and terrifying foes. Should they deem a cause righteous, they take to it with absolute zeal, whether or not that cause aligns with the concerns of short-lived folk.

Aloof Hermits. Gold dragons greatly value their privacy. They know many humanoids regard them as god-like creatures capable of solving any problem. But as gold dragons learn from a young age, the more you help people, the more they need your help. Sooner or later, every side in every conflict petitions you for aid. Nasty business, says the dragon, who wants no part of it.

Deep Hoards. Though their loyalty can’t be bought, gold dragons appreciate treasure as much as any dragon. They happily accept offerings of gold or jewels. In fact, gold dragons can eat such treasures for sustenance (they enjoy pearls and gems especially) but they have no need to gorge themselves, meaning their hoards tend to grow larger as they age.

Guardian Vigil. Gold dragons maintain large territories, always keeping an eye out for extra planar threats, tyranny in nearby nations, and the encroachment of red dragons. Gold dragons can be over-zealous in their response to such threats, their righteous anger often causing unintended collateral damage.

Playful and whimsical, copper dragons often involve themselves in the affairs of short-lived folk, though their contributions to history aren’t always positive. While copper dragons aren’t generally malevolent, they are incorrigible tricksters and rarely understand the different between a joke and outright cruelty. Of all dragons, copper dragons are the ones most likely to live near humanoids, as they are always searching for new targets for their pranks.

Flighty Urges. As they grow older, copper dragons exhibit all manner of unusual interests. They may yearn for a simpler life and use their shapeshifting to pass themselves off as a farmer or wanderer. They may decide they’re interested in politics and start secretly advising a noble on how to best run a nation. They may tunnel under a wishing well and give life advice to anyone who tosses in a coin. The only consistent feature of the impulses is that they’re short-lived. Inevitably, a copper grows bored of its exploits and abandons them, possibly leaving many people high and dry in the process. 

Friendly, If Troublesome. Despite their mischievous natures, copper dragons rarely mean to do harm. If made to understand the trouble they’ve caused, they can usually be counted on to compensate their victims. Convincing a copper dragon to see the error of its ways, however, is rarely a simple task.

Fascinated by the endless rhythms of the sea, bronze dragons spend hours studying their seaside dominions, transfixed by the flight paths of birds, the migrations of fish, or the accumulation of sea foam against a mossy rock. Some bronze dragons even make their lairs near humanoid settlements, so as to more closely watch the ships as they sail in and out of port. 

Curious and Mysterious. Though fascinated with the natural world, bronze dragons prefer to make their observations from afar. They avoid influencing the objects of their scrutiny, but on the odd occasion they are exposed, bronze dragons make the best of it, asking intrusive questions and analyzing the answers they receive for days on end.

Tests and Trials. When a creature seeks a bronze dragon’s wisdom, the dragon always knows they’re coming. It sets out a number of trials to test the knowledge-seeker, so as to better gauge their motivations before they arrive. Such ordeals rarely involve the dragon appearing personally, but they can be perilous nonetheless.

Butterflies and Hurricanes. No one knows better than a bronze dragon that a small action can have far-reaching consequences. Bronze dragons sometimes dispatch agents to gather specific information about the world around them. This might mean infiltrating a warlord’s inner circle to discover where her warships will sail this season, or exploring the interior of a long-deserted isle. Though such knowledge might seem irrelevant to adventurers bent on saving the world, the dragon requires it to further its efforts to promote the greater good. 

Of all dragons, none is more likely to talk your ear off than a brass. Gregarious creatures, brass dragons have been known to invite would-be dragons layers into their lairs simply to share gossip. They have a habit of losing track of time in pleasant company, however, so visitors too polite (or too fearful) to interrupt a brass dragon could find themselves trapped in its lair for days on end.

Sages and Scholars. Brass dragons often turn their hoarding instinct toward accumulating vast libraries. As a result, many are experts in a wide array of subjects. Brass dragons are careful not to share their knowledge too freely, however, as they know all too well what havoc short-lived humanoids can cause when their information supplants wisdom. Brass dragons may even take it upon themselves to reclaim knowledge used for evil ends — or hire adventurers to do so on their behalf.

Hermits and Advisors. As brass dragons age, some grow weary of the short-lived triumphs and repeated mistakes of humanoids. Others, however, become even more involved in humanoid politics. As they learn to shape shift, older brass dragons may assume positions as royal advisors in order to steer the short-lived folk onto what they see as the proper path.

Fairy tales speak of noble dragons with glittering scales of precious metal, who act as guides and protectors to errant humans. And indeed, while metallic dragons are as greedy and power-hungry as any dragon, they are more likely to uphold the tenets of peace and order than to ravage the land with fire and fury.

Careful Stewards. Many metallic dragons consider themselves stewards of their territories. With an eye to tomorrow’s hunt, metallic dragons avoid overtaxing the land’s boundary. They extend this understanding to humanoids in their dominion, whom they allow to flourish so long as they don’t challenge dragons for supremacy. Humanoids, after all, are useful: they produce fine art and mine for precious metals, both of which dragons covet. Some metallic dragons trade their benevolence for such gifts, while others take what they want by force, especially from those they deem unworthy of protection: bandits, troublemakers, and those who assert independence from the dragons’ dominion.

Social Creatures. Metallic dragons are the most social of true dragons, organizing themselves in close-knit communities based on blood relation or found family. They often fly long distances to share each others’ company. When other dragons are scarce, some metallic dragons even turn to humanoids for companionship. Adult metallic dragons can magically take on humanoid shape, and they sometimes form genuine friendships with humanoids. Not even the most affable dragon, however, will risk its treasure by sharing the secrets of its lair. 

From secret places deep in the earth, the minds of the sapphire dragons wander through space and time seeking answers. Their psionic powers allow them to see the future, albeit hazily, and their prescient warnings have prevented countless disasters. Of all gem dragons, sapphire dragons spend the least time attending to their physical bodies, their far-reaching minds achieving more than fangs or talons ever could. They hide their physical forms well, but if uncovered they are far from defenseless. A sapphire dragon does
not breathe mere elements; instead, it projects psychic waveforms that reduce mortal minds to ash.

Esoteric Orchestrators. As sapphire dragons grow older, their capacity for precognition increases. The eldest can see centuries into the future. And while their intentions are not always pure, they often aim to prevent the worst disasters. A sapphire dragon’s demands can be downright bizarre. They might order their minions to steal an emperor’s tea kettle, ensure two seemingly random people fall in love, or assassinate a pet goldfish. Most agents are confident in their master’s premonitions, but it is often impossible to prove or disprove their value.

Digging for Answers. The fortune-telling abilities of sapphire dragons are legendary, leading enterprising rulers to seek them out as sages, or even to take them captive to serve as private prognosticators. A sapphire dragon’s predictions must be evaluated carefully, however. The wisdom they impart might be the answers their masters seek, or simply a cunning misdirection created by the dragon to further its own ends.

Emerald dragons claim their kind once ruled the world—a loss the dragons still bemoan, despite the fact the claim has no historical merit. The plots of emerald dragons revolve around revenge directed at anyone the dragon believes to have slighted it. Gaining an audience with an emerald dragon is a herculean task, one often rewarded by death from the dragon’s ear-splitting screams.

Revenge Cults. Emerald dragons form alliances based on the principle that the enemy of their enemy is their friend. They seek out those who share their animosity, working from the shadows to undermine their mutual foes. Many tyrants have found themselves undone by sedition and revolt, completely unaware their downfall was caused by an innocuous action decades in the past that drew an emerald dragon’s ire.

Maddening Spite. Anyone who spends time in an emerald dragon’s lair feels increasingly anxious, and not just because of the many carefully hidden traps. Innocent acts may be perceived as preambles of betrayal, while true offenses are considered declarations of war. This sense of paranoia is not simply imagined. An emerald dragon’s delusions resonate throughout its lair and take root in nearby minds, filling them with a single, persistent thought: they are out to get you, and you should get them first.

Though still reclusive by draconic standards, amethyst dragons are the most diplomatic of the gem dragons. They favor nonviolent negotiations, but even deals they make in good faith seem to end in their favor. They make their lairs welcoming to humanoid guests and are always eager to resolve a conflict with words before resorting to talons or the earth-shattering force of their breath weapons.

Master Manipulators. To meet an amethyst dragon is to become its puppet. The moment it becomes aware of a creature, the dragon is already plotting to thwart the creature’s plans or claim it as a pawn. An amethyst dragon’s only saving grace is its lack of malice. Rarely does an amethyst dragon kill its foes outright, considering such violence a needless waste of resources. Instead, it seeks to turn each situation to its advantage—and occasionally to the advantage of its allies as well.

In deep caverns on the Material Plane and the Elemental Plane of Earth shine the gem dragons. Gem dragons take their name from their multicolored scales and scintillating gemstone eyes. They are among the most intelligent of the true dragons, and certainly the most patient. Born schemers, their elaborate plots are often centuries in the making.

Hidden Gems. Scholars believe gem dragons are the rarest true dragons, but perhaps they are simply the best hidden. Gem dragons tend to be intensely paranoid, far more comfortable sending agents to carry out their will than exposing themselves to risk. They are less greedy than their chromatic cousins, valuing information above gold. Each has its own vision of how the world should function. A gem dragon’s plans may be well-meaning or insidious, but their first step is always control.

Deep Scions. All gem dragons are psionic to some degree. As they age, gem dragons refine their mental talents until there is no distance beyond their mind’s reach. The eldest gem dragons bury their physical bodies deep below the earth, telepathically coordinating their intricate plans through the power of their minds alone. These ancient wyrms may “hibernate” for centuries. When they finally awaken, they shake the soil from their wings and take flight, much to the surprise of those who live above them.

Far Thoughts. The dragon is aware of any creature that uses a psionic ability or communicates telepathically within 100 miles of it. As an action, the dragon can psionically observe a creature, object, or location it is familiar with within 100 miles. While observing a subject in this way, the dragon can see, hear, and communicate telepathically, but it is blind and deaf in regard to its physical senses and does not require food or water. The dragon can psionically observe a subject indefinitely and can end this effect and return to its own senses as an action.