Copper dragon

Copper dragons are incorrigible pranksters, joke tellers, and riddlers. They are prideful and are not good losers, although they are reasonably good winners. They are particularly selfish, and greedy for their alignment, and have an almost neutral outlook where wealth is concerned.

At birth, a copper dragon's scales have a ruddy brown color with a copper tint. As the dragon gets older, the scales become finer and more coppery, assuming a soft, warm gloss by the time the dragon becomes a young adult. Beginning at the venerable stage, the dragons' scales pick up a green tint.

Copper dragons speak their own tongue, a tongue common to all good dragons, and some hatchling copper dragons have an ability to communicate with any intelligent creature.

Copper dragons like to taunt and annoy their opponents, hoping they will give up or become angry and act foolishly. Early in an encounter, a copper dragon will jump from one side of an opponent to another, landing on inaccessible or vertical stone surfaces. If there are no such places around a dragon's lair, the dragon will create them ahead of time using spells of elemental earth, with which they are typically very proficient, using them preferentially in combat. When fighting airborne opponents, a dragon will draw its enemies into narrow, stony gorges where it can climb in an attempt to maneuver the enemy into colliding with the walls. A copper dragon's breath is either a cloud of gas, which can slow their enemies, or a spurt of acid.

Copper dragons like dry, rocky uplands and mountains. They lair in narrow caves and often conceal the entrances magically. Within the lair, they construct twisting mazes with open tops. These allow the dragon to fly or jump over intruders struggling through the maze.

Copper dragons appreciate wit, and will usually leave good or neutral creatures alone if they can relate a joke, humorous story, or riddle the dragon has not heard before. They quickly get annoyed with creatures who don't laugh at their jokes or do not accept the dragon's tricks and antics with good humor.

Because they often inhabit hills in sight of red dragons' lairs, conflicts between the two subspecies often occur. Copper dragons usually run for cover until they can equal the odds.

Copper dragons are determined hunters, the good sport a hunt provides is at least as important as the food they get. They are known to eat almost anything, including metal ores. However, they prize giant scorpions and other large poisonous creatures (they say the venom sharpens their wit).

Note: Copper dragons originally appeared in this form in the 2nd Edition Monstrous Manual for the AD&D game from TSR. Their use here is for the purposes of providing context for the campaign only.