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A friend told me that there are cannon circumstances in which a true dragon can be raised by a metallic dragon, is this true?

Jan 1, 2013 -- 12:34AM, WielderoftheFlame wrote:

A friend told me that there are cannon circumstances in which a true dragon can be raised by a metallic dragon, is this true?

Metallic dragons are one of the kinds of true dragon, along with chromatic dragons, gem dragons, lung dragons, and planar dragons (and a few extra individual breeds here and there).  Obviously, metallic dragons will raise their own offspring, which are also true dragons, so in the most literal sense, metallic dragons can indeed raise true dragons.

That said, it sounds like you're asking about the possibility of true dragons of one particular breed or kind raising the offspring of another breed of true dragon.  The Draconomicon provides some rules on rearing a wyrmling (on page 13) which state that dragons instinctively defer to older dragons of the same kind.  It doesn't specifically address rearing by a different kind of dragon (since it's aimed at non-dragon player characters trying to raise their own dragon), though it could well be used for that, and it notes that the character cannot have an alignment opposed to the dragon they're trying to rear on either alignment axis.

It's not clear whether the dragon being raised would defer to an older dragon of an opposing kind, or if it would attempt to escape (as happens if a character fails to persuade a wyrmling to accept their guidance), though it would still be possible for the elder dragon to outright imprison the wyrmling and raise it by keeping it captive.  It could also be possible to apply mind control of some kind, though I'd put that in the same class as captivity since it's a forced arrangement.

But although it's not impossible, it's pretty unlikely that certain kinds of dragon would willingly raise the offspring of opposing types, such as a black dragon (an evil-aligned chromatic dragon) raising a silver dragon (a good-aligned metallic dragon), and it probably wouldn't be raising in the normal sense of the word even were they to do so.

I'm not familiar with any canon to back up the idea of i.e. a Green Dragon raising a Bronze Dragon or something like that, and I'd considder it pretty unlikely for it to happen.  But that being said, we are talking about intelligent creatures here, and on one level I can envision an evil dragon stealing an egg of a good dragon and trying to raise it as it's own, as part of some sort of long term scheme/plan.  But again.  If it happens, I believe that it would be increadibly rare.

Jan 1, 2013 -- 6:29AM, Kyrel wrote:

I'm not familiar with any canon to back up the idea of i.e. a Green Dragon raising a Bronze Dragon or something like that, and I'd considder it pretty unlikely for it to happen.  But that being said, we are talking about intelligent creatures here, and on one level I can envision an evil dragon stealing an egg of a good dragon and trying to raise it as it's own, as part of some sort of long term scheme/plan.  But again.  If it happens, I believe that it would be increadibly rare.

That happened in Land of the Minotaurs (Dragonlance novel taking place after the first War of the Lance).  A red dragon was keeping a silver dragon in captivity.  Your assumption is not unreasonable, and it can go the other way, though for different reasons.  I could see a metallic dragon raising a chromatic for reasons of altruism.

Jan 1, 2013 -- 6:47AM, draco1119 wrote:

I could see a metallic dragon raising a chromatic for reasons of altruism.

I could see one trying, but the impression I get is that it would end up as a slightly more benign form of captivity due to the inborn differences between the breeds.

I mean, the vast majority of chromatic dragons have evil as their natural state; they may not be as purely evil in body and soul as a fiend, but I imagine you could bury them in love and kittens from day one and still have them turn out evil because they're not the same kind of blank slate as your average human.

I imagine it is risk vs reward. They can be raised on the hopes that they can overcome their natural tendencies, and they may even be successful. However I find it more likely for it to turn out Neutral rather then actually Good aligned, still greedy as far as gold and treasure is concenred and very agressive. A kind a creature that even if neutral could snap over to evil at any moment.

When the Atonement spell is tossed in, a Nuetral Dragon raised by Good dragons might be receptive to an Atonement spell. In fact it might even be needed to raise the dragon without it being a captive/imprisoned creature.

It may turn evil later on, due to it's natural tendencies, but it is still a posibility for it to remain good.

I was refering to the chromatic dragons when I said true dragons, thanks for the help.