Hello LP readers, and welcome to part two!

In this second half, I’ll be going over the creation process of my Dragon pantheon. My DM gave me a very specific set of guidelines to follow in this creation, so we’ll also see how I explored those challenges along with carving out some independent goals that I had in mind for these gods.

For this pantheon, I was told that the Dragons worshiped three specific gods, and they covered every single domain. Additionally, the pantheon would break with tradition and not split the pantheon by dragon color – there is no “good dragon god of metallics” and an “evil dragon god of chromatics,” nor are there individual dragons gods like a Copper or Blue god that would represent one color. The final guideline before setting out on fleshing out these creations was how the pantheons and colors would be spaced out. The table below shows the skeleton I’d have to build on:

Based on the “classic” D&D lore, these categories are definitely a deviation from the norm. Good and evil dragons might be redefined, or at least less bound to their alignments, and the domains are in larger groups – the PHB usually only assigned one or two domains to a god, while these are done in fours. Oh, and the DM had one small, but not necessary, request: try to stay away from naming the dragons from the standard Europe-centric names we’ve seen in the past. As a player, I always try to jump around culturally when naming my characters, so this part was more fun than difficult. So where to begin?

Practically, if anyone were to use these gods for actual gameplay and want to create a divine character based on these stats, the domains would be the first and probably most important facet for these gods, so I started the mythology there. Dragon God A (DGA) was probably the easiest to begin to mold, as life and death are natural counterparts and protection and light are also common bedfellows. DGA is going to be Lawful Good and deal with things like justice, accountability, defense, and fairness, which is a good type of god to have for lots of players to explore. DGA will give your clerics and paladins a good jumping point, especially for those that want to focus healing.

Dragon God B (DGB) could go in a few directions. DGB might be a dragon god of magic (Arcane and Knowledge) but maybe might be a god of rogues, or even a god of revenge. But, in keeping with exploring new sources for inspiration and going against the grain, I decided to make DGB a trickster god á la the Navajo Coyote. I am a huge fan of Tom Siddell’s Gunnerkrigg Court, and he has created an incredible character out of his Coyote. So, I’ll take some of those characteristics that makes Coyote great (his unpredictability, his capricious notion of fairness, and his raw power) and see if I can’t make something out of that. DGB will still work well for rogues, but maybe also barbarians, bards, any anyone who wants to be a more unpredictable worshiper.

Our last god, Dragon God C (DGC) was maybe the hardest to pin down. The Forge and War domains go pretty well together, but combining that with Nature was a hard one. Grave could easily fit with say, the aftermath of a great battle, but finding a spot for Nature proved to be the most challenging. I like the idea of a god that thinks of war and creation as “natural” in a way, as something part of a great cycle. So I’ll expand that when we get to DGC’s write up.

As an aside, trying to find unique combinations for domains can lead to some really creative places. Extending yourself beyond the traditional couplings (Life and Death, Arcane and Knowledge, etc) can cause some brand new ideas to blossom. In DGC, I felt that in connecting these domains, I could see a cycle of destruction and rebirth, something similar to the explosiveness of a forest fire and the slow regrowth from the ashes. This lead to some ideas about perpetual motion, innovation, and always trying to reinvent and evolve. So, this god’s definitely got some potential here.

After using the domains to establish these gods’ personalities and natures, I started on their backstories and more of the lore text. Two concepts I kept coming back to were power and sacrifice. Creating these gods in isolation might work at first, but these are part of a pantheon and the three need to be related somehow. Instead of using the concept of Racial gods from our first half, I decided that these weren’t the gods who created dragons, but were dragons that outlived and outgrew the concept of what we see as normal D&D dragons. Because dragons are divided into age categories, I decided that the gods should simply be in the highest one, or rather so old that age is indeterminate. I also chose to have them be mortal dragons that found a way to ascend to deity status much like a demigod of sorts, like Hercules. But, unlike Hercules, the dragons would have to sacrifice a part of their dragon-ness to become that kind of powerful. DGA, bringer of light and hope, would be blind and unable to taste her precious gems. DGB, in his quixotic nature, would give up his horde. DGC, unwilling to be held back by stereotypes and alignment, gives up color, gender, and memory. Now, each god has divine power and divine motive.

Now that we’ve established personalities and a bit of lore, we can start to tie them all together and begin to frost the cake, if you will. I’ve added in small flairs of detail to give each dragon a fuller, enriched description and kept an old holdover from 3.5e, the favored weapon. This is not standard for 5th Edition gods, but I liked the idea of symbols and weapons being associated with the dragon gods.

The Dragon Pantheon

Unlike most gods who have never known a life outside of the divine, the three Dragon gods of Law, Neutrality, and Chaos ascended to power through struggle and sacrifice. They have clawed their way to the top, outliving every dragon that preceded. Now, no one knows which is the oldest, not even the gods themselves. Each god must fight to keep their power, and accept that their godhood may be less than permanent when some challenger finally strikes them down.

Sureia (SOOR ee uh)

Lawful Good Bronze Dragon
Symbol: An arch made from golden bricks, held tight by a keystone of emerald
Color representatives: Blue, Green, Gold, Silver, Bronze
Favored Weapon: Warhammer
Domains: Life, Death, Protection, Light

I chose the name Sureia to have the same sort of sounds and vowels of Romance languages. She is a classic European dragon model, and will be a familiar type of deity to experienced D&D players.

Sureia, Dragon God of Law, is a massive Bronze dragon that has scales that reflect back almost 90% of light, akin to blinding snow. She constantly looks ablaze in green fire, and her body will light the darkest of rooms.

She is the god of fairness, justice, and transparency. She is prayed to before trials, athletic competitions, elections, and even before accepting new positions and titles. Her followers include guards, judges, law-abiding guilds, patrolmen, soldiers, and accountants. Her followers espouse strong legal character and moral honesty. They can be hardnosed and perhaps too willing to follow the letter of the law before the spirit, and extra-legal measures are seen as signs of weakness. Those who work outside the lines are at best lazy brutes and at worst corrupt criminals. Her followers work best with clear guidelines and historical precedent.

Sureia herself is blind. She can never again gaze on her magnificent horde, but she has essentially a perfect memory for every gemstone and coin that she’s gathered. By simply a touch, she can tell the cut and quality of a gem, and has a photographic memory of every coin that’s ever been minted. Other dragons often envy this type of catalog, but many view Sureia as a rigid mossback with no love for living life. She cares little about those opinions, and sees herself as the pinnacle of order.

Zedreez (zuh DREEZ)

Chaotic Evil Red Dragon
Symbol (for now): A red dragon’s head, mouth open wide, exposing a comically long tongue
Color representatives: Red, Black, White, Copper, Brass
Favored Weapon (for now): Flail (often dual sided)
Domains: Trickster, Arcane, Tempest, Knowledge

Zedreez’s name didn’t quite come from anywhere, but it does have a very Arabic or Farsi feel to it. As stated before, he takes a bit of inspiration from the trickster being Coyote, and his form is based off the Aztec crocodile god Cipactli.

Zedreez is the Dragon God of Chaos. He is a Red dragon, but does not share their form or structure, but instead has a comically oversized head that does not fit with his long, serpentine body. All across his wings are small and large piercings that stick out from his membrane. His scales have sharpened into long needlepoints that often break off and regrow continuously. His eyes emit a dazzling orange-yellow light that glows like molten iron. He can be found constantly speaking, and carries on several conversations at once, often with himself alone. While strange looking for a dragon, Zedreez’s most unsettling feature is the ability to shift his mouth from his face to any part of his body, which he often uses to disturb and scare others.

Zedreez preaches hedonism and freedom to his followers. He is convinced that his greatest weakness was being attached too heavily to one idea or object, and is unique among dragons in so much that his followers should never be too attached to anything for very long, be it a home, love, an idea, philosophy, or set of morals. It is a positive thing to be quixotic and flexible. Those who worship Zedreez wander the world, and they seek out all of the pleasures and pains that it offers. Not all are so extreme as to give up everything they have, and many are idealist dreamers and adventurers who want to make the world a bit more exciting. Of course, there is a darker side of the coin, too, and many followers are people that know they don’t fit right with society. They love the adrenaline that comes with breaking laws and committing themselves to chaos and selfishness, and under Zedreez’s guide they can be the true self that any sane society would reject. Anyone can worship Zedreez, and for any length of time.

Zedreez has no horde of wealth hidden away. He couldn’t abide being tied to one place or item, and did the only logical thing a dragon would do: he ate the entire horde. After decades of consumption, he finally felt free.

Bixi (BEE shee)

Neutral Gray Dragon
Symbol: A stone castle with an unfinished tower
Color representations: None (though in older editions, it would be the Gem dragons)
Favored Weapon: Spear
Domains: War, Grave, Forge, Nature

A bixi is a type of Chinese dragon statue that is found at the bottom of graves. So, I’ve made the dragon a nice stone color, and also made them live underneath some big castle. One thing I did purposefully is removed the gender from Bixi: I wanted the god to be closer to an object like a statue rather than your standard living being.

Bixi is the Colorless Dragon God of Neutrality. They represent the balance of creation and destruction, with an emotionless understanding that all things must end if they begin. There can be innovation and evolution, but all things are part of the endless cycle. To Bixi, perpetual motion is natural and stagnation and an unwillingness to change when the time has come must always be avoided.

Clerics of Bixi are rare indeed, and there are such few worshippers to Bixi that there is no centralized church or hierarchy. Those who do dedicate themselves to Bixi are the industrious types with deep appetites for innovation and progression. They are merchants, warlords, engineers, kings, alchemists, and some of the most powerful wizards and druids. Each one dedicates themselves wholly to their craft, striving not just to master their worlds but also to push boundaries and eschew the baggage that holds them back. Some are certainly stoic loners, but just as often are brilliant artists, musicians, and actors whose goals are to reinvent art itself. No specific color of dragon is drawn to Bixi, but a select few who covet godhood for themselves model their behaviors after the deity.

Bixi’s ascension to divine power was the result of sacrificing perhaps the most defining characteristic of dragons everywhere: the color of their scales. Bixi is of a magnificent size, but their scales are a dull, lifeless gray that resembles the scales of a washed up fish rather than that of a dragon god. On their back is an immense stone colored shell like that of a tortoise that has affixed itself permanently to the dragon. They also rid themselves of gender, their breath weapon, and any memory of a life that came before becoming a god. Bixi knows that they had to make this sacrifice, and can remember being the one who made that choice, but nothing else. Bixi may be the oldest dragon alive, but has no idea when they came to be (or if they do, has never told anyone). When traveling, they often choose to walk even over great distances and rarely fly. Most often, Bixi can be found underneath a hidden fortress that is both ancient and abandoned, in a cavern thousands of feet below the surface.

Overall, I’m very happy in the directions these three took in the end. None were what I imagined when I started the exercise, and all three I feel bring something reasonably new to the campaign at large. Also, I didn’t make any of the dragon’s specifically antagonistic to each other, which I feel steps out of your normal pantheon drama. As always, take away what you want and cut when you don’t need! Hopefully this thought process helps you find the path to making the right gods for you.

Cassiyus

Cassidy loves translation, snow leopards, and creating characters he’ll never play. Charisma is never his dump stat.