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In a previous question I asked about a dragon antagonist I am planning. I originally intended this to be a chromatic dragon because I believed they are always evil, but an answer to that question got me thinking.

In the Monster Manual it states that all chromatic dragons are driven by greed and selfishness and are feared by all people.

Likewise, all metallic dragons are good.

However, are there any examples in the lore of either of these being switched? I imagine it would be more likely that a metallic dragon becomes evil than a chromatic dragon becomes good, but are there any outliers at all?

I am willing to accept any examples from any of the editions of D&D or the broader fiction written around the setting.

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    \$\begingroup\$ Does this answer your question? Can a Black Dragon Hatchling be raised to be good? Or is it inherently evil? \$\endgroup\$
    – KRyan
    Sep 23, 2020 at 21:25
  • \$\begingroup\$ I know that is the rule as per the monster manual I am asking more generally has there been a case of the alternative in the lore or narrative. Will update the question. \$\endgroup\$
    – Richard C
    Sep 23, 2020 at 21:26
  • \$\begingroup\$ I have updated the question accordingly \$\endgroup\$
    – Richard C
    Sep 23, 2020 at 21:32
  • \$\begingroup\$ It is more the other way I am progressing a story idea in my head and trying to see if it is workable and if so how it might best be applied. At first I had an idea for an antagonist the answers to that have triggered some more ideas, one of them suggested a silver dragon as a being that hordes magic knowledge, another the idea of runes on the body. That has led to me having an idea of a silver dragon antagonist. Appearing as an ally against a strong chromatic dragon only for the party to eventually realise there preconceived idea is wrong and the good guy is bad and the bad guy good. \$\endgroup\$
    – Richard C
    Sep 23, 2020 at 21:42

3 Answers 3

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It really is going to depend on the setting, and what you as DM want to do with it. As far as official settings go, Eberron comes to mind:

From Eberron: Rising From the Last War, page 193, under "Dragons":

The dragons of Eberron aren't restricted in alignment — good red dragons and evil gold dragons are equally common. Most dragons tend toward neutrality. Even those with good alignments often don't consider the impact of their actions on lesser beings; if a Chamber dragon must destroy a human village to foil the plans of a demon, it will do so without hesitation.

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    \$\begingroup\$ To be fair most of the materials in all editions indicated that alignments in the monster entries were just the "norm" but most intelligent creatures may have exceptions. Some would be very difficult, like Illithids which require fresh sentient brains and Liches which require souls to power their phylactery. \$\endgroup\$
    – Slagmoth
    Sep 23, 2020 at 23:16
  • \$\begingroup\$ Welcome to RPG.SE! Take the tour if you haven't already, and check out the help center for more guidance. Good first answer! \$\endgroup\$
    – V2Blast
    Sep 24, 2020 at 9:02
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It's your story, it doesn't matter

After seeing your comment that this question is directed towards developing your own storyline, I realized that you are looking for existing stories to provide confirmation that your idea is viable.

But you don't need to!

This is your story that you're writing. Just go ahead and write it. It doesn't have to have similar previous events in D&D lore, especially when your players may not even be aware of such lore.

What is more important is that you create a cohesive world that your players understand and can interact with. As long as your story makes internal sense and that you provide a framework to your players to understand, then previous lore really doesn't need to be there to confirm your idea.

Build your world, build your characters, and build their stories. You don't need someone else's story to confirm your direction, you just need a story that you and your table have fun playing.

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    \$\begingroup\$ I had Lux in my world. LG Red Dragon which ran an information network for the entire continent. \$\endgroup\$
    – Slagmoth
    Sep 23, 2020 at 23:17
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    \$\begingroup\$ It would be wise to let your players know that this is possible. Some players get angry when they feel that the GM is changing things without letting them know. \$\endgroup\$
    – NomadMaker
    Sep 24, 2020 at 10:52
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    \$\begingroup\$ My question was because I wanted to know if there is any proven examples of this in the lore or if I have ot make it all up from scratch. I am fully aware it is my world and i can do what I want, but with a system that is as old as DnD it is also good to get examples, if they exist, of how it has been presented in the past. \$\endgroup\$
    – Richard C
    Sep 24, 2020 at 15:37
  • \$\begingroup\$ @RichardC If you were really just looking purely for lore and historical reasons, then all of the bits about your own campaign are really not necessary. It makes it seem like you are looking for something to help you, not that you came up with an idea and were simply interested in if it had happened before. Clarifying that in the future will stop folks like me from frame challenging :) \$\endgroup\$
    – NotArch
    Sep 25, 2020 at 11:04
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In Dragonlance, chromatic dragons are canonically evil. Yet, there was a green dragon, Verden Leafglow, that did choose to not be evil. They show up as a character in a Dragonlance novel, Gully Dwarves.

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    \$\begingroup\$ An answer that is most relevant to this question. +1. You might want to add the dragon's name: Verden Leafglow \$\endgroup\$
    – ZwiQ
    Oct 1, 2020 at 8:57

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