What to do with Dragons?

[Seraph]

This is fun.  I like the somewhat unusual take on dragons with the large colonies.  While I normally go for dragons being really rare, and only ever being able to find a few of them throughout the world, this is a fun change-up to see. 

Part of me wants to have Queen female dragons have their intelligence score or Charisma score tied to the size of her colony. Like they have a kinda collective gestalt intelligence and maybe have different social orders arise.... Like if a female becomes truly powerful she might mentally dominate a Male Patriarch or even kill him and dominate Hierophant males and keep them in the colony, effectively taking over as she becomes "self Aware." intelligent.

Interesting.  So, in this case would the "drones" and lesser dragons remain unintelligent (or at basic animal intelligence) or would their intelligence increase with her?

[Tzi]

This is fun.  I like the somewhat unusual take on dragons with the large colonies.  While I normally go for dragons being really rare, and only ever being able to find a few of them throughout the world, this is a fun change-up to see. 

Part of me wants to have Queen female dragons have their intelligence score or Charisma score tied to the size of her colony. Like they have a kinda collective gestalt intelligence and maybe have different social orders arise.... Like if a female becomes truly powerful she might mentally dominate a Male Patriarch or even kill him and dominate Hierophant males and keep them in the colony, effectively taking over as she becomes "self Aware." intelligent.

Interesting.  So, in this case would the "drones" and lesser dragons remain unintelligent (or at basic animal intelligence) or would their intelligence increase with her?

I had a thought where like Queens of that power could sort of redirect intelligence. Like she is the central hub and can redirect mental power, kinda of like upgrading some of her Kobold drones into more specialized and capable units. Most would still be just "Dig Dig, Find Food, Dig Dig, Carry Eggs," but some might be enhanced to cast spells, build structures, ect as a Queen of that advanced age and skill gains a humanoid like intelligence. Or the colony collectively gains it.

[Seraph]

This is fun.  I like the somewhat unusual take on dragons with the large colonies.  While I normally go for dragons being really rare, and only ever being able to find a few of them throughout the world, this is a fun change-up to see. 

Part of me wants to have Queen female dragons have their intelligence score or Charisma score tied to the size of her colony. Like they have a kinda collective gestalt intelligence and maybe have different social orders arise.... Like if a female becomes truly powerful she might mentally dominate a Male Patriarch or even kill him and dominate Hierophant males and keep them in the colony, effectively taking over as she becomes "self Aware." intelligent.

Interesting.  So, in this case would the "drones" and lesser dragons remain unintelligent (or at basic animal intelligence) or would their intelligence increase with her?

I had a thought where like Queens of that power could sort of redirect intelligence. Like she is the central hub and can redirect mental power, kinda of like upgrading some of her Kobold drones into more specialized and capable units. Most would still be just "Dig Dig, Find Food, Dig Dig, Carry Eggs," but some might be enhanced to cast spells, build structures, ect as a Queen of that advanced age and skill gains a humanoid like intelligence. Or the colony collectively gains it.

If that is the case, and there is a psychic link and transitive collective intelligence, would there be a point at which the queen would acquire, or be able to divert onto a chosen "champion vessel" psionic or magical power?  What might be the nature of these abilities?

I am beginning to think of "Cranium Rats"

[O Senhor Leetz]

I don't know how integral dragons are for your setting, but, for what my two cents are worth, you could always just not have dragons at all. I've always been of the mind that a setting is defined as much by what it doesn't have as what it does have.

[Tzi]

I don't know how integral dragons are for your setting, but, for what my two cents are worth, you could always just not have dragons at all. I've always been of the mind that a setting is defined as much by what it doesn't have as what it does have.

Na, Dragons I love too much to not include them.

Fey are another story, while I love them, giving them some plausible lore is probably the last real lose end I have.

[LoA]

For me, a dragon depends entirely on the setting. I love dragons, and I too try to find places for them in my settings, but I also try not to relegate them to "roles", and instead try to take dragon characters on a one on one basis. Not all dragons have to be evil, or horders.

Dark Sun for instance, dragons are supremely evil sorcerers that have corrupted their bodies into horrid reptilian forms in order to be able to better harness life energy that they need to cast their magic.

In Eberron dragons are the superior life forms in the world, and they act like it. Everyone beneath them are dogs, and no matter how noble the dragon, they don't really care about the humanoids in the least, other than how they play into the Draconic Prophecy.

[Gamer Printshop]

In a past campaign, my dragons are born neutrally aligned and 'gray' in color. Once a dragon reaches adolescence they develop an alignment and begin to change color or change to metal. Thus a single brood of dragons can produce the gold/silver/bronze metal good dragons, and/or the colored: red/green/blue/black/white evil dragons. I didn't want dozens of dragon broods for every color/metal, nor an overpopulation of dragons, and this was my solution.