Green dragon

Legacy canon content This article contains information of uncertain canon status due to changes made in Monster Core. Chromatic dragons will not be used in Remastered works. Mechanically replaced by horned dragons. Additional context might be available at Meta:Green dragon.

Green dragon

(Creature)

2E1E

Common

LE

Amphibious

Dragon

Level

Varies by age

Alignment

LG	NG	CG
LN	N	CN
LE	NE	CE

Images of green dragons

Source: Bestiary, pg(s). 109–111

Type

Dragon
(air)

CR

4–20 (by age category)

Environment

Temperate forests

Alignment

LG	NG	CG
LN	N	CN
LE	NE	CE

Images of green dragons

Source: Bestiary, pg(s). 106f.

Ⅰ

Ⅱ

See also: Horned dragon

Green dragons are contemplative and relatively sociable chromatic dragons obsessed with knowledge and discipline.

Appearance

Green dragons have the most immediately recognisable heads of any dragon due to the large snout horn that dominates their face and continuously grows throughout the dragon's life. Each dragon's horn is uniquely shaped and can grow so large that it creates a blind spot in the dragon's vision. Green dragons require personal perfection in every aspect of themselves, including their body, and often undertake strenuous exercise regimens maintain peak physical condition.

Habitat

Green dragons prefer to dwell in forests and woodlands, and inhabit environments ranging from arctic forests to tropical jungles. If possible, they lair in natural caves or humanoid-made burial mounds with an easily concealed entrance, and sculpt their lair using their acidic spittle to further excavate their homes.

When such caves are unavailable, green dragons will lair atop cliffs or tall hills, and some—usually younger, smaller dragons—roost amongst the highest canopies of particularly tall trees. Over time, the dragon sculpts its lair supported by dozens of massive trees and capable of bearing the weight of a fully grown dragon and their treasure hoard. Green dragons normally like to have at least one nearby tree capable of supporting their weight from which they can observe their domain.

Whereas most chromatic dragons revel in destruction, green dragons instead work to preserve and improve their surroundings, akin to their innate desire to improve themselves. Over time, they wield their natural command of plants and coerce lesser beings into in order to make the area around their lair more verdant, healthy, and beautiful than the surrounding forest.

A green dragon patrols Celwynvian.

Ecology

Green dragons work to keep their bodies in peak physical condition through rigorous exercise, including sparring with other dragons. Green dragons are intelligent and naturally gifted in the fields of mathematics, astronomy, and magic theory. This talent for magical theory leads many green dragons to focus on the arcane or occult, while other dragons pursue druidism through their deep connection to nature.

Their thirst for knowledge often draws them toward dark paths to seek lore best left unknown, whose discovery results only in insanity or death. Due to their evil bent, green dragons think nothing of sacrificing lesser creatures like humans, or even other dragons, in their quest for knowledge.

Green dragons are the most likely of all chromatic dragons to shed their evil alignment. Though they rarely turn to good, they are much more likely to become strictly neutral. Green dragons are also unusually omnivorous and display no preference between consuming meat or plants, but refuse to eat scavenged carrion and consume only the flesh of creatures they have personally killed.

Society and culture

A green dragon faces off against a pair of adventurers.

Green dragons are almost the most socially well-balanced of the chromatic dragons, exceeded by only the manipulative blue dragons. They always seek to improve themselves both physically and mentally through exercise and rigorous study. Green dragons are willing to speak with lesser beings as long as they have knowledge to exchange, which the dragon then uses to further its studies. When corresponding about their studies with peers in their chosen field, green dragons obscure their identities though pen names.

They generally do not associate with most other types of dragons; they consider other chromatic dragons to be uncouth hooligans and metallic dragons to be moralising killjoys. Bronze dragons, whom they respect as fellow scholars, are the sole exception. Due to their competitively perfectionist natures, most encounters between green dragons quickly devolve into bouts of one-upmanship that can quickly escalate into full-blown duels. Only when mating can green dragons overcome this tendency, and even then such "harmony" does not necessarily last very long.

Green dragons are rarely religious, seemingly possessing only an academic interest in Apsu and Dahak. Some are drawn to the human god Irori's doctrine of self perfection.

Green dragon hoards are generally impeccably organized and filled with books and tomes, as they value knowledge and wisdom above almost all other treasures. Their hoards include coins, preferably bronze or silver of older mintage and ideally from some ancient fallen kingdom, and also favour green gemstones such as emeralds. A green dragon's hoard often includes unique books, either ancient beyond compare or composed by the dragon themself. These hoards are so valued by scholars that they sometimes hire dragon-slayers to retrieve these priceless libraries, though this rarely ends well. A green dragon's lair never contains running water as it would destroy any paper in their hoard.

Their lairs also often include antiquities from across the world, often amassed for inscrutable reasons or granted as gifts from adventurers seeking wisdom (or survival). Green dragons also have a deep appreciation for wood carving, and often collect furniture, staves, and other objects made from valuable woods. Green dragons living in coastal forests sometimes augment their collection with whimsical driftwood finds.

On Golarion

Green dragons live in old forests throughout Golarion, from the taigas of Irrisen to the jungles of the Sodden Lands. They also live amongst the fertile reaches of the Maharev region in the desert kingdom of Qadira.

Notable green dragons

See also: Category:Green dragon/Inhabitants

Notable green dragons include:

• Olohimba, who dwells within the shattered remains of the Royal Palace at the heart of demon-haunted Holy Xatramba
• Taxthyl, who has dwelt in the Arthfell Forest for centuries and is one of the few beings powerful enough to openly defy Daralathyxl, so called Sixth King of the Five Kings Mountains.
• Zedoran, an ancient wyrm who has lived within the northern Fangwood of Lastwall for millennia. A master of illusions, no living dragon-slayer has ever found his hidden lair.

References

Paizo ceased the use of chromatic dragons with the publication of Monster Core, as part of the Pathfinder Second Edition Remaster Project. When mentioned in Monster Core and subsequent publications, existing chromatic dragons might be retroactively changed to new or equivalent types of non-chromatic dragons. For example, the green dragon Athervox from Dragons Revisited 44 was retroactively converted to a horned dragon in Monster Core.

For additional as-yet unincorporated sources about this subject, see the Meta page.