Much the same could be said of the gem dragons that first appeared in The Dragon #37 (May 1980). None of these new chromatic and metallic dragons really expanded the scope of D&D’s dragons: they just filled in the blanks.
Richard Alan Lloyd more methodically filled in “the tints of the color wheel” in Dragon #65 (September 1982) with his own yellow, orange, and purple dragons. Similarly the evil gray dragon and the good steel dragon appeared in Dragon #62 (June 1982). Len Lakofka began the trend in The Dragon #38 (June 1980) where he introduced three new evil dragons: brown, orange, and yellow. Though the official D&D rules only listed five each of type, fans were willing to look deeper.
DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS FAERIE DRAGON MANUAL
The dragons of OD&D and the Monster Manual defined a strong paradigm: lawful dragons were metallic and chaotic dragons were chromatic. Row Two: Brass, Bronze, Copper, Gold, Silver Dragons Expanding the Ten: 1980-1988 Row One: Black, Blue, Green, Red, White Dragons And that was the state of the ten basic dragons through the entirety of AD&D’s first edition (1977-1988). Most notably, they picked up a fear power that allowed them to scare away weaker foes beyond that they were very similar to the OD&D monsters. When AD&D rolled around with its Monster Manual (1977), Gygax slightly increased the power of the dragons-something that would become an ongoing task over the decades. Greyhawk also introduced the draconic gods, Bahamut and Tiamat, though they weren’t yet named. The biggest change between dragons in Greyhawk and later sources is that the metallic dragons are first said to be either lawful or neutral-where they’d soon be lawful only other dragons would eventually appear to fill the neutral niche. Like the gold dragon, each had two breath weapons. The four missing dragons appeared shortly thereafter in Supplement I: Greyhawk (1975), which revealed brass, copper, bronze, and silver dragons. OD&D also contained extensive rules for subduing dragons and even selling them on the open market! Where most monsters were defined solely by their combat stats, dragons had percent chances that they might be willing to talk or would be sleeping, probably reflecting the actions of Smaug from The Hobbit (1937)-who was likely a model for the red dragon itself. For example, blue dragons were vulnerable to fire, but resistant to lightning and water. One of the few aspects of OD&D’s dragons that would be largely ignored in later books was their vulnerability or resistance to certain elements.
In other words, the dragons from the original OD&D book looked a lot like they would for the next few decades. And, lest you think otherwise, the golds were indeed lawful, while the chromatic dragons were chaotic. They could also appear in different age groups, which defined their hit points and breath weapon damage. They also each inhabited unique terrains and level niches: from levels 5-7 for the whites, to 9-11 for the reds, and 10-12 for the golds. In that first appearance, dragons already had their unique breath weapons: cold for the white dragons acids for the blacks chlorine gas for the greens lightning for the blues fire for the reds and fire or gas for the golds.
Since the book offered just a paragraph of description for most monsters, the amount of material on dragons was notable-immediately showing how important they were to the game. In the beginning, there were six types of dragons: white, black, green, blue, red, and golden, appearing on pages 11-14 of Monsters & Treasures for OD&D. In fact, their appearance in OD&D (1974) would largely form the template for their depictions forever after. The name of the game is Dungeons & Dragons, so it’s not exactly surprising that dragons have always been a part of the game.