Mercury Dragons first appeared in Advanced Dungeons and Dragons (2nd edition). The third edition adaptation of Forgotten Realms mentions them as a matter of course. They may appear under the entry of Quicksilver Dragons, but it's noted in the description that both names apply equally.
Not gonna lie. This REALLY helped me with a campaign I'm working on for my local guys. Never knew these guys existed. Plus all the talk of Eastern style alchemy has my creative juices flowing. X3. Gonna be leaning heavy on the Dragons side of Dungeons and Dragons, this time. XP
I remember be able to play a young mercury dragon in a large campaign. Was a blast messing with the other players, I was added after 10 months of play in a 3 dm, 23 player game. Needless to say is was chaotic when all 3 groups got together lol
One dragon species I have been enamored with since I purchased the 3.5 Draconomicon was the Pyroclastic Dragon. I don't know if there is any additional lore beyond what is in that book, but I would love to learn more.
I refer to them as the Cataclysm dragons, and I have them on my list of dragon types to cover in this all inclusive series, in fact, at the moment I am painting Reaper Miniatures impressive Ma'al Drakar five headed dragon as a Cataclysm dragon version of Tiamat, perhaps an avatar of the Draconic god of pure destruction.
Definitely have the mercury dragon cause a weakening effect on your players as mercury poisoning causes tremors and weakness as well as an inability to take a long rest due to mercury poisoning causing insomnia.
LOL, why yes, exactly like a quick silver dragon :) FUN FACT: Alchemists thought of mercury as the First Matter from which all metals were formed. They believed that different metals could be produced by varying the quality and quantity of sulfur contained within the mercury. The purest of these was gold, and mercury was called for in attempts at the transmutation of base (or impure) metals into gold, which was the goal of many alchemists
Fun fact, this is why most alchemists manage to poison the people attempting to find immortality - that whole "grand elixir"/philosopher's stone thing. You'd think they'd learn after poisoning one too many kings/emperors that feeding someone a liquid containing mercury/phosphorus/*inserttoxicmetalhere* was a bad idea.
Yeah, somehow they never put two and two together on that one, it's a wonder we even have modern chemistry with all that carry on.. they should have been hunted down and thrown in the dungeons.
Still, I kind of admire the whole mysticism quality with what was otherwise a primitive form of chemistry. The idea of a modern chemist living in the equivalent of a wizard's tower pouring over tome after tome dedicated to the importance of different elements of the periodic table on both a scientific and philosophical way just tickles me.
I'm definitely ur enspiering dm's but as a player wich is relying on previous lore of experiments and history, u are definitely adding to my ambitions and ideas of how to continue even if I hit low numbers on investigation history or medicine, there's always another way. Thank you, i love all ur videos
On that note, I'm actually coming up with some cool new dragon designs for a setting I'm working on that I could potentially tinker with in a game or two. I'm tackling the whole chromatic vs metallic stereotypes and I'm trying to add some complexities to them by giving them different shades of colors rather than just "insert new color/metal = new dragon." I'm hoping on getting some cool drawings for them soon.
To start off love your videos brings back a lot of fond memories. I don't usually comment cause well nothing useful to add but you didn't include the, albeit limited information on, mating and rearing of young by the Mercuries. I don't fully recall, and that info would be 25+ years old from me if I did, but I do remember they had information about it in the 2nd ed. monster manual. Only reason I even feel the need to point this out is they are my favorite dragons. Now the negative is out of the way thank you for great content and please keep it up. P.S. If you did include that info in the video and I missed it (very possible) I apologize and please disregard all but the compliment
I'm glad that they made Mercury Dragons attributed with speed. Mercury is the Roman version of Hermes and they are basically the greeco-roman god of swiftness and mercantilism.
I played one of these in Council of Wyrms in 2nd ed. and had a blast, all I really got from the MM description was spot lights, laser beams and reflecting light spells :P So an attack Helicopter
Having a speech impediment where I speak too fast for my brain to keep up making it all gibberish. Not so easy is it? : ] Would a mercury dragon consider some humanoids as some "exotic creatures" ? With their whimsical nature, and their somewhat loony attitude. Imagine the true sadness when the Mercury Dragon happily puts a bow on the little Gnome, before putting it into a little cage.. Only to see it die from mercury poisoning, yeowch.
So now that the video has come to a close (for me anyway), what type of dragon is the Mercury Dragon specifically? Is it a type of Metallic or is it related to the Ferrous dragons you mentioned in an earlier video? (Also if you're interested at all in those dragons I mentioned in a previous comment let me know, I can forward you what I've got worked on them so far).
I'm always interested :) Ferrous dragons predate the strict division between Metallic and Chromatic Dragons, so they are mostly evil, yet kind of Metallic at the same time. The Mist, Mercury and Steel dragons are metallic dragons, but they are less involved with draconic society, these are the 'weird cousins' that other metallic dragons tend to just, not include in things.. Also, they are native to Abeir Toril, so, you don't find them on Krynn or Oerth or Nerath, they have a distinctly Forgotten Realms feel to them, they seem like they would make great quest givers and NPC's, because that is how they are intended to be used in the game.
There a preferred method in which you'd like to see it? Email, PM, whatever? They do feel like they'd fit in that regard, though the Mist Dragon video made me think that you could have a quest revolve around one that could fumble and go wrong, resulting in a fight with it - perhaps the party is on the hunt for esoteric knowledge but so is the dragon. To get the knowledge and win the dragon's favor and perhaps the location of treasure you would have to go on essentially a fetch quest for it, but if you do it wrong or ask it too many annoying questions it could just attack you or something like that. Definitely something worth thinking over.
Email is best. Yeah, the next dragon in this group, the Steel dragon, is the most humanoid focused dragon I can think of, and they would serve the role of quest giver and as an introduction into the secret world of the dragons in Faerun. You will see what I mean soon.
I know that Bahamut is the only known Platinum, but I do wonder if he has a bunch of offspring in some secluded realm that is seperated from the Prime Material Plane. Yet even if a Platinum dragon, who isn't Bahamut, ventures into the prime material plane I reckon that they would be polymorphed into humanoids during their stay. Not only that but I figure that they would act as heralds to the gods of good and intervene in urgent matters. Yet platinum dragons may exclusively reside in Celestia and live in their father's palace which contains a secret portal to a realm that's populated with Nuetral good Platinum dragons.
Great video. Mercury dragons have always interested me. Especially with how fast and well, mercurial they are. Would it be possible to request Force and Prismatic dragons at some point? There doesn't seem to be much information on them (that i can find). Anyways, great content as usual.
You know, you say monk, and I can definitely see where you're coming from on it; but honestly I see a thieves guild master, especially in the face of a particularly oppressive mortal government. while sure, they could just destroy the members of that government, but nobody LEARNS anything from that. So, the dragon instead undermines the government's rule, creating a Robin Hood style thieves guild, to teach everyone why this oppressive government is a bad idea, and how easily this abuse of the people can be undermined.
Hmmm, that is an excellent question. Well, the lore certainly lets us know that they are not as powerful as Red Dragons or Silver Dragons, but a lot faster and very difficult to contain or control. I'll have to figure out how they all rate once this series wraps up.
Oh! I have something for this on the D&D Wiki! 5e Homebrew, I made a disease to represent metallic and chemical poisoning, to represent the harsh environments some hotter caverns and volcanos sometimes have, which I called Alkali Fever (Though it isn't explicitly from Alkali substances, anything from burning phosphorus or sulfur to the molten fumes of metals like copper and, yes, mercury.).
So...if this works with that periodic table of dragons we made up ( like it or not you named it AJ , so you did help!wahahah ) gold is disolved into mercury and its called amalgum. It seams like it could be a parasite that finds a gold dragon and sacrifices itself which causes them to meld together and make an amalgum-dragon .
Man a campaign were a small group of red dragons attack a city if your players are having trouble saving the little old lady(steel dragon) and the rather manic man(mercury dragon) and are being recked they can show there true forms and help
Interesting. So they have a similar breath beam like a Crystal dragons, just fire instead of radiant damage and poisonus secondary breath attack with blight aspects like Green dragon ( guess thry dont have blight spew ). Nasty effective Imo
that means they could secrete themselves into a large enough container and annoymously deliver themselves to a party, telekenitically seal the doors and cry havok unleshing every mannor of pure mischief known unto itself untill dawn breaks... or the minds of the guests do. which actually is litterally brighter, a crystal dragon or a mercy dragon? anyways these critters would get on really really well with fae. hmm, why not open up a portal to the fae wylde in the middle of the ball room aswell, endless fun and fancy. XD *pictures the sounds of guests fist hammering at the doors screaming "make it stop!"* all in good humour.
How can red dragons be their most dangerous foe and silver dragons their friend when they’re immune to fire and take double damage from cold? Doesn’t make sense
AJ Pickett I would argue the opposite. Their damage resistance and vulnerabilities don’t match up with their expected behavior. But if you’re immune to fire a red dragon is far less dangerous than it would be to others.
Golarion, the pathfinder world setting, do you know much about it? I really don't know anything about it, but it must be very well developed with a lot of lore behind it by now. I kind of worry that it might get a bit stalled and fall into decline if it is so tied into just the one game system... I mean, it is a D&D realm, why not bring it into the fold officially?
Sadly, I know not much. I red some stuff on the wiki about the Pathfinder setting and listened to some videos explaining the gods of that realm but that`s about the extent of my knowledge. I should read more about it. That could perhaps inspire you to make a new series of videos? However, going back to the topic of a game. if I remember correctly what you said in previous videos, all D&D settings seem to share basically the same multiverse. So yes, why not make a game in the Pathfinder Universe? Hell it would be something quite refreshing and different from the Sword Coast... Problem is we would need a studio or people that would actually put some love and effort into making it, so that we don`t get some generic game that disrespects the source material...
I always thought it would be cool if there was a good enough dungeon master where it’s a newly made world and your group is exploring this new world and there actions may have giant repercussions in another game.
![Megan Thee Stallion - Bigger In Texas [Official Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/QxTkZTLWdo4/mqdefault.jpg)
I wish they just gave it poison breath, then it could have just been the metalic companion to the green dragons
Mercury Dragons first appeared in Advanced Dungeons and Dragons (2nd edition). The third edition adaptation of Forgotten Realms mentions them as a matter of course.
They may appear under the entry of Quicksilver Dragons, but it's noted in the description that both names apply equally.
Not gonna lie. This REALLY helped me with a campaign I'm working on for my local guys. Never knew these guys existed. Plus all the talk of Eastern style alchemy has my creative juices flowing. X3. Gonna be leaning heavy on the Dragons side of Dungeons and Dragons, this time. XP
I remember be able to play a young mercury dragon in a large campaign. Was a blast messing with the other players, I was added after 10 months of play in a 3 dm, 23 player game. Needless to say is was chaotic when all 3 groups got together lol
Dude I found your channel just today, this is a treasure trove!
Dule810 thanks!
Hope you don't mind, I shared your channel on reddit.
Dule810 I don't mind at all ;) curious which board you posted to, usually I upload to DnD
r/dndnext I usually go there since it is very active and focused on 5e.
They sound like they could be bf's of a gnome artificer, birds of a feather indeed.
One dragon species I have been enamored with since I purchased the 3.5 Draconomicon was the Pyroclastic Dragon. I don't know if there is any additional lore beyond what is in that book, but I would love to learn more.
I refer to them as the Cataclysm dragons, and I have them on my list of dragon types to cover in this all inclusive series, in fact, at the moment I am painting Reaper Miniatures impressive Ma'al Drakar five headed dragon as a Cataclysm dragon version of Tiamat, perhaps an avatar of the Draconic god of pure destruction.
My favorite too
Definitely have the mercury dragon cause a weakening effect on your players as mercury poisoning causes tremors and weakness as well as an inability to take a long rest due to mercury poisoning causing insomnia.
Oh! I didn't know it can cause insomnia, that is good to know, thank you.
haha, I like how you can get mercury poisoning just being in one of these guy's houseX'D
Ps. A Dragon with ADHD is a dangerous thing...
So they're like a quick silver dragon?
LOL, why yes, exactly like a quick silver dragon :) FUN FACT: Alchemists thought of mercury as the First Matter from which all metals were formed. They believed that different metals could be produced by varying the quality and quantity of sulfur contained within the mercury. The purest of these was gold, and mercury was called for in attempts at the transmutation of base (or impure) metals into gold, which was the goal of many alchemists
Fun fact, this is why most alchemists manage to poison the people attempting to find immortality - that whole "grand elixir"/philosopher's stone thing. You'd think they'd learn after poisoning one too many kings/emperors that feeding someone a liquid containing mercury/phosphorus/*inserttoxicmetalhere* was a bad idea.
Yeah, somehow they never put two and two together on that one, it's a wonder we even have modern chemistry with all that carry on.. they should have been hunted down and thrown in the dungeons.
Still, I kind of admire the whole mysticism quality with what was otherwise a primitive form of chemistry. The idea of a modern chemist living in the equivalent of a wizard's tower pouring over tome after tome dedicated to the importance of different elements of the periodic table on both a scientific and philosophical way just tickles me.
I see what you did there... ;P
I'm definitely ur enspiering dm's but as a player wich is relying on previous lore of experiments and history, u are definitely adding to my ambitions and ideas of how to continue even if I hit low numbers on investigation history or medicine, there's always another way. Thank you, i love all ur videos
Now I want to see you do a video going over the lore of Monster Energy Drinks as your next April Fool’s special...
They refused to sponsor my channel, as D&D is not a sport.
AJ Pickett The potion of choice for your local band of murder hobos.
Oh wow I'm early!
I need to get back to drawing D&D dragons, these videos have been getting me back in the mood to draw some.
Me to! Well, sculpting some dragons mainly.
On that note, I'm actually coming up with some cool new dragon designs for a setting I'm working on that I could potentially tinker with in a game or two. I'm tackling the whole chromatic vs metallic stereotypes and I'm trying to add some complexities to them by giving them different shades of colors rather than just "insert new color/metal = new dragon." I'm hoping on getting some cool drawings for them soon.
Color me intrigued.
Inspirational!
To start off love your videos brings back a lot of fond memories. I don't usually comment cause well nothing useful to add but you didn't include the, albeit limited information on, mating and rearing of young by the Mercuries. I don't fully recall, and that info would be 25+ years old from me if I did, but I do remember they had information about it in the 2nd ed. monster manual. Only reason I even feel the need to point this out is they are my favorite dragons. Now the negative is out of the way thank you for great content and please keep it up.
P.S. If you did include that info in the video and I missed it (very possible) I apologize and please disregard all but the compliment
Your channel has been such a great resource for my spelljammer/pirates/rougetrader campaign set in a semi customized version of the forgotten realms
Potassium Dragon: Explode on contact with water :)
K
@@ecthelion1735 LOL
I'm glad that they made Mercury Dragons attributed with speed. Mercury is the Roman version of Hermes and they are basically the greeco-roman god of swiftness and mercantilism.
Is their gas combustible?? Because filling a cavern with poison gas then making it explode with its light beam breath would be a crazy powerful move.
The T-1000 of dragons:)
So, you sold your soul to an insane goo dragon?!
-Arina, Fool's Gold
Hi Ag! long time no see.
I watched this whole video at 1.5 speed to have AJ RP as a Mercury Dragon.
I played one of these in Council of Wyrms in 2nd ed. and had a blast, all I really got from the MM description was spot lights, laser beams and reflecting light spells :P
So an attack Helicopter
Having a speech impediment where I speak too fast for my brain to keep up making it all gibberish. Not so easy is it? : ]
Would a mercury dragon consider some humanoids as some "exotic creatures" ?
With their whimsical nature, and their somewhat loony attitude. Imagine the true sadness when the Mercury Dragon happily puts a bow on the little Gnome, before putting it into a little cage.. Only to see it die from mercury poisoning, yeowch.
Moerem Hurrdurr the might eat evil humanoids, and it would be a pet svirfneblin.
So now that the video has come to a close (for me anyway), what type of dragon is the Mercury Dragon specifically? Is it a type of Metallic or is it related to the Ferrous dragons you mentioned in an earlier video?
(Also if you're interested at all in those dragons I mentioned in a previous comment let me know, I can forward you what I've got worked on them so far).
I'm always interested :)
Ferrous dragons predate the strict division between Metallic and Chromatic Dragons, so they are mostly evil, yet kind of Metallic at the same time. The Mist, Mercury and Steel dragons are metallic dragons, but they are less involved with draconic society, these are the 'weird cousins' that other metallic dragons tend to just, not include in things.. Also, they are native to Abeir Toril, so, you don't find them on Krynn or Oerth or Nerath, they have a distinctly Forgotten Realms feel to them, they seem like they would make great quest givers and NPC's, because that is how they are intended to be used in the game.
There a preferred method in which you'd like to see it? Email, PM, whatever?
They do feel like they'd fit in that regard, though the Mist Dragon video made me think that you could have a quest revolve around one that could fumble and go wrong, resulting in a fight with it - perhaps the party is on the hunt for esoteric knowledge but so is the dragon. To get the knowledge and win the dragon's favor and perhaps the location of treasure you would have to go on essentially a fetch quest for it, but if you do it wrong or ask it too many annoying questions it could just attack you or something like that. Definitely something worth thinking over.
Email is best. Yeah, the next dragon in this group, the Steel dragon, is the most humanoid focused dragon I can think of, and they would serve the role of quest giver and as an introduction into the secret world of the dragons in Faerun. You will see what I mean soon.
Email sent, looking forward to seeing your Steel Dragon vid!
I know that Bahamut is the only known Platinum, but I do wonder if he has a bunch of offspring in some secluded realm that is seperated from the Prime Material Plane.
Yet even if a Platinum dragon, who isn't Bahamut, ventures into the prime material plane I reckon that they would be polymorphed into humanoids during their stay.
Not only that but I figure that they would act as heralds to the gods of good and intervene in urgent matters. Yet platinum dragons may exclusively reside in Celestia and live in their father's palace which contains a secret portal to a realm that's populated with Nuetral good Platinum dragons.
Great video. Mercury dragons have always interested me. Especially with how fast and well, mercurial they are. Would it be possible to request Force and Prismatic dragons at some point? There doesn't seem to be much information on them (that i can find). Anyways, great content as usual.
its odd that they seek out alpine peaks to live in but take double cold damage.
They are a bit weird
You know, you say monk, and I can definitely see where you're coming from on it; but honestly I see a thieves guild master, especially in the face of a particularly oppressive mortal government. while sure, they could just destroy the members of that government, but nobody LEARNS anything from that. So, the dragon instead undermines the government's rule, creating a Robin Hood style thieves guild, to teach everyone why this oppressive government is a bad idea, and how easily this abuse of the people can be undermined.
TheSilversepiroth that is suitably Taoist :)
This is kinda what I'm doing for my campaign
Killing it, AJ!!!
Seems like the speed of a Yellow Dragon and the look of a Steel Dragon
Are there any Cyan/Yellow/Magenta dragons? Do they have a printing breath weapon?
LOL, Hi Jared, long time no see. That really explains why Printer ink is so evil!
The INFP of Dragons ^^
Sounds like a Copper Dragon Friends.
Mercury Dragons have insane hat makers as minions :)
Could you start listing templates for these dragons in 5E? Like, would a good template be Bronze or White or Silver?
Hmmm, that is an excellent question. Well, the lore certainly lets us know that they are not as powerful as Red Dragons or Silver Dragons, but a lot faster and very difficult to contain or control. I'll have to figure out how they all rate once this series wraps up.
Planet mercury has life confirmed....😂
Oh! I have something for this on the D&D Wiki! 5e Homebrew, I made a disease to represent metallic and chemical poisoning, to represent the harsh environments some hotter caverns and volcanos sometimes have, which I called Alkali Fever (Though it isn't explicitly from Alkali substances, anything from burning phosphorus or sulfur to the molten fumes of metals like copper and, yes, mercury.).
So...if this works with that periodic table of dragons we made up ( like it or not you named it AJ , so you did help!wahahah ) gold is disolved into mercury and its called amalgum. It seams like it could be a parasite that finds a gold dragon and sacrifices itself which causes them to meld together and make an amalgum-dragon .
Shoot. Here I thought this video was new. Must of missed it.
Man a campaign were a small group of red dragons attack a city if your players are having trouble saving the little old lady(steel dragon) and the rather manic man(mercury dragon) and are being recked they can show there true forms and help
have you done Steel dragons yet?
never mind, you just answered my question
:)
Daily videos! More! More!
For a limited time, I am cranking out a few more than usual as I am infused with the ancient power of the Yuletide.
These are my favorite dragons 🐉
Another great video, filled with nice infor:) OK, I think I want to be reincarnated as a mercury dragon...hahaha
Interesting. So they have a similar breath beam like a Crystal dragons, just fire instead of radiant damage and poisonus secondary breath attack with blight aspects like Green dragon ( guess thry dont have blight spew ). Nasty effective Imo
that means they could secrete themselves into a large enough container and annoymously deliver themselves to a party, telekenitically seal the doors and cry havok unleshing every mannor of pure mischief known unto itself untill dawn breaks... or the minds of the guests do. which actually is litterally brighter, a crystal dragon or a mercy dragon? anyways these critters would get on really really well with fae. hmm, why not open up a portal to the fae wylde in the middle of the ball room aswell, endless fun and fancy. XD *pictures the sounds of guests fist hammering at the doors screaming "make it stop!"* all in good humour.
is there anywhere we can find a list of books/sources you’ve used for each video?
The forgotten realms wiki on each topic will provide you with a comprehensive list of sources.
@@AJPickett thank you for the reply! and so fast :)
How can red dragons be their most dangerous foe and silver dragons their friend when they’re immune to fire and take double damage from cold? Doesn’t make sense
You're basing their behavior and culture purely on their breath weapons and resistances? huh... ok
AJ Pickett I would argue the opposite. Their damage resistance and vulnerabilities don’t match up with their expected behavior. But if you’re immune to fire a red dragon is far less dangerous than it would be to others.
Isn't aerosolized mercury flammable? And, if so, that would be an awesome lair action.....
3:13 is that pride rock from the lion king?🤣🤣🤣
Is there a Dragonborn of this?
Mithril/Adamantine Dragon
could you do a Video on the "Wolf-in-sheep's-clothing" Plz
Or the Song Dragons.
Was there an evil dragon that looks like a white dragon?
silver
yay mercury dragon breathes thermometers as a breath weapon to raise and lower the temperature! lol joking
I just answered my own question lol
Where all these different dragon types named after metals or other times element that looks interesting
dragon magazine mostly which is a long series. the mercury dragon sounds adnd
Please sea devil
So what stats do you use for this dragon?
Lead Dragon
Tin dragon
ADHD Dragon
Someone should develop another D&D RPG :/
Like another world setting, or another rule system?
Another world setting would be great if you ask me. As for the rule system it would probably need to be 5e although I myself would like 3.5e or 2e
Golarion, the pathfinder world setting, do you know much about it? I really don't know anything about it, but it must be very well developed with a lot of lore behind it by now. I kind of worry that it might get a bit stalled and fall into decline if it is so tied into just the one game system... I mean, it is a D&D realm, why not bring it into the fold officially?
Sadly, I know not much. I red some stuff on the wiki about the Pathfinder setting and listened to some videos explaining the gods of that realm but that`s about the extent of my knowledge. I should read more about it. That could perhaps inspire you to make a new series of videos? However, going back to the topic of a game. if I remember correctly what you said in previous videos, all D&D settings seem to share basically the same multiverse. So yes, why not make a game in the Pathfinder Universe? Hell it would be something quite refreshing and different from the Sword Coast... Problem is we would need a studio or people that would actually put some love and effort into making it, so that we don`t get some generic game that disrespects the source material...
I always thought it would be cool if there was a good enough dungeon master where it’s a newly made world and your group is exploring this new world and there actions may have giant repercussions in another game.
Unlucky like... sorry.😦
Sell it to Asian dragons yeah looks like it