Dragon Growth Stages
by RobinI came upon similar problems with my work on the Mystara Monster Manual Compilation book Chapter Dragons, even with Simone's help.
And though it needs some tweaking here and there( I may be tempted to differentiate some numbers for various breeds, as one seems longer and another has wider wings, while another in art is larger in body) I came with the following solutions;
In the Rules Cyclopedias and Boxed sets there are given HD and Crush sizes.
Together with the Growth rate as Bruce Heard Proposed in Dragon Circle ceremonies in Dragon 170 (if i remember this number correctly) I created intermediate steps. (keep in mind that a Small Dragon is actually already an Adult Dragon, and that it is the magical rituals and procedures as Bruce suggested that enable the creature to grow even larger).
Breath Size cone
SM 80'x30'
LG 80'x40'
HG 90x40'
From the AC10-TSR9211-D&D-Mystara-Bestiary of Dragons and Giants i derived the young dragon sizes and these are equal to all dragon races, (thus also assuming their common ancestry)
Then I used general commonly known species growth sizes on the Youngsters
| Age category | Age | HD | Size vs Small adult version |
| Hatchling | 1/2 HD | 0-6 month | 20-50% |
| Wyrmling | 1 HD | 0.5M -4 yrs | 60% |
| Youngster | 2 HD | 5-9 Yrs | 70% |
| Teenager | 3 HD | 10 yrs | 80% |
Then From Bruce Heard's article I got the ages
Dragon Longevity without magical aid
| Race | age in years beyond teenager |
| White/crystal | 1d20x6 |
| black/onyx | 2d12x7 |
| Green/Jade | 3d10x8 |
| Bleu/Emerald | 4d8x9 |
| Red/Ruby/Crimson | 3d12x10 |
| Gold/Brown-amber | 2d20x11 |
| Seea/gray | 3d10x9 |
thus far canon
From all these I formulated the following formulae;
With the use of living examples (lizards of various breeds) i derived he ratios for tail,Claw; neck: lengths (range to reach), and wingspan, totaling these to the total length.
Most important is the Crush size as given in RC but I've added in between ratio to follow Bruce heard dragon circle growth
| Bite range | HDx2ft |
| Claw/kick range | HD x1 ft |
| Wing range | HDx3ft |
| Tail range | Length-(2xcrush+bite)ft |
| Wingspan | (Wingx2+crush)ft |
| Length | (wingspan x1.1)ft |
Imposing this upon a Dragon you get the following
Example White Dragon
| Age category | Age | HD | Size vs Small adult version | crush size | Wingspan | Length |
| Hatchling | 1/2 HD | 0-6 month | 20-50% | 1'-2,5' | 8,2'-20,5' | 9,2'-22,55' |
| Wyrmling | 1 HD | 0.5M -4 yrs | 60% | 3' | 24,6' | 27,6' |
| Youngster | 2 HD | 5-9 Yrs | 70% | 3.5' | 28,7' | 31,57' |
| Teenager | 3 HD | 10 yrs | 80% | 4' | 32,8' | 36,08' |
| Size category | HD | Age in yrs | crush size | Fear Aura | Bite range | Claw/Kick range | Wing range | Tail Range | Wingspan | Length |
| Small | 6HD | 10-60 | 5' | 60' | 12' | 6' | 18' | 23,1' | 41' | 45,1' |
| Small | 7HD | 30-90 | 6' | 70' | 14' | 7' | 21' | 26,8' | 48' | 52,8' |
| Small | 8HD | 50-120 | 8' | 80' | 16' | 8' | 24' | 29,6' | 56' | 61,6' |
| Large | 9HD | 70-150 | 10' | 90' | 18' | 9' | 27' | 32,4' | 64' | 70,4' |
| Large | 10HD | 90-180 | 13' | 100' | 20' | 10' | 30' | 34,3' | 73' | 80,3' |
| Large | 11HD | 110-210 | 16' | 110' | 22' | 11' | 33' | 36,2' | 82' | 90,2' |
| Huge | 12HD | 130-240 | 20' | 120' | 24' | 12' | 36' | 37,2' | 92' | 101,2' |
| Huge | 13HD | 150-270 | 24' | 130' | 26' | 13' | 39' | 38,2' | 102' | 112,2' |
| Huge | 14HD | 170-300 | 28' | 140' | 28' | 14' | 42' | 39,2 | 112' | 123,2' |
| Huge | 15HD | 190-330 | 33' | 150' | 30' | 15' | 45' | 39,3' | 123' | 135,3' |
| Huge | 16HD | 210-360 | 38' | 160' | 32' | 16' | 48' | 39,4' | 134' | 147,4' |
| Huge | 17HD | 230-390 | 44' | 170' | 34' | 17' | 51' | 38,6' | 146' | 160,6' |
| Huge | 18HD | 250-420 | 50' | 180' | 36' | 18' | 54' | 37,8' | 158' | 173,8' |
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Cost baby4300 gp upkeepHD x100 gp/month
and the length may be large, but this is from nosepoint to tailtip,
just as the wingspan are from tip to tip in its widest spread.
Claws and kicks are for all legs from nails to body joints
Tail is from backend to tail tip
wings are from shoulder to wing tip
Neck is from lip/nose to neckbase/shoulders
the crush zone is the main body width
the length of the body is 180-220% of the crush zone depending on race
The formula's I used are in the 3rd table, but as in the intro, I have to tweek these a bit for the various races and corporeal differences. Bleu Dragons seem to be bulkier, Gold/Brown-Amber Dragons Longer, Red/Ruby/Crimson Dragons longer claws and neck, and Black Dragons a Greater Wingspan as according the most basic D&D art(NOT newer D&D editions as they altered dragon shapes thus differently, they are almost other creatures, they even made Dragons resemble fish more than lizard or dinosaur...Hrrr )
Gold Dragons are indeed somewhere along that line
| Size category | Small | Small | Small | Large | Large | Large | Huge | Huge | Huge | Huge | Huge | Huge | Huge |
| Wingspan(Wingx2+crush)ft | 71 | 84 | 92 | 100 | 115 | 136 | 152 | 162 | 172 | 183 | 194 | 206 | 218 |
| Length (wingspan x1.1)ft | 78,1 | 92,4 | 101,2 | 110 | 126,5 | 149,6 | 167,2 | 178,2 | 189,2 | 201,3 | 213,4 | 226,6 | 239,8 |
| HD | 11 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 17 | 20 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 |
| Asteriks * | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Hp | 11d8 | 13d8+1 | 14d8+2 | 15d8+3 | 17d8+4 | 20d8 | 22d8 | 23d8 | 24d8 | 25d8 | 26d8 | 27d8 | 28d8 |