Evil metallic dragons or simple confusion during conversation?

[Thade]

I recently decided to start another adventuring party in BG3 and explore options I had not yet visited to see dialog and interactions I have missed so far. While doing this, one thing stuck out that I’m not sure make sense to me. Why are the good metallic dragons being discussed in less than good ways? The first instance (for me) was, if I remember correctly, Wyll saying something along the lines of, “I feel fit enough to fight a gold dragon”. This seems an odd thing to say as he wants to be a hero and gold dragons are kind of the just that. They uphold law and actively destroy evil in the world. Why not say a red dragon? Reds are evil, devastating to the region around them, and are arguably more powerful in brute force than golds. This would still get the point across that he is feeling very strong and ready to continue his fight against evil to protect the realm.

The second instance (again, based on my play through) was Volo asking if the dragon we encountered in the fight with the goblins was copper (or bronze, can’t remember) or silver. Again, both good dragons and would not team up with marauding goblins. Volo, with all his “research”, should know this. Saying a green or black would be more appropriate than any metallic. Given the location of the fight and the known destructive nature of both dragon types, it would better fit his embellishment and give that added fear factor to his audience.

Perhaps I’m reading too much into this and over thinking it. Being as it stands; it doesn’t ruin anything with the game for me. It could easily be explained as lack of knowledge and clumping all dragons together on Wyll’s part. As for Volo, WoTC has this to say in Volo’s Guide to Monsters, “DISCLAIMER: WIZARDS OF THE COAST DOES NOT VOUCH FOR, GUARANTEE, OR PROVIDE ANY PROMISE REGARDING THE VALIDITY OF THE INFORMATION PROVIDED IN THIS VOLUME BY VOLOTHAMP GEDDARM. DO NOT TRUST VOLO. DO NOT GO ON QUESTS OFFERED BY VOLO. DO NOT LISTEN TO VOLO. AVOID BEING SEEN WITH HIM FOR RISK OF GUILT BY ASSOCIATION. IF VOLO APPEARS IN YOUR CAMPAIGN, YOUR DM IS UNDOUBTEDLY TRYING TO KILL YOUR CHARACTER IN A MANNER THAT CAN BE BLAMED ON YOUR OWN ACTIONS. THE DM IS PROBABLY TRYING TO DO THAT ANYWAY, BUT WITH VOLO’S APPEARANCE, YOU KNOW FOR SURE”.

[RealDealBreaker]

Volo is a notoriously unreliable source in the lore. You can pretty much assume that most of what Volo says or writes is some degree of wrong and/or embellished.

[Evil Hamburger]

Wyll probably is just ignorant, I wouldn't be surprised if he is akin to our other friend and also likes to "spice" his stories up with half-truths and misunderstanding of creatures such as dragons.

Volo on the other hand... Well he is a notorious liar, and is already lying by adding a dragon to the goblin army. Iirc a dragon sorc can actually call him out on it by saying a metallic dragon would never march with such vile creatures.

[Pan Darius Cassandra]

Originally posted by Thade:

I recently decided to start another adventuring party in BG3 and explore options I had not yet visited to see dialog and interactions I have missed so far. While doing this, one thing stuck out that I’m not sure make sense to me. Why are the good metallic dragons being discussed in less than good ways? The first instance (for me) was, if I remember correctly, Wyll saying something along the lines of, “I feel fit enough to fight a gold dragon”. This seems an odd thing to say as he wants to be a hero and gold dragons are kind of the just that. They uphold law and actively destroy evil in the world. Why not say a red dragon? Reds are evil, devastating to the region around them, and are arguably more powerful in brute force than golds. This would still get the point across that he is feeling very strong and ready to continue his fight against evil to protect the realm.

You're assuming that characters in the game have the same meta-knowledge you do. Perhaps Wyll has no idea that Gold Dragons are "good" - a dragon is a dragon. Perhaps he's just referring to the fact that he feels strong enough to fight a Gold Dragon, not that he actually wants to fight one. Also, all metallic dragons are stronger than their chromatic counterparts. Gold > Red.

Originally posted by Thade:

The second instance (again, based on my play through) was Volo asking if the dragon we encountered in the fight with the goblins was copper (or bronze, can’t remember) or silver. Again, both good dragons and would not team up with marauding goblins. Volo, with all his “research”, should know this. Saying a green or black would be more appropriate than any metallic. Given the location of the fight and the known destructive nature of both dragon types, it would better fit his embellishment and give that added fear factor to his audience.

Volo's an idiot.

[Ereghor the Enigmatic]

Volo is, indeed, an idiot. I am curious if we'll get extra dialogue options both for him and Wyll once the you-know-which race gets added, which would hopefully have both the metallic and the chromatic subrace.
It is, however, apparently canon in this version of the setting that his Interspecies Review Book (a.k.a. Complete Guide to the Behaviour of Nymphs) that he mentions Elminster not wanting to publish in NWN2: Storm of Zehir has apparently managed to make its way into the light somehow and still exists over a century later.

[Ghost]

Originally posted by Ereghor the Enigmatic:

Volo is, indeed, an idiot. I am curious if we'll get extra dialogue options both for him and Wyll once the you-know-which race gets added, which would hopefully have both the metallic and the chromatic subrace.
It is, however, apparently canon in this version of the setting that his Interspecies Review Book (a.k.a. Complete Guide to the Behaviour of Nymphs) that he mentions Elminster not wanting to publish in NWN2: Storm of Zehir has apparently managed to make its way into the light somehow and still exists over a century later.

Vaguely remember Volo being blessed or chosen or something. Not to mention all the shenanigans he gets up to and the copy-cats.

I do recall however that when you confront him at the end of Zehir he acknowledges that he embellishes a lot but he takes offence because "I did actually do all those things I said I did" and to be fair, he basically solos his way through a deadly jungle full of yuan-ti, dinosaurs etc. and makes it to the backdoor of the temple.

And that whole unreliable narrator thing, also getting to call him out on his bs and/or bully him during the end scenes. That was nice.

[Ronin Gamer]

Despite Volo being credited for writing some books about stuff in the D&D universe, I don't think he's a very reliable writer. Wouldn't take everything he says seriously, especially since he seems to be in the comedic relief category of characters.

[wirednight]

Other then Volo being a complete liar who likes to embellish his writing...

Dragons are intelligent beings with free will. That means they technically aren't locked into the cookie cutter alignments that D&D tries to shoe horn every monster out there.

It's kind of like saying that all kobolds are evil, and can only be evil, but then you have Deekin Scalesinger, or more Baldur's Gate, that all Drow are evil and can't be redeemed, until you meet and redeem (sort of) Viconia.

So it technically would be possible for a metallic dragon to turn evil, just not very likely.

[BigAlzBub]

Dragons of any colour are extremely long lived, and Gold Dragons (being traditionally Lawful Good, not that that is thing these day) tend not to be able to think in human time scales, they sometimes oppress people "for the greater good", to the point they are indistinguishable from Evil, obviously the Dragon "knows better", they see the world a little like those puzzles with the slidy pieces, if you have to mess a portion of the picture up to get to the "correct" solution, so be it. Of course, if you are one of those pieces, it doesn't feel so great.

Anyhow, Wyll probably says a Gold Dragon, not because he thinks they are evil, but more because they are considered to be the most powerful, even though if you compare an Ancient Gold with an Ancient Red, their stat blocks are largely identical.