Dragon Adversaries

Mix up your dragons

In the early days the draconic nemesis was nothing more than a massively powerful brute lying on top of a pile of gold. Adventurers with enough muscle (ie. levels) regularly prayed on them. Players realized that they wanted more fearsome dragons especially when the adventurers reached higher levels. All sorts of ideas came about, opening many eyes. Dragons became tactical geniuses able to use terrain to the best possible advantage. Some transformed into campaign arch villains or party benefactors. Still others became rather colorful NPCs such as the Greyhawk City dragons.

In all the editions I've played, the dragon has fulfilled one or the other of these niches. In many cases we've had to use GM fiat to modify the dragon to suit its role (ie. homebrew stats). I appreciate 3.5's ideas for codifying these adjustments. That allowed greater interoperability, in a sense giving gamers a more consistent language for describing unusual creatures.

One thing I did notice was that some Game Masters tended to stick to one particular flavor of dragon. Someone fond of combat always creates a combatant that seemed prescient. The Dragon not only prepared his lair with guerrilla booby traps, they knew what the PCs could do. A few encounters like this would be novel. Every encounter invariably like this becomes tedious. The same goes for the villainous dragon being a spider at the center of the web. You'd think every one wanted to be a spymaster. Sticking to one characterization becomes boring.

You could get more impact from your Dragons simply by mixing up your characterization. Try to use as many different ones to keep the party on its toes. For major villains you can also construct one with deeper personality much like a PC or  NPC.

Some samples for differentiating

Brute 

1. The Duelist. He relies only on innate ability and thinking on the fly to defeat opponents. 

2. The Guerrilla. Initiates a hit and run strike then leads pursuers into traps.

3. The Brash. Has  little combat experience and may be overconfident

Brain

1. The Gageteer. Uses all sorts of magical and mundane implements to offset weaknesses.

2. The Mastermind. Has a lot of minions for spying, sabotage and combat.

3. The Hermit. He leaves you alone if you leave him alone. No really.

Also, remember that intelligent does not mean perfect. Even the best and brightest make mistakes. Often emotion trumps intelligence. You only have to look at the many economic crises in history for proof. The Hermit for example might be willing to bargain if that means some peace and quiet.