One of the underrated things that 4th Edition D&D did, along with reordering the cosmos, was deciding that instead of The Good Dragons and The Evil Dragons, it was the Evil Dragons and the Dragons.
Metallic dragons were no longer necessarily good, they just *were*.
Metallic dragons were no longer necessarily good, they just *were*.
And even the chromatic dragons, it emphasized that they would be guided by their agendas and inclinations more than being eeeeevil as in the fruiiits of the devilllll.
So it was more like "dragons will do whatever they want, but these dragons over here will usually mean you harm, while those dragons over there... well... those dragons over there are trickier."
...I never think of it when one of those "what's something you quote even though nobody around you recognizes the reference" things, but "eeeeevilll as in the fruiiits of the devilllll" is definitely mine.
Anyway. I like the idea that dragons, even the "good" ones, aren't safe and aren't tame and aren't necessarily comprehensible in their motives to mortals.
