Materials
The following list has a few acceptable materials for artificial traits. Their colors must be at 75% opacity or more (see colors for more info on transparency and color). If you do not see something on this list, feel free to ask if it is available!
- Plastic
- Clay
- Metal
- Glass
- Cloth
- Wood
- Bone (note–must be molded/shaped rather than a skeleton on top of the dragon)
All traits must be visibly artificial in order to pass. In example, clay would have a few cracks or flakes, cloth would have something tying it to the rest of the dragon, and metal would have screws on the edges holding them together.
Colors
Artificial traits will only have colors natural to their material or colors in the elemental spectrum. For example, a fire dragon cannot be covered in lime green metal. The natural colors of plastics are white and tan. The natural colors of cloth depend on the material used to make them; For that, stick to plant materials in our known universe. Cloth traits cannot be dyed without the Scalestain item. Glass will always be tinted white or an elemental color. Clay will take on white, gray, light steel blue, red, orange, brown, or tan colors.
As elemental creatures, the magic of your dragon may also color its features their corresponding elemental color, even if it is outside of that material’s natural range. In this situation, it will only be one or the other (a red clay + blue ocean element color can’t equal purple). The reason that glass will never be fully transparent is because of this ‘leaking’ magic effect.
Artificial traits may have a sheen/shine if it’s a material that naturally does that.
Display Traits
Similarly to color, a dragon’s display traits will always show, even if they need to leak through the artificial materials. While you can have artificial materials cover traits, they must still be apparent somewhere on the dragon. In example, if your dragon has Zebra, you may limit its stripes to the face and legs if your dragon’s body is covered in artificial scales.
Shapes
Artificial traits will always serve the function of what they are replacing and resemble them in some way. Here are the general guidelines for each trait.
- Artificial Snout – This serves as a mask and must cover at least the top or bottom jaw. It will not create horns on the top of the head, but may contain the minimal claw-like horns anywhere on it that are free for all dragons. It will never completely cover the eyes.
- Artificial Crest – This serves as a hat or cap. It will either stick to the top of the skull or cover down to the snout. It will never cover the whole face, the eyes, the ears, or the mouth of a dragon.
- Artificial Scales – These resemble real scales, plating, or a simple covering on the dragon. They must look artificial.
- Artificial Wings – Artificial wings may resemble any type of wing in the world, along with anything that aids in flight (such as jetpacks or plane wings). Furthermore, they can be abstract (such as bare-bones metal fingers with no cloth/leather), as long as the general structure is recognizable as wings and appears artificial.
- Artificial Limbs – The front limbs will be able to grasp or walk on the ground and have individual toes. The hind limbs will resemble a foot and have individual toes. Accessories beyond this will require game items to add in.
Once more, all artificial traits must look artificial.
What’s Underneath
The purpose of artificial traits is typically to aid in the health of the dragon. No dragon is born with their artificial traits included–their Rider or a passerby will construct something for them. Here are some obvious reasons that a dragon may need artificial traits:
- Artificial Snout – Misaligned jaw, exposed flesh, sensitive snout
- Artificial Crest – Exposed flesh, sensitive skull
- Artificial Scales – Scales prone to scratches, sunburns, and bruising
- Artificial Wings – An inability to fly, malformed wings
- Artificial Limbs – Malformed or missing limbs
With that in mind, the traits themselves resemble traits you can see in other dragons. When your dragon has their artificial parts off, they will resemble a malformed version of a parent’s trait (with the exception of mythical traits, which will only produce a default option) or one of the following default options:
- Artificial Snout – Monstrous snout, although eyes will still be in normal forward-facing locations
- Artificial Crest – No Crest
- Artificial Scales – Smooth Scales
- Artificial Wings – Leather Wings
- Artificial Limbs – Fingered Limbs
A Matter of Pride
Of course, there are many reasons that a dragon may not need artificial traits at all. There are crestless dragons that live their life just fine, wyrms that have no need of legs, and wingless critters that are content with their position on the ground. For dragons on the healthier scale of things–especially those of the Thunder element–artificial traits are a way to boost their confidence and have traits they believe is required for them, regardless of whether or not they really need that giant crown-shaped crest.
Going Without
Similar to healthy dragons which insist on their custom artificial traits, there may be some dragons that choose to go without. These dragons may choose to partially cover their scales, replace its single malformed limb and leave the others mismatched, or even go without an aid entirely. If your dragon goes without, its design must follow the ‘What’s Underneath’ section above.