Multiple 30th level Dragons?

[redking]

@Xelu

The issue is TD gave SMs wildly different and strange features. But if something is called a dragon- there is a certain implied(using your word) view of that form: scaly, has tail, wings, dragons breath, big, etc.

But these ‘dragons’ look anything but. Why not just call the SMs advanced being and be done, why even require a metamorphosis?

In 3.5e, you can handily sidestep this problem as I did with my Advanced Being Framework. Essentially, the prospective advanced being selects the type they want for their metamorphosis. The main thing is whether it is a defiler metamorphosis or a preserver metamorphosis. And no longer is “dragon” type evil for some reason.

@redking

What we are looking for are what you might call “ascended types”. So fey, outsider, aberration, dragon, elemental seem to be what we need.

And -

@redking

What I am thinking is that we can have advanced beings. Advanced beings have type [choose your type] and then subtype [ravager] (for defiler centric creatures) or [avangion] for (for preserver centric creatures). For example (subtypes in lower case, type in upper case):

Borys: augmented ravager DRAGON.
Oronis: augmented avangion DRAGON (alternatively augmented avangion ABERRATION).

By doing it this way we can harmonize the various types of advanced beings (whether defiler metamorphosis, shadow shifter metamorphosis and whatever other possibilities) as either ravagers or avangions (basically path of defilement or path dexter, from Defilers and Preservers: The Wizards of Athas). By having the ravager and avangion subtypes, it removes the moral judgment from the assignment of the type. Therefore, you could have a good guy dragon, and a bad guy aberration, for example, based on the subtype. It also takes a lot of the controversy out of the type issue.

So like you said, we have advanced beings. There is a metamorphosis but they metamorphose according to their individual preferences. So you can have an avangion dragon, and a ravager fey, both advanced beings, categorised by their avangion or ravager advanced being status, not by their type.