I'm not really that great around SR canon material and I've not read that many sourcebooks, at least not since 2nd and 3rd edition. However I've noticed that whenever a dragon is mentioned, it's a great dragon. It's like there are more great then there are the "not so great".

I guess it's either because I've just not noticed them or they deem them not interesting enough to mention by name. Guess they are just cannon fodder, something for the runners to fight.

Do you remember mentions of non great, if so where?

Have there been any guestimates to numbers of Dragons in the world, great and otherwise?

There were non-great dragons in both Bottled Demon and Paradise Lost. I believe there was also a non-great at the end of Harlequin, too. I don't remember any of their names, sadly. Of course, all of those were 1st or 2nd edition. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

I keep having the idea of "Dragon Cab", an Armoured Cab Company run by a Non-Great dragon from the Middle-East. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nyahnyah.gif)

The non-Greats seem to keep a lower profile and are, critically, canonically stated to be less comfortable dealing with metahumanity than the Greats.

There is an old 1st edition adventure called Dragon Hunt which has a dragon called Eliohann.

I think the lesser keep low as the are most certainly killable. Where as the GDs can be more open as the have so much magic behind them.

Dragons of the Sixth World's final chapter (aside from the game information section) is all about various dragons, only about a quarter to a third of which are Greats.

The reason why Great Dragons are mentioned more often in canon is because they're far more often involved in massive events that would affect the world at large. Adult dragons tend to be less global in their ambitions less they step on the toes of great dragons. They're far more appropriate "big bosses" for PCs since they're much easier to kill if necessary.

BTW, regular dragons showed up all over the place in a lot of published adventures. Perianwyr showed in both Mercurial and A Killing Glare (as well as getting a mention in Dunkelzahn's will and a write-up in DotSW). Other dragons showed up in Harlequin and Dragon Hunt too...not even sure about all the Missions...

There's only about 20-30 Great Dragons in the Shadowrun world (that are known at least), but there are 300-500 adult dragons. This makes it much more likely for runners to deal with a normal dragon than a Great...unless they're in Seattle with Hestaby just a couple hundred miles south...or they run for/against Saeder-Krupp (which Lofwyr has a majority stake and pretty much runs solo)...or for/against Transys Neuronet/NeoNet (of which Celadyr has a large stake)...or for/against Aztlan/Aztechnology (who have at least two Great Feathered Serpents involved along the chain)...or for/against Amazonia (which is ruled by three Great Dragons of various types)...or certain Triads (with whom Lung has a relationship)...or certain yakuza (with whom Ryumyo has a relationship)...or in the Philippines (where Masaru has his claws in pretty much everything)...

Help you out in figuring out why Greats are mentioned more often?

Yeah, the Azzies love blowing up and grinding through regular feathered serpents... 'ts how they got rid of Juan, hehe.

They don't mention many A-level corps either..

It's just an economy of information thing.

Well, Corporate Guide had a small amount of A-levels, and several of the Shadows series had mentions of A-levels that were specific to the area. I know Europe specifically had a good batch.

Wasn't Hasselich a Non-Great Dragon... Worked for United Oil Security as their Chief if I remember correctly...
And there was a Non-Great Feathered Serpent in that same Book as well...

The Books with Twist and Dodger (The "Power" Trilogy or something like that ?) Hell, I can't remember... Wish I had those books again though, they were pretty good... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wobble.gif)

i think most of the time, the lower layers are left open so that GMs can have some creative freedom.

The greats and the AAAs may be the initiators, but rarely the target. More likely, the target will be upstarts they want to send a message to, or maybe make ready for takeover.

That'd be the first book, Never Deal With A Dragon. And yes there was both Haesslich (correct spelling) and the feathered serpent, whos name I've plumb forgot.

Oh hey, my addition to the Sixth World wiki isn't entirely gone. Tessien! Exists only as a redlink on Haesslich's page (along with Katherine Hart's redlink). I wrote pages for them both after finishing the book.

Le-sigh. All that's left of my contributions.

You don't see non-great-dragons a whole lot in plot stuff because they're not actually big enough power brokers to get a mention most of the time. You don't see them in game sessions a lot because a good team can kill one, and one might have retirement level loot.

They exist in that gray area between too big and too small. They're too big (for players to see them) and too small (for them to be in the news).

And they are typically seen as being beholden to a great dragon, so its possible they appear as agents of a larger force, so rather than "Trogodr ravaged the countryside this weekend" you get "An agent of Lofywr ravaged the countryside this weekend."

The non greats are much more human like like you and me both . .
They have regular jobs, they live in regular flats, they play with regular flats, they cry and get drunk like regular people, they listen to music like regular people, they sleep around like regular people and they are adrenaline junkies like most runners too ^^
i love DotsW ^^

I especially love what happens when Non-Great Dragons get drunk in bars...

they become co-owners of the bar and best buddies of the original owner and then raise up to be the one to go to if you think you can make it in the music bizz.
and if he tells you your music sucks, go do something else.

Tessien, Yeah, that's the One... Thanks Draco18s...

You're welcome.
And just FYI, "Draco" works in most circumstances. The remainder has a long story behind it, but is in essence only a uniquifier.

Awesome... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wobble.gif)