Traits

Legs should follow the body shape rules–the center of mass should be further forward for quadrupedal dragons and further back for bipedal dragons. The scales of all dragons may switch to smooth scales at some point between the shoulder and claws; if they do, it will match the color of anywhere else on the dragon with smooth scales. This smooth-scaled area may have a different color than the normal base, as long as it’s within elemental rules. If a dragon is already smooth-scaled, then it will all be one solid color.

Limbs which are made of metal, clay, or some other clearly manufactured/artificial substance. You may choose to have only one limb be artificial. If you do, the other limbs will resemble one of their parents or one of their natural element (excluding mythic limbs). They must be designed for grabbing, walking, or swimming, and movement functionality. It will not have an excess of materials, things hanging off of it, decorative designs, or frivolous add-ons. You may choose to draw your dragon without artificial parts, although there will be some sort of weakness or deformity underneath them.

Issues with the above legs:

Row 1: 1 – not designed for grabbing, walking, or swimming; 2 – artificial traits are not apparent; 3 – not designed for grabbing, walking, or swimming–they look like wings; 4 – too many unnecessary objects that do not serve a practical purpose, along with too many materials
Row 2: 1 – fur is not an artificial material, and faux fur is also not accepted; 2 – this is a firearm, not an actual arm; 3 – this is not designed for grabbing, walking, or swimming; 4 – this has a feature which is not practical and likely not part of the limb itself

The following list has a few acceptable materials for artificial traits. Their colors must be at 90% 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 carved/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. You may use up to two materials. Each material must be the same color as all matching materials. In example, if you want to use brown clay as a material, then all other clay must match. Wires, screws, and simple fasteners do not count towards the material limit and may have their own color that matches something else on the dragon. The colors of these extras must still match each other.

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, similar to the ones seen in the Earth palette.

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. When the artificial parts are removed, you may have markings appear underneath, or simply leave that area blank.

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, a passerby, or they themselves will construct something for them. Here are some reasons that a dragon may need artificial limbs: Malformed limbs, missing limbs, inability to walk, wants legs.

With that in mind, the traits underneath 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 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 with health issues that choose to go without. These dragons may choose to only partially cover their scales, replace only a single 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.

How do I make wolf feet/cat feet/[insert animal here]?
There are three ways to give your dragon paws. The first is to have mythic limbs, which allows lots of legs, different legs, and almost limitless possibilities for your limbs. The second method, and by far the easiest, is to have a dragon with fingered limbs. Lastly, there is the brawn trait. This rare Earth trait can give your dragon the feet of any land-based animal you can think of.

Can I make mis-matched legs?
If your feet are within the same type of leg (such as a sea turtle and a bird both being reptilian), then you may mix them without any extra stuff. Mythic limbs allow mis-matched legs. Brawn allows you to mix in pairs–which means the front can be bird-like, and the back can be paws–similar to a gryphon!