Details
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Also called skull dragons (due to the general shape of their heads) and swamp dragons. Black dragons are perhaps the most malicious and vile tempered - apart from the fact that they love to bargain. Few other dragons share the cruelty of black dragons. Black dragons hunt not merely to survive or to protect their territory, but also for the sheer joy of causing pain. They care not whether their victims are helpless or hazardous, weak or powerful. Violence brings satisfaction.
Black dragons are also among the most cowardly. Though quick to engage in combat, they also quickly retreat if opponents prove more dangerous than expected. Given black dragons’ propensity for laying ambushes and striking from hiding, however, would-be victims might find it impossible to distinguish a fleeing black dragon from one regrouping to attack from another angle.
Black dragons fight on land only when circumstances force them to do so. They prefer to fight either in the water or on the wing.
The dark hide of black dragons enable them to use the cover of darkness to their full advantage both when hunting and during combat. They prefer to engage in such activities in the dark - either at night, in a cavern, or in deep and murky water.
Black dragons favor swamps and bogs: anywhere with deep, murky water, thick trees, and fetid vegetation. Only a deep swamp in which a dragon can submerge serves the dragon’s purposes, so shallow marshes rarely harbor black dragon lairs. When a black dragon cannot find a deep swamp, it settles for any area where freshwater (never salt water) and earth come together in great quantities. Jungles and rain forests might host black dragons, as might lakes in all but the coldest climes.
For their lairs, black dragons favor systems of caves or hollows with multiple chambers, some partly submerged. Their lairs always have two entrances: one underwater through the adjacent swamp/pond, and one above-ground, disguised amidst the undergrowth.
Black dragons favor coins over other sorts of treasure, because coins can survive long-term immersion better than fragile paintings or sculpture. Although coins tarnish, they do not rust as other metals do. Gems might survive even better, but show up less frequently. Any treasure the black dragon collects must be resistant to moisture damage. One possible reason for this disparity is that, since coins are obviously manufactured rather than naturally occurring, black dragons view them as intrinsically more valuable to their (former) possessors than gems.
When possible, black dragons prefer to feed on sentient beings. The bulk of their diet consists of swamp creatures such as snakes, alligators, fish, small mammals, and birds. Like alligators, black dragons might let their prey rot at the bottoms of swamps because they prefer the texture and flavor of putrefied flesh.
Black dragons appear abnormally slender in comparison to other dragons — wiry, but not gaunt. Their sleek design may potentially aid in their remarkable swimming and flying capabilities. The sunken eyes contribute to the head’s infamous skull-like appearance. Black dragons possess both a fire-based and an acidic breath weapon. They have a strong, acrid scent - smelling like rotting carcasses or vegetation, or like the acid they breathe/drool.
A thin layer of webbing stretches between a black dragon’s toes, thicker on the rear feet than the fore. This webbing grants the dragon its impressive swimming speed. A swimming black dragon uses its tail both for propulsion and as a rudder.
The hide of a black dragon functions like the skin of amphibians: It extracts oxygen from the water and feeds the oxygen directly into the bloodstream, without the need for gills. This process is less efficient than breathing with lungs, but they can remain submerged indefinitely.
***Note this character's dragon design is loosely based on the Black Dragons of the D&D universe. It's not exact. I left some stuff out and added my own ideas, because dragons aren't real and I do what I want.
The above information was taken in whole or in part from D&D stuff on teh interwebs with some of my own shit thrown in, same with the shit about dragon physiology and psychology on the next two pages (drop down menu).