Dragons are truly awesome creatures.  Too awesome in a lot of ways, really.  Because of their power, their magnificence and their near-immortal lifespans, a GM might hesitate to include one in a campaign as anything other than an end boss.  Here are 30 non-traditional ways to bring these wonderful beasts into your own campaign.

Due to the nature of tabletop RPGs, a campaign will often start with a random group of strangers.  Here are some ways to get them adventuring together, without resorting to the old Tavern trope.

It was just any other day, another testament to the mundane dreary lives of the living. No one was prepared for their coming, how could they be? They entered the bodies of the living, transforming them into blood thirsty monsters, all in an instant.

Codex Quest - #2 Winner

What happens when the PCs run into a girl that they failed to rescue once a second time?

A large object appears in the sky, moves in a strange fashion and vanishes after abducting a lone PC. The PC is later returned unharmed, but has several traits changed on his character sheet, no memory of the event and continually has strange dreams about goblins in space wearing lab coats and holding glowing wands.
                -30 Disasters by Scrasamax

Quest

A ship, drifting through the mists, with not a soul visible on her deck.  Haunted? Yes, but not the way that you might expect…

Each year, One member of the two sides of the tribe is chosen to Acend. It is a deep ritual used to maintain the contact the tribe has with its two gods. Sometimes, you gotta go out with a bang.

One day a you are walking on a road to get to a popular city of some sort.  All of a sudden you encounter a group of bandits walking towards you looking to start a fight.