So I keep seeing things like "The Great Wyrm", "Forest of the Wyrm", "Wyrm aged" and they seem to be all related to Dragons. Is Wyrm just another name for Dragons? Is this a general thing or does it change from setting to setting?
[RPG] a Wyrm in D&D
dragonsdungeons-and-dragonsloremonsters
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Here is what I was able to discover using a Google Books search. Between 1900 and 1975 the words Bahamut and Dragon come up only in obscure research books about the Bible and Mythical creatures. However in all these books, it is clear that "dragon" is a reference to either a Sea-serpent type creature, or the mythical world serpent. (Mostly in reference to passages in psalms and job, as well as Arabic and Jewish mythological writings) It's also clear that most of these books are focused on the identification of Bahamut with Behemoth. Neither of which are clearly dragons.
After 1976, the words show up together in fantasy related material. I was able to find one reference to a generic mythology book from 1987 but its clear that even in this generic book, it is referring to the dragons of D&D fame. (Citing rules from D&D to describe the dragon's abilities)
I think its safe to say that D&D created the connection between the typical D&D Dragon like creature and Bahamut, and that Gygax or Anderson was inspired by the sea serpent when looking for a name for the Good Dragon deity.
Dragons have a special gland which generates the breath weapon
According to the D&D 3rd edition sourcebook Draconomicon (2003), chapter 1, a true dragon's breath weapon is produced by an organ in the chest known as the draconis fundamentum.
The draconis fundamentum (7) is a gland possessed only by true dragons. Attached to the heart, it is the center of elemental activity inside the dragon's body. All blood flowing from the heart passes through this organ before going to the body. The draconis fundamentum charges the lungs with power for a dragon's breath weapon and also plays a major role in the dragon's highly efficient metabolism, which converts the vast majority of whatever the creature consumes into usable energy.
The dragon converts energy taken from its diet into the breath weapon by means of this organ, which generates the breath weapon deep inside the dragon's lungs. The dragon must first inhale deeply, and then, if sufficient energy is available, it can exhale and produce the breath weapon.
D&D 3e asserts that a dragon's breath weapon is supernatural, and won't function in an antimagic field or similar. D&D 5e's FAQ v2.3 p.17-18 disagrees, saying that while dragons are innately magical, the breath weapon is merely part of the background magic that is part of the physiology of many D&D creatures. Either way, however, both editions agree that there's something magical about the dragon's physiology.
Given this lore, there are plenty of reasons why a dragon might be unable to use its breath weapon. Ecological disaster or overcompetition from a high concentration of other dragons in this area might make it difficult for the dragon to feed sufficiently to get the energy for its breath weapon. An illness might make its lungs or draconis fundamentum fail to work properly.
A very Dark Souls explanation might be that most of the the remaining dragons in this world are merely lesser dragons, a mere distant relative of the original true dragons, and as a result they lack the draconis fundamentum necessary to use a breath weapon; according to Draconomicon, this distinction also occurs in D&D between dragons and the other dragon-type creatures like drakes.
Best Answer
Originally, the term is an Old English word that means "serpent" or "snake". It was commonly found in old European poems, where it referred to a wingless dragon. The term was later used to refer to any dragon, as with Tolkien's usage in The Hobbit and other works (which heavily influenced D&D).
In D&D, "wyrm" refers to a large, presumably old, dragon. Third Edition classified True Dragons (but not Lesser Dragons) into age categories, with each category signifying a greater level of size & ability. The smallest category, "wyrmling", represented a young member of the True Dragon race, while the largest, "Great Wyrm", signified a terrible beast of great size and power. Further information about the True Dragon classifications and the size/age/power for each can be found on the D&D wiki at the link below:
D&D Wiki - SRD: True Dragons
Note: As @SevenSidedDie points out in the comments below, these classifications have existed in some form as early as the 1979 Monster Manual. I started with 2nd edition but I've slept a lot since then.
In 1994, TSR released a dragon-specific campaign set called "The Council of Wyrms". IIRC this was the set that released rules for playing dragon (and half-dragon) characters. It also introduced new rules for encountering or fighting dragons.
Nowadays, the term is often found in other fantasy sources as well, although sometimes the meaning is changed so that it refers to a smaller dragon variation (typically smaller than a "drake"). In some cases, a Wyrm is not a proper dragon at all, but rather a similar animal that is related to the dragon (aka "dragonkin"). In D&D, you can find this used for creatures like the "Landwyrm", which is not a proper dragon but is still classified as the dragon type as far as the rules are concerned.