Make Dragons Formidable in D&D 5e | DM Advice | TTRPG | DnD | Ben Byrne
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- čas přidán 2. 07. 2024
- There's a reason the game is called Dungeons & DRAGONS! Dragons are the undisputed rulers of fantasy monsters and deserving of memorable encounters in your D&D campaign! Learn how to make them a terrifying and formidable foe your party won't soon forget!
Check out Arora: Age of Desolation and consider backing: ghostfiregaming.com/GGYT_AR01...
Topics:
00:00 - Arora: Age of Desolation
00:56 - 5 tips to make dragons formidable
02:28 - Get inspired by dragon mythology
05:10 - Define dragons in YOUR campaign
06:54 - The themes dragons represent
09:57 - Dragon stat blocks and extra rules
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Edited by @ZsDante
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"My teeth are swords! My claws are spears! My wings are a HURRICANE! I am Death.
One of my favorite uses of a Dragon was when I thematically tied it to the horror and fear of being caught in a wildfire. The red dragon was taking vengeance against the countryside for its raided nest and missing young, and decided that humanity were now just vermin to be cleansed. The players first came across the dragon as they traveled the grassy lowlands at the base of a mountain range, and we're chasing a band of human peasants on the other side of the chasm, burning fields of golden autumn grasses and filling the sky with smoke. The encounter was not really with the dragon per se, but was against the wildly spreading fire chasing the townsfolk that the dragon set, and thinking of ways to stall and fight the flames as the players tried to find ways for people to cross the gorge, all the while hearing the Thunder of wings in black smoke and occasionally having to avoid the occasional rockslide loosened by the flames and the hurricane force of the Dragon's wings, and using a few spells and arrows to keep the beast at bay.
Overall, my players enjoyed trying to figure out a way to thwart the dragon and survive the chaos that was this encounter.
I was listening to the part about a dragon’s hoard and remember a horror story called “The Dragon Slayer” where the villain was a dragon, but what made the story horror was the hoard of the dragon, being the body parts of children, and the parts were sorted into piles based on the part, the size of the part, and weather it came from a male or female human child. To say dragons can have a diverse hoard is an understatement and using creativity can make them super horrifying and disturbing or disgusting in a way that says how terrible that dragon is. It was a pretty messed up dragon’s hoard and I don’t think you could ever get a hoard more disgusting and horrible than that.
Before watching the video: I can't remember which video it was but YEARS ago a CZcamsr named Spoony covered a topic like this. His commentary essentially boiled down to "why would dragons ever fight with a sense of fair play".
Basically! 😂
In my setting, a dragon's hoard is unique to them. It can be something physical like gold and gems, or something abstract like fear. This also extends to dragonborn, since dragonborn are half-dragons in my setting.
I have a player who consistently plays dragonborn and so far his characters have hoarded friends, comfy things to sleep on, fame and glory, reflective objects like mirrors, phone numbers of attractive women, and obscure knowledge and tomes.
As for full dragons, the greatwyrms are fragments of a god's very soul. All other dragons are descended from the greatwyrms, so a born dragon cannot grow into a greatwyrm, only into an ancient dragon.
Also don't forget that Ancient Dragons can shape-shift into humanoid forms. They can be exalted heroes of a kingdom, a legendary retired adventurer or and ancient sage or advisor to a monarchy or ruling body. Make them either a scheming enemy politically to the party or an ally in a high place of authority that can pull strings for the party of adventurers.
The dragons of the game Earthdawn, had a pretty nasty effect for their fiery breath, as they can use their magic to keep the fire burning on the target for as long as the target remains within the dragons line of sight, though they mostly do this when gravely insulted. On the flipside, in the setting there were also a demon who did nothing but hunt dragons for sport.
a month ago, my Starfinder-rules-in-a-Pathfinder-setting party encountered their first true dragon, at 7th level, a young red dragon whooped their asses and sent them running twice. only thing I changed is that I took their Pyrotechnics ability and added both versions to a minimal damage breath weapon attack. and changed their DR to DR 8/-. the dragon flew by, blinded the entire party with flash and smoke, did a flyby attack, then chased them down the tower. the one guy with Evasion failed his saves both times he got a full fire breath to the face. good times.
I'd also like to point out that dragons as they're described within the lore of dnd have no reason to not basically run things on a mid to high level just due to their abilities and intelligence. It's not uncommon for dragons to feature early on in my campaigns by way of a green dragon acting as the "regional lord" of most starting villages. It's much easier for them to acquire taxes and weak underlings to toy with by doing some light chores than raiding constantly. Blue dragons running the primary banking and courier system are also a favorite of mine. The little apes give them gold and jewels, and accept valueless slips of paper in return, it's great! Red dragons often feature as the patrons or primary masters of the various mercenary guilds and bands dotting the place. It lets them fight lots and earn easy money with a bunch of strong underlings to lord over. Just don't expect them to be happy with bank notes.
Dragons are, perhaps the first things to think about weaving into the everyday life of your cultures as higher-level threats for later in the campain. It also gives your PCs the ability to have personal stakes Towards these higher level threats if they meet them early on. Though there is one thing I'd suggest changing about the video: The actual themes of dragons tend to be greed, tyranny, and cunning. While eastern dragons casts these traits in a more favorable light, you'll still find that it holds true.
Idea:
Dragons die and become natural phenomena (tied to their respective elements, of course) named after the beast. The older and stronger the dragon upon death, the worse the phenomenon. Dragons are especially rare, and when they do appear, it's a race to eliminate them because the longer they live, the more damage they do in life - and death. Examples:
- The Blue Dragon, Katrina (Lightning damage = storms)
- The Green Plague Triplets, Bubo, Scepta, and Pnue (poison damage = disease)
- The Red Dragon, Pompei (Fire damage = volcanoes).
Some Gods might have a vested interest in dragons because of how they change the world. People do tend to turn to prayer when natural disasters happen, after all. Do the Gods protect dragons until they're just strong enough to cause a disaster that sends people to the Church but just weak enough to still be killed? i.e. Do the Gods treat dragons like investment stocks? Meaning, if a dragon dies at the wrong time (thanks to some overeager players), the Gods get pissed off that their investment got ruined and seek reimbursement or revenge.
I like the idea of dragons having class levels. If they're people but better, then it stands to reason that they'd pick up class levels far easier. Imagine the terror of fleeing from a White Dragon, and thinking you're safe, only to discover one of your party mates got hit with Hunter's Mark.
In the campaign I run the main gods are dragons that through their magic created the 6 world tree’s! The five color dragons and the platinum dragon, massive in size literally over 500 feet in size they are the largest creatures in existence, There is no chromatic dragons in my campaign any dragon can be good or evil and my players at level 3 encountered the ancient forest green dragon of Honeywood forest and were granted one question each that the god dragon would answer to the best of her ability, my players loved this encounter
Sounds amazing and incredibly mystical! Not surprised your players enjoyed it. 😊
Years back, I made a homebrew that was different reality that was very far from the continuity. For when it came to dragons... they were indeed wealthy but the obsession wasn't in the wealth, it was through the very people each dragon held as their very hoard themselves. Since in this world where gods or primordials had no real presence, they were the embodiment of either divinity or damnation, conquerers or saviors that pend on whom proved mightier. The dragonborns of many were the next of kin and each dragon ruled their kingdoms with either furious will or by gentle understanding. Red dragons ruled the forge mountain that stemmed deep into the very outermantle of that world, basking in metals many as they praise its own military. The green dragons ruled the forests and lead the elves and beastsmen alike, tending to the agriculture as well become hunters and bandits. The black dragons rule over the untended swamps with the grungs and plasmoids, gorgans and aboliths, worshipping only the wickedness of nature. Two white dragons rule the northern and southern peaks of this world. But both being twins they rule with stern discipline, raising barbarians, giants, trolls, orcs, all their lives until war indeed comes one day. And the ruler of the dessert lands of barren dust bowls are the worse offenders of all, they revel in unraveling ancient societys long past their reigns, using their knowledge in alchemy, the medusa's in the cover of storms hunt down the metallic dragons as a means of sport, even gem dragons were not safe from them. This world I called droyd is one that has only thing. Humans are nearly extinct, magic itself if earned must become a religious practice as a pilgrimage, to earn the favor of these rulers to weild magic. Should a dragon also die in this world, the dragon born whom proves itself in ritual combat triumphs becomes the new lord, but its a very rare.
I love running dragon's against my players! I had an ancient black dragon fight against the players (they were fairly high level) so I didn't need to hold back. The dragon was able to cast spells, such as summon acid elemental, using rune etched skeletal remains. The dragon also fought dirty, strafing and using its acid breath, grappling two PCS and diving under boiling acid pools, and starting off combat with a literal bang by dropping a rotten whale carcass on the party. It was definitely one of the most memorable fights they've gotten themselves into
The hoard of a dragon can be anything. from a gargantuan hoard of books, scrolls and knowledge to a great amount of gold, magic items and artworks.
Great video, learned a bit from this. Still, 12:02 is my favourite part of this video.
They also don't have to be arcane or magical - the dragons in Reign of Fire, for example, are the apex predator.
How I've been running dragon in my version of etharis is a mix of dragonflight and etharis lore with big names from forgotten realms like Arveiaturace, tiamat and bahamut.
But... I've had it that, once gormradraug was defeated so was the dragon army (dragonlance inspired) and the dragon "gods". Only one that joined with the gods was bahamut who led his followers to fight the Prismatic Wyrm with the gods.
Now... After long years of war after dying in the gods vs gormadraug war, the God's end war and lots of people just hunting them. Dragons are rare. Most people have never seen a dragon, those that say they have are usually misinterpretation something else.
I've been running dnd with a specific group for over a year now. Mostly oneshots in Etharis, and now doing CoS game. The party have only ever encountered 1 dragon so far.
Many dragons have made appearances over the decades, and yes many of them had surprises for the PCs...😎👍
This video is just awesome. The information is excellent and the editing and visuals, in the manner they’re put together, are top notch. Some of the best #ttrpg CZcams content I’ve watched this month.
Thanks so much, Chris! We really appreciate you’re loving it. 😄🎉 If you want to help us grow, be sure to share it around!
I have started using sorcerer or wizard spellcasting on all my dragons. Teared with their age:
Wyrmling = lvl 5
Young = lvl 9
Adult = lvl 13
Ancient= lvl 17
Its made them almost a tpk, (even for my min maxed lvl 11 party) if they are treated frivolously.
this was interesting and defiantly something to think about
thanks for the video.
I've encountered dragons a few times in the games I was one.
one crazy high level game where the dm let me play a red dragon in desquise who was trying to rebuild her horn after the was chased out of her first lair.
but what I want to mention is the few times I have been dm (lots of fun but still learning)
we play in a heavely home brewed setting, and so far the group has meet one dragon (lv6) and one person has a dragon that is important to their backstory. (cursed by a fairy dragon) dragons are rare, very rare and are seen as gods of sorts to a lot of people. though most of the dragons died out a long time ago. some of their giant skeletons litter the land and others shaped the magic of the world around them.
they meet the dragon through sheer luck, as there was a 2/100 chance that they would stumble across the dragons lair, and they did.
so they enter a sacred grove with a tree growing at its center, by the roots of the tree sleeps a purple dragon surrounded by a field of orchid looking flowers. one of them rolls well on an arcane/nature check, and figure out that these are a unique flower that only grew by the power of the last dragon queen who has been missing for a few centuries. they also learn the flowers are poisonous to the touch. then one of them touches the flowers anyways. 1d4 poison damage every round he spends in there. they also make an investigation and find that, like in the myths of an arrow on the soft part of the scales can kill the dragon, the dragon has a single arrow sticking out of its chest. Eventually the sorcerer of the group manages to make away for them to communicate with magic and they find out that the dragon is not dead, but trapped in a death-like sleep due to the arrow and that he is the dragon prince. they learn more about the fairy dragon that one of the players wants to find out information on. they leave the grove with a poisoned arrow of dragon slaying, a handful of poisonous flowers and a favor owed by a poison dragon in the future. defiantly an interesting encounter even though there was no combat involved. (note: also like mythology, some dragon blood is poisonous)
they are still wanting to possibly fight a dragon in the future, but for now they will have to settle for the evil venders of the red markets.
thanks again for the video im looking forward to using these tips to work on the other dragons they may try to seek out!
Just as a quick note. Dragons especially in 5e represent the material world. The idea that they have a gathering of material possessions, a hoard, is an extension of that idea on a fundamental level. Not saying that you have to have that logic in any game, just explaining it since Ben seemed to not make the connection as to why dragons gather material things.
That's a great point, and an interesting theme. I certainly enjoy the idea that Fafnir transformed into a dragon because of an INTENSE feeling of material greed and paranoia that it would be stolen from him.
@@GhostfireGaming You can thank James Wyatt for the idea. It was one that he discussed in the interviews he had leading up to the release of Fizban's Treasury of Dragons. I wish I could claim the wisdom!
Already backed it! And loving these videos I actually already wised the ghost stuff my players loved it
That’s so great to hear! I love knowing our advice has enhanced another groups experience. 😄
Loving this playlist.
In my world the size of a dragon's hoard determines its age, not the other way around. This is why they so jealously guard it - steal from a dragon and you are taking away it's power.
I also don't have good and bad dragons. Chromatic dragons are cats and metallic ones are dogs. :)
I agree, I think the metallic and chromatic distinction is a good one NOT to make. 😄
Almost every game I've played when I've featured a dragon the first question the players ask is "What's the color of its scales?"
I'm very careful to word myself "It has scales that are colored green" rather than "It is a green dragon."
Digging the use of Foggy Dew in the last section, if it was somewhat unexpected.
I remember presenting a green dragon to my party at lvl 6 or something... bad Idea to start the fight with a breath attack... that killed the whole party...
I'm making it so there is a curse where humans develop a greed and turn into dragons, gaining abilities to show that a dragon can be anything in reality
The only time my high level party (level 16) has explicitly run from a fight was when they decided to attack an ancient red dragon in her lair
This was in a volcano, the dragon started in lava with full cover, came out to breathe fire, went back under, then second round grabbed the kobold battlemaster (the ranged DPS of the party) and drug him under the lava (which I ruled to deal 10d10 fire damage per round), then grabbed the Twilight cleric on the third round and drug her under the lava, the rogue, wizard, and druid decided to make a run for it
My dragons are scary because they don't fight fair. I told them that their characters would know that and that trying to fight a dragon in it's lair was near suicide... But they were like "we've bodied demon lords, what is a scaly lizard going to do to us?"
A lesson they won't soon forget, I'm sure. 😂
I've been cooking up a campaign world. The head of largest bank in the world is a wlder red dragon, think the Iron Bank in G.O.T. but its a secret only the inner circle knows. Dragons like to horde gold and loot, what better way than be a banker. But he's hoarded some much money that it's upsetting global economy and starting uprisings, will the people storm the vaults in revolution only to discover a huge greedy beast among a mountain of gold? No one knows yet. Also I think dragons should be rare, because if they were common the world economy, farming, buildings would all be very different. If a dragon could fly over farm any minute people would grow roots and not wheat because not as easy to burn. Houses would be underground or in mountain cliffs to not to get smashed, life stock would they be camouflaged? Would farmers have to give tribute?
BASED
Wonderful video I just have to throw this out there but dragons and wyverns are the same thing I house cat and a lion are both still cats same thing with dragons and wyverns
What's the source for the dragon at 15:48? The animation looks really cool
I am making a campaign around nicol bolas from mtg and I homebrewing his spawn or his desentens
British Xp to Level 3 before Xp to level 3 let himself go