Dissecting the 5E D&D Dragon Creature Type

November 22, 2021

Salutations, nerds! Today’s post focusing on a specific creature type in fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons is interesting because with almost every other creature type there’s a little bit of fuzziness around the edges but pretty much everybody already shares some familiarity with a dragon. Take a second and picture a dragon. I know something came to mind whether it’s the long snakelike Eastern kind or the big ol’ firebreathing Western kind. Listen — dragons are cool in 5E D&D.

Dragon creatures in 5E D&D

What is a dragon? Freaking iconic, that’s what. Look at the title of this game. Dungeons and Dragons. It’s in the ampersand icon for 5E D&D. Classically dragons are big saurian terrors who like gold and strike awe and fear into the hearts of people who look at them. There are a few stand outs when you start going through all the 5E D&D dragons and dragon creature types that don’t quite fit the mold of saurian terror but for the most part 5E D&D dragons share a certain look and feel. You don’t need me to tell you what a dragon is because your imagination does the heavy lifting.

“Dragons are large reptilian creatures of ancient origin and tremendous power. True dragons, including the good metallic dragons and the evil chromatic dragons, are highly intelligent and have innate magic. Also in this category are creatures distantly related to true dragons, but less powerful, less intelligent, and less magical, such as wyverns and pseudodragons.” — from the 5E D&D Monster Manual

Things Dragons Do

The first couple of things coming to mind are dragons’ Breath Weapon and Frightful Presence. Most of them get Legendary Resistances when they’re old enough and several dragons can Change Shape so any NPC you’re talking to might secretly be a dragon.

Since you haven’t been living under a rock I’m pretty sure you already know what all of these features do but let’s assume for a moment someone stumbled into this post with no idea what’s gone into a dragon’s stat block and do a quick once over of what all this means anyway.

The Breath Weapon is what it says on the tin. Fire-breathing dragons is classic but it’s not always fire. Sometimes it’s cold, acid, electricity, and other damage types, plus metallic dragons often include a nonlethal options. I’m pretty sure there’s a dragon in Fizban’s Treasury of Dragons that breathes a black hole. [NERDITOR’S NOTE: And dreams, nightmares, psychic dissonance, illithid tadpoles…there’s some weird stuff in there!]

Frightful Presence makes creatures aware of the dragon roll a saving throw and if they don’t pass they’re frightened. Because this is a gods damned dragon. As prepared as you are for the idea of one this doesn’t nearly compare to seeing the real thing.

A dragon with Legendary Resistance can simply decide it succeeds on a saving throw whenever it fails, which isn’t super likely anyway because its saves are often stupid high. A dragon with the Change Shape trait can take the form of some random NPC shopkeeper and morality test you by eating every traveler who tries to rob them or any other scenario it’s curious about whenever it feels like doing so.

Right now there are a handful of Dungeon Masters reading this and smirking because “secretly a dragon” is how they got their party to stop being murder hobos, and a handful of players who are thinking back un-fondly to these circumstances.

Oh right, and of course Bite, Claw and Tail attacks.

Five Dragons of Note

Ancient Gold Dragon. There are a lot of great wyrm dragons introduced in Fizban’s Treasury of Dragons and one in Guildmasters’ Guide to Ravnica more powerful than this one but along with the ancient red dragon this is the strongest dragon in the Basic Rules so it’s the one I choose. This 5E D&D dragon is a challenge rating 24, which means it’s meant to be a pain in the butt even if your party is 20th level. Its Breath Weapon can either fire, or it can exhale a gas that makes you weaker. The creature entry in the Monster Manual doesn’t specify how this works exactly so perhaps the sheer stench of this thing’s breath saps you of your will to live. And I wasn’t kidding about the Frightful Presence by the way. If you fail your DC 24 Wisdom saving throw you’re frightened for 1 minute, which is longer than most fights last. And it’s lawful good.
Dragon Turtle. Imagine a gargantuan sea turtle but it can exhale fire damage causing Steam Breath. This thing is one of the major reasons you don’t want to get on a boat in a 5E D&D setting. Dragon turtles don’t look the way most traditional chromatic and metallic dragons look but rest assured — it is in fact a dragon. It also doesn’t have Frightful Presence, so count your lucky stars on that account. Fizban’s Treasury of Dragons expanded on the lore and scope of the dragon turtle by adding wyrmling, young and ancient varieties.
Faerie Dragon. Normally I’d go for the lowest CR version and this one is in the 5E D&D Monster Manual rather than Basic Rules but I had it in my head when I started this article it was going to be one of the ones I discuss. It’s a Tiny creature and it has big colorful fairy wings. Faerie dragons can be all kinds of different colors and transition through the colors of the rainbow as they grow older. They can turn invisible, communicate telepathically and their Euphoria Breath basically gets you stoned. Faerie dragons like to play pranks and if you want to get through its territory unscathed it likes snacks. These things are the cutest ever. [NERDITOR’S NOTE: The killmoulis is pretty darned cute too!]
Shadow Dragon. This is actually a template and not a specific dragon and it’s found in the 5E D&D Monster Manual rather than the Basic Rules. The example we’re given is a Young Red Shadow Dragon but we’re going to forget this for a moment because this is a really cool concept. Basically, the dragon spent too long on the Shadowfell and now it’s Recast in Shadow. This provides resistance to necrotic damage (and damage that isn’t force, psychic, or radiant while in dim light or darkness), proficiency in Stealth, Hide as a bonus action, Sunlight Sensitivity, extra Bite damage becomes necrotic and its Breath Weapon becomes Shadow Breath dealing necrotic damage and creating undead shadows out of those who die this way. The example Young Red Shadow Dragon is listed as chaotic evil alignment, which probably keys off the base creature. There’s no alignment changes specified in the template but I want to think about this in a “the creature was exposed to too much evil energy and it’s kind of batshit now” sort of way.
Wyvern. Most dragons have four limbs plus wings while a wyvern has two legs and wings for arms. Wyverns also boast a poisonous stinger, which does a lot of damage on a hit and then poisons you for a truckload more if you’re not hardy. Suffice it to say a wyvern is pretty different from your run of the mill 5E D&D dragon but also really cool and similar enough.

We’ve unpacked dragons in 5E D&D, something everyone already knew a whole lot about but that’s okay. I’m going to go out on a limb and say a lot of us could sit here and talk about dragons all day long and not get bored. In fact, I invite you to tell me about your favorites in the comments below, even the ones who haven’t made it into this edition yet. I know I’ve got one in mind! Tweet me about it @Nerdarchy or me @Pyrosythesis or connect with us on Facebook and of course, stay nerdy!

*Featured image — A selection of dragons of note from 5E D&D — the shadow dragon, wyvern, dragon turtle, faerie dragon and gold dragon. Would it surprise you to know we’ve got a tremendous amount of content here at Nerdarchy the Website about dragons? My personal favorite had an incredible impact on Nerditor Doug’s longtime Spelljammer campaign. Find out more about it here. [Composite images courtesy Wizards of the Coast]