Feel the Fallout of All-Out Dragon War in D&D

With Dragonlance: Shadow of the Dragon Queen on the horizon for D&D, I have dragons on the brain. I only read the first three books in the Dragonlance novel series. Sadly, I felt Raistlin was so over-hyped that the draw to read other books was greater to me than to continue. But as awesome as Dragonlance is this is not the focus of today’s musings. Instead I want to explore more broadly the concept of using a war of dragons as a backdrop for a campaign.

Dragon vs. dragon with puny mortals caught in the middle

Dragons in D&D are immense beings capable of destruction unlike most other beings in a fantasy world. Dragons are large, strong, smart and capable of unleashing utter destruction in the form of a Breath Weapon. Dragon’s breath has the potential to be used very often — only a six second delay when the dice roll nicely for you.

Two decades ago the movie Reign of Fire showed the devastation fire breathing dragons can cause in a world if left unchecked. If you have not seen it, I highly recommend giving it a watch. The dragons portrayed in the movie seemed more like beasts than the hyper-intelligent dragons that we have in our D&D games, which only makes the problem worse.

If the world is set with large monsters flying in the sky fighting to the death, what happens to the world below?

Massive forms, in the way of dead dragons dropping out of the air, hit the ground destroying whatever they land upon. Groups of people being destroyed in breath weapon attacks meant for a low flying opponent. The same destruction of livestock and farmland as well as houses and other buildings. All destroyed in the wake of the ongoing fight.

Are there flocks of people looking to join one side or the other merely to find a safe place to live and rest? Are there powerful adventurers who go out looking for a way to end this war that causes so much devastation? Perhaps a fight is not possible and it has to be settled through negotiation. But the talk has to be set up. Both sides need to agree and then make it stick. It is asking quite a lot.

In the process our heroes are going to have to fight their way there. There will be obstacles and perhaps even a battle or two. Seeing some of the newer movies you have some very awesome cinematic moments that stick out. Imagine an obstacle course of the characters just trying to get across a field having to duck, dive and dodge away from wings, claws, tails and breath weapon attacks from two fighting dragons?

Maybe these two fighting dragons are represented by the new Aspect of Tiamat released by WizKids. This beauty sits on a 4-inch base and is smaller than the major aspect of Tiamat previously released. It still has the very recognizable five chromatic dragon heads with the red scaled body and white scaled underbelly. With its wings spread wide it mirrors in subtle ways the larger model. But who is this aspect of Tiamat fighting? Maybe it is an adult silver dragon, also a gorgeous model that happens to be on a 4-inch base as well. Perfect fighting partners? You decide.

When I saw this silver beauty for the first time I was instantly in love with the sculpt. It is in fluid motion like it is soaring high or coming in for a dive. It has a righteous fin that starts on the top of its head going all the way to the tip of its tail. My first thought upon seeing this was I now need to make a silver dragonborn bard who is totally metal and as heavy with the music as he can get. Maybe be a trend setter not only in music but also in hair styles. Head over to WizKids’ shop to pick up these or other awesome minis by a great company or grab them at your local game store to add these amazing minis to your collection today.

Back to the dragon war. Characters living in this war will have it tough but it depends on how long the fight has been ongoing. How often are the dragons fighting? Both sides are intelligent. There could be multiple dragons working together to steal from each other or multiple dragons trying to take down a larger target. The concept is open to do with as you will. The big question is will the metallic dragons give up and leave the Material Plane or go into hiding to stop the war? Will the chromatic dragons keep abusing and bullying mortals into service? How will the populace of mortals survive such a thing? Will Bahumat sit by and watch the carnage or will this escalate and be a war of Tiamat versus the almighty Platinum Dragon?

Tell me how this inspired you. Thanks for reading. Until next time, stay nerdy!

*Featured image — Fizban the Fabulous protects a group of innocents as a crystal dragon and a red dragon clash in the sky, in this painting by Chris Rahn. [Image courtesy Wizards of the Coast]

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