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Nerdarchy > Dungeons & Dragons  > Put the Sparkle on Your 5E D&D Game with WizKids Sapphire Dragon

Put the Sparkle on Your 5E D&D Game with WizKids Sapphire Dragon

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Dragons are an important part of Dungeons & Dragons. Lets face it — they’re built right into the name of the game I have been playing for almost 30 years. Gem dragons came to my notice in third edition D&D through the Monster Manual 2, an edition with five such books as well as several others with monsters. But when you have something as amazingly powerful as gem dragons do you really want them to be a throw away in a sequel book? Dragons have a rich lore, with metallic dragons being the good ones and chromatic dragons the bad ones. There is a bit of safety built into knowing you can trust the dragon or if it will betray you or eat you because of the scale color. Granted, dragons are individuals who have their own set of ideals and morals, but good is good and evil is evil. So how do you handle neutral gem dragons represented the middle ground like the sapphire dragon in 5E D&D?

5E D&D sapphire dragon gem dragon WizKids

The elusive sapphire dragon as seen in the fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons charity package Sapphire Dragon. [Image courtesy Wizards of the Coast]

Finding neutral ground for 5E D&D sapphire dragon

WizKids put out a Sapphire Dragon Premium Figure superb for any tabletop roleplaying game where dragons could be included. This beautiful model comes on a 4 by 4 base but has a massive wingspan covering quite a large number of spaces. Make sure you give your sapphire dragon plenty of room on the battlefield! If the wingspan bothers you the wings come off for easier storage, or if you want to get creative you can even turn this one into a unique drake. Take off its wings and the impressive model still causes adventurers to shake when facing off against a terrible foe.

Getting back to gem dragons, the neutral alignment can be tricky depending on how heroes approach and what is going on in the world leading them to encounter such a creature. Are the gem dragons neutral because they do not take sides? Does this include sharing information? Are they neutral because they very much want the world in balance and have a set order of things?

Dungeon Masters need to be aware of the thought patterns of creatures who live for ages and see the long term plans of humans as short term effects and with long term goals closer to those of civilizations. DMs work hard portraying beings of clearly superior intellect but with planning and effort we can make for thrilling encounters. With amazing models from WizKids you can make the battlefield as memorable as the roleplaying.

Have you used the sapphire dragon and other gem dragons in your 5E D&D games, or created your own unique dragons? We recently started a Community Spotlight on our weekly Nerdarchy the Newsletter and maybe your dragons will show up there. We want to know what you’re up to around your gaming tables. Did you find inspiration from one of our videos, website posts or products? Let us know! Comment on this post, tag us on social media or send us a message and share your stories and images. We love making all sorts of content for you and we want to hear about your adventures too. You get a special coupon for $9.99 when you sign up for the newsletter too. If you want to grab your own copy of this great mini you can grab a copy here.

As always, stay nerdy!

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Ted Adams

The nerd is strong in this one. I received my bachelors degree in communication with a specialization in Radio/TV/Film. I have been a table op role player for about 20 years 17 of which with the current group. I have played several itterations of D&D, Mutants and Masterminds 2nd and 3rd editions, Star wars RPG, Shadowrun and World of Darkness. I am an avid fan of books and follow a few authors reading all they write. Favorite author is Jim Butcher I have been an on/off larper for around 15 years even doing a stretch of running my own for a while. I have played a number of Miniature games including Warhammer 40K, Warhammer Fantasy, Heroscape, Mage Knight, Dreamblade and D&D Miniatures. I have practiced with the art of the German long sword with an ARMA group for over 7 years studying the German long sword, sword and buckler, dagger, axe and polearm. By no strecth of the imagination am I an expert but good enough to last longer than the average person if the Zombie apocalypse ever happens. I am an avid fan of board games and dice games with my current favorite being Quarrios.

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