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Let's Read the 4e Monster Manual 2: Dragon, Silver
Copyright 2009 Wizards of the Coast This is part of a series! Go here to see the other entries.
Silver dragons have been in the game since the days of AD&D 1st Edition, as part of the classic metallic dragon set.
The Lore
Silver dragons are described by the book as “the knights-errant” of dragonkind. They like to travel the world looking for “interesting conflicts”, and then throwing themselves at the center of those. When not doing that, they chill in their lairs, which are usually in cold mountain-tops or in cloud castles.
Silver dragons are highly susceptible to flattery, but get angry when the people talking to them behave in an arrogant or aggressive manner. They breathe ice, but they prefer to mix it up in melee. They can fly, but their flight is slower than that of most other dragons.
All of this kinda make me think of the “Outrageous!” incarnation of Aquaman from the “Batman: The Brave and The Bold” cartoon. A silver dragon patterned after him would be a true ally of justice who travels in search of wrongs to make right, and who is also really loud and boisterous about it.
You can still have ambiguous or evil silver dragons without changing the written text, though. Note that it doesn’t make any mention of which side in those interesting conflicts a silver dragon prefers to join. So a villainous one could be a mercenary who’s interested in chances to inflict violence and who joins whoever pays him the most (and the villains almost always have more money in these scenarios).
The Numbers
Generally speaking, a silver dragon will want to be where the fighting is thickest. They’re all about beating people up in melee, and the more surrounded they are the better their offense becomes. Their cold breath weapon isn’t their most damaging attack, but it makes enemies vulnerable to damage from other sources.
Silver dragons are Solo Brutes. They have darkvision, and cold resistance that starts at 15 and increases by 5 in each subsequent age category. Their ground speed starts at 6, increases to 8 at Adult, and to 10 at Ancient. Their flight speed is always equal to the ground speed, making them indeed slower than other dragons.
Their size progression is pretty standard: starts at Large, grows to Huge at Elder and Gargantuan at Ancient.
Young Silver Dragon
These are Level 8 with 376 HP. They have the usual Reach 2 bite and claws as basic attacks, doing Brute-level damage. Dragon Onslaught allows them to make a claw attack against every enemy in range in a single action.
The Breath Weapon (close blast 5 vs. Fortitude; Recharge 5-6) does light cold damage and makes targets vulnerable 5 to all damage (save ends). Bloodied Breath and Frightful Presence work as usual.
The dragon’s reaction skill is Wing Slice, which triggers when it’s hit by an attack from an enemy flanking it. It makes an attack vs. AC dealing light physical damage to both the attacker and the other enemy flanking the dragon.
Adult Silver Dragon
Adults are level 15 with 608 HP. They have all the abilities of youngsters with some upgrades and additions.
Dragon Onslaught adds an extra bite attack, so it’s a claw against everyone in reach and a bite against a target of the dragon’s choice. They also gain Threatening Reach, allowing them to make opportunity attacks against anyone they can reach.
Elders Silver Dragon
Elders are Level 22 with 840 HP. They’re Huge, but their melee reach remains at 2. They have bigger numbers and all the abilities of adults, with the following two additions:
Tail Slam (close blast 5 vs. AC) does high physical damage and dazes (save ends). It’s also an at-will action!
Unstoppable is a passive trait that allows the dragon to roll extra saves against ongoing damage at the start of its turns.
Ancient Silver Dragon
Ancients are Level 29 with 1072 HP. It has all the abilities of an Elder, with bigger numbers. It doesn’t gain new abilities, but its bite reach increases to 3, which benefits from Threatening Reach and also improves Dragon Onslaught.
Sample Encounters
The sample encounters play up the goodly tendencies of a silver dragon, pairing it up with similarly “righteous” creatures. There’s a Level 8 encounter with a young’un and 2 eladrin twilight incanters, and a level 17 one with an adult and 2 daeva zealots.
Other likely companions include dwarves, dragonborn, and angels. Mechanically, you want monsters that can benefit from being shielded by a big brute.
Final Impressions
Outrageous! I now totally want to include Arthur the Boisterous Heroic Silver Dragon in my next game.
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Let's Read the 4e Monster Manual 2: Iron Dragon
Copyright 2009 Wizards of the Coast This is part of a series! Go here to see the other entries.
Iron Dragons were bit players in 3e, appearing in Dragon Magazine #356 seemingly as part of an effort to make a dragon for each element in the periodic table. In 4e, they are promoted to the Monster Manual 2 alongside adamantine dragons to replace the bronze & brass duo that was removed.
The Lore
Iron dragons are kind of the black sheep of the metallic family, since unlike most of their relatives they’re surly, anti-social, and underhanded. They lair in isolated places and prefer terrain that contains plenty of hills, forests, and other features that provide plenty of hiding spots for large predators such as themselves.
They still gather followers and henchthings with the promise of generous pay and/or loot, but they see those as expendable dupes. They’ll send those followers first to intercept any intruders, and will only join the fight themselves if doing so looks like it will bring victory. If the hench-people are severely outmatched, the dragon will get away and leave them to their fate.
As you might have gathered, iron dragons are sneaky and prefer to attack from ambush. They breathe lightning, and their metallic scales become tougher the older they get.
The Numbers
Iron dragons are Solo Lurkers, and have Darkvision like all other dragons. They’re not actually very lurkery aside from a basic level of sneakiness (Stealth training). Their abilities focus on damage mitigation with a side order of control, all on top of the standard dragon loadout.
Young’uns start out Large, growing to Huge at Elder and Gargantuan at Ancient. They have Resist Lightning 15, increasing by 5 per age category beyond Young. Their speed starts out at 8 both in the ground and in the air, growing to 9/9 at Elder and 9/10 at Gargantuan.
Young Iron Dragon
Young iron dragons are Level 5 with 268 HP. They have a bite that does a mix of lightning and physical damage, and a claw that does about half that in physical damage. The usual Double Attack allows them to claw twice, allowing them to spread some damage around.
The Breath Weapon does lightning damage, as described earlier, and also pulls 3 squares on a hit. Maybe it magnetizes the dragon for a moment? Bloodied Breath and Frightful Presence are here and work as usual.
There’s also Wing Block, an interrupt with triggers when the dragon is hit by a melee attack. This gives the dragon Resist 5 against that attack, and allows it to make a melee attack dealing light physical damage against the attacker.
Adult Iron Dragon
This one is Level 11 with 472 HP and all the traits of a youngster with bigger numbers. No new abilities appear at this level.
Elder Iron Dragon
Elders are Level 19 and have 740 HP. They have all of the adult’s abilities, again with bigger numbers all around. Their Double Attack turns into a Triple Attack, allowing for three claw swipes with a single action.
They also gain Wing Defense (minor action; recharge 5-6), which grants the dragon a +2 bonus to all defenses for a turn. As long as it keep recharging, they can keep using it every turn.
Ancient Iron Dragon
Ancients are Level 26 with 992 HP. They have all of the elder’s abilities and gain two new ones:
Predator’s Response is a reaction that triggers when the dragon is hit by a melee or close attack. It allows the dragon to make a claw attack against the triggering enemy and shift 2 squares. I now notice the dragon’s reach remains 2 even though it’s now Gargantuan. Either their limbs and neck are comparatively tiny, or you should increase the reach for the Elder to 3 and the Ancient to 4.
Iron Wing Shroud (minor action; recharge 6) allows them to make a close burst 3 vs. AC attack dealing physical damage, and gain resist 15 to all damage until the start of its next turn. While the damage resistance is active, the dragon can’t make any attacks. I guess this represents the dragon hiding behind its wings and catching surrounding enemies in the movement.
The Shroud’s “can’t make attacks” clause is less of a disadvantage than it seems - an ancient iron dragon can make all of its attacks for the turn and use the Shroud ability as its last minor action. It will lose access to opportunity attacks and Predator’s Response, but will be able to act normally when its next turn rolls around.
Sample Encounters
We have two encounters:
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Level 7: A young iron dragon and 3 dwarf hammerers.
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Level 13: 1 adult iron dragon and 2 minotaur warriors.
Both of them would follow the standard pattern I described in the Lore section, with the lackeys being mercenaries lured by the promise of treasure, only to be abandoned by their boss when the fight begins to go sideways.
Final Impressions
Iron dragons are the ones who least fit the classic metallic dragon stereotype, which makes sense given their origins as an obscure magazine-only 3.x dragon. Also I guess it’s hard to make a draconic Lurker who doesn’t sound shady as fuck.
Still, I like that they’re here. That shadiness is one point in favor of them as far as their utility in a story goes.
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Let's Read the 4e Monster Manual 2: Dragon, Gold
Copyright 2009 Wizards of the Coast This is part of a series! Go here to see the other entries.
Gold dragons are the original metallics and have been around since the beginning of D&D.
The Lore
Gold dragons are among the most powerful children of Io, with the oldest being among the most dangerous creatures in existence. And yet they’re among the dragons who most enjoy the company of mortals. I guess a lot of the “scholarly metallic dragon” stereotype comes from them.
Their preferred terrain are plains or rolling hills, but that’s a secondary concern. Proximity to a sapient society, or to some great source of magic, are much more important. Gold dragons like to rule, but it seems they don’t need to make much of a fuss about it like the other dragons. It just happens! Any community or society located in gold dragon territory will soon find itself being heavily influenced or ruled outright by that dragon.
Gold dragons are usually honest and fortright in their dealings, but the more selfish ones don’t really care about the concerns of “lesser beings”. These individuals tend to shape the societies under their influence to suit their own long-term plans regardless of what the actual people who live there might want. And of course, you can still find more traditionally “Good” gold dragons out there as well.
Gold dragons breathe fire, and as they age they gain more affinity with radiant energy as well.
The Numbers
As usual, we get a stat block for each significant age category of gold dragon. They’re all Solo Controllers, and have Darkvision.
Young dragons start at size Large, with 15 fire resistance, a ground speed of 8, and a flight speed of 10 with Hover. They gain another 5 fire resistance with each subsequent age category, and their flight speed increases to 12 at Elder. They grow to size Huge at Elder, and Gargantuan at Ancient.
Young Gold Dragon
Young Golds are Level 9 Solo Controllers with 380 HP. Their melee reach is 2, and their basic attacks are a bite that does a mix of physical and fire damage, and a weaker claw. Double Attack allows them to claw twice in a single action, bringing claw damage almost to parity with the bite. I guess it’s good if they want to spread damage around rather than concentrate it.
If an adjacent creature hits the dragon, it can hit back with a Fiery Wing Riposte (melee 1 vs. Fortitude), which pushes the impudent mortal 5 squares and inflicts 5 ongoing fire damage (save ends).
Their Breath Weapon (close blast 5 vs. Reflex; recharge 5-6) does fire damage and weakens (save ends), or half damage on a miss. Bloodied Breath and Frightful Presence work as usual.
Adult Gold Dragon
Adults are Level 17 with 652 HP. As usual they have all the attacks of a youngster with bigger numbers. This includes the ongoing damage from the Riposte, which is now 10.
They also gain a new ability: Burning Tomb (area burst 1 within 20 vs. Reflex; recharge 6) is a spell that does the same fire damage as the breath weapon, immobilizes (save ends), and creates a zone that does 15 fire damage to anyone who starts their turn inside and can be sustained with minor actions.
Elder Gold Dragon
Elders are Level 24 with a cool 888 HP. They have all the abilities of adults with bigger numbers. Their Melee Reach increases to 3 due to their Huge size.
This is at the age where their radiance begins to have a game effect, giving them a new ability: Beguiling Glow (close burst 8 vs. Will; enemies only; recharge 5-6) is a minor-action attack that does no damage and pulls targets 5 squares on a hit, nicely setting them up for Burning Tomb or the breath weapon.
They also project an aura (2) of Weakening Flames, which forces enemies caught inside to choose between taking 15 fire damage or being weakened for a turn.
Ancient Gold Dragon
Ancient Gold Dragons are Gargantuan Level 30 Solo Controllers with 1088 HP. This puts them on par with the friggin’ Tarrasque both in size and danger level. The Tarrasque has more HP, but that’s before you apply the MM2 Solo HP fixes. And the dragon is much smarter.
They have all the abilities of Elders with bigger numbers, including in reach, aura size and damage, and ongoing damage from Riposte. Double Attack becomes Triple Attack, allowing three claw swipes in one action. Their new “capstone” skill is Ancient Radiance (close burst 4 vs. Fortitude; enemies only; recharge 6) which does radiant damage and dazes for a turn. After the daze clears, the target gains Vulnerable 10 Radiant (save ends). This is important because the dragon’s Breath Weapon now does “fire and radiant” damage!
Sample Encounters and Final Impressions
Gold dragons surround themselves with allies and subjects that match their individual dispositions. The evil ones employ beings such as evil minotaurs, ogres and trolls as dumb disposable muscle. The good ones have a variety of willing allies acting as guards.
The sample encounters are:
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Level 10: a young gold dragon and 2 angels of valor.
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Level 19: an adult gold dragon and 3 savage minotaurs.
Level-wise, these are certainly the most powerful of dragons. The Ancient is a match for the Tarrasque and could put up a decent fight against beings such as demon lords or other “campaign end bosses”.
They do have the same problem as the Tarrasque in that they lack strong condition mitigation powers - that +5 to saves from being a solo might not be enough to prevent stun-locking by an epic party. They also wouldn’t do so well on their own against Demogorgon, so if you want to have a kaiju fight you might want to use the dragon as an ally of the PCs instead of sending it in alone.
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Let's Read the 4e Monster Manual 2: Dragon, Copper
Copyright 2009 Wizards of the Coast This is part of a series! Go here to see the other entries.
Copper dragons are part of the classic set and have been in the game at least since the AD&D 1st Edition Monster Manual. Here, they are the only remaining members of the “sorta orange-ish metal trio”, which used to feature bronze and brass dragons as well.
The Lore
Copper dragons are highly sociable creatures, but they’re also among the greediest metallic dragons. They’re not likely to resort to outright robbery like your typical red dragon, but they’re almost always looking for a way to profit from their interactions with others. PCs can usually walk up to a copper dragon and ask it for information or instruction. The dragon will be most happy to give it to them… for a price.
Copper dragons are quite protective of their hoards. They like to make their lairs in rocky terrain like hilly badlands or mountains, which they can easily patrol from the air but which restrict the mobility of land-bound intruders. If they see the need to fight, they’ll do so by harassing their enemies with highly mobile aerial attacks over an extended period of time. They breathe acid, and prefer to recruit allies that can keep up with their high mobility.
I really like it that the illustrations for copper dragons give then verdigris streaks.
The Numbers
Copper dragons are Unaligned, Natural Magical Beasts with the Dragon Keyword. We get stat blocks for the usual four age categories.
Their size starts at Large when young, and increases to Huge at Elder. They never reach Gargantuan size, which I guess means they’re a bit smaller than the others in general. They have trained Perception, Darkvision, and Acid Resistance that starts at 15 when Young and increases by 5 per age category. Their speed is quite high, starting at 8 (fly 12) and reaching 10 (fly 14) at Elder and older. They also have Overland Flight 15.
Young Copper Dragon
Young copper dragons are Level 6 Solo Skirmishers with 296 HP. Their bite allows them to shift 2 squares both before and after the attack, and deals a mix of physical and acid damage. Their claws are a simple basic attack, but Double Attack allows them to claw twice and then shift 2 squares. Looks like choosing between a bite and a double attack is a meaningful tactical decision!
The dragon’s most frequent attack is likely to be a Flyby Attack, where it flies its speed and makes a melee basic attack at any point during the movement. This does not provoke opportunity attacks from the target of the attack. The bite is the clear best choice here, since it’s stronger and has built-in shifts which I think would happen even in the midst of the Flyby Attack.
The Breath Weapon (close blast 5 vs. Reflex; recharge 5-6) does acid damage and slows (save ends). Bloodied Breath and Frightful Presence are also here and work as described in earlier posts.
And finally, Cutwing Step is a reaction that triggers when someone moves to a position that flanks the dragon. It’s an attack vs. AC that does light physical damage and allows the dragon to shift 2 squares.
Adult Copper Dragon
Adult Copper Dragons are Level 13 Solo Skirmishers with 528 HP. They have all the abilities of a young specimen with correspondingly bigger numbers. All attacks that allowed shifts other than the bite have the shift amount increased to 3.
They also add a new passive trait: Unfettered Wings allows them to roll saves against the Immobilized, Slowrd and Restrained conditions at the start of their turns in addition to the normal end-of-turn rolls.
Elder and Ancient Copper Dragons
The Elder grows to size Huge as previously mentioned, and is a Level 20 Solo Skirmisher with 760 HP. It has bigger numbers than the Adult due to its higher level, but its suite of abilities is otherwise identical.
The Ancient is a Level 27 Solo Skirmisher with an even 1000 HP. It has all of the Elder’s abilities, and its Flyby Attack upgrades to a Double Flyby Attack, which allows it to attack two different targets during its strafing run.
Sample Encounters and Final Impressions
The sample encounters are against all-skimmisher teams. There’s a Level 8 one with a young copper dragon and 3 hippogriffs, and a level 14 one with an adult and 2 dragonborn raiders.
Copper dragons are really flexible in the dramatic roles they can occupy even when you stick to their written description. It all depends on which part of the “sociable but greedy” stereotype you want to emphasize. I also like that most of their illustrations in this book have their coppery hides shot through with veins of verdigris.
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Let's Read the 4e Monster Manual 2: Dragon, Adamantine
Copyright 2009 Wizards of the Coast This is part of a series! Go here to see the other entries.
Adamantine dragons are the first metallics we’ll cover. I finally found a wiki with publication histories for monsters, so I can say that that they first appeared in a Monstrous Compendium for AD&D 2nd Edition, and in a Dragon article for 3.x. This means they had a minor presence in the game until their first proper Monster Manual appearance here.
The Lore
Adamantine dragons like to lair in huge underground caverns, and can be found in any sort of climate. They consider everyone else living in their claimed territory to be their subjects, from whom they demand loyalty, respect, and tribute. The flip-side of this is that adamantine dragons feel a genuine sense of noblesse oblige towards these subjects, and will protect them with all their might.
Their claws and fangs are made of their titular metal, so their attacks slice through armor as if it wasn’t there. Their roars are powerful, and their breath weapon is a focused sonic attack. In combat, they’re cool-headed and tactical. If alone, they try to isolate weaker foes and focus fire on them. If accompanied by allies, they’ll charge to the front line and attract the brunt of enemy attacks to allow their allies more opportunities to damage the opposition.
The Numbers
As usual, we get stat blocks representing four age categories: Young, Adult, Elder, and Ancient. All are Natural Magical Beasts with the Dragon keyword. All stat blocks are Unaligned.
Adamantine dragons start at size Large, growing to Huge at Elder and Gargantuan at Ancient. They have trained Perception, Darkvision, and Thunder Resistance that starts at 15 and goes up by 5 on each subsequent age category. Their ground speed starts at 6 and rises to 8 on Adult and older. Their flight speed starts at 8 and rises to 10 on Adult and 12 on Ancient. They also have Overland Flight 15, which is the speed you use when calculating how much distance they cover over extended times.
Young Adamantine Dragon
This is a Level 7 Solo Soldier with 332 HP and the traits described above. Its basic attacks are a bite and a claw, both of which target Reflex instead of AC because they’re adamantine. The bite is a little stronger, Double Attack allows the dragon to claw twice in a single action.
Their Breath Weapon (close blast 5 vs. Fortitude; recharge 5-6) does thunder damage and knocks the targets prone on a hit. It replaces the usual “half damage on a miss” with a much more interesting Effect: at the start of the dragon’s next turn, it gives a thunderous roar that deals automatic thunder damage to everyone in a close burst 3.
Bloodied Breath and Frightful Presence are here, and they work as outlined in the intro.
Wing Buffet (melee 2 vs. Fortitude) is a reaction that triggers when an enemy enters or leaves an adjacent square. On a hit it deals light physical damage and knocks prone. This is better than a standard opportunity attack because it also triggers on a shift or other forms or movement.
Adult Adamantine Dragon
Adults are Level 14 Solo Soldiers with 564 HP. Their numbers are of course all larger, but they are almost identical to young dragons in what they can do.
There have been a few additions: the bite now also inflicts ongoing damage (save ends), and Double Attack is replaced by Draconic Fury, which allows them to make three claw attacks and bite a different target in a single action.
Elder Adamantine Dragon
Elders are Level 21 Solo Soldiers with 796 HP. They have everything adults have, with a few additions:
Their Draconic Fury gains another claw attack, for a total of four claws and a bite. They also gain a new attack named Painful Resonance (Ranged 20 vs. Fortitude; minor action; recharge 6) that inflicts ongoing thunder damage and dazes (save ends). Since this is a minor action, it can be used in the same turn as Draconic Fury.
Ancient Adamantine Dragon
Ancients are Level 28 Solo Soldiers with 1020 HP. This puts makes them a match for a pair of primordial colossi. They have everything elders have, plus their melee reach increases to 4 and the area of their Breath Weapon’s follow-up roar increases to 5.
They also gain a new trait named Bloodied Resilience, which gives them Resist 10 to all damage while they are bloodied.
Sample Encounters and Final Impressions
The book doesn’t even pretend you’re going to fight these solos by themselves, though that of course is an option depending on what you want. Since adamantine dragons place themselves in the front line, they favor allies who can benefit from the distraction to rain ranged damage or control upon the enemy, or give the PCs the run-around and hit their squishies. And they’re going to think of party composition in these terms, since they’re tacticians.
The sample encounter is level 15, an adult adamantine dragon and 2 banshrae warriors.
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