D&D MONSTER RANKINGS: DRAGONS & DRACONIC CREATURES

[@thegayghost872]

"A golem made out of bones" That's just a skeleton with extra steps!

[@Master_E444]

Well now it gives Clerics something to be afraid of. Their maces will mean nothing and their holy power will do nothing special to it. It'll put the fear of the real gods into them!

[@ashtasheran6970]

@@Master_E444 imagine a necromancer who made an army of skeletons and bone golems a cleric is plowing through the skeletons then they hit a golem and nothing happens i can see the look of absolute confusion and fear on their face

[@clarkside4493]

The book puts a lot of emphasis on the dragon's hoard being magical, so why wouldn't it be held together by hunks of gold coins or something?

[@Master_E444]

@@clarkside4493 maybe melt the hoard down to serve as metal for prosthetics or as connective tissue like the gold mending thing some people do with broken objects

[@Dahaka-rd6tw]

If I ever became an DM, I'd like trow punch of man-sized bone golem at the player who know anti-undead spells and them be like "why the fuck is this not working?!" Yeah, they most likely will think they're really undead and I'm cheating and then leave, but it just sound too funny not to attempt.

[@daedalus7286]

And lo, the bard emerges from the darkest depths of Production and rises anew! Inspiring!

[@esperthebard]

Hail there, artificer Daedalus!

[@hekonaleeinos5510]

The Eyedrake here just to remind us the sheer insanity that is the Beholder's ability to manifest just about any kind of creatures with thoughts alone.

[@coreycoffell6219]

I bet that's a good spell book.

[@DrLipkin]

The Grafters would make a lot of sense if they were specifically trolls. Since Tome of Foes established that they are susceptible to mutation through exposure to external sources. No stitching required. They just slap dragon flesh to their wounds and their regeneration does the rest.

[@esperthebard]

Good call!

[@Master_E444]

Call them the Dragon Eater Troll. They either ate the meat of a dead or Weak Dragon and gained it's traits. I'd likely make their regeneration weaken due to conflict with the troll flesh and Dragon flesh not being fully compatible and to explain why gaining a Fire or Acid immunity or resistance doesn't nullify their regeneration's flaw. Probably change that flaw to maybe just have it operate until they reach 0 Hit Points or you use a different Damage Type. Probably give it most of the standard Dragon stuff otherwise

[@johntoland6696]

I personally thought they looked a bit like Fafnir, the dwarf who transformed into a dragon because of greed from nkrse mythology.

[@Master_E444]

@@johntoland6696 that's actually a very good comparison. Someone turning into a Dragon due to their own greedy obsession as they become consumed by the Draconic instincts in their new form

[@cyborgcatrj6794]

I was thinking of something like Sigurd gaining the knowledge of dragons by eating Fafnir’s heart, or how half dragons are made by drinking or bathing in dragon blood, but like they didn’t make any arcane preparations and just turned into mutant abominations.

[@purplehaze2358]

“The most social and conversational dragons” Steel dragons literally starve themselves just to fit in better with humanoid communities they’re a part of.

[@valiensr1037]

Not currently included. I know it’s a sore spot for players of older versions, but it is what it is. Esper can’t do anything about it

[@esperthebard]

I was hoping we'd get the other chromatic and metallic dragons in this book! Maybe we'll get them still.

[@Mr_Maiq_The_Liar]

They were also de canonized in a side bar on page 44

[@smilerat8070]

@@esperthebard I do not think so, there is a passage in this book that calls out song and fang(?) dragons being mistaken as their own thing, when actually one of the existing types. It is the sadness.

[@daniell1483]

@@smilerat8070 Song and Steel, actually, but yeah your point still stands. I read that and thought, "ah, they are retconning two dragon types out of existence". :(

[@steveunderwood9307]

Personally, I think the floating gem horns is reminiscent of Ioun Stones, which in a way drive home that the gem dragons are more magical/mystical nature than the other dragons. I can see why the art can be off-putting, and I feel the same way except that I actually enjoy the floating stuff, but to each their own.

[@radicalgear391]

Most of them look cool but then you’ve got crystal dragons who were my favorites who now have toenail wings and look naked and weird

[@Mr_Maiq_The_Liar]

My main issue with floating parts is just how obnoxious painting the miniatures would be

[@keylimepython641]

The Tiamat in Hoard of the Dragon Queen is probably just a different avatar, as CR 30 is pathetic for a god.

[@esperthebard]

That's what I'm thinking.

[@Master_E444]

@@esperthebard the CR of God's in older Editions is stated to be around 50 though I don't think they were actually given stats. Probably for the best given it'd encourage wanton Deicide

[@orangexlightning]

@@esperthebard According to another video I saw, it was apparently revealed that the Hoard of the Dragon Queen Tiamat, was a specific avatar she made after killing a foe.

[@Master_E444]

@@elmeromogollon I'd say merge the traits from each stat block and ramp up her Spellcasting to the level of a 20th Level Cleric

[@johnstarinieri7360]

If I were to have a boss fight against Tiamat, I’d have them face the Aspect of Tiamat first and then the Tiamat from HoDQ, essentially a three phase boss fight. Probably unwinable even with a level 20 party but that’s kind of the point.

[@themushiest1550]

Okay, I actually really like the crystal dragon being chaotic neutral! Because while, yes, they are very friendly and supportive, they’re not forced to do good things. I can see a crystal dragon healing one hero in a party, but let another one die because that hero did or said something that the crystal dragon hated. Yeah, they’re big balls of joy, but they’re not here to take care of you.

[@dracovoid2001]

Plus one of the plot hooks they suggest for it involves it putting people in Danger in order to make art

[@keylimepython641]

Technically, Champions of Tiamat have a reason for that extra damage: They are literally champions of a draconic deity.

[@blinkrush6101]

Right?

[@tnatstrat7495]

My Paladin is a champion of Tyr. So what?

[@falconstudios146]

@@tnatstrat7495 Paladins also get extra damage on their weapon attacks, what's your point?

[@Mr_Maiq_The_Liar]

@@tnatstrat7495 and the damage the champion of Tiamat does is taking the place of divine smite

[@RedrumZombies]

@@tnatstrat7495 Ok. Never use a Spell or Smite...

[@Tovish1988]

In the Dragonlance books, the draconians called "infiltrators" in this book lick their daggers before combat, hence poison damage. Sloppy to leave that out of the stat block.

[@Em3.14re]

No, the book definitely mentioned that. From the flavor text: “They use the paralytic venom of their saliva to coat their weapons, making them formidable assassins as well.” And in the statblock, the daggers do an extra 2d6 poison; if both attacks of their multiattack hit, the target needs to pass a low con save or be paralyzed for a round.

[@OGBenPowell]

They were also all named draconian types. Baaz, Bozak, Sivak, Aurak, and Kapak I believe. Been a longtime since I read that series. They also added others later, in I think 4th edition. Much better lore than 5e or 1DnD in my opinion.

[@brenosilvamorais2510]

​@@OGBenPowell That's what I expect from books called DRAGONlance

[@OGBenPowell]

@@brenosilvamorais2510 Wow, you really got me there buttercup... You mean, kind of like books called Dungeons and DRAGONs???

[@حَسن-م3ه9ظ]

43:38 I mean... That's basically what Planescape & Spelljammer are. -In planescape it is stated that material realms like Greyhawk, Forgotten Realms and Dragonlance (but not Eberron) share the same cosmology, They all share the same Abyss, Limbo, and Bytopia,etc... but each have their own Feywild/Shadowfell echo -Spelljammer lets you travel between realms through the Phlogiston

[@tyeklund7221]

Yep. He’s just getting mad because WotC is getting ‘woke’ and he doesn’t want any changes in his game of make believe

[@the_chosen_one5642]

@@tyeklund7221 Except that none of that was woke in any way

[@tyeklund7221]

@@the_chosen_one5642 he explicitly states that he’s upset with WotC for getting more politically correct

[@AzureGreatheart]

The different settings in D&D are also mostly self-contained, and from what I’ve heard, nearly any form of interdimensional travel can be blocked, which is how early editions of Ravenloft kept players from leaving. There’s _some_ stuff that carries over between settings, but quite a lot is left for the players and DMs to handle, and I can see why someone would be annoyed at some of the ways to make settings different being taken away.

[@AzureGreatheart]

@@tyeklund7221 He said that WotC _might_ be getting “too politically correct”, wording it in a way that implies that there is an acceptable level of political correctness. I think you are being too quick to judge him on this, because there’s a right and a wrong way of doing everything, political correctness included.

[@project4061]

The Sea Serpent needs a stamp of "Plain old Cool!"

[@esperthebard]

Oh my, I should have brought that back!

[@scorpiovenator_4736]

Finally another ranking, we miss your ranking videos

[@esperthebard]

Oh you can bet I've missed them too. Work on my book really consumed me for a while, but I have emerged.

[@anderslundtoft2315]

Yes we do! We really really miss then! You must be pretty good at writing your own monster Esper.. may I should take a look at the book if yours

[@orangexlightning]

It was apparently revealed that the Tiamat fought in Tyranny of Dragons was a specific Avatar, and not her real body, so the challenge rating being the same makes sense to me at least. On the subject of the Deep Dragon, I'm actually okay with the redesign, though I wish more of the less common Dragons had returned. Because there was another "Purple Dragon" at one point that was a crossbreed between a Red and a Blue. If that Purple Dragon returned in this book, then I would have been in full favor of the redesign as a means to separate the two.

[@esperthebard]

That makes more sense. An actual god would probably be well above CR 30.

[@williethenerfherder2193]

The original purple dragon is a psychic breath spewing dragon that can dominate people. This new deep dragon sucks.

[@christianlangdon3766]

@@williethenerfherder2193 it has its place, being an underdark dragon, and a lorekeeper it's not hard to get one to be interesting even as a good guy dragon. Plus if you dislike illithids reskinning the dragon and other creatures to be infected by mushrooms could lead to a cool encounter with the demon lord of fungus and such. I think it's cool name does need a bit of work though deep dragon makes me think ocean.

[@orangexlightning]

The ORIGINAL Purple Dragon was the one I mentioned. The purple you're referring to was still called the Deep Dragon ultimately.

[@darksun273]

@@esperthebard thank you

[@thecharmer5981]

I actually really like the way gem dragons look. They are unique and nothing like the other dragons, and in my opinion they don’t look cartoony at all

[@stephenlucas8836]

my minor counterpoint about the Dragon Blessed not fitting in with the world logic is also ignoring how strong a PC can be especially when they know how to combo subclasses, races, and spell, often always having something to do with their normal, bonus, and reaction. the design team has ought right stated they have been simplifying stat blocks and know even the mini-boss monster creatures will probably in 3 rounds. Given they are switching from spell slot to daily usage, I believe the in-world justification would be them cramming their spare spell slots into casting smites with their Mace attacks to stay competitive with player action economy while not making the DM think so hard about slot management.

[@johnstarinieri7360]

Honestly, I adore the Mythic actions concept. The lore behind some of the Greatwyrms is funky, but every monster I’ve used Mythic actions for has been a fantastic time in-game. A pushover boss fight becomes harder, or a hard boss fight become terrifying when the “second phase” is reached.

[@stoneman472]

If you think the Greatwyrms are potentially game breaking, wait until somone at wizards goes "Ya know....let's make the Epic Dragons and the Gargantua cannon!". Of course, my crazy ass would then have an excuse to finally have a true D&D Kaiju fight.

[@WolfHreda]

Like the scene in FF7 when the Sapphire Weapon gets blasted by the Sister Ray.

[@Spiceodog]

Dracotaurs are featured in the creature codex for 5th edition and I really like them, but it’s third party content

[@maromania7]

What I find interesting about the brainstealer dragon is how it differs from the 3e one in a way that implies development. In 3e they were a dragon infected by a tadpole but partially fighting it off, even a wyrmling's draconic nature being strong enough to refuse the elder brain's control. They had a mind blast breath weapon and powerful psyonics, growing stronger as they aged. They gained all the conniving and eventually many of the abilities of the elder brain. This new version suggests an evolution, with the elder brains realizing the failure but being so determined to seize raw draconic power that they become the Ultimate Tadpole. One strong enough to overcome draconic resistance and acheive a near perfect form, rising to the strength of the fiendish lords themselves.

[@josephcroeniangamer3727]

It would have made more sense to have a tiger dragon, also because the growl of the tiger can get so low that you could feel it and not hear it, people report that this is paralizing fear for a second, and it would make a neat trick for the creature for a wisdom safe for one turn paralisis on surprise rounds.

[@chaoticzer0688]

Something that you forgot to mention about the Hollow Dragons that’s in the book is that it makes mention that it could potentially become corrupt in their task/oath. I think this could be a beautifully tragic potential plot point that could be used in an adventure. Love this video overall though! I am glad to see that my favourite Bard has returned safely from his journey and look forward to the next video of his tales.

[@Strawberrymilkdrink]

Honestly Id like the gem dragons more if that incorporated their gems more into their designs more rather then have them just float around them Also I actually like the topas dragon Honestly just without the floating spikes a more squat flat dragon is a really refreshing design choice its just ruined by the floating rocks I think if I were to use it I'd leave those out

[@esperthebard]

Agreed!

[@scottburns4458]

Oh man how I have missed your rankings with their keen insights into the game. I look forward to seeing more again. Excellent video Thank you

[@blakebailey22]

I feel like the entirety of 5e is Wizards of the Coast charging $50 for books full of half baked ideas that dms need to fix, and really all we get for the books is artwork that is decent most of the time. At least the player related content is usually good, if not often overpowered and makes previous archetypes outdated.

[@jtowensbyiii6018]

50 bucks twice a year is nothing compared to tens of thousands of hours

[@yuvalgabay1023]

@@jtowensbyiii6018 you still wasting money of an half baked ideas. Thay you will need to fix. Its like paying full price for a car and its broken.

[@bleddynwolf8463]

@@yuvalgabay1023 i think thats intentional, to make the DM's write the lore for them. wotc have realised that the vast majority of tables play in homebrew worlds/ ignore lore, so they stopped writing detailed lore, because they know DMs will do the work for them

[@yuvalgabay1023]

@@bleddynwolf8463 ya but. Like we still paying for some lore ideas. And if is half bake that just sucks. And like by your idea they just should release stats and pictures whit out any lore or idea behind it. + Alot of monster's stats kinda sucks(looking ate vecna the little wimp bitch Cr 12 dud)

[@bleddynwolf8463]

@@yuvalgabay1023 agreed. im not saying its good, im just saying its what wotc seems to be doing

[@squashedeyeball]

A legendary quote to start yet another legendary video by the highest level bard to ever walk the earth. Bless you Esper! Each of your ranking videos is an event of epic proportions!

[@esperthebard]

Well this one certainly took an epic amount of time to produce 😆

[@squashedeyeball]

@@esperthebard I can imagine that :) The quality of your videos stands out!

[@johnsenior4445]

Dear Esper the Bard Thank you for your amazing videos and your storytelling and everything else that makes this channel great. You've inspired me to write my own book, Ty's Treasury of Monsters. Thank you for everything.

[@Spiceodog]

But esper, unlike the hurl through hell, the banish into a dream actually makes sense, your giving the target a flashback or some strange plot related dream, that’s EPIC!!! The moonstone dragon is my favorite in the book because of that

[@esperthebard]

I also very much like the moonstone dragon. A full-sized fey dragon is something the game has been needing. Well, the word "banish" has a sense of permanence to it, not just going away for a few seconds or mentally dazing out for a moment. Interestingly, the dream sorceress in my book has a similarly named feature. She creates magical dreamscape paintings and traps people inside of them.

[@Spiceodog]

@@esperthebard yeah if I was designing it I wouldn’t have had be a banish effect but a stun effect, with maybe some sort of illusion effect after you break through the stun that’s like a illusory terrain spell with some slight modifications, and that only the target can see. Still, it works much better then the hurl through hell ability

[@Master_E444]

Really love these videos and really love this book. It gave me alot of ideas for my own upcoming campaign involving a Half Dragon Usurper King who has both allied himself with Unseelie Fey and has an Adult Deep Dragon Advisor. One of my personal faves of the Non-Metallic/Chromatic Dragons would definitely be the Deep Dragons since they kinda fill their own niche and can be just as interesting as other Chromatic Dragon types as bbegs or one of their lieutenants. They may kind of fill the spot of the Purple Dragons but they're unique enough on their own and I like their theming. Though I like that idea of a Fungus coated Dragon, may develop that idea myself. I also really love the Greatwyrms since they really feel like your classic apocalyptic dragons of yore. Basically Deathwing going on his aerial flyby scorching on everyone or torrents of acid flooding across whole swathes of city. Gotta love um. My favorite of the True Dragons are the Black Dragons Also in terms of the new Lore, I believe it's a case of conflicting origin stories due to the wibbly wobbly structure of the D&D Multiverse. Given the book is mostly from Fizban aka Bahamut's perspective, he probably isn't the most reliable. Even if he's not intentionally deceiving anyone, his own memory and perception may be off considering the nature of the D&D Multiverse is kind of in frequent flux

[@qwyllkempt7603]

Shadiversity had a really great video on the best weapons for aerial mounted warriors.

[@enzosanti3278]

All of your videos are AMAZING my man Please, keep the excelent job. Even if I get a bit sad with the fact that you don't bring your amazing critical look at other TTRPGS, you're still the only "D&d youtuber" that I recommend to my friends. Just love your content Você é o melhor! Abraços do Brasil🇧🇷

[@esperthebard]

Obrigado! I would like to do some videos about other ttrpgs.

[@enzosanti3278]

@@esperthebard Really? Oh god that's awesome!

[@Military-gradenutella3068]

Esper: “ When you pay $50 for a book, there’s an unspoken agreement that whoever produced the book has taken the time to get things right…“ AAA game industry: Bwahaha!!!

[@rogerwilco2]

Indeed.

[@RougeMephilesClone]

Great video, and I'm happy to see another one of these from you. Gotta' say though, you Bah Humbug!'d your way through the true dragon section pretty hard. As for me, after reading about how the Amethyst Dragons are the most likely to engage in reality-breaking mad science and "charging some crystals," I don't think I'll be able to not see them as cartoon-y. What gem dragon plot hooks I've read tend to have an extra-fantastical bent, and the snowball fight one is straight out of One Piece. I love it!

[@esperthebard]

I hope I didn't come off too harsh. There are a lot of aspects to this book that I really like. It just needed one more round of solid constructive criticism and development imo.

[@ceeno9042]

Honestly, his negativity ruined the video for me.

[@jonashansen6391]

I couldn't agree more with your little rant at the end. IMO, the multiverse approach to storytelling is often just an excuse for IPs to have no consequences. We killed a fan favourite character? No worries homie, she's still alive the next world over!

[@HurricaneDDragon]

I am so, SO happy to get this gift of a video 😭

[@TheFatFondler]

idk if its how it was meant to be interpreted, but i think about the ghost dragon con save for the fear being a purely physiological reaction or an instinctual fear that bypasses the brain and is just a matter of your body reacting to it on its own.

[@J0eMega]

The brain is the only organ that can “experience fear” lol. I see what you’re getting at, but I would’ve just preferred an idea explanation along the lines of it locking up the nervous system or something. Idk why nobody on the team immediately laughed off the idea of a save against fear being a CON throw lol.

[@Bysthedragon]

The Dragonflesh Grafter/Abomination reminds me of a creature I created called the Dragoblin. A Goblinoid who gained favor with Tiamat or were cursed after attaching a Dragon body part to themselves. When I get an art block or lacking inspiration I like to draw Goblins cause they can look like just about anything, in this case I was inspired by the Fool's Gold Campaign and Sip's cursed Crocodile hand. I figured what if instead of a Crocodile it was a Green Dragon Hand and so the first Dragoblin was created! He had once been a completley ordinary Goblin with a dismembered hand, probably after being caught stealing. He came across a very cursed Green Dragon claw and decided to attach it to their vacant arm stump hoping it would make him stronger, little did he know just how strong he would become. The Curse took affect bonding itself to the Goblin, gradually making them bigger, stronger, and more Dragon-like, but also overwriting the Goblin's mind and personality with the traits of a Green Dragon. He eventually returned to his Goblin hoard, devoured the Boss, and declared himself the New Goblin boss commanding all his subordinates pillage and bring him treasure lest he eat them too! Eventually word god around that a Goblin became a Draconic warlord and other Goblins decided "Hey that sounds like a great idea!" so they attempted to recreate what this initial Goblin did by accident. I am also working on my own new D&D Dragons in case your campaign doesn't have enough Dragons yet or you want to throw your players off guard by using Dragons that aren't traditional to D&D. These Dragons originated from the elemental planes representing each of the prime elements. In the beginning of the Material Plane these Dragons were curious and eager to see this new world and make new homes. Air dragons brought with them the Atmosphere of the plane of Air and began to play around making all sorts of new weather. Water dragons filled the Chasms and pits of the world with the water of their home plane filling the Oceans and carving Rivers. Earth dragons began to Raise mountains and dig canyons experimenting with all the new terrains that could exist in this world. And the Fire Dragons thought it would be all good fun to spread Fire and Magma from their home plane into the Material World... The Other 3 Dragons didn't like the Fire Dragons griefing their new Minecraft server, so they joined forces to beat back the Fire Dragons and ban them back to the plane of Fire. Very few and remote places in the world still carry remnants of the Fire Dragon's mark on the world but it's said a few Fire dragons or their kin can still be found in very hot places like volcanoes. Returning to their elemental plane the Fire Dragons remained unchanged from their ancient primal appearances but over the millennia the other 3 elemental dragon types who stayed in the Material plane diversified into different niches. The Air Dragons became the Chaotic aligned Weather Dragons: Sun (CG), Wind (CG), Mist (CN), Snow (CE), and Storm (CE) The Water Dragons became the Neutral aligned Aquatic Dragons: Lake (NG), River (NG), Open Ocean (N), Coastal (NE), and Abyss (NE) and The Earth Dragons became the Lawful aligned Terrain Dragons: Plains (LG), Forest (LG), Mountains (LN), Desert (LE), and Underdark (LE)

[@Rattus138]

That outro was specially inspiring! Obrigado Esper!

[@esperthebard]

Valeu!

[@ARreckless14]

Welcome back sir Esper. We have much work to do. Thanks for the video.

[@lizziec9617]

Lendys and Tamara are their full names. They're dragon gods from pre-4e who have been retconned into Great Wyrms in this book. Likewise, Deep Dragons were only Purple Dragons in 4e. Older editions had different approaches to Purple dragons. Same with a lot of the extra Metallic Dragons, they were either 4e inventions or reinventions, and a lot of "extra" stuff like them get dropped when editions changed. I'm sure we'll lose the Moonstone dragons when we eventually move to 6e. The Multiverse aspect likewise isn't new. That's what Spelljammer back in 2e was based around. The settings have always existed in a multiverse, this is just trying to tie it back together. I'm not sure it SUCCEEDS, but my point is it's not a completely new invention either.

[@MrBoltstrike]

I appreciate your content. This video in particular is helpful for my ongoing adventure that I'm running. Hearing what's out there gives me inspiration for various adventures and encounters.

[@vatofdread1468]

The way I see it, the Hollow Dragon could originate in one of two ways. Either a Metallic Dragon has gain the favor of Bahamut and is offered to continue it’s service after death or a Chromatic Dragon is punished for some humiliation (being slain by a party or losing it’s hoard somehow) and is sent by Tiamat to do her dirty work, like imposing her will onto a cult or something.

[@warlockghovat5745]

There were several supplements in 3.5e that had several different types of grafts. These grafts were magic items that required the character to undergo surgery in order to gain the benefit of the item. There were even prestige classes that made you stronger the more grafts of the same type you had.

[@brandondiotte2104]

Your Aurupede was the first monster I used out of your new book and worked really well at confusing my party for a while and came out at the perfect time as they had just defeated a hag and took her gold without a second thought.

[@esperthebard]

So cool to read this!

[@WhisperingWisp357]

There are creatures who developed spines and spikes and armor for protection against predators. After hearing about the chromatic greatwyrms, I think I know why the Tarrasque has them now...

[@2g33ksgamingttv3]

I mean even ancient Dragons like reds are sized big enough to be a threat to the tarrasque

[@BobCain2006]

Another fantastic review video! Wow that’s a lot of information! Thank you so much breaking down the content of the book and adding your incredible insight. Your ideas always give me more ideas and inspiration to draw from. Loving the pdf of your book by the way. Working a lot of ot so I haven’t looked over everything but the monsters are brilliant. Thank you for sharing.

[@esperthebard]

Thank you so much Bob! I'm glad you're enjoying the Emporium!

[@travismurtland3257]

It's been a multiverse for years, that's literally what spelljammer is

[@kentrohlfing830]

Love these. Thank you for making them.

[@esperthebard]

Thank you Kent!

[@TabletopBob]

Well worth the wait! Excellent work as usual!

[@esperthebard]

Thanks Bob!

[@tristanguitar95]

Always a fan of the rankings, but these Mastodon subtitles for the ranks themselves are a cherry on top

[@esperthebard]

Great catch, Tristan ;)

[@Springy05]

KZbin FINALLY decided to show your channel to me again, and I cant be more happy it was this episode

[@couragew6260]

2:20 “Now we welcome, Fizban the fabulous and his *seven canaries.”* I think we all know who Fizban really is.

[@thetoweroftomes]

We sure do ;)

[@philleW12]

Amazing, great to see you back.

[@McFlamejob77]

One thing I found that iffed me about Fizbans is just how prevalent force damage is when it feels as if another element should take its place, like a dragons bite dealing piercing and force rather than piercing and fire. It feels like meta gaming from the monsters part as far as damage resistances go lol

[@esperthebard]

Agreed. At a certain point, it doesn't even feel like a dragon anymore.

[@stephenlucas8836]

not sure about the sentiment, rereading the book only the god Aspects, Greatwyrms and Amethyst Dragons. Force damage in-game is supposed to represent an irresistible amount of damage. The flames of red Greatwyrms should be so pure that not even Fire elementals and Devils are immune. Force would be the principal damage type of a dragon breath attack only followed by untyped Hit point drain attacks.

[@McFlamejob77]

@@stephenlucas8836 that's a good point, if it were me I might have put a "the greatwyrms ignores resistance and immunity to fire damage" but maybe thats just cause I'm a stickler for the flavour of the damage haha

[@karlinneveln6209]

I real enjoyed your critics of these monsters, I watched your dragon ranking video before this and noticed a stark difference in the enthusiasm and more of a punching up of the unfinished ideal of scrambled homebrew they slammed together. Thank you.

[@caracal429]

I waited for this vid, as I was expecting Fizban’s for Christmas, and didn’t want spoilers. Worth the wait

[@notmocka]

Btw I really laughed when you used "plant" three times to describe a fungi during the deep dragon segment

[@esperthebard]

Yeah it's a bit weird that D&D puts fungi under the creature type of plant, at least when seen from a scientific perspective. But there are so few plant creatures as it is, the proposal to split them even further into plant and fungus would probably not get much support.

[@robmatheny2412]

Good shit as usual my dude, by far my favorite dnd KZbinr.

[@flowmingo7522]

You should do a tier list on the monsters from your book!

[@Lakefront_Khan]

Then you would know what's in it before you buy it. It would definitely cut down on sales.

[@PsychoticDyldo]

Love the video! I have to inquire if you ever thought of doing 3rd party tier rankings or something of the like. I got into Kobold Press Tome of Beasts and Creature Codex and it feels very fun and unique compared to a lot of Wizards of the Coast stuff and mainly wonder how you would view it

[@jamesadamsfl]

I know I've already written 2 comments here, but I feel the need to do another. To start with, I don't mind the inclusion of the multiverse. I enjoy the MTG cosmology, and I'd be happy to do something similar in DnD, but I'll admit it's weird. But, as long as the game devs don't start forcing it into everything, it doesn't hurt, and you can take it or leave it (like Planescape). I actually do like how they used the idea with regards to the Gem Greatwyrms (it fits with the psionic theme), and that's saying something since I don't care much at all for the Gem Dragons. Maybe it's the bad art (I didn't like the pre-5e art either, though I did like the implication that 5e Topaz Dragons have reversed wings; it's different and kind of cool), but they didn't really catch my attention. I feel like there's too many dragons already (anything that huge and powerful should be super rare, not having entire societies of separate sub-breeds), and inherently neutral characters are hard to play. In my homebrew setting I'd play all Dragons as somewhat Neutral, but that's because they hail from a radically different society and don't understand or often respect us smaller folk, not because they're biologically predisposed towards Good, Evil, or Apathy. Same with Giants. Also, on that note I'm fine with the Dragon gods vs. humanoid gods story as a story, but I'd prefer it was a possibility, not the gospel truth of the universe. This I think is where I just like Ebberon better than the Realms, because I appreciated the religious mysteries it had as opposed to DnD's absolutist cosmology. Give us some mysteries and religious conflicts and sectarian conflicts! But, going back to complements, I do like the motivations of the Gem Greatwyrms because to me it's a religiously motivated quest rather than just a lust for power.

[@esperthebard]

I appreciate the very thoughtful comment and agree with a number of the same things. The multiverse approach can work pretty good if done well and not baked too much into everything like in mtg. Indeed Eberron is a cool setting with some good storytelling and world building. And also yes, it is weird when there are too many colossal-sized devastatingly powerful creatures in the world. They should be very rare on the Material Plane, but more numerous in epic outer planes.

[@jamesadamsfl]

@@esperthebard Thank you! If it wasn't obvious, I share your concerns. Personally I think the multiverse idea would work best if it was treated like Planescape, a separate campaign idea where it makes sense for players to go from the Realms to Eberron to Athas to the Spelljammer setting to Exandria just for laughs. Planescape works because it was designed from the ground up to be its own campaign idea and has a fair bit of humor baked in (like the idea that it's possible for a bar fight to break out in Sigil between angels and demons). My fear is that the game devs won't do this but will force it into the game in ill-conceived ways. An NPC with powers that a well-read player can recognize as Dragonmark abilities or the powers of a Dark Sun elemental cleric, sure, that could be fun, since it wouldn't break the game and could still be a fun character for folks who didn't know those settings. Writing adventures in which the heroes are expected to fight an invading army of Draconians or gun-toting space hippos or one where they get zapped to Athas and "guess what, your magic doesn't work the way it should anymore!" . . . No. That would just be dumb.

[@everettluther9103]

Luckily, as a caviot, when the "D&D origin lore" is explained, it goes out of it's way to say that it may or may not be true, and is simply a rendition, though it being Fizban who is "writing" the book, I can't tell whether or not if we are supposed to take it with a grain of salt, or completely seriously as the offical Cannon Lore, and then that adds in another question, what about the war with the Giants? Where do they fit in with this lore? If the dragons were decimated by the gods, how can empires that span entire continents with members are large as busses have problems with dragons who have been defeated only shortly beforehand as it is said "they are an ancient race almost as ancient as dragons". If the war occurred after the dragons were defeated and managed to recover, assuming losses were at epic proportions, that would be so many generations later, well more than 10 thousand years later (somehow with almost 0 major technological or magical advancements from either it seems, despite their wisdom). With a deep divide with chromatic and metallic dragons and crystal dragons going and doing their own things with aberrations without their dragon gods to unify them, it seems improbable that they would be able to create a formidable force against them. It also seems that there is a very limited amount per region based on the book, whereas entire tribes of giants exist even today who could easily rival even ancient dragons alone (based on stat blocks and lore bits). And it is assumed that either A the dragons won and the giants were totally destroyed by the dragons, or B the destruction was so great that neither side really ever recovered. Did it only occur on one world or did the echos cause similar events all over the worlds of the material plane? The Giants are in the MM, and that is the overall lore from them. These were just my thoughts reading the books, and maybe I'm just overthinking it.

[@milanivkovic1680]

They keep butchering the lore just ignore the new stuff iyam

[@bleddynwolf8463]

remember, ALL previous lore got decanonized, and new stuff isn't canon

[@ajdunn2000]

I want to point out the acetent red dragons dose more damage with its breath than the red greatwyrm

[@J0eMega]

I saw that but it’s a fair trade off. The greatwyrm has more than double the range.

[@The_Horse-leafs_Cabbage]

The music, the commentary... I've been missing this.

[@tnatstrat7495]

Yeah but what are the chances of an Elder brain having the opportunity to infect a captured dragon? The dragon would have had to have fucked up in so many ways. Surely only one or two of these exist on any given realm.

[@recursiveslacker7730]

Precisely. A lot of things that don’t make sense to him actually are justified if you give them a moment’s thought.

[@cynicthehedgehog385]

I made my own 4th branch of true dragons: Wood, Paper, Glass, Cloth, and Stone. The wood go from pure wood patterns with rough bark-like scales to smooth finished burnished wood with leafy adornments. The paper look like origami, and as they age they decorate themselves with line art representing their life like tattoos, as their extremities yellow like aging paper. Glass dragons start completely clear, but over time gain color reflecting their personality, turning into basically stained glass behemoths. Cloth dragons start as one color, but over time add cloth fron different sources to make themselves bigger, with sewn together stitches representing the remains of old wounds. Stone dragons begin with some kind of sedimentary rock coloring and texturing, but over time become the appropriate color and texture of the relevant metamorphic rock.

[@knightclub9668]

Hey just something I wanna say for people to here. You are in fact, mostly right about lions being social. However, Male lions do live as solitary hunters for a good portion of their lives. Which does in fact, lead to the terrifying idea that while you may encounter a lone CR 7 Liondrake, you could also encounter the 90% female pride with up to like, eight of them at once. Would be a great encounter to scare people with.

[@fuzzydragon]

I really liked that even the old dragons got more than a reprinting, with ideas of how to play contrary personality versions, this was much better than I was expecting.

[@singingcrow439]

Awesome video. I was hoping to hear you talk about the new dragonborn changes and how they improve the race.

[@robotdude2206]

Your fantastic speech at the very end makes me want to play in a game of yours. I'd love to experience the game from someone so deeply familiar with its origins when 5e is all I've known.

[@nicolaezenoaga9756]

The king has returned!

[@elijahd-helzer4765]

Good end message. Very compelling.

[@bentri7964]

Before Fizbans came out I had designed some creatures that are very similar to ones in the book. I designed both a hoard mimic (I called it the Mimic Pile), and a Sea Serpent (i Called it the Eeldrake).

[@bleddynwolf8463]

are you gonna stick to the homebrewed or use the new ones?

[@bentri7964]

@@bleddynwolf8463 I think ill use my Eeldrake, as I quite like the dual steam/lightning breath weapons I gave it, plus it has an electrical shock reaction. I will probably use the fizbans mimic, as I think its better made than mine.

[@killskill9391]

Weird thing about Bahamut: If you're dead, his breath bring's you with full HP. If you're still alive, than you only get very much.

[@killskill9391]

@@elmeromogollonWho?

[@17joren]

I’m not sure I care for the planes walkers and mythic creatures consuming their echoes either, but dnd as a multiverse has kind of always been a thing. Mordenkainen appears in multiple adventures across various settings like Curse of Strahd and Ghosts of Saltmarsh in Greyhawk. He and many other wizards were first played by Gary Gygax’s players and their spells like those of Tenser and Bigby, are useable in every setting because of the multiverse. Some of his other players’ characters are NPCs in a couple adventure modules. The idea was that we were all in a shared universe.

[@charlottewalnut3118]

Idea for moonstone dragons lunacy gas breath Causes you to babble drool or in the worst case attack your own teammates and it might not even be the deals damage type of attack it might just be your friend comes over and gives you a giant hug thinking that you are a talking Marshmello and begins to try and eat you so essentially a really bad acid trip how’s that?

[@Austin-fb5fm]

I like to imagine the one round banishment effects as being more focused around the sensory overload that one would get from being hurled through an entirely new plane, then suddenly pulled back before they can fully understand what happened. When I DM I tend to emphasize how disorienting the experience was to make it more than just “you’re banished for one round”

[@joshuastanding2507]

So here’s the thing, Esper points out that it’s weird for the Champion of Tiamat to do necrotic damage. But not necessarily that weird, though with what I have to say I admit I wish it would clarify in the book. Tiamat has an Avatar called Undying, it’s actually supposed to be much stronger than her more famous five headed Avatar and comes closer to her hidden one headed Avatar. Though, I’m not surprised this wasn’t thought of because our beloved Dragon Queen doesn’t get much recognition beyond her primary Avatar, sad but ultimately acceptable. So yeah, Tiamat could be seen with necrotic damage via her Dracolich Avatar. Personally I really love this book, and this KZbinr and I really enjoyed the video. Thanks Esper!

[@alexandrudorries3307]

I love that you picked out the ancient blue to showcase the good monster manual artwork.

[@robynthegemini]

I always do find it amusing when you put art of older edition monsters for one you're reviewing, and I recognize them, and then I realise that that was art for a different monster. In the dragonblood ooze section you put up an image of a bloodfire ooze, and similar happened in the Giant episode. This isn't harmful, just amusing mostly.

[@willSolos]

The way he said "does Bahamut himself impart this epic level boon" 🤣 👌

[@michamcv.1846]

Add skills from his previous live to the ghost dragon😉 But i would make him only wulnerable to dragon fire , because its the ghostdragons souls wish to be purified by dragonflames.

[@ivanscherette7997]

The astral dragon already exists. In pre 4e, it uses it's big brain energy to fly around the astral plane and gather arcane knowledge. They actually are some of the only creatures to have completed libraries of knowledge from the netherese empire, because these guys live so damn long.

[@vinx.9099]

i'd guess not all weapons suffer equally with strength drain. if you can load a crossbow it'll do regular damage, your strength doesn't matter after loading, and if you have a pully loading system it barely matter while reloading. now that is just one weapon, but i guess that's the idea. finnese weapons are not about a powerful strike, but a precise strike.

[@Chris-6ul]

43:00 It’s always been like that have you not heard of spell jammer

[@thecondescendinggoomba5552]

Yeah the multiverse has existed for a while

[@ginocrededio7421]

Man am I like the only one who thought the greatwyrms were all grossly undertuned damage wise?

[@douglasburck1611]

I do wish Fisban had covered the lost (orange,pink, purple and yellow) chromatic dragons. I would love to play an orange dragon born for the liquid sodium breath weapon!

[@sharksuperiority9736]

I believe that all true dragon groups need to have only five actual members, as Tiamat is known for her five heads, each head being one of the chromatic dragons. However in my setting, I added the other Chromatic and Metallic dragons as crossbreeds. So a purple dragon is what you get when you cross a chromatic dragon and an amethyst dragon. Second thing, I actually really like the Gem dragon art. I think they look unique unlike the Chromatic and Metallic dragons

[@emilyhockers1086]

i actually love the design they went with for the gem dragons. I do find the dragons inspiring.

[@geoaltman9344]

Esper when i get the money i am totally paying you to read me stories til i go to sleep. Until then i will continue to listen to these for free. Great job!

[@paulellington1505]

It would be really neat to have a Tiefling pyromancer grafted with bits from a red dragon that would give me either the dragon's flame breath or gives them an extra fire based spell or at least a boost to fire resistance. And the same thing for the other types of dragons. Great video Esper. Love your D&D content.

[@bleddynwolf8463]

i've a similar concept but with Abishai tieflings instead

[@ts25679]

My lore for the Draconian's, from the starting point of them being birthed from dragon eggs and a magic ritual, is that dragon's souls/minds are still too strong to bend to your will even before they hatched. So just before the ritual failed completely they managed to fracture the dragon's essence into more manageable pieces. The number and strength of the Draconian's you get as a result of this new ritual is a result of the ability of the caster. The stronger the practitioner or cabal is, the fewer Draconian's you get, but they are stronger individually. The less capable create substantially more Draconian's, but their strength is diluted across the group, and whilst individually they may have the approximate intelligence of a Lizardman if the original clutch is all together they act as if they have one mind, as the original soul tries to reform. They may have a weak breath weapon, but if they all bring the breath to bear upon the same point then those in the crossfire are hit by the original dragon's breath attack. Though powerful together, clutches are often kept apart, otherwise, the dragon's will may succeed in reforming its soul into its original form, consuming all the draconian's in the process. Upon death, the draconian's masters have placed safeguards to disperse the soul essence it contained, lest the recombining soul becomes too great to handle.

[@jackstefan8639]

The aspect of Bahamut and the eldar brain dragon are my favorite monsters they added in this book and esper if you read this the dragon the eldar brain controls has to be altered by the colony and the brain covered in a membrane to survive.

[@jackstefan8639]

I also love the gem greatwyrm.

[@TonyPuleo1]

I really like the words you said at the end of the video

[@esperthebard]

Thank you Tony!

[@dragonballtalk8527]

Best video ever made of it's nature please make many more like this

[@adamred5449]

nice video Esper, you're ranking are great

[@danielsniff6405]

I know that you aren't a fan of the gem dragon art style, and I agree with most of them, but the topaz dragon looks dope. I think the art style works particularly well with topaz.

[@esperthebard]

You know I found that the topaz and sapphire dragon art looks better when viewed on a screen instead of in the books. Especially that full spread sapphire dragon piece, which unfortunately didn't make it into the book.

[@2g33ksgamingttv3]

@@esperthebard I didn't mind the Sapphire or Emerald, wasn't a fan of the Amethyst personally

[@suddenlyboop1815]

I do agree somewhat with you that dnd is growing into a video game, however I truly feel that the magic and depth of this pass time is crafted by the game masters, these books and rules are just raw material.

[@HJ-ul1eg]

Oh boy your vids look like the ones I've been trying to find ☺️

[@esperthebard]

Welcome!

[@DKelso85]

Esper must have hated Spelljammer and Planescape. Edit: Also, Moorcock is definitely among the inspirations of old school D&D, and his novels focus heavily on multiversal concepts. I think the idea that "multiverses" are somehow anti-D&D is a bit misguided.

[@Direwolf181]

yeah that confuses me... the dnd multiverse has pretty much always been a thing.... they are connected but are completely independent.