How to Make Dragons Epic - Game Master Tips

[@GnarledStaff]

“Hey, uh, great immortal dragon. Before we go, I, uh, just wanted to say, uh, we’re not coming back and, uh, have a great immortal life.”

[@vermillionwraith7810]

it would be kind of funny in a campaign if the dragons were so powerful that humans were the equivalent of insects but have the same reaction a human has to a spider (not a threat but still terrifying) "ewww ewww they're in my dungeon get away get away" *begins chasing party with a +4 rolled newspaper*

[@Achillobator]

That'd be a fun way to make 'good' dragons take on an antagonistic role. Not because they're evil, but because they're anthropophobic and the human stingers (greatswords) are really painful!

[@midnightdragon67]

Nice

[@Ms.Mel.Creates]

Yup. This might be a thing in my world now 😂😂😂 amazing idea

[@Mr.Monster1984]

Awesome Idea

[@drakkenmensch]

And just like spiders, they see humans as somewhat useful because they kill even more verminous races that want to crawl all over their lair.

[@omagaking7]

The most famous dragon that my players ever met was a young white dragon, who due to the rouge and Druid feeling bad for it kept it alive and simply took the item after they defeated it. Well the dragon after a few adventure had found their home and made it it lair. Three hours of talk later they ,are it their mascot and it was their emblem and the living embodiment of their group until a certain raid on their base nearly killed it. The revenge quest was one of the best line we ever had and I ended it with them finding a magic potion the age it to elder. The dragon while thankful decide that it was time to go and after a tearful goodbye I ended the campaign with Snow flying into the sunset, as my adventures left the mortal plain for other realms.

[@midnightdragon67]

George Saggeth sounds nice

[@towardsthelight220]

*rogue * is a class, rouge is a color.

[@jesternario]

Here’s one for you, the “Adventuring Dragon;” a dragon who, after watching the mortal races gear up and raid other creatures homes and take their stuff, decided to do the same, and is now traveling from kingdom to kingdom “adventuring” by killing guards and peasants and looting the royal treasury. I’m not the one that came up with the idea, I got it from a comic. But it makes for an interesting situation where you can make a commentary on what the characters do and why they do it.

[@snogard0]

did you remember the comic's name?

[@Sporner100]

Great timing, my players somehow got the idea that just because a dragon was mentioned, they could survive a heist in his layer or get away with killing his human associate...

[@Daredhnu]

it's always great when players think they can fight what is essentially set dressing and world building at 3rd level, just great, especially when they complain afterwards about how unfair of a fight it was when giants crushed them like watermelons, it just warms my heart, even more so when it was clearly stated in session zero that the world is alive and you don't balance encounters to the players. just fun.

[@AlluMan96]

The secret to the Dragon's majesty as a monster is that they, when used to their fullest, are the embodiment of *everything* right about a monster in a roleplaying game. No one creature quite balances the level of mechanical potential for dynamic encounters and open reputation that steers them away from the typecasting folks like Beholders or Mind Flayer have been doomed to the way a Dragon does. There are many contestants on the person-to-person level (Personally, I favor the Rhakshasa as this majestic big bad), but not a one of them has the marketable face and the pre-established reputation of the Dragon. To me, each dragon's colour defines a sort of personality for them to me, like an archetype they embody. In my head, the colour of the dragon's scales is emblematic of a certain type of Dragon that exists to me. To run it down briefly, we have; *Red Dragons; The Smaug* The icons of greed and isolation, these are the dragons so self-interested, that they simply refuse to interact with other beings, preferring to sit on their hoard of collected treasure and remeness ages long forgotten, the true chaotic neutral. *Blue Dragons; The Tyrant-Serpent* These are the dragons, whose lust lies in status over treasure and their self-importance reflects as dominion over vanity. These are the fuckers that rally their kobold-armies to storm the countryside, bending the commonfolk to their knees as he plans on eradicating his draconic brothers that stand as a threat to his quest for power. *Black Dragon; The Mastermind in the Shadows* While their ambitions are as great as the blue's, the black dragon, being just barely above the lowest CR dragon in the game, is one to bide his time and conceal his involvement in the operations he runs. A black dragon is one to keep a watchful eye on his enemies, stirring conflict from the shadows and springing to action in the chaos, seizing opportunities as he sees them. *Green Dragon; The Fafnir* While a Red Dragon is mostly content and confident in it's power, Green Dragons are never satisfied. Driven to greed by jealousy and kept in isolation by paranoia, these are unhinged individuals that cannot be logically reasoned with. They care only to flaunt their superiority and covet all that is not his with spite and madness in it's soul. *White Dragon; The Nidhogg* One that The Forgotten Realms itself seems to support, the White Dragon's connection to ice and winter coupled with my being natively nordic definitely makes me think of the White Dragon as the "force of nature" dragon. Completely mindless and without reason, The White Dragon is an immediate threat, which destroys and lays waste to it's path for no real goal or purpose. Destroyers without a cause. And that's not even going into Metallics!

[@GnarledStaff]

AlluMan96 I think you get it. A good quest would be for a black dragon to set up a conflict getting you to kill off the other major threats so can gain control. Your party may not even be the first to die fighting his enemies.

[@AlluMan96]

The story in which I conceptualized these colour-stereotypes was during a time I wrote a small campaign hook involving a treasure-hunt for the Orbs of Dragonkind. The idea is that you've been contracted to collect fragments of these orbs, first without being told what they are quite yet, by a mysterious benefactor and most of the Dragons have a reason to want them as well. The Blue and Black Dragons want to dominate it's fellow brethren, seeing the destruction of them as a "Waste of potentially useful assets", The Red and Green Dragons simply want it so that nobody can use it on them and there are many outside sources that want the orbs as well of course, like a Beholder that wants to strongarm the dragons into leaving "him and his clients" alone as well as getting the Dragons into admitting his surperiority to them or the archmage, whom wants to settle a cold war on the verge of to heating up by way of Draconic deterrence.

[@jglopez5855]

Go into metallics

[@AlluMan96]

@@jglopez5855 Well, alot of how you want to use metallics will depend on whether you wanna keep the "good and bad" dynamic between them and the chromatics. I tend to go with that flavour and will be using that as the basis of breaking down my metallics. It keeps things simple and fun, my games are hardly ever this grander look into the ethics of right and wrong and more lean on the adventure of heroes that fight the villain, allowing the players to slant which side of the moral circle we end up in. I'll briefly touch on some basic ideas of how to do a more villainous metallic dragon. *Golden Dragons - Fathers of their People* Despite being ostensibly "The good guys", I do think that the metallics share one trait with their chromatic bretheren; Pride. Despite being altruistic, friendly and dependable allies, I do think they still hold a level of superiority over other races. Golden Dragons reflect this in being very authoritarian and possessive of the people they have grown an attachment to. They tend to establish communities surrounding them, rallying people around it with promises of protection and centuries of wisdom to share. However, they can be very stubborn about their rule and have a strict way of enforcing their way, simply because they believe themselves to "know better". Think about an over-protective parent, refusing to listen to their children, because they're just "not old enough to be making decisions like this". *Evil Golden Dragon - The God of their People* Gold is the color of vanity and they relish in it. Imagine the worst qualities of Golden Dragons taken to the extreme, as their people are forced to worship these dragons as literal gods among them. Something of an in-between of the Red and Green dragon. *Silver Dragons - From Socialite To Hobo* Of all the dragons in D&D, I always hear of Silver Dragons donning human guises and mingling among other races. This is what I decided to lean on. Driven by sheer curiosity, these dragons like to lead many lives, befriending people from all walks of life, integrating themselves within multiple societies. Some simply relish in a bit of fun and frollock in these guises, some might have aims to manipulate communities towards decisions they see as benefitial for the good of all. Yet, curiosity is all there's to it for these creatures. They don't quite see eye to eye with the races they mingle with. They see them as cute, funny, interesting and entertaining more than humans with feelings. *Evil Silver Dragon - Sweet Suffering* Taking a heavy slant on the hedonistic angle, these are dragons that take people to extreme heights only to knock them off. They relish in creating anarchy and discord. Sowing shades of doubt and paranoia within a political system or just toying with the feelings of individuals, they rejoice in the misery their involvement with people reaps. *Bronze Dragons - The Greater Good* A more stoic, militant kind of dragon that is very matter of fact. It sees the preservation of order and helping the weak as very important, but they only see it from a broader angle. They don't quite see the value in each individual life, looking at it more as the good of an entire species or community. They form militaries and lend their assistance to whom they deem worthy of their services, though their tactics can often devolve to "victory by whatever means necessary". *Evil Bronze Dragons - Forgers of War* These dragons are almost like Gold Dragons in how they find communities of people to look after. However, they don't step at a single community. They covet all living things, conquering region after region to place under them. An extreme of the Blue Dragon. *Brass Dragons - Gods of the Arts* Fans of culture and art, Brass Dragons indulge themselves in imagination and history of all races. Of all the dragons, they are perhaps one of the most on-level with the people they interact with, acknowledging the beauty of all races and the art they create, valuing an individual by their own merits rather than some inherent superiority. That said, their pride shines in their ambition to become the best. They indulge in the arts and through their awesome might try to use their inspiration to create something of a scale more massive than ever. They don't see themselves as the best by default, but seek to earn their right to say that. *Evil Brass Dragons - Tragedy of Man* To an evil Brass Dragon, the world is their theatre and they are it's needy spectator. Imagine the kind of mass-scale manipulation and plotting that a Black Dragon finds itself involved with. However, whereas a Black Dragon is very practical in it's approach, a Brass Dragon weaves these plots for no other reason than it's own entertainment as he watches the mayhem and chaos unfold. *Mercury Dragon - Born to Isolation* Their bodies literally toxic to most things, I think Mercury Dragons are the most tragic of the dragons and the ones that are least attached to the pride of dragons. They yearn for a kindred connection with people, yet their poisonous presence keeps them far away. Ironically enough, many mercurial dragons seek a path of healing, learning the many ways in which they can help humanity in spite of their nature. They wish to protect life and dream of the day they may find a way to properly coexist with humanity. *Evil Mercury Dragons - The Blight of Silver* A force of nature more dangerous than any White Dragon, a Mercury Dragon turned bad is one that is consumed by the thought of what it is. Bittered by it's horrific nature and embracing that, it seeks to spread blight and death to wherever it treads. They may see themselves as gods of death or they may be simply trying to gain the attention of a group of heroes powerful enough to finally end it's sad existence. *Platinum Dragons - Bahamut* Yeah, the way I use dragons, there is only one Platinum Dragon. Bahamut, the father of dragons, loving husband of Tiamat. I like to think of the dynamic between metallics and chromatics as a familial dispute more than anything. Bahamut valued the other races, while Tiamat saw them as only worth subjegating. While Bahamut sided with humanity and made Tiamat his enemy, he still clings on to this hope that things can go back to normal again. Tiamat is allowed to live on, because Bahamut refuses to let anyone kill her, as he just kinda wants to make up and come to some kind of ceasefire. Think of like the divorced father that still acts really friendly with his ex and kinda wants to get back together. These are the ones I use, anyway. I've never found myself in dire need of using Copper, Iron or Steel Dragons.

[@SomeJustice19k]

I presented my players with a very young one winged Black Dragon who is just starting a hoard. A pc (my wife), who is a Charlatan Warlock Teifling, convinced the dragon that she'd craft a new wing for the dragon. The thief of the group robbed the piece they needed from the hoard and they left. I'm still curious if she'll hold up her side of the bargain.

[@thomashenderson3326]

Mike Justice of she doesn't that dragon needs to be super mad at the betrayal. I see consequences....for the theft at the very least but also for the betrayal of not keeping the deal after a bit of in game time.

[@ukairsofter]

I never thought I'd feel bad for an imaginary dragon! :D

[@SomeJustice19k]

Thomas Henderson, absolutely. I'm kind of hoping she forgets for a long while, so the dragon will be adult the next time they meet.

[@SomeJustice19k]

Thomas Henderson, tbh, I'm kinda hoping she actually tries to get a wing crafted..... If she thought up the details outside of the game, I'd make her and the dragon become allies.

[@mouseysmak]

So.. it's toothless from how to train your dragon..?

[@MagicalMaster]

In my opinion the way to play a dragon right is to play it smart. Have it as the Mastermind that also happens to be a physical force of nature if not a magical one as well. For instance imagine a campaign based off the Frostpunk game that's coming out. The world's freezing, and we're going to a mystic flame that'll keep us warm. Some THING huge hits the caravan and only a handful makes it. From there a figure is seen at a distance, it's stupidly big, blending in with the ice and watching not only the colony but everyone that arrives there. Eventually the party is guaranteed to get pissed off and chase after it. Then they find nothing. They can't even get close as it's too fast and sees them coming from miles off. When they're forced to give up due to low supplies they're ambushed just outside the city by the creature. A gigantic Ice Dragon. It glares down on them then smiles. It grants each one a scale for being such 'valuable test subjects' that grants them benefits against the cold. Watch the jaws of your players drop and the question fly, before it vanishes right in front of them. It can be a few different options as to what the experiment is. It could be part of a cabal that's responsible for the freezing of the world, or it could even be semi-benign and is trying to toughen up the lesser races in order to make sure that there's always some lesser things to experiment with and watch for entertainment. Or hell it could be a sociological experiment to see what happens when it bumps the scales of power a little. Or maybe the experiment is what do humans do in dire situations if they think that they're being experimented on?

[@midnightdragon67]

Foster Davies-Smith cool

[@NinjoXEnlightened]

In my games the dragons let the lesser races thrive because there tiny hands are more adept at making treasure and the dragons are either too busy or too lazy to do it themselves. Evil dragons have more vein reasons for having such massive hordes and good ones like the taste. As for the lesser races, very few know about them beyond a rumor because the dragons' magic and power make it so very few who have witnessed them survive and none who have opposed them do. Dragons tend to keep to themselves because they don't care about other creatures, but should the lesser creatures band together against them the dragons will band together.

[@DarkTravelerProductions]

In my homebrewed world dragons were created by some of the gods to protect the lesser races. Unfortunately, due to one evil god they were all seeded with great pride which leads them to ruling the lesser races for an age until they were nearly all destroyed in the Second Dragon War. It was thanks to the Second Dragon War that the supercontinent that survived two ages was broken into five continents. Also, necromancy was created by a dragon, becoming a dracolich who taught necromancy and created the first lich.

[@remingtonwright6796]

The Beck that actually sounds pretty awesome. Well done on your lore, my fellow homebrew DM

[@DarkTravelerProductions]

Remington Wright Thank you! :)

[@Charmlethehedgehog]

homebrew is the best kind of roleplay

[@DarkTravelerProductions]

Charmle H Totally agree.

[@rainick]

But what happened with the First Dragon War?

[@williampayne8124]

This has given me ideas on how to make Black Fang (the dragon in the pathfinder starter box) not bland. I'm glad I found this!

[@1221shadowdragon]

Thank you so much for all your tips and advice over the past few months since I have found your channel. It's made things so much easier and fun to write the world for my DnD campaigns. The only issue is, I write what I think are these awesome worlds with lore to explain where everything stands etc, and I only really end up using about half of it because my players are much more concerned with lining their pockets and staying in their little pocket of the map. Which is a little frustrating at times

[@TheFirstLanx]

Have somebody else get richer than them by trading in foreign lands and spinning wonderful tales of the culture. Preferably somebody they didn't like at low level, who is now outshining them because they expanded their horizons while the party didn't. Players haaaaaaaate people getting richer than them with less danger.

[@waaurufu]

My idea for dragons is that they're what's left of a previous dragon era, defeated by the mortal races and cast to the edges of the earth, with some dragons taking this with somber humility and others with great resentment.

[@mosheglick295]

I think your Idea is Brilliant, you have truly brought Dragon stories into a completely new league!

[@gnarthdarkanen7464]

Great video!! AND Great idea for series!!! I definitely love checking out a different perspective on monsters, monstrosities, and at least some extent about the myth and lore behind them... AND of course, where we can take that malleable concept and just tweak it enough to make something new and interesting in the GAME!!! Dragons... With regard to dragon magic, and an alternative magic system... I might point out for the "short-cut version" mechanically, that you refer to... Robotech (I think). They had a kind of weird (to me anyway) damage resolution system... The damage of weapons came in "Classes" and were mathematically scaleable... A "Vehicular Class" damage point was something like 10 "Human Class" damage points, and then you had a few "Classes" upward to "Mega-damage" points worth a regulation butt-load of human damage points... so basically, getting hit for 1 Mega-damage wouldn't even leave a pink mist behind for a human, even in power-armor... At least, it sure seems like that was Robotech... Anyway, the basic line of thinking goes, a majority of "spells" can be blithely transfered over to Dragon-magic by scale, using a multiplier for mechanical representations, and automagically you have a start for your new magic system... From there you can tweak and flesh out with newer and more interesting spells, while relegating the "book-sourced" spells as "traditional" stuff that's easily researched or just conventionally passed down from generation to generation for dragon-kind... The unique spells come from particular varieties of dragons, with themes based on whatever "hat" you like that draconic species to wear... so to say. In my own world's weird clusterf*** of homebrews and semi-historical party-generated shenanigans... Dragons are near timeless creatures of power and generally keep to their own continents... There are exceptions, including a source for campaign that I've only completed as a Player and then as a GM a couple of times... It's relatively epic in scale, regarding the quest for a Draconic Artifact which can only be found in the Southern Empire of Some Dragon... AND it's desperately needed by the Northern Kingdom of Some Other Dragon... In case (with my tendency to be facetious) you don't see where this is going... Both social orders are actually being advised "behind the thrones" by Dragons. The whole premise is that the party gets sent to the Southern Empire to fight back all their mercenaries, and armies, and slug it out through the Capital City streets, even taking down the Grand Wazeer, The Emperor, himself, and a fair plethora of Lords and Knights and what not... you know, the usual stuff. All this to retrieve some ancient powerful and venerable artifact (mcguffin) that was supposedly stolen from the Dragon of the North Kingdom many centuries ago.... blah blah blah... The twist is in the ending, when the Heroes of the land have crashed and smashed all the way to the South Dragon's lair to get their treasure, and they burst through the giant double doors, the dragon greets them and starts laughing. He thinks it's a fine job! "You do know," (some PC) says, "I come here to kill you... right?" "NO, boy..." The Great Wyrm chuckles, then sniffs and studies him. "Wait... You've earned a limp since you started, a few scars weather your face, too... You are no boy. You've come as a man, to VANQUISH me..." And with a rush of wind that threatens to knock the party off their feet, the huge beast's body glows a brilliant pale blue-white light and shrinks down to a tall, gaunt high elf in a flowing robe. "You've already earned your treasure. It's right there, on the pedestal. Go ahead, and take it. I've had this bet going on with that damn cousin of mine up North for... nye on to a millenium now. It's about time for someone to come this far! I was tired of that lineage ruining every stupid thing they could get their grubby mitts into anyways. I'm tired of frolicking about on the follies of men, so you can have it, all of it. Try not to screw it up while I take a sabbatical. You've done a man's job! I'll be back sometimes to check up on you lot, so take care." ...and the table cracked up over that finale. Oh sure, the fights were epic getting that far, so they were beginning to wonder just how big a mess we were going to make by the time I dropped it on them... Of course, you're welcome to try it if you can manage a campaign big enough for such a punchline... or maybe that's small enough... In any case... just have fun with it. ;o)

[@omlo9093]

A draconic society would be so varying that you could do almost everything. A red dragon tribe would live by a mountain and only respect power, casting those among them deemed weak or cowardly into mines below for offering themselves to lifetime servitude. Accept a red DragonBorn's duel or lose honor. That culture of magnificent Sparta. A gold dragon tribe could be wealthy yet civilized, a refined sheen of gold from DragonBorn servants' materials or even personalities. The furthest reaches toward peace, equivalent to serenity, unsoiled by the cycle of human predictability. A glorious Mesopotamia! Anything else may be left open to you!

[@unfairjarl]

Imagine a brass dragon clan partying and stories for days

[@1217BC]

Love the idea of "Monsters and You." I'd like to see you do Illithids. They're society has a lot of fun possibilities. Or maybe one on the fun ways you can use the different oozes and puddings.

[@GnarledStaff]

1217 BC Thats just such a catchy name, lol.

[@terrancat]

www.stufftoblowyourmind.com/podcasts/from-the-vault-mind-flayers.htm

[@terrancat]

www.stufftoblowyourmind.com/podcasts/mind-flayer-science.htm

[@AssasinZorro]

I was so unfortunate to have never understood why dragons are so appreciated until your video! They have so much story potential and you got me pretty excited for them and maybe even converting one of my important characters to dragons just because how well they do fit. Thank you!

[@jacobtar2]

Yes please continue this series, I’ve watched almost all of your GM series and they have been invaluable to me as a new GM Great way to get another perspective and ideas to make all these monsters so much grander than a stat block

[@therealbahamut]

I think I may have just patched a few gaps in my own setting thanks to this little discourse. You may have just helped move along a frustrating case of writer's block.

[@Angel_Asphodel]

This was fantastic! I'm always happy to hear more opinions on how to make encounters and creatures more memorable. It would be great to see this series continue! Thank you for the video, I hope you're having a good day.

[@martindevoto1674]

This series looks like a pretty good idea to me!

[@arutsuyo]

I loved this video! I would love to hear about vampires and lichs next! This gave me a few good ideas of where to go after I'm finished running Curse of Strahd. Thanks for all your efforts and knowledge. I've watched these videos since I started 5e and DMing about 8 months ago. You've really helped enhance my games and the world I can build. Thank you.

[@427Arbok]

Honestly, I haven't gotten too deep on the actual history of dragons at large in my campaign. That said, what dragons I plan have great presence-one of them is worshiped (and loved) as almost a god in a particular nation, which it keeps as a "guardian." By which I mean he's been doing the whole Dread Pirate Roberts, "Good work, sleep well, I'll likely kill you in the morning," thing with them for the past half-millennium. Ultimately, dragons in my world are more mortal, I suppose, and cohabitate more amiably with smaller creatures. Not that all of them care about the little ones, and not that there aren't some that very much do, but ultimately, the role of "Grand Monstrosity" is taken by things so vast and powerful (some of which are draconic themselves) that even the true dragons fear them. Like the god that dragons descend from-a being who is considered so terrible that even some of the most evil dragons in the world revile him.

[@darkmage07070777]

In the one campaign that I ever ran, I had my players learn about a Green Dragon that was terrorizing the area from a nearby ancient forest. They got all ready to go and prepared to fight this green menace at its source. Except it wasn't actually a Green Dragon - it was a Black Dragon that was using Illusion magic to make itself look green specifically to protect itself against its foes. The entire dynamic of the battle shifted when they realized this, simultaneously realizing they weren't fighting the type of Dragon they'd prepped for, while also realizing they were fighting a Dragon outside of its natural environment. Plans had to be thrown out the window and new ones created, and they did triumph, but the battle took far longer then they anticipated. It's been years and they still bring that battle up on occasion.

[@mattsmith2247]

This was a fantastic idea. And it does go over some things that I think most people as game Masters should serve consider but tend to forget and their concern about rules. Please keep this going I like to hear your thoughts on other creatures as well

[@jakubjanicki3989]

As a long running Shadowrun GM, the answer to question in the title is simple: have them own the biggest corporation on the planet, or run a talk show on national tv, or run (and win) the USA-ish presidency.

[@heuclmeucl-heucl5351]

Jakub Janicki ohhh i get it! Trump is a dragon!

[@TeleportRush]

...No, he means Dunkelzahn

[@hemoliadon5319]

OMG TRUMP IS A DRAGON MA!!!

[@stitchthealchemist1520]

Nothing in Shadowrun has killed me more spectacularly than dragons. My dice seemed to really like dragons.

[@jakubjanicki3989]

I wouldn't know, I'm a GM. And my players never got to actually fight a dragon - I mean they tried, but didn't make it as far as actually seeing the beast. Hell, for most of the campaign they were working for it and didn't know it.

[@Red-yt2dk]

"System agnostic". I love that. Also yes please, continue the series.

[@BluessNRock]

I love this channel, it's notorious that you're a super experienced Player and DM ! I like to learn from you

[@matteussilvestre8583]

"What about dragons?!" Seriously, you look like the guy from Shadiversity.

[@omlo9093]

But what about drakes, wyverns, wyrms, and kobolds? *WHAT. ABOUT. DRAGONS?!*

[@siveret23]

And they are both great xD

[@marvalice3455]

the Shadiversity of Africa!

[@robertyoung1317]

Matteus Silvestre I admit I've asked myself a few times if Guy and Shad were one in the same.

[@Ishoam]

Plot twist: This is Shad's second channel.

[@MasterTMO]

I once started designing a world, long ago, very similar to the apparent backstory you just related. The 'countries' are all dragon territories, and they mostly interact with each other through agents. Missions to other dragon realms, defending your dragon's realm against other agents, etc. The campaign was a parent gold dragon portioned off a piece of her realm to give to a child, and a batch of beginner agents, among whom were the PCs.

[@Ishoam]

I'm readying a 5e campaign, and your recent uploads have been spookily relevant to my preparation... Just today I was researching what kind of dragon I should have my players run into...

[@blogobre]

Truly fantastic! Please continue being the DM's DM... aka tell us your other stories on enriching the nature and the character of those monsters. Loved the vid.

[@drewp8108]

Just wanted to let you know, I have recently discovered your channel and it is absolutely amazing. Please keep up the excellent craft you present here, and thank you.

[@ianbonner2595]

AL has some AMAZING things added to their campaigns. Storm King's Thunder is the most detailed account of giant society I've ever seen and is the campaign I've been most invested in so far. These techniques work.

[@andorfedra]

I love this idea, it'll help with the Great White Wyrm who once cursed a city many thousands of years ago. Who is still alive to possibly end the curse if the heroes can do just that. The White Wyrm is supposedly the last of its kind (the last Dragon according to the lesser races. I so look forward to putting them in the same lair with this colossus of a creature who has lived for countless Centuries and how will they Convince this creature to undo a curse that it may have no memory of actually placing. hmm... the thoughts and plans that are formulating... yet he is not the big bad of the story... or is he... my players will have to find out.

[@lordvayl2194]

Please continue this series. I for one would love to hear about vampires and liches.

[@TeamKhandiKhane]

Any alternative outlook on a creature / type is supremely useful. This sounds good.

[@DebbieBuckland]

Oooh nice. I am currently DMing the lost mine of phalander and there is a young green dragon in it that flees... for the next campaign I want to do a homebrew involving that dragon and other npc characters that they leave alive... some maybe friends... others foes... others.... who knows

[@lostbutfreesoul]

In the old old lore, green dragons did one thing very well: Scheme. A dragon with a target to scheme against is a very dangerous thing,

[@reaperaktual8498]

This was fantastic! Please continue the series

[@jeroenvanwees3250]

Oh My Dragon-god! This video came out on my Birthday! This is the best present, and i wasn't even aware of it! Thanks!

[@Daredhnu]

great video, definitely a series that i will follow. other monsters i'd be interested of hearing about: Eldritch Horrors (things like mind flayers and aboleths all the way to lovecraftian monstrosities) Undead (both intelligent and the mindless variety) Artificial Intelligences Giants Savage Monsters (any primitive race would be applicable) that's all i can think of at the moment that fall within the parameters you stated at the start of the video.

[@Apollos30]

Fantastic video. I love the idea of dragons being the ultimate predator but acting largely though intermediaries instead of directly intervening.

[@1217BC]

Nothing as sad as a forgettable dragon.

[@Bluewolf1118]

Agreed, if my players are still talking about the dragon years later then it was the right deployment of such a spectacular creature!

[@GnarledStaff]

“Oh there’s nothing so lonesome, so sorry, so drear, as to stand in the bar of a pub with no beer.” ...which could explain why these few strangers who met in a tavern felt the need to go slay a dragon.

[@jonathanstroupe2706]

A forgettable campaign?

[@stitchthealchemist1520]

For new groups unfamiliar with fantasy, I love to whip out Smaug's speech from The Hobbit, specifically the performance from the old animated one for the first dragon they come across. I've got the performance down perfectly, and one of the few I act out with dramatic gestures. It gets the point across.

[@TrickyTrickyFox]

You know what's actually sad? When you had several amazing villains that you have set up and the enemy the players are talking about "years later" is a kobold named Clavius, who was the last survivor of a thieves guild, joined the players, left to live in their city, created a thieves guild there, took over the city from underground and killed several NPC's players liked a lot during his escape, then later on he founded an assassin guild with the gold he had stolen during his stay in player-city to kill off the players, though failed and THEN, when his scouts reported the party found out his base of operations - ran off to one of said villains to unite against the players, so that when they REACHED the bad guy - he was there as a mini-boss battle, where they FINALLY killed him xD. Sometimes it's used as a running joke during session 0's, when I setup the world and "the main theme of enemies". - Hey guys, you want kobolds? - No. Fuck kobolds, and especially Clavius.

[@antuzagruiescu4913]

This is a great idea for a series, please do some more!

[@lastsonofzod]

I'd definitely love to see more of this. System neutral monster guides are awesome :)

[@bareawareness]

Just stumbled across your videos, Guy, and subscribed having watched a few. I like your emphasis on cooperative storytelling and your advice is generally wise and thought-provoking. I've got back into D&D recently after a long (20 year!) break, and I've found it incredibly engaging to approach the imaginative exercise of Dungeon Mastering again - it's been a real joy reawakening spontaneity, improvisation skills, and plotting a story that's always changing and never quite in your full control. On the subject of dragons, AD&D2e's Dark Sun had a pretty unique take on them with Tim Brown's Dragon Kings, whereby high level 'defiler' wizards morphed slowly into dragons in a painful process of mutation. It was a great idea and the book had a really inspiring cover. A difficult plot to run successfully with the PCs as dragons, but an excellent idea to include in a game world nevertheless. Keep up the good work. I look forward to future videos!

[@mythosboy]

Starting a second round of Pathfinder (also the second time I've run D&D: and what an odd experience that has been thus far). Dragons haven't come up yet, though should they, the conceit would be that they've appeared recently (~120 years ago or less) from an extra-spacial phenomena known as "the Mist", and the details of their natures and construction would be somewhat mysterious. An Elvish variant (the Svaltafar- roughly like Pathfinder Drow, but with some Dwarven characteristics) has already been established: building a mystical state high on the confines of a glacier they've named Nedirvallr, within several very hard days ride down to the lands of regional nomadic (and Human) tribes. Thought one: the "dragons" are one of the Dark Elf offspring, or some mated match between the Dark Elf ancestors and some other potent Mist creature, and as such, now are ready to plague- er- inhabit the Campaign world. Thought two: Dragons came to the campaign world separately, but roughly contemporaneously as the Dark Elf's. Either interpretation would allow for some of "How to be a Great GM's" central story telling factors to be in play, while allowing me to both to retain the essential mystery and terror of these tremendous beasts. It also would leave their possible impact on the campaign somewhat ambiguous, as well as their eventual relationship with the more mundane races in the game. Anyway, thanks for the video. Just subscribed and I've been working my way through the content. Carry on.

[@Lost77]

I liked this idea. I've been making my own dragons, melding characteristics and having cultures with different reactions, but also with dragons with different ideals. But you've given me some ideas for options to offer my players if they would want to pursue that adventuring line in the game :D I hope you do more of these.

[@cwhip9]

i love this video series! an suggestion of monsters to cover if it hasn't been brought up yet, wyverns, phinox, minitors, and unicorn....ok you don't have to do that last one seriously but great idea for a comical episode

[@KarasSteiger]

Great Video - I would love to see this new series continued! An episode about the undead (Skeletons, Zombies, Liches, and so on) would be awesome ;)

[@connorduval3977]

I would love for you to give us a breakdown of a few tales of some of your adventures that have happened. With moments of how you planned and what was built, where things went the way you planned and when they didnt. What steps/reactions that occurred. Or maybe just tell us a good story.Thanks again for another great upload

[@nathandavis9385]

You are absolutely correct! If a dragon walked among “mice”, it would eventually become board. So it would have to up its game for entertainment. The dragon would likely choose to forget that it was once an all powerful being so that it could really believe it was the thing it was pretending to be. Maybe that’s what sorcerers with the dragon blood sorcerer’s origin really are.

[@Davefacestation]

Yes yes yes to making this a series. Finding ways to make a standard enemy into an interesting one. I'd love to see something like a traditionally low-level enemy transformed into the big bad. Like idk, a gelatinous cube, how many people have made an intelligent GC the big bad?

[@ShaOrna]

I like the idea of monsters and you, especially with the focus towards story telling.

[@marvalice3455]

I would 100% be interested in more of these sort of vids

[@alexandervanness3648]

This video was especially fantastic. I really want you to continue with this series. It has long been important to me is a Gamemaster to blur the line between good and evil and right and wrong because such things are subjective. And no one generally does what they believed to be wrong for themselves. What I feel like you're setting up here is in essence the ability to look I give it echo system and the moral compass and a dynamic that makes it part of a world not just a thing within it. I would love to see your take on vampires and Orcs And what kind of cultures and communities these things might have. Not to mention what kind of effect they would have on the collective subconscious of the humanoid races. For that matter it would be really great to see how the different races really view themselves and each other and how in fantasy or space sci-fi settings the politics between having different sentient species really plays out and what makes them uniquely them and not just humans with a different coat of paint. And for that matter it would be great to see what makes human special. Player characters almost never want to play humans unless they get some kind of massive statistic bonus. So they just play elves and dwarves and Orcs And Klingons or whatever but they play them just like a human. But then we is dungeon Master's play our Monsters like they're just Mindless enemies to be wiped off into a sea of experience points. Instead of treating them like vibrant races with their own goals and motives. Any rate I've over expounded already, keep up the good work and thank you for all the videos!

[@autumnsilverwinds4990]

Definitely love having a Monsters And You segment, though perhaps with slightly shorter videos :P

[@Chrono_Mitsurugi]

how to use these creatures from a narrative perspective. That line pretty much explains why i subbed to this channel.

[@drazteckazul]

I love series that teach about and improve monsters so please keep it up.

[@pipkin5287]

I actually have the Counsil of Wyrms boxset at home and GM'ed a dragon adventure using that setting. It was great fun and wish more would try it!

[@dougm9157]

I absolutely love the Braxia/Dragon history -- that has SO much potential. You have warring secret societies keeping them at bay, or bringing them back. And worse (which from GM perspective is better) what's going on in that pocket dimension? What might be going on in other dimensions Braxia is cut off from? Oh so much potential!

[@walteryoung2025]

You just helped me round out my ttrpg, thank you!!!!! I can't wait to play

[@jujujohnson01]

Great vid! Totally the way how I like to play dragons. I still use Council of Wryms box set for reference.

[@murgel2006]

it is really fascinating how different things are in the RPG world. The Dragons in the system I mostly played, are nothing like them D&D dragons. They are quite often semi-intelligent lizards. Just a few of them are intelligent and come rather close to what they are portrayed as in D&D. On the other hand, there used to be OLD Dragons, something completely different, more like the titans of old Greek mythology. OR even stranger, goblins and orks are completely different. Goblins, for example, are not small and green but just a bit smaller than normal humans and have reddish-brown fur basically a more ape-like human. Orks are also very different. So, I enjoy that kind of video. It gives me ideas and new perspective of possibilities.

[@Metal-Spark]

Excellent idea for a series, would love an episode on vampires

[@vengance7104]

I love this video, been a sucker for dragons almost all my live and those are some really interesting questions you bring up. I also would be SO in if you would do some of those discussions about mythical Beasts like Manticoras, Chimeras, Treants (hope its spelled right, those things Tolkine based his Ents on) or even Unicorns and Phoenixes, perhaps also Elementals... I‘d be in for the ride

[@davidhansen951]

Love this series idea! Sometimes i can get struck playing all my goblins the same way or orcs or whatever.Trolls, Krakens, goblins and ghost can all be interesting.

[@Alefiend]

Excellent video. I'm not sure how far you'll be able to take the series, but I'll be watching.

[@kpny8484]

This is perfect. i make/sell my own dragons, though i wont be using one for my campaign for some time, being a new gm. this video is gonna help though.

[@ingmaster5]

Building a Blue dragon big bad, and this is quite helpful. I'm sure the players will love dealing with his now buffed magical abilities.

[@Retro_Spike]

This video was great and I would definitely love to see more!!!!

[@JS-ix6rk]

You're the Sir Attenborough of D&D. Great video thank you!

[@AlluMan96]

Man, coming back to this video and listening to you describe ideas regarding a Dragon's lair and proportions, I just came up with a potentially amusing scenario for a game; *"As the heroes' reputation has reached it's current peak, you have been granted an audience with the Gold Dragon for negotiation regarding assistance against the northern orc tribe. As you get to his mountain-palace, with ceilings higher than your sight can reach, you find that you have caught the dragon pre-occupied with cooking (Or whatever else mundane). Your meek human voices are not enough to grab his attention as the dragon moves about, it's feet stomping on top of you, it's tail whipping you across the room and small traces of it's fiery breath, currently used to Flambé his meal, raining down upon you. The heroes must figure out a way to catch the attention of the dragon or be destroyed in a most-humiliating display."* Not necessarily a hard challenge, but something that can build character and establish the sheer size of the dragon with basic logic like "Of course something multiple stories higher than you might have a tough time noticing you when it's busy" on top of just being an attempt at comic relief.

[@chdmann]

Haven was a pocket-dimension The Great Wyrm created as his sanctuary from the Faraway Dragon-Wars. He made the world with Dragonic magic. The Great Wyrm took samples of the flora and fauna, along with mortals loyal to him, and enough dragons to ensure his Bloodline's legacy. As for dragonic magic, I took the idea of Dragonic language being power-words from TESV: Skyrim. Draconic is a separate language spoken by the half-Dragon, who due to their (diminished) humanoid magic capacity, can't hit the highest and lowest notes needed for true Dragonic spellspeech. The Dragons are a bunch of hedonists who fight a whole lot of proxy-wars because the Great Wyrm will eat any that try and disturb his slumber with loud/aggressive spells. So imagine crazy hi-jinx with each dragon having their own Island, and dragons who spend their days speaking creation into being. When the Dragons speak, their will is made manifest. They have learned to not be too aggro in dragonic, and tell each other to "GTFO my continent" in common with their mortal armies

[@andrewgreenwood1234]

Could you please go in depth about the dragon magic? From that little snippet at the end it sounded extraordinarily interesting, and I would love to hear how you would execute it!

[@DustinMeadorM]

Love the new series, hope you keep it up. Would love to see your take on some of the Undead monsters out there.

[@DeadaussieGamer]

I'd love to do a video with you just talking about our favorite dragons from History/RPGs/Pop Culture

[@pedroliborio]

I love your videos, i'd like to finish them but i can't. You're too much inspirational. I think that having lists of shorter videos would be more profitable for you and easier for people like me to tracking advancement in your wisdom.

[@BrotherZael]

Only thing to comment on (other than saying great video!) is on the subject the mice allegory. You hit the nail on the head when you discussed how we, as humans, would get bored or whatnot with doing such activities. But a Dragons' mental functions and thought processes could be completely alien compared to a human's, and so it'd be a bit silly to think that dragons would act like humans act :P Unless people enjoy their dragons acting like humans (perhaps in just some aspects of life, if not all). Thanks for the videos and keep it up! :D

[@blakejordan3978]

Sovereign in Mass Effect is a great sci fi take on dragons. It works from the shadows through enthralled agents who are powerful in and of themselves, it is incomprehensibly powerful and ancient, and it has the longevity to plan and execute plans over centuries or millennia.

[@Linbleou]

Wonderful vlog ❤ this way I want to see dragons.

[@Chijiko]

Lol i love the lich pet for a dragon which is kind of what im doing in my campaign i was going to do a Braveheart thing with the lich in my campaign. Forcing the Dragon to listen to its command.

[@koboldcrafting1127]

I really appreciate monsters and you, keep it up!

[@marxages]

This was a very educational experience thank you.

[@Gondorf5]

Wonderful. This is so useful my mind is racing

[@martinmelzig5978]

Nice new Intro! I have an odd Request: Could you make a Video explaining "How to explain Yet-to-begin-Players what Roleplaying Games are."? There are other Videos focusing on the Roleplaying/Rules etc., but many People wich never ever stepped into the Games, seem hesitant start playing, because they have no clue what to expect. In other words: How to awake the interest in roleplaying games.

[@raphaelperry8159]

Well you've got cooperative/collaborative storytelling, a great imaginary game of "what if's" with a few rules to sort out any disagreements, or even "try to think of a computer game without the computer".

[@mrskkrueger]

THIS!!!! I'm in this very situation....

[@patrickjohnson2129]

Your content is awesome! I think an episode focusing on Lovecraftian abortions and Eldric beings would be incredible. These are creatures that should not be thrown into a game merely as the monster in room 37b, but something with a purpose that is bizarre and unfathomable by the players.

[@aurumdeius]

I love your take on dragons and dragon magic, i'd love to see your thoughts on vampires and other monsters!

[@oldworldvulture3260]

Great vid! Request for the next monster feature: Aberrations! (or setting-agnostic cthuloids, most games seem to have some form of utterly alien horror from beneath the earth/sea/veil of reality)

[@Izzak_Beck]

I really enjoyed the video, I'd love to see more on creatures like this.

[@mrhello3846]

As a DM know your dragon, this is not a creature you play off the cuff, set up a strategy as complex, or even more complex as your players strategy is to fight them don't metagame unless the circumstances for fighting the dragon would allow your dragon to research the PC's, but if your dragon has paralyzing breath, they would know they can probably coup de grace someone after their breath attack, so do that,that's just logical Your players would do it without thinking twice. Your dragon needs to feel like they picked a fight with the wrong guy, it should feel at least as smart as the PC's

[@hemoliadon5319]

This is honestly the most epic video you've ever made :)

[@thevoicesof]

Very interesting approach. Made me change a thing or two in my next campaign. I would very much like your take on either the lich or a minion type monster (goblin or kobold for example). Thank for your time.

[@jasonniebuhr8607]

I’d love to see you do a video on hags! They’re probably my favorite D&D monster because of how tricky they are

[@ConriDubhghail]

Come home after a long day of work, fighting off sleep. Decide to watch this video to stimulate the imagination. Slowly losing the fight anyways. 15:56 happens. Nothing like surprise incest to shock someone awake.

[@nes819]

Make this a serie, it's a lott of funn (...and inspiration, for those who care about that). One of the reasons why a Dragon could care about his "Human" underlings could be the whay a antkeper looks at his petantcolony. It's not al about every individual humanoid, but they care for the society wich they watched grow and flurish and if anything would hapen to it, they'd get the same feling as one has when his petdog would be hurt.

[@derekjohnson424]

I would be greatly interested to see an analysis of the Feykind explored. For my first GM experience, I decided on something a bit ambitious: a setting that had the standard trappings of a fantasy setting (dwarves, orcs, elves, etc), but nothing magical. At least, not since many centuries past. The gist of the plot was that an Oberon-type character was plotting to reunite the "mortal" realm with that of the fey realm. Lots of intrigue would have taken place, the fairy lord using the PCs as pawns to be disposed of once his plot was completed, only for them to survive and come back for him with a vengeance in the third act. The group dissolved before we could get too far in the story, but I really like the setting where the fey are an imposing, sinister force... But not necessarily one that is overwhelmingly powerful. They rely more on manipulation and misdirection more so than direct confrontation, and bulk rates of it! (I was going to have a whole thing where the initial antagonists the party faced were a bunch of folk bamboozled into becoming a psychotic doomsday cult by fey agents: practical for their purposes at the time, but even more important, a downright hoot from their malicious perspective). The intrigue, malice, and downright mischievousness of the fey (plus their copious and varied real world inspirations) seem like an excellent antagonist for a narrative-and-intrigue heavy campaign.

[@stevehagen9804]

Very interesting video. I’ve only played one d&d type game before (very straight forward, in a big room drawn in graph paper. Find an exit and hit whatever you run into. Pretty meh). The world building you do when describing possible lores in this and other vids you do I could sit and listen to them all day.

[@andrewsharp4950]

More monster videos please! I especially enjoy making monsters more realistic, more personable, and as far from cookie cutter as possible. There is no knowing if a particular creature is good or evil, friendly or an enemy simply by identifying it's species. Just like in your recent mine mapping episode, kobolds need food, goblins don't want to deal with wolves, and perhaps trolls are stuck in the cave due to a massive collapse of the mines and they would exchange most anything for the opportunity to send a message for help to their sister clan 60 kilometers to the South.