Reviewing 5E D&D Monsters - 5E Fizban's Treasury of Dragons, Part 2

 

Part two of my review of monsters in Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition Fizban's Treasury of Dragons! In the first part, I reviewed mostly just the major dragons, this time around we're talking about other sub-draconic species and general minions! This book is the huge 'Draconominicon', the huge expansion pack about dragons and adventures and lairs relating to dragons. And, well, we can't just have the entire dungeon just be populated with baby dragons and kobolds, after all. We need some extra minions, and just like 3.5E's Monster Manual... 3 or 4, I forgot which one was half-filled with Dragonspawn minions, this book features a whole ton of draconic minions and cultists and the like for adventurers to fight. 

I typically actually am not a big fan of these sort of sub-variants, because there's really only so many sub-types of the same thing you can do before you fall into the MMORPG game variant of just doing the same thing in different colours, and draconic minions don't really lend to variation the way demonic or undead or beholder minions do. But I actually do think that Fizban's manages to really make the draconic minions work as being both variable enough while also still feeling like dragon minions, in a way. 

Draconian

...at least we're not having like thirty different Dragonspawn variations? Anyway, unlike the Dragonborn or the Half-Dragons, the Draconians basically have the same backstory with the Dragonspawn from previous editions. Usually it's the result of a dragon tyrant using magic to transform eggs stolen from other dragons' clutches to turn them into loyal minions. Since these Draconians are much more weaker than actual dragons, a single dragon egg actually results in several Draconians. (In game design terms, I guess they want the dungeon to be populated with a certain amount of humanoid enemies instead of it all being baby dragons, oozes and animated breaths!)

The artwork does look cool, having much more... rugged and bestial-looking dargon-men with mottled wings and almost demonic-looking eyes. It's honestly nothing new to D&D itself, though, so I can't really get myself too excited about these guys. But it is important to have ore mundane-looking enemies to make the dragons and draconic enemies look more impressive. Also, all the Draconians magically blow up if they're destroyed, which sounds annoying just by reading it!

From left to right we have the Draconian Dreadnought, Draconian Foot Soldier, Draconian Infiltrator, Draconian Mage and Draconian Mastermind, in order of the pictures and how they are listed in the bestiary. Interestingly, each Draconian sub-type is created from one of the five basic versions of the chromatic/metallic/gem dragons. So for example, the weakest one here, the Foot Soldiers, meanwhile, are created from the weakest of the subtypes (brass, white, crystal) and despite having wings, they can't really fly.  The Infiltrator is basically what it says on the tin -- scouts, spies and assassins. Really do like the artwork for this one, with the disproportionately large heads and huge hands. It just gives the Draconian Infiltrator a much more wretched look compared to the more 'buff' look for the other four Draconians. The Mage does mage things, honestly, and isn't too exciting... but their death effect is having their flesh disintegrate before their bones blow up, sending a shower of bone splinters. Fucking metal.

The more powerful ones here are the ones in the beginning and the end of the five. The Draednought is a field commander, and can do melee combat and spellcasting. I do like the description of how the Dreadnoughts goes around transforming and taking over the identities of slain opponents. The wingless Mastermind is made from the most powerful dragon eggs (gold, red, amethyst) and trade in their wings for spellcasting. The Mastermind is also the only Draconian with a breath weapon -- poison gas, in this case. Overall, they sure are dragon-men minions!

Dragonborn Champions: of Bahamut, Sardior & Tiamat

I do like that we expand a bit more in terms of the existing draconic humanoids, i.e. the Dragonborn? Again, these guys are basically servitors of the Platinum Dragon Bahamut, the Ruby Dragon Sardior and the Five-Headed Chromatic Matriarch Tiamat. It's the three big bosses of the chromatic, metallic and gemstone dragons. And... it's pretty obvious tropes? The Dragonborn of Bahamut is an angelic paladin, the Dragonborn of Tiamat is a badass dark-armoured warrior and the Dragonborn of Sardior is a hermit-esque psionic guy with a bunch of floating gems. Since we're talking more about 'monsters', these really don't give me a whole ton to talk about unless we start dissecting their skills and whatnot. 

But as a D&D manual, these stat blocks are really important at quantifying what an important NPC could be statted as, you know? It gives the GM a convenient stat block to refer to if they want to have a recurring antagonist or supporting cast -- and depending on the campaign, any of these three guys can be either helpful or obstructive. 

Dragon Followers: Dragon Blessed, Dragon Chosen, Dragon Speaker

And the last 'purely humanoid template' enemies we have are probably the most boring -- just... a bunch of followers and acolytes. Again, very important to the campaign's flavour! Especially if you're designing a properly large cult that gathers around the dragon! These guys are so fanatical as followers that the dragons have granted them boons and the ability to channel the dragon's magic. But these guys are just basically pretty much just fantasy adventurers, so I don't really have a whole ton to say about their design or their roles. The Dragon-Blessed and Dragon Chosen are basically the priests and warriors, and the Dragon Speakers are kind of like bards that help to spread the word (or the propaganda) of their dragon masters, and are able to channel fear or awe-inducing magic from their voice. Okay!

Animated Breath

Oh, this is a cool concept, albeit a bit more 'video-gamey'? You could totally see a World of Warcraft dragon boss summoning 'adds' that are elemental manifestations of their draconic breath, yeah? It does make for a pretty neat visual and makes a fight against a more magic-oriented or just plain solitary dragon a bit more complex! And anyway, more minions for a boss fight is always fun. The Animated Breaths are basically just a dragon's breath weapon infused with elemental energy, looking like the elemental of the corresponding dragon's breath attack... which involves some dragon breaths that don't have a corresponding element in 5E. Which means that we get a 'poison gas' elemental, a 'ice sculpture' elemental and a 'shifting, crackling lighting' elemental. Add more Elemental types, 5th Edition! I know 4E went a bit too far with their amalgamation elementals, but you could still do a couple more of the basic ones!

Dragonblood Ooze

An interesting one that, again, reminds me a bit more of the adds in a MMORPG raid boss. Dragonblood Ooze are created by specific experiments by mad alchemists, who try to incorporate dragon blood to their experiments but instead giving rise to these monstrous ooze-blobs. Again, these masses of tentacles really do look pretty monstrous! I love the descriptions of how the ooze keeps trying to mould itself into something resembling a dragon, like it knows the anatomy that it used to belong to, but being an oozy blob it just keeps collapsing into a blob. The poor thing! It also tries to shoot breath weapons, but all it really manages to do is to shoot parts of its body out that it has to reel in. Kind of disgusting, sad and creepy all at the same time!

Dragonbone Golem

Not to be confused with Dracoliches, I suppose, but a Dragonbone Golem is... well, a Bone Golem, but it's made up of dragon bones stitched together with adamantine wires. I guess instead of a super-powerful undead dragon animated with inherent undead energy, the Dragonbone Golem is a bit more... crude, I suppose. Sure, it's still got its glowing eyes and whatnot, but the Dragonbone Golems, being golems, are non-sentient. In fact, Fizban's notes that these guys are mostly created by dragons using the corpses of their vanquished enemies. 

Dragonflesh Grafter

Hmmm, okay, this one is interesting! The Dragonflesh Grafter used to be a regular humanoid who in the interest of science or the pursuit of power, practice forbidden rituals and risky experiments in an attempt to emulate the dragons that they revere. Only instead of receiving the boon of Tiamat or whatever,  these Dragonflesh Grafter goes around collecting scales, teeth and flesh that they scavenge from dragon lairs and manually Frankenstein these parts to themselves. Crazy lunatics! And the bestiary does note that most people who attempt this end up dead or near-dead, but those who survive, well, shamble around as these complete lunatic who is driven mad by the innate magic of the dragon-flesh, infecting them with an obsession over treasure and when not going around going 'hurrrr', these Dragonflesh Grafters just stare longingly at their 'hoard'. It is interesting to note that the dragon-flesh will actually grow over the humanoid's original skin, since the draconic powers tries to take over the body.  

Dragonflesh Abomination

And because we're working off Resident Evil rules, eventually the corruption goes completely haywire and the Dragonflesh Grafter evolves into a Dragonflesh Abomination. I love the fact that while this creature has a more-or-less draconic body shape, there's still the hint of a humanoid torso and belly gut under it. There's also a very Full Metal Alchemist vibe to the fact that this thing has those stringy strands of black hair and those two very sad-looking eyes. As expected, most of the Dragonflesh Abomination's mental faculties are gone, replaced with a singular desire for treasure and thanks to the nature of its mutated form, it actually constantly heals from its wounds. Overall, either one of the Dragonflesh guys would've been kind of boring on their own, but the fact that they evolve into each other does make the final set a bit more cool. 

Dragonnel

Okay, interesting! These guys are kind of 'lesser' dragons like Wyverns, being explicitly noted to be dragons (something I missed during my writing of the first part. But while they're intelligent enough to understand speech, they are unable to communicate to us properly. They're basically fulfilling the fantasy of dragons not as the greedy, sentient masterminds as they commonly are in D&D, but as just... particularly cool-looking dinosaurs that can maybe breathe fire. I have always never liked the idea of Githyanki or other races riding dragons and treating them as something similar to horses or gryphons since the dragons in D&D are explicitly noted as sentient, so these Dragonnels are a neat addition.

The bestiary does a pretty good job of going through a brief description of what they do in the wild -- being picky eaters with the penchant to toy with their food; but are able to be domesticated and intensely loyal to their riders. Basically like horses!

Liondrake

I'm moving this guy up the alphabetic order, because the Liondrake is basically the Dragonne from 3E and 4E. No, not the Dragonnel, the Dragonne. No 'L'! The text even mentions the alternate name. The Dragonne always felt like kind of an afterthought in those Monster Manuals, as if they're just tossed in to get another 'dragon hybrid' monster but kinda felt just like the awkwardly friend no one wants to invite to the party filled with Pseudodragons, Drakes, Half-Dragons, Dragonborns, Wyverns, Faerie Dragons, Abishai, Dragonblood, Dragonspawns and Dracoliches. 

The 5E Liondrake is a bit more specific in what the creature is, giving it the iconic wings of the 5E Brass Dragon that runs down the side of its body, and the addition of that super-long serpentine neck on a feline body does give the Liondrake a bit more distinctive (if mildly disturbing) look. The text doesn't really give us too much to really work with -- they basically still just act as lions with a couple extra attacks. At least they look visually a bit more memorable? 

Egg Hunter

Oh, a bug. I'm always up for a weird-ass fantasy bug, and the Egg Hunters are so, so creepy! Look at that picture. They don't even look like a mutated insect at all, but have an almost salamander-like face with weird prehensile tongues that pierce into the crust of eggs. And their six legs look disturbingly like frog legs! Even their giant abdomen looks more like a tumorous growth instead of something you'd associate with an insect. I love this thing. I love my Ankhegs and all the other creepy bug monsters in D&D, but creatures that look like insects on all the superficial level but have the little details wrong is just so... so creepy! 

The Egg Hunters, as their name implies, are parasites that act similarly to Cuckoo Birds. As the picture shows, these Egg Hunters will drain a regular dragon egg out of its yolk, before depositing a bunch of its eggs inside. When hatching, the Egg Hunter Hatchlings will devour the other eggs around it. Then it matures, leading to...  that creepy-ass Egg Hunter on the left side of the picture. Because get this -- they can inflate their bulb-like abdomen to mimic a dragon egg! That's why it can 'peek out' of the underside of the dragon egg! And being parasitic to dragons, they have some defenses that can at least help it escape, like unleashing a gas that makes other creatures lethargic, or to harden its body. 

Very creepy, very unexpected in a bestiary all about dragons, but very cool. 

Elder Brain Dragon

OH! OH SHIT! OH OH OH OH! THIS IS COOL! AN ELDER BRAIN DRAGON! Ahem. Okay, yeah, this was what I was kind of talking before in the Ghost Dragon entry. Yeah, you can just toss in a template and call a dragon like a 'Ghost Dragon' or a 'Zombie Dragon' or a 'Skeleton Dragon' or a 'Giant Dragon' and it'll be cool, I guess, but there are just some things that look extra cool, you know? Like this guy, which is a colony of Illithids who have managed to enslave a dragon and attach its Elder Brain to it. The description in the bestiary is pretty cool, too, talking about how a Mind Flayer colony is often only limited by the reach of the Elder Brain. 

Unless the Illithids manage to enslave a dragon, then the Elder Brain, as shown here, is able to use those nasty, nasty tendrils to dig deep into the dragon's own brain, then puppeteering the body as a way to grant itself locomotion. You can really see just how gruesome the artwork is -- the Elder Brain isn't just hitching a ride like a gross backpack. It's merged with the dragon's flesh, sending out those nasty, fleshy growths that it's hard to tell at what point the Elder Brain flesh ends and where the dragon's original flesh starts. Look at that truly nasty-looking tongue, too,  which seems to open up all Alien-style from its mouth that has the upper and lower jaw connected with slime. 

Obviously, the Elder Brain Dragon is now a powerful psionic creature as well, but one of the cooler things about this thing is that it's breath weapon is a 'stream of briny liquid roiling with Illithid tadpoles'. Which means, yes, this guy just shoots out its young in order to transform the adventurers fighting him into even more Mind Flayers. 

Eyedrake

Oh, this guy is cool. We've had our Mind Flayer dragon hybrid, this guy is a Beholder dragon hybrid. And the way it's created is fun, too. A Beholder gets so obsessed fighting with a rival dragon that its dream-reality altering powers ends up creating... basically this half-Beholder, half-dragon hybrid! Man, wonder how the dragon feels about it? 

The Eyedrake itself is pretty cool! It's got a big blobby body, a draconic head... and inside the mouth is an eyeball! And its draconic wings are less wings and more like a bunch of tentacle-eyestalks ending in eyeballs. The end result ends up looking pretty creepy, and, again, does feel like it's someone trying to moosh together the idea of a Beholder and the idea of a Dragon together. Since it's born out of a dream, the Eyedrake has traits of both creatures -- it has the eye-beams of a Beholder, but a lot of the stereotypical treasure-hoarding behaviour of a Dragon. Neat!

Gem Stalker

Hmm, an interesting creature! Gem Dragons are noted to be pretty hateful of aberrant creatures from the Far Realm, but the result of their conflict sometimes gives birth to the Gem Stalker, where the Gem Dragon uses the alien corpse to create the Gem Stalker. Making something out of the bodies of the enemy is not quite nice, but at least these things are being put into hunting down other aberrations? These things are basically single-minded, are noted to have powers relating to the Gem Dragon that creates it.

The design is pretty neat, if not something that I'm particularly super-excited about after the previous two monsters. The Gem Stalker is basically a dragon centaur, with four legs and a humanoid upper body. Being a rock-gem monster, this guy's head doesn't actually have a mouth. And being powered by a Gem Dragon means that they have psychic energy. But they can also fling those gems like darts at the enemy. Practical usage of the psychic gems! Pretty neat critter overall.

Hoard Mimic

Oh shit, this one is cool. It's always funny that Mimics are mostly just treasure chests with teeth, but Hoard Mimics are basically a big-ass Sarlacc monster -- a mass of gigantic teeth, some eyeballs and a tentacle-like tongue that will drag hapless adventurers down into its gullet. It's basically a larger Mimic than normal, one who has grown into such a massive size, and instead of mimicking a regular treasure chest, they take the form of an entire mass of objects. It's basically a fake version of an entire dragon trove, and... and everything there is fake! They have adhesive goo, their pores can vent a caustic mist, and dragons will even employ these Hoard Mimics to create fake hoards in order to fool adventurers. The dragon gets an additional layer of protection for his hoard, while the Hoard Mimic gets some free meal!

I do like this. I mean, it would be equally as fun, I think, to just think up of variations to Mimics -- an Enchanted Scepter Mimic! A Ring Mimic that bites your finger off! A Necklace Mimic that tries to strangle you! A Helpful NPC Vendor Mimic! But I do really like that they went above and beyond, giving us a pretty wonderful visual and mental image with this Hoard Mimic and even integrating it into the idea of dragon lairs. Very fun creature!

Hoard Scarab

Oh, very cool! Hoard Scarabs! They're another type of mimic, and... some real-life artifacts and coins are already made in the image of beetles, and these Hoard Scarabs can basically disguise themselves as those very same golden tokens. The artwork makes it pretty clear how easily retracting the tiny insect legs and the insect head makes them look like slightly-thicker coins or trinkets, too! Pretty cool! A much more 'organic' Mimic-type creature that's more based on a real-world animal, and a neat contrast to the regular Mimics.

A transforming beetle-coin is cool enough... but there are still a bunch of very neat details here. The Hoard Scarabs actually do this adaptation to sneak into a dragon's hoard, and then feed on the parasitic mites on a dragon's scales. It's interesting that these guys are also hostile to treasure thieves, too... and I think it's a pretty fun imagery to fight on those iconic giant mounds of gold coins and then to have some of the coins transform into bugs that bite you! I guess they're symbiotic to the dragons, because they will unleash a specific scale dust that can alert the dragon to anyone that isn't supposed to be in the lair. Very cool, and an interesting way to have a unique enemy that makes sense to live in a dragon's lair while also being not just another draconic humanoid or dragon variant!

Hollow Dragon

Hollow Dragons are another version of undead dragons, but these are metallic undead dragons! And the imagery is pretty interesting! Because the dragon in life are metallic in nature, their undead form looks like... well, a hollow suit of armour, animated with the fiery energy of the magic that animates them! The image here is animated by flames, but other Hollow Dragons apparently have vapours or lightning animating them. From a visual standpoint alone, the Hollow Dragon already looks bitching as fuck.

But then we get to the description of the monster. Basically, Hollow Dragons commit themselves to undeath in order to continue protecting a certain cause. It's like becoming a Dracolich, but instead of doing so for eternal life and unlimited power, the Metallic Dragons instead do so for a noble cause. Perhaps they are here to await a certain prophecy, or to guard a certain holy temple or a settlement of favoured people... and their zeal to do so ends up leading them to do the ritual to transform them into a Hollow Dragon. While some of them are just waiting for the sweet release of death at the end of their cause and purpose, some Hollow Dragons end up clinging to undeath, using the excuse of seeking out new tasks to delude themselves into continuing their existence. Very neat that we're getting some Metallic Dragon variations. I mean, I love my chromatic dragons, but it's nice that we're branching out to additional minions for the other kinds, too!

Metallic Sentinel: Peacekeeper, Warbler

We end this with a rather interesting design, which really does feel like something off Magic: The Gathering. The Metallic Sentinel is a creature design to be found in a Metallic Dragon's employ, and I really do like that we've included at least some servitors to the Metallic guys. Just because they're 'good' doesn't mean they can't be antagonists! I really do like just how weirdly alien the Metallic Peacekeeper looks -- it's nothing most of us more well-versed with fantasy works haven't seen before, but I'm always a sucker for those disconnected limbs, joints that are hollow space, and weird-ass and unnecessary thin arcs of metal that just make the Metallic Peacekeeper look dang cool. 

The Peacekeeper, as its name indicates, are created to defuse tensions before it goes to violence, and are often gifted by a Metallic Dragon to a humanoid settlement that it favours in order to basically be the sheriff of that place. That's such a cool concept, and they even come with itty-bitty little birds, the Metallic Warblers, which are noted to go around as clandestine agents that watch over communities as the eyes and ears of the dragons. 

And under a good GM, of course, they can make these things a lot more Orwellian. Even if the intent of the Silver Dragon that gifted these Metallic Sentinels might be benevolent, what if they mistake your rowdy adventurers for bandits intent on pillaging the town they are protecting? What if the Brass Dragon that gifted the Metallic Peacekeeper has died, and it's been oppressing the people trying to follow orders that never came? What if the Gold Dragon is simply... mistaken, not realizing that the people hate his protection and his all-seeing Metallic Warblers, and wants 'Big Brother is Watching' to be gone? What if the Metallic Sentinel isn't actually made by a Metallic Dragon?

Fizban's Treasury of Dragons:

• Animated Breath: Large Elemental, typically Neutral Evil, CR 6
• Draconian Dreadnought: Large Monstrosity, any alignment, CR 4
• Draconian Foot Soldier: Medium Monstrosity, any alignment, CR 1/2
• Draconian Infiltrator: Medium Monstrosity, any alignment, CR 3
• Draconian Mage: Medium Monstrosity, any alignment, CR 2
• Draconian Mastermind: Medium Monstrosity, any alignment, CR 6
• Dragonblood Ooze: Large Ooze, Unaligned, CR 5
• Dragonbone Golem: Large Construct, Unaligned, CR 11
• Dragonborn of Bahamut: Medium Humanoid, typically Lawful Good, CR 8
• Dragonborn of Sardior: Medium Humanoid, typically Neutral, CR 6
• Dragonborn of Tiamat: Medium Humanoid, typically Chaotic Evil, CR 7
• Dragonflesh Grafter: Large Monstrosity, typically Neutral Evil, CR 3
• Dragonflesh Abomination: Huge Monstrosity, typically Neutral Evil, CR 6
• Dragon Blessed: Medium Humanoid, any alignment, CR 5
• Dragon Chosen: Medium Humanoid, any alignment, CR 3
• Dragon Speaker: Small Humanoid, any alignment, CR 2
• Dragonnel: Large Dragon, typically neutral, CR 2
• Egg Hunter Hatchling: Tiny Monstrosity, unaligned, CR 2
• Egg Hunter Adult: Small Monstrosity, unaligned, CR 5
• Elder Brain Dragon: Gargantuan Aberration, typically Lawful Evil, CR 22
• Eyedrake: Large Aberration, typically Lawful Evil, CR 8
• Gem Stalker: Large Monstrosity, typically neutral, CR 5
• Hoard Mimic: Huge Monstrosity, typically neutral, CR 8
• Hoard Scarab: Tiny Monstrosity, unaligned, CR 1/8
• Swarm of Hoard Scarabs: Medium Swarm of Tiny Monstrosities, unaligned, CR 2
• Hollow Dragon: Huge Undead, any alignment, CR 18
• Liondrake: Large Monstrosity, typically neutral, CR 7
• Metallic Peacekeeper: Medium Construct, typically Neutral Good, CR 4
• Metallic Warbler: Tiny Construct, typically Neutral Good, CR 1/4