D&D (2024) What do people think of the new dragon designs?

[delericho]

I think I love just about everything I've seen from the new books. Which is rather unfortunate, given that I've just decided to give them a miss.

 

[Stormonu]

I'd rather go back to the days when the artist could pretty much draw them how they wanted and didn't have to stick to a design sheet template. You could have as many variations of how a red dragon looks as there are different expressions of beholders. Or humans, for that matter.

 

[Crimson Longinus]

I'd rather go back to the days when the artist could pretty much draw them how they wanted and didn't have to stick to a design sheet template. You could have as many variations of how a red dragon looks as there are different expressions of beholders. Or humans, for that matter.

That would make perfect sense for a game like D&D that doesn't have just one bespoke setting. Instead of having fixed "canonical" dragons, give us different ideas of what dragons might look like in your setting.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I'd rather go back to the days when the artist could pretty much draw them how they wanted and didn't have to stick to a design sheet template. You could have as many variations of how a red dragon looks as there are different expressions of beholders. Or humans, for that matter.

For better or worse, Hasbro wants D&D to be a brand that can support ancillary products, so coming up with consistent prominent NPCs, consistent art styles, etc., is something they need to do, just like Star Wars has to have that kind of consistency.

I do think making all of the D&D worlds look so similar as a result definitely means losing some of their individual character, though.

 

[dave2008]

Only design I don't really care for is the new blue dragon... It doesn't say "desert dweller" to me in the way that the 3e-era design did, with the mixed blue and yellow/tan/gold color scheme.

Looks more like a "storm" dragon design, perhaps even ocean-dwelling, like the bronze.

Blues are already storm dragons and my games so I would be happy if the moved them that direction.

 

[dave2008]

How does that help with the inability to reach the vital organs as the creature’s hide is as thick as your sharp magic stick is long?

Magic swords cut deeper? You could always say the magic extends the cut (it is a common trope of anime, manga, etc. - though the call it qui)

 

[Crimson Longinus]

Magic swords cut deeper? You could always say the magic extends the cut (it is a common trope of anime, manga, etc. - though the call it qui)

Why they don't have reach property then?

 

[Arnie_Wan_Kenobi]

Brass, Bronze and who else? I remember from 4e on how there was some concern and confusion regarding Brass and Bronze dragons and ho w they looked. Some felt that the two looked alike while ignoring some of the more obvious differences in their appearance.

I've always felt like the problem is that when translating metallic hues to more flat (matte?) colors in art, Gold and Brass are both yellow-ish-with-some-brown, then Bronze and Copper are both brownishyellow-ish-with-some-green, so there's blending needed...and then we end up with four that look exactly the frickin' same and one that's sorta pale. (This gets even worse with Draconians.)

Oops, ETA: Hence I'm ALWAYS thrilled when the metallics get distinct muzzles/horns/bodies. Then we can at least tell 'em apart a little.

 

[dave2008]

I gather from your responses that something like "realism" is important to you. it is not to me. If it were, I wouldn't be advocating city sized dragons for the PCs to fight.

Just want to clarify that the image you liked was not close to city sized. Heck, Godzilla is not city sized.

 

[dave2008]

They look pretty similar. I think Artist differences can be taken into account.

Sure, and both could be artistic differences to the red we have had since 3e. The one thing that is different with the new design, and you see it in the PHB cover too, is that the new red had 4 horns and not 2. So I think 4 horned red dragons are the new standard. Maybe the grow more horns as they age. I was already giving my Tiamat red had more horns, so this lines up with what I was doing already.