D&D 5E D&D Gem Dragons Are Officially Back

So if you're (not) like me and you don't have the time or patience to watch Spoilers & Swag, you may have missed this awesome reveal... Gem Dragons are back! And I don't just mean back in a third-party book like Matt Colville's Strongholds and Followers (great book, check it out), I mean back officially for D&D 5e.

In case you don't know, Gem Dragons are the third-wheel of dragonkind... they are not Good (Metallic) or Evil (Chromatic), they are Neutral. This makes them easily overlooked in the struggle of good vs. evil, but they've popped up here and there in previous editions.

But it looks like Gem Dragons have returned, first to promote the sale of a very expensive sapphire dice set. This little paper fold-out is included (screenshots below), complete with lore for gem dragons and a statblock for the Adult Sapphire Dragon specifically.

Of course, if you don't want to buy a pricey set of dice for a statblock... you're in luck, as Nathan Stewart reveals that everybody else will get access to it "early in 2020, where we [WotC] will have some fun ways to get that out there." So it looks like some product will be released including the Neutral Dragons, a new adventure or maybe a new monster book!

Feel free to speculate, here's the images;

 

[generic]

I wonder how many people sit down to their fantasy game and worry about things like economics and biospheres.

Not that it is a bad thing if it is your thing. Sometimes we can get too much detail imho.

I am exactly the type to worry about these things, but don't concern yourself with them if it doesn't bother you!

 

[generic]

But, do they taste sweeter than those who are not?

( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

 

[Demetrios1453]

Chromatic dragons are just a subset in the classification of crayola dragons of which i think there are 120 total different types.

Busily coming up with stats for Raw Sienna and Cornflower Dragons

 

[Weiley31]

No, the last iteration was so badly received they threw out the entire design. We haven't seen a new take yet.

I still found it VERY WEIRD that they made Wu Jen into a psionic class in that UA. The Third Party 5E rpg setting Mists of Akuma made them into Warlocks with elemental Patron/Eldritch Blasts based on the four seasons. Which is great flavorwise, but probably a big nerf since Force damage is the beenees.

 

[Weiley31]

( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Especially for the Shapeshifted female dragons of the species.

 

[Hussar]

Sorry, was referring to this:

 

[Salthorae]

a subset in the classification of crayola dragons

Chromatic Dragons are SKITTLES! Taste the Rainbow

 

[Arnwolf666]

I am exactly the type to worry about these things, but don't concern yourself with them if it doesn't bother you!

Doesn’t bother me. I was just curious how many people find that important. I play kingdom building from becmi. The bookkeeping can get intense.

 

[Aaron L]

My problem with PC psyonics is that a) I don't want to shoehorn them into a separate psyonicist class but b) I've yet to, after numerous top-to-bottom redesigns over the years, find a non-class way to have them work for PCs without tossing balance out the window (and I say this as someone who's not often concerned about balance!).

But psyonic monsters? Hells yeah! A slew of new psyonic Dragon types sounds real cool!

I use the Mystic class from Unearthed Arcana; I think is is wonderful, and I absolutely ADORE the style of the system they used for psionic powers, the way that it is full of reactions and bonus actions to activate powers, the way the Disciplines act as a "menu" of powers to choose from, and how you use Psionic Focus with one of your Disciplines to keep one ongoing power up... it really feels like psychic powers to me. In fact, I think it may be my favorite implementation of psionic powers in any Edition.

 

[Aaron L]

My view on them is somewhat the other direction. I consider 'psionic' and 'psychic' just other words for magic, and that the powers are not sufficiently distinct from magic to justify a whole other subsystem.

The division between psionic and magical powers in D&D has always been a wholly mechanical one.

I like the distinction between Magic and Psionics as being that Magic comes from without, and Psionics comes from within. I consider Psionics and Ki to be the same energy, like The Force and the Asian concepts of Prana and Ki/Qi that The Force is based on; life energy that is generated by living beings and suffuses the world. While I agree that they are both supernatural powers, I prefer to have them as being two separate types of supernatural power, while maintaining a connection between all of them (the same as how all the different types of electromagnetic energies and other physical Forces are all different, while still being interconnected.)

But then again, I like having multiple different kinds of supernatural powers without just labeling all of them "Magic." I like to use David Eddings' The Belgariad as an example; in the universe of The Belgariad and The Mallorean there are multiple types of supernatural powers; Magic: an external power based on the summoning of Demons to serve the user that is used by Magicians; Sorcery: an internal power based on The Will and The Word that is used by Sorcerers; and Witchcraft: an external power based on making deals with spirits that is used by Witches. They are all related supernatural energies, yes, but they are still all distinct, separate types of power. I even like to have the different Schools of Magic being based on separate types of Magical energies; Necromancy uses a different kind of energy than Evocation, and both are distinct from the psychological energies of Enchantment/Charm (the term "Enchantment" itself comes from the root "Chant," or speech.)

However, I also use the principle that "An Effect Is An Effect Is An Effect." Despite being activated by different methods, an effect is the same regardless of how it is brought about. A Fireball effect, for example, is the same regardless of whether it is brought about by a Wizard spell, a Sorcerer spell, a Cleric spell, a Warlock spell, a Monk's Ki power, or a Psionic power. The Fireball is still the same preexisting supernatural effect, no matter how that effect is activated; the Wizard's Fireball spell was discovered long ago by developing a process that activated a pre-existing effect, and all of the other spell/powers that create Fireballs all take advantage of that same effect, even though they all activate the same effect by going through a different process to do so. A Psionic/Psychic or Ki power that creates a Fireball effect is merely using Psionic energy to begin the same supernatural process that creates a Fireball effect that a Wizard's Fireball spell creates, achieving the same supernatural process using a different catalyzing energy, but the end result is still the same supernatural Fireball effect regardless of the catalyzing energy that began it; the end effect is the same despite the process used to initiate it.

I just don't like having a "Grand Unified Theory of Magic" where every supernatural power is just the exact same "Magic" that everyone uses (similar to how I greatly dislike the 5th Edition transplanting The Weave concept of magic from the Forgotten Realms and shoehorning it into every other D&D world as well. The Weave is a 'Realms concept, and while I very much like the idea of The Weave, for Toril, I don't much like it being inserted into Oerth and Athas.) There are many different Forces in physics; Electromagnetism, Gravity, Weak Nuclear Force, Strong Nuclear Force, etc, and I like having the same thing in regard to supernatural powers.