D&D (2024) 2025's Ancient Green Dragon Stat Block From The New Monster Manual

The new ancient green dragon from the 2025 Monster Manual was previewed at Gen Con.

​

 

[Stalker0]

The dragon can still only concentrate on one spell at a time

Good thing Charm Monster doesn't have concentration

 

[Stalker0]

It works for me. I can see everything about the dragon being poisonous. I still prefer separate attacks, but I'm fine with poison everywhere!

Absolutely. What is the issue with the idea that this dragon has poison oozing out of every pore? Its a freakin dragon!

 

[RoughCoronet0]

Absolutely. What is the issue with the idea that this dragon has poison oozing out of every pore? Its a freakin dragon!

You don't even have to say it's literally oozing poison if that is too much for you, but that it just has poisonous skin like a dart frog which is why a "tail attack" would deal poison, or that it coats itself is a poisonous powder that accumulates from using its breath weapon so when it "wing buffets" it is sprinkling that powder on the target. Many fun flavor options.

 

[dave2008]

I whish dragons could do more exiting things with their attacks. Why cannot a lizard size of a buss knock people around with their tail, or just eat them whole? Some other monsters have such mechanics, why not dragons?

As someone who has made a lot of dragons in 5e, and as I mentioned earlier in this very thread, it is next to impossible to put everything a dragon can/should do into a single easily usable stat block. It get's very large and unwieldy rather quickly. It is always a balancing act of what to cut.

Can they be improved simply - yes! My dragons push (or knock prone) with their claws, grapple with their bites, and can stun with their tails (or push or knock prone or all 3). However, not everyone wants that and, for whatever reason, WotC has decided to not put a lot of the control options on their monsters with 5e. Thankfully it is easy for any DM to add them on the fly.

 

[Sulicius]

Good thing Charm Monster doesn't have concentration

Oh wow! I didn’t know, thanks! That’s toxic to say the least.

 

[Stalker0]

Oh wow! I didn’t know, thanks! That’s toxic to say the least.

Yeah one of the big notes on this dragon is that many control effects have the classic “on a successful save your immune to this for 24 hours”.

But the dragon does not. It can charm charm charm all day long, and will keep slamming the mind whammy on you until you finally get it through your thick Adventurer head that it is your bestest buddy in the whole wide world!

 

[Crimson Longinus]

Yeah one of the big notes on this dragon is that many control effects have the classic “on a successful save your immune to this for 24 hours”.

But the dragon does not. It can charm charm charm all day long, and will keep slamming the mind whammy on you until you finally get it through your thick Adventurer head that it is your bestest buddy in the whole wide world!

Is that fun?

 

[dave2008]

Is that fun?

for some

 

[Stalker0]

Is that fun?

It’s a fair concern, and is always the balance of when does control go from “an engaging challenge” to “I get to sit bsck and watch paint dry”.

Now as likely the BBEG of a 15th+ level group, there are a number of ways to disrupt the effect. Dispel magic, counterspell, spells like mind blank that make you flat out immune. A party fighting this dragon should be bristling with power to counter the control.

But as a dm running this, I always recommend minions (I recommend tbst period but especially against charm focused monsters). That way as players get charmed, they can still attack the minions and have something to do, while the uncharmed ones deal with the dragon

 

[Uni-the-Unicorn!]

Fiends are not treated as outliers in MotM - their alignment is suggested but not required. Singular individuals excepted. So RAW a chaotic good red abishai is currently fine, no house rule required.

It is not a house rule to change the alignment of a monster, it is right there in the MM to do so.