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.

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[Nikosandros]

Could be those are on the prior page, similar to the expanded lair stuff in Fizban's?

I hope so, because I really like them.

 

[dave2008]

Could be those are on the prior page, similar to the expanded lair stuff in Fizban's?

Or the following page. We will see.

 

[SpellObjectEnthusiast]

Only if you assume it gets 3 reaction rend attacks. They may not be how the 2024 DMG assumes reactions factor into CR.

I am calculating using the 2014 definition of CR.

 

[dave2008]

Could be those are on the prior page, similar to the expanded lair stuff in Fizban's?

I hope so, because I really like them.

I will note that the time dragon follows this format pretty closely except that it doesn't have the lair modifications in its statblock, but does have lair actions. It makes me think they are gone

 

[TiQuinn]

what do you want it to be? It is a miasma that is corrosive, how that manifests appears to left to your interpretation (which I am fine with). IMO, it is magic

I want it to be something a little more descriptive.

 

[dave2008]

I am calculating using the 2014 definition of CR.

The thing is the 2014 CR doesn't explicitly cover how to handle multiple reactions, or reactions at all. Since reactions rely on a trigger they may or may not activate (unlike legendary actions). However, the variety of triggers pretty much guarantees some reactions from this dragon, but will it always be able to rend (or have an opponent in range to rend)?

Anyway, my preference is to have its on turn actions do the bulk of damage and let reactions be for control or defense / escape.

 

[dave2008]

I want it to be something a little more descriptive.

It is pretty descriptive IMO, but I never questioned what it was as it instantly conjured an image in my mind.

 

[TiQuinn]

It is pretty descriptive IMO, but I never questioned what it was as it instantly conjured an image in my mind.

It doesn’t conjure anything in my mind beyond a breath weapon since a miasma is something you smell, I.E. a gas. So, it’s literally a description of its breath weapon.

 

[SpellObjectEnthusiast]

The thing is the 2014 CR doesn't explicitly cover how to handle multiple reactions, or reactions at all. Since reactions rely on a trigger they may or may not activate (unlike legendary actions). However, the variety of triggers pretty much guarantees some reactions from this dragon, but will it always be able to rend (or have an opponent in range to rend)?

Anyway, my preference is to have its on turn actions do the bulk of damage and let reactions be for control or defense / escape.

Yes, it does. From the DMG: "When calculating a monster's damage output, also account for special off-turn damage-dealing features, such as auras, reactions, legendary actions, or lair actions."

It is a reasonable assumption that, given a party of 4 PCs, that at least 3 of them will damage the dragon on their turns, and that at least one of them will be within 15 feet of it. Much like it is reasonable to assume a 2014 Ancient dragon will have the chance to use all of its legendary actions.

 

[Thommy H-H]

It doesn’t conjure anything in my mind beyond a breath weapon since a miasma is something you smell, I.E. a gas. So, it’s literally a description of its breath weapon.

I mean, that is a very literal definition of "miasma" - in general it's a rather old-fashioned, perhaps even poetic, way of describing some kind of gaseous emanation that has about it an insidious, corrupting quality. Miasma makes me think of disease (partly because of the Victorian era "miasma theory"), of a cloying, heavy, toxic fog. When the dragon uses its breath weapon, that's not a miasma to me - it's a blast of gas that spews out and chokes everyone in its path. Its miasma is something less immediately destructive: something it summons using its inherent magic which has soaked into the surrounding terrain.

I know people like to do the thing where they read things in the least generous way possible to make a point, but a specific phrase like "Corrosive Miasma" does actually carry a certain amount of semantic weight.