Tier 1 monsters, beasts and familiars are generally boring. The weak power level of a 1/4 CR creature means there isn't much space to do fun things.
As I was building a custom inkling dragon, I riffed off the pseudodragon, because I wanted a familiar. Looking at the 2024 version and Black Flag I knew the model had to be Black Flag.
The 2024 version gets a multiattack that is two bites, while also listing a sting. The only trait is magic resistance. That's it. It's a boring creature that doesn't really do anything.
Black Flag pseudodragon loses multiattack to either sting or bite (Keith Amman would say it should always sting). It also has heightened senses and limited telepathy (100 feet doesn't make sense to me, I'd do 90) and there's a fun tiny dragon puff of smoke ability. It FEELS like a dragonkin doing dragony things!
Now, 2024 does better than 2014 in giving monsters a unique thing, but Black Flag and A5e do better than 2024.
My inkling dragon had to be built using the framework of Black Flag, because even micro dragons should be interesting.
As I was building a custom inkling dragon, I riffed off the pseudodragon, because I wanted a familiar. Looking at the 2024 version and Black Flag I knew the model had to be Black Flag.
The 2024 version gets a multiattack that is two bites, while also listing a sting. The only trait is magic resistance. That's it. It's a boring creature that doesn't really do anything.
Black Flag pseudodragon loses multiattack to either sting or bite (Keith Amman would say it should always sting). It also has heightened senses and limited telepathy (100 feet doesn't make sense to me, I'd do 90) and there's a fun tiny dragon puff of smoke ability. It FEELS like a dragonkin doing dragony things!
Now, 2024 does better than 2014 in giving monsters a unique thing, but Black Flag and A5e do better than 2024.
My inkling dragon had to be built using the framework of Black Flag, because even micro dragons should be interesting.
