Check out D&D's redesign of Bahamut

Bahamut is sporting a new look in several Dungeons & Dragons-related material. Earlier this month, Wizards of the Coast released Arcana Unleashed, a magic-themed rulebook that included a chapter on magical patrons. One example given as a patron was Bahamut, who received a nifty piece of new artwork. While Bahamut has traditionally been depicted as a massive metallic dragon, this new version depicts Bahamut as having an overwhelming magical aura that radiates from his body.

Earlier this month, Polygon previewed several variant covers to the upcoming Dungeons & Dragons comic series, which included another new look at Bahamut, as illustrated by Antonio José Manzanedo. This shows off Bahamut's magical aura wings and aura, along with a scale of how large the dragon god is compared to its gold dragon servants, which look miniscule by comparison.

The upcoming Dungeons & Dragons comic will feature a statblock of Bahamut, which will likely be one of the more powerful creature statblocks ever created for D&D 5.5E. Several other iconic dragon statblocks will also be featured as extra content in the comic.

 

[Weiley31]

@Scott Christian
I got ya chief.

 

[Scott Christian]

I see that as just his nature. He is a divine being. The "aura" IS his wings. If you took away the magic aura, he would look very spindly and weird.

I get that, but they are also all action/movement shots. Maybe one where he is just talking to something small and it is more up close. The classic "dragon head talks with (fill in the blank)."

 

[W'rkncacnter]

I think so? The size difference was enough to inspire me to think up the name of a possible Illusion spell that D&D might be lacking. The spell False Perspective.

oooo, wait, that could be cool. like a version of enlarge/reduce where the effect is illusory, any bonus damage is psychic, and a creature who sees through it treats you like your normal size?

 

[Corinnguard]

oooo, wait, that could be cool. like a version of enlarge/reduce where the effect is illusory, any bonus damage is psychic, and a creature who sees through it treats you like your normal size?

I like the idea of False Perspective making small creatures appear larger and large creatures appear smaller to an observer. When I was thinking about the nature of this spell earlier today, I was thinking it could make creatures who are close to you appear farther away and distant creatures appear closer to you than they really are. Sort of like a Displacer Beast's ability to appear several feet from its' actual location.

Can an illusion give Disadvantage to anyone doing a Wisdom (Perception) check?

 

[Charlaquin]

@Scott Christian
I got ya chief.
View attachment 449034

Love this art of him in humanoid form. Until that card, I hadn’t really considered Bahamut as a monk being a possibility, but they sold it so well here it instantly became my preferred version.

 

[MechaTarrasque]

Too much to hope we get a Dragon Warrior Monk at some point?

 

[Corinnguard]

Too much to hope we get a Dragon Warrior Monk at some point?

A 5.5e version of the Way of the Ascendant Dragon would be interesting.

 

[Seramus]

His head is distractingly flat in the first image. There's a lot to like about the picture, but I can't get over how straight the line is from his nose to the back of his horn.

Second picture is fantastic!