D&D 5E First Legendary Monster!

[Sir Brennen]

That said, in the original design, they were talking about making them more... interesting and tied to their lairs, which doesn't really shine through here. The dragons in particular are way more similar to each other than, say, the Monster Vault dragons.

Since all we have here are stat blocks, I'm guessing the lair features will be included in the additional fluff text for the creatures, or perhaps in a more general "dragon" section before the individual entries in the Basic PDF and/or Monster Manual.

The HotDQ (which I keep thinking is a weird internet abbreviation for Dairy Queen hot dogs) might have lair setups as part of the adventure text itself.

 

[Wolfskin]

*rolls for Initiative*

*dies*

Damn, that's one mean Adult Blue Dragon

(and it's "only" Challenge 16. Wonder what a C20 monster looks like!)

 

[Kinak]

Since all we have here are stat blocks, I'm guessing the lair features will be included in the additional fluff text for the creatures, or perhaps in a more general "dragon" section before the individual entries in the Basic PDF and/or Monster Manual.

The HotDQ (which I keep thinking is a weird internet abbreviation for Dairy Queen hot dogs) might have lair setups as part of the adventure text itself.

Mmmm, hot dogs.

Yeah, it's definitely possible they'll add some actions outside the stat blocks. I prefer to have my stat blocks all together, but I guess that would be in line with how they're handling spells.

Cheers!
Kinak

 

[Tormyr]

*rolls for Initiative*

*dies*

Damn, that's one mean Adult Blue Dragon

(and it's "only" Challenge 16. Wonder what a C20 monster looks like!)

No kidding. Those dragons have TPK written all over them. Each turn that it doesn't recharge its breath weapon could be wing buffet before its turn, bite-claw-claw one prone character.

 

[variant]

A legendary creature is separate from his lair. A legendary creature doesn't stop being legendary if he leaves it.

Legendary Creatures Change Their Environment: A legendary creature, due to the intensity of its magical nature, alters and changes the land around it. A dragon's lair is a daunting place of magic. The land around it shifts and changes. The power of a legendary creature is like a gravity well, pushing and altering the space around it.


A legendary creature's lair or abode is a key part of its existence. Orcus is a ferocious enemy if he manifests in the world, but he is nigh unstoppable within his Abyssal lair. Fight a legendary creature on its home turf only if you must. The land strives against you and the world itself becomes the legendary creature's weapon.


From a game mechanics perspective, this design concept is tied to the idea of making a solo monster's environment a key part of the battle. Creating a dynamic fight is more than putting a dragon at one end of the room and the characters at the other. The scenery and set pieces play a key role in how the battle plays out.

http://archive.wizards.com/dnd/Article.aspx?x=dnd/4ll/20130617

 

[Bumamgar]

I always interpreted the Legends and Lore article to be outlining Legendary and Lair as two separate things. Yes, Legendary monsters might also have a Lair, but a Lair is effectively a creature in its own right, imho. It wouldn't surprise me to see the Lair details outside of the monster details. It also wouldn't surprise me if the Lair got its own initiative (possibly even multiple initiative slots, if it had multiple traps / components).

I'd expect the Lair to also have more 'ongoing effect' type things rather than explicit actions, although a mixture of both makes sense as well.

 

[Kinak]

I always interpreted the Legends and Lore article to be outlining Legendary and Lair as two separate things. Yes, Legendary monsters might also have a Lair, but a Lair is effectively a creature in its own right, imho. It wouldn't surprise me to see the Lair details outside of the monster details. It also wouldn't surprise me if the Lair got its own initiative (possibly even multiple initiative slots, if it had multiple traps / components).

I'd expect the Lair to also have more 'ongoing effect' type things rather than explicit actions, although a mixture of both makes sense as well.

There's a decent chance I misread it. I'm pretty used to Worldbreakers, so I might be tying the legendary and lair together too closely.

Cheers!
Kinak

 

[Paraxis]

To balance it out, I would change Legendary Resistance and add "or the dragon can use it to take half damage from an attack, he can choose to use this after the damage is rolled."

That way the legendary creatures can withstand fighter types as well as spellcaster types and you know it even has resistance in the name.

 

[jadrax]

Presumably, being Legendary also gives you a boatload of extra hit dice, but they're rolled into the dragon's regular stats so there's no way to tell what's coming from Legendariness and what's regular dragon-stats.

Doesn't seem to be the case tbh.

Adult Blue (Legendary): 18d12
Adult White (Legendary): 16d12
Young Green: 16d10

 

[Boarstorm]

Doesn't seem to be the case tbh.

Adult Blue (Legendary): 18d12
Adult White (Legendary): 16d12
Young Green: 16d10

Do we think the change in hit dice size is due to moving up a size category?