D&D General What Sort Of Dragon Would Live Here?

[Zardnaar]

I'd have new dragons inspired by native New Zealand fauna, extinct or extant.

No need to stat them up as new dragons though, just reskin an existing dragon. Change the name and describe it as appearing different and it doesn't matter if the numbers are the same as an existing dragon, especially if the PCs never find out!

Instead of Copper Dragons, maybe Zealandia's mountains are inhabited by mischievous, inquisitive and talkative parrot like dragons.

Venture into the moa-inhabited forests and shrub lands and you risk being devoured by terrifying eagle like dragons with the stats of a Chromatic Dragon, maybe with a damage type swap (e.g. a White Dragon that has Poison damage/defenses like a Green Dragon or a Red that spews Acid like a Black).

…and so on.

Was thinking of turning things up to 11. Moas become axebeaks,
Haast eagles become rock.

 

[Cleon]

Was thinking of turning things up to 11. Moas become axebeaks,
Haast eagles become rock.

So would that make a reskinned Chromatic Dragon based on a Haast Eagle as per my previous post be turning it up to 12?

I see no reason not to steal borrow some of the more impressive and/or deadly fauna from Australia too.

Giant funnelweb spiders, fierce snakes and blue-ringed octopodes would be fun.

Or prehistoric things like Carnivorous Kangaroos and Rhinoceros-Sized Wombats.

Plus there's the option of fantasy creatures modelled on them, like a Dragon that's a giant winged Megalania.

 

[Zardnaar]

So would that make a reskinned Chromatic Dragon based on a Haast Eagle as per my previous post be turning it up to 12?

I see no reason not to steal borrow some of the more impressive and/or deadly fauna from Australia too.

Giant funnelweb spiders, fierce snakes and blue-ringed octopodes would be fun.

Or prehistoric things like Carnivorous Kangaroos and Rhinoceros-Sized Wombats.

Plus there's the option of fantasy creatures modelled on them, like a Dragon that's a giant winged Megalania.

Snakes are out, spiders not so much either.

 

[Cleon]

Moas become axebeaks

Hmm, would an Axe Beak be that different from a Large sized Moa in 5E mechanical terms?

If they defended themselves actively a Moa might have the same stats except it'd use a Kick attack instead of a Beak.

 

[Cleon]

Snakes are out,

Spoilsport!

Just because there aren't any snakes in the boring "real world" New Zealand.

Well, there's always sea snakes…

…or venomous marine dragons that resemble like enormous sea snakes.

spiders not so much either.

But you'll need something to eat the giant wetas!

 

[TaranTheWanderer]

I was going to say any good-aligned dragon. Most evil dragons tend to change the terrain so a red would cause most of the forest to die and it doesn't seem forested enough for a green. I was going to say a white dragon in the highest, coldest part of the mountain. Griffons would definitely live there.

 

[Zardnaar]

I was going to say any good-aligned dragon. Most evil dragons tend to change the terrain so a red would cause most of the forest to die and it doesn't seem forested enough for a green. I was going to say a white dragon in the highest, coldest part of the mountain. Griffons would definitely live there.

There's large forests here still h7mabs cleared them on the flat though.

 

[Zardnaar]

Hmm, would an Axe Beak be that different from a Large sized Moa in 5E mechanical terms?

If they defended themselves actively a Moa might have the same stats except it'd use a Kick attack instead of a Beak.

Moas were fairly fragile easy to kill. Probably only CR 1/4.

 

[Yora]

Aren't gold dragons fond of both mountains and water, since they can breathe underwater and such? Seems like this would be an ideal spot for that.

That's bronze dragons.

 

[Cleon]

Moas were fairly fragile easy to kill. Probably only CR 1/4.

Don't follow you.

An Axe Beak IS Challenge Rating 1/4 and that's the animal mentioned in the earlier post for a Moa "turned up to 11".

I did wonder how using an Axe Beak's stats would result in an animal that's more powerful than a normal Large Moa, since presumably an "up to 11" version would be a bit better than the realistic version.

Also, I'd think most Moa would be less than CR 1/4 since only the two biggest species would have reached Large in D&D terms, and possibly only particularly well grown specimens of those. Which is why I specified "a Large sized Moa in 5E mechanical terms" in the earlier post instead of just "a Moa."

An average Moa would likely be a Medium or Small animal with stats similar to a Deer or Sheep. Would suggest using an Ostrich, Rhea or Emu, but I don't think those have official stats in 5E D&D.

It'd probably be a Challenge 0 creature whose role is a background prey animal for characters & predatory monsters to hunt.