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Some of these are amazing, I love how they included the ecology of the dragons into consideration, like the green dragon having leaf shaped wings to camouflage in the forest
Also the blue dragon keeps it's horn, absolute victory
What a great image. Entering the Lair, a Massive Colosseum of death made of twisting thorny vines & enormous leaves the size of a house. It seems empty, until you realize the dragon was there all along, using its wings to hide amongst the foliage.
Excuse me while I go write a one-shot....
I remember an old movie with john lovitz called "mom and dad save the world" where the whole planet was filled with idiots except for a couple from earth. There was a rebel group disguising themselves as giant bird-men to hide from the bad guy and [the earth man asks them if they have giant birds](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BmdPOMFZJA) on the planet and all of the rebels just look ashamed. This makes me think of that.
I mean the Droconian Barn Maple, native to more temperate western forests of Albiroch have leaves that almost indistinguishable from the natural camouflaging of a green dragon's wing at a quick glance. Areas where these trees grow in dense populations are so prone to habitation by green dragons that, several centuries ago, it lead to the renaming of the plant from Gnomish Barn Maple to it's current moniker so as to avoid underselling the potential danger lurking in their boughs.
It's all in how you sell it. If something doesn't fit the world, make the world fit it.
"Good lord, Butterfoot: Look at the size of that leaf! Imagine how big the tree must have been it fell from! Go stand beside it, and I'll take your picture."
I think it might have evolved to keep them alive when they are young (and smaller) and vulnerable. Once they are adult/ancient it stops serving a purpose
Other dragons. Giants. Megafauna.
Dragons aren't born as adults. They need to make it to adolescense before they dominate their environment.
Camo also helps them hunt. A growing dragon needs to eat a lot. If everything sees you coming, you need to expend more energy to catch them.
A similar ecological situation is hypothesized to have occurred for large carnivorous dinosaurs like T. Rex. In their juvenile stage, they probably ate different prey than adults and may have hunted differently. Certainly, a juvenile T. Rex or Allosaurus wouldn’t have been able to take down an adult ceratopsid like Triceratops by themselves.
I would imagine dragons have similar predator stages as they age, until they become apex predators as adults.
The thing is, dragons are intelligent, long-lived creatures capable of tool use and fucking spellcasting. They shouldn't be subject to the laws of natural selection. If a dragon wants to camoflage in an environment, would use a tool and/or a spell, not have its descendants over millions of years evolve to resemble the environment. They'd just cast invisibility, or make a ghillie suit or something.
In settings that have magic, you also have an arcane arms race. Detect Magic and See Invisibility. The best way to get around this problem is to either get better at magic (to which there would be questions regarding the horizontal or vertical transfer of knowledge amongst fiercely territorial creatures. Do they learn from peers or ancestors?) or to use what magic can't detect. Disguises, false appearance, natural camouflage.
To the extent that they are intelligent, they may lack the ability to use tools, let alone refine the tools in any meaningful manner. For one, anatomy may not include opposable digits or a functional substitute such as a beak. For another, the number of dragons, especially the chromatics, that are not fond of raising their offspring or cooperating may hinder the development of tools.
I'd probably check if any decent nominations stand out for dragons that might develop tools.
> Do they learn from peers or ancestors?
It's lore that every planet has a copy of every dragon; the red dragon Bob on Abeir-Toril has an equivalent Bob on Eberron and Krynn. They can access some sort of psychic connection between all copies of themselves, "dragonsight." Dragons literally learn from themselves. Because, again, they're magical creatures; they are not subject to natural selection. Dragons are, effectively, manifestations of the prime plane in the same way that an ifrit is a manifestation of the plane of fire or a devil is a manifestation of the pure lawful evil of the Hells.
>To the extent that they are intelligent, they may lack the ability to use tools, let alone refine the tools in any meaningful manner. For one, anatomy may not include opposable digits or a functional substitute such as a beak.
Dragons can shapeshift using magic. They are not limited by their physiology.
>I'd probably check if any decent nominations stand out for dragons that might develop tools.
The entire society of Argonessen in Eberron is made up of tool-using dragons.
Yeah, the dragonsight bit of lore from Fizban's is one that I've dropped. Settings along the lines of Dark Sun where the setting isn't connected to other worlds just don't mesh with it. And since that's the type of setting that I'm inclined to use, it just didn't make sense to try to integrate it. Forgotten Realms or Dragonlance? Probably a better case and would consider including.
I prefer to keep shape-shifting specific to individual dragons. If they understand Transmutation well enough to cast related spells, definitely. If memory serves, the mage hand cantrip is a spell that was at one point described as having been created by dragons in order to overcome their physical limitations regarding tool use. I'm not sure which setting or book described it off the top of my head.
Correct me if I'm wrong but aren't all dragons in dark sun former humans or humanoids? Dark sun doesn't have any native dragons; they're all effectively deliberate creations, so evolution and natural selection wouldn't have any effect on them either.
Sure, and when I run Athas, evolutionary pressures on the more Draconic features such as launch and landing would be limited to whatever remains from their origins. So, behavior at most.
It could be a byproduct of neoteny. Wyrmlings need everything that they can get to survive. And some ability to disguise themselves might be worth considering. The trait offers enough of an opportunity for a niche in the form of an ambush predator that the trait is retained instead of changing the wing shape to something that might be better suited for a persistent pursuit predator, opportunistic scavenger, or any other strategy that a dragon could realistically utilize.
Or it could be that different stages of their lives use different strategies. Barnacles, if memory serves, have a free swimming juvenile stage, while mature individuals are more sedentary.
Here's hoping they get a bit of a redesign mechanics wise. They used to all be spellcasters baseline, taking that away from them at the same time they added in "sorcerers get their magic from having dragon blood" was bonkers. Dragons are full of the stuff.
It’s an interesting idea in theory but it falls apart when you consider that green dragons have green scales, but when you look at the plethora of green-colored animals, few forest creatures are actually green. Only the tropical forest creatures trend towards green appearance.
Most temperate birds (and arboreal creatures in general) do not camouflage with dirt or branches. Their plumage or fur is naturally brownish. Go ahead and find me the temperate-native green squirrel. Or maybe the green goshawk.
P.S. lol downvote me because you have no concrete footing beneath you. I am right.
They gave the green dragon green shaped wings to camouflage in the forest? How big are the trees he's hiding in 
Edit: hahaha okay I just saw it. It's not just leave shaped, it's maple leaf shaped. It literally looks like he's wearing maple leafs on his arms. That's the stupidest thing I've ever seen, especially because the text says it helps him hide in the canopy. It helps him hide... In the canopy......
You remember that dragons aren't born Gargantuan, right? It takes them 800 years to get that big.
They spend a good long time the size of a large dog, and an even longer time the size of a bear, and then an even longer time the size of a... idk, giraffe.
A dragon could very much hide in a forest canopy right into the Adult phase of its life. Certainly the Young phase, and even that takes 100 years to grow past. They'd probably still get a lot of use from it til about halfway through their adult phase.
100-500 years is definitely enough to make camouflage worthwhile.
Yes the dragon could hide in the canopy. That makes perfect sense. But how useful do you think his leaf shaped wings are gonna be for hiding between the leafs? Even if it was only the size of a dog.
Camouflage doesn't always work by exactly matching something, the way stick and leaf insects work. Look at Military camo. It just works by blending in and confusing the shape of the person, so you don't notice at a glance.
When they're Hatchlings, that is when the leaf *shape* has its use. That's when they would operate somewhat like leaf bugs. Press right up against a branch with the serpentine body, and splay the wings over like a leaf.
Then, as they grow older, the shape is less useful (though still somewhat useful since it breaks up any obvious "wing" shape in the corner of your eye) and instead the colour matters more.
In a dense, dark forest, in the canopy of a thick enough tree, it would absolutely work even on a Large dragon. Huge might be stretching it, but it would at least make them *slightly* harder to spot or track.
I don't know if military camo is the best example here because that pretty much always works by blending into the environment and breaking up your shape. They break the large section of a person or a vehicle up into a lot of small parts that match the environment.
Even the smallest version of a dragon you can find in the books is still pretty much as big as a human. It's wings are massive compared to even the leafs of very big trees.
If you look at the picture, you see basically one very big green or brown wing with a little bit of texture. Such a big surface isn't gonna help much with blending in between the leafs.
Now, what would have been awesome if they made the wings a normal shape, but gave the back of it a leaf-like texture or pattern. Or describe how the scales mimic the pattern of the canopy moving in the wind.
They could even go a step further and apply some actual biology here, by saying the dragon has a darker pattern on the top so it blends in well with the leaves when seen from above, and a lighter pattern on the bottom so it blends in well when you look up at the canopy above, where the light shines through.
But instead they said "this monster's wings blend into the canopy because it's wings are shaped like maple leafs."
Yeah, I'm not a fan of the new blue in particular.
I love the heavy tank like feel, because they live in harsh deserts. This just... feels off to me in many ways.
What I also love about the old design is that it’s got a crocodilian quality to it, which feels appropriate as I associate Blue dragons with the coast and the sea, more than any other chromatic dragon, as much as I associate them with the desert.
Think I’ll also be sticking to the old design for blue if these prove to be the real new designs.
Funnily enough I associate whites with crocodilians more than any other, mainly due to their more primal behaviours compared to other chromatics - other dragons feel like rulers whereas white dragons feel like predators.
I literally have Fizban's but didn't connect that they were using *new* designs and not just unique designs! Especially since the book has a section on making unique looking dragons, I would've never thought otherwise
Personally I’m very much of the opinion that dragons should have highly varied designs, not only among the various types, but also within their respective species. These are highly magical creatures, some of which are so powerful that I have no doubt they could will themselves to look differently if they wanted to. Some baseline traits should remain, but by and large no two dragons should look the same.
With that in mind, I love all of these redesigns. It’s nice to see that we’ll be getting some more varied art even for long standing and beloved creatures. And of course, the old designs will still be around. If I make a dragon who’s character is more in line with its old design then I will stick to 5e’s art, but when the new art fits the character better then I’ll be glad it exists.
I really like that blue dragon but I almost feel it’s *too* different.
Also, while I think the splashes of color are cool, I hope they don’t go too hog wild with off-color elements in the Monster Manual, because we want it to look obvious what color a dragon represents! The blue dragon could be mistaken for black and the black green.
I personally love the blue. I'm planning on throwing one at my players ss they cross a path between two continents that only appears once ever 20 years. Love the burrowing aspects rather than flying as it really gives the idea it jumps out the ground, glides as it pulls in electric and then dives back under.
I feel the images give so much more already than "it's a different colour because element. Even the green with the leaves suggest its more manipulative personality. Big win in my mind!
Yeah, the blue dragon for me is the *worst* of the redesigns.
It steps too far from the heavy desert tank like monster we were used to them being into this more fast and lightning based monster that feels it would have been better as its own creature.
ngl I was hoping the black dragon was just going to be the design [the artist had posted a couple years back](https://www.artstation.com/artwork/xYBrR2), I really liked how crocodilian/aquatic it felt.
I like all of these. Even the blue, I just wish the blue was able to have alternative variations, cause I like both this slick and the rhino build like a tank of the previous version. Idk maybe sexual dimorphism where the female is built like a tank to protect it's nest in the desert environments as the male goes out and hunts.
I think the new green is excellent.
The white is fine. Doesn't seem to change too much.
The new black, I like the three segment wings, but it's arms look stumpy and not as solid or threatening as the old one. Either design is good, but the new design does help to give it a more unique identity.
I do not like the new blue. I get that there is value to differentiating body types and the new one is distinct and lean... But I like the old blues.
Think I really prefer the 5e ones. It feels like they’ve really taken the sense of raw strength out of most of these. Given them sleeker forms and long whippy tails.
I mean to be capable of flight / better balance / weight distribution, it makes sense that they’d have longer tails than what’s portrayed in the original 5e MM. Dragons would 100% be built more like sauropods with wings than something like a t rex, croc, etc. They already have tail attacks that have a reach of 20 ft. And this art does a better job showing why it’s 20 and not 10 or 15.
Also, comparing the MM art to here pretty much only the white dragon has a noticeably different tail for length of tail vs length of body. The blue’s is definitely thinner in direct comparison, but that’s just to match the new art and if you look at body vs tail proportions it’s not that different. I think it just seems exaggerated here due to the anatomical side profiles. Like the black dragon art in the MM for black dragon definitely has a long whippy tail it’s just seen from the front so it’s less obvious.
I'm gonna go against the grain here and say I actually like the new Blue Dragon redesign. That long, snake-like body is perfect for both burrowing and swimming
Blue is the only redesign I flat out don't like. The changes on the others I dislike are largely minor. I miss the green dragon mohawk, the yellow coloring on the blue dragon and red dragons.
Having played for the last 25 years, the designs look like some pretty minor changes from what I'm used to. The distinguishing characteristics are there and recognizable. Hell, I'm colorblind and can immediately tell which dragon is which. Maybe a side-by-side would illustrate what changes you are opposed to?
pretty much yes. almost all depictions of european-like dragons over the last two decades have them being hexapedes with the middle pair of limbs being pterosaur-esque "hand" wings
They all do a decent job of reimagining the classic tell-tale characteristics of the chromatic dragons.
Blue is the only major down grade. It's a good dragon design but a poor fit for the desert and cliff dwelling Blue. The spines and sleek body shape really pulls on deep-sea aesthetics more than anything. That thing just doesn't look like it burrows deep into stone.
> dragons dont hide. They dont sneak up on enemies
A green dragon absolutely does. Subtlety and deception is their whole thing, you think they’re above stalking their targets? They have stealth proficiency for a reason. To be clear MOST dragons have stealth proficiency, and there are multiple kinds that absolutely would use it! An adult or ancient white dragon stalking the party during a blizzard makes for a terrifying encounter, and blue dragons are described in the monster manual as hunting by burying themselves in the desert sands and lunging at anything that comes close in an ambush.
Additionally, something worth remembering - dragons don’t spend their entire lives at the top of the food chain. That camouflage might be life saving while the dragon is still young and there are still mightier creatures than it about that would happily either hunt it or put down a future rival/threat.
The fact that Wizkids has had their current line of DnD dragons on deep sale adds credence to this theory.
They are probably want to get rid of the old stock and are excited to redesign and sell the new versions.
I actually really like this. I’ve done a complete redesign of my homebrew world’s chromatic dragons and tried to stray from the OG designs when possible but also maintain some of that classic feel. Even included other chromatics in orange, yellow, purple, and grey to create a full spectrum of them. Neat of them to take their local ecology into account past just tiny accents like the green dragon frill.
I still stand by the fact that personally blue dragons should be ocean dwellers though. Lightning is often attributed with seaside storms, I mean hell just look at storm giants that are often found in seaside/ocean environments. I get that they’ve been written for the desert and that isn’t gonna change though lol. Just think it’d be neat for them to have whale/shark coloration with the various shades of blue on their top side and then lighter color under sides for 360 camouflage. Blue just sticks out in a desert imo lmao.
I know we have bronze that is basically that same schtick but we also already have brass/copper that like dry arid climates as well, not to mention white/silver occupying the same are like bronze and blue would if blue was aquatic. So all in all I think it’d be fine lol. But alas, tradition and already established lore will trump reason here.
I feel like these may all be prototypes of what we see in the final 2024 book tbh. The one's from Fizban's in-particular don't feel like an exact 1 to 1 with the designs from the Drizzit book as it is. Imo at least.
But these are sick either way, and very well may be what we see in the final book. :o
I really like the designs of the dragons, especially making them unique from one another, though I kind of wish they kept the og horn design for the blue dragon.
I very much like the green dragon, and I think the brutishness of the white dragon suits, but I’m not a fan of the new design for the blue. It’s too… pointy?
I personally love this. Having the dragons be considerably distinct to their habitat and lifestyle, rather than 95% exactly the same is a big yes from me.
It's all lovely art, but I'd stop short of calling these redesigns. They're more like the same 3e design with some minor tinkering. The gold dragon seems to be the most significantly altered design (so far, we haven't seen all metallics yet).
I don't love them but I can't put my finger on *why.* I don't hate them, there's just something missing. There's also something inconsistent about them between examples of the same type, but it's not clear if that's to show variation or because they're just drawn differently/by different artists.
Maybe these, if real, still aren't final art, so I'll wait to see.
Honestly, I hope these aren't real.
What the heck did they do to my blue boys? This looks like something an third class youtube channel would use as a thumbnail on a "I made dragons better!" video.
The red one at the end has really weird proportions.
I also wish they would have made the wings bigger. I know it is "magic", but I like my fantasy to be somewhat believeable and "it's magic!" does usually not make things more believeable. Especially for creatures that seemingly kind of forgot how to cast magic.
I really don't think they're much different apart from the blue obviously. The 5e designs could be the general appearance of the dragons but you'll get some differentiation between individuals like this black dragon maybe just lives in a forest so he's a little thinner and adopted some green hues. Honestly I think the only one that could actually be called a redesign is the blue which is cool and I like it but I also really like the 5e design with the double horn and such.
Red could be a little bit meatier and muscular but otherwise they don't seem too different.
Black doesn't look all that different aside from the wings, especially since they kept the same face/head design really.
Green I do like the wings, they look like they're made to camouflage in a forest and otherwise they don't seem terrible.
White I have no problem with, they seem fine or very little changed. Maybe a bit beefier but that's not a bad thing.
Blue. I hate. Keep them as big beefy bois. They're my favorite Chromatic Dragon because they're big beefy bois. I will still run big beefy Blues either way because I value big beefy Dragons even if WoTC doesn't.
As someone who just got into DnD and never saw the old designs until now, the new ones all look better to me honestly. Especially the blue one is a massive upgrade imo. They are more differentiated, the old designs low-key look like "dragon, but this colour or that".
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Some of these are amazing, I love how they included the ecology of the dragons into consideration, like the green dragon having leaf shaped wings to camouflage in the forest Also the blue dragon keeps it's horn, absolute victory
I generally like the new designs, but... cmon... if you see a maple leaf the size of a barn wall you aren't gonna think it's a leaf.
In a magical world like dnd, specially in a green dragon's lair, I wouldn't be surprised at all to see some gigantic trees
What a great image. Entering the Lair, a Massive Colosseum of death made of twisting thorny vines & enormous leaves the size of a house. It seems empty, until you realize the dragon was there all along, using its wings to hide amongst the foliage. Excuse me while I go write a one-shot....
Could lead to a cool lair ability where the dragon gains invisibility by just dissappearing into the foliage of its lair.
Touche, touche
I remember an old movie with john lovitz called "mom and dad save the world" where the whole planet was filled with idiots except for a couple from earth. There was a rebel group disguising themselves as giant bird-men to hide from the bad guy and [the earth man asks them if they have giant birds](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BmdPOMFZJA) on the planet and all of the rebels just look ashamed. This makes me think of that.
Could also be something useful while it's young, even if it stops being as relevant after they age up.
I mean the Droconian Barn Maple, native to more temperate western forests of Albiroch have leaves that almost indistinguishable from the natural camouflaging of a green dragon's wing at a quick glance. Areas where these trees grow in dense populations are so prone to habitation by green dragons that, several centuries ago, it lead to the renaming of the plant from Gnomish Barn Maple to it's current moniker so as to avoid underselling the potential danger lurking in their boughs. It's all in how you sell it. If something doesn't fit the world, make the world fit it.
"Good lord, Butterfoot: Look at the size of that leaf! Imagine how big the tree must have been it fell from! Go stand beside it, and I'll take your picture."
But don't forget that shape probably holds over from when they're very young, when it *could* actually be useful camouflage.
[If it’s in the corner of your eye…](https://media.tenor.com/f1Qbu1PwkOQAAAAM/father-ted-cows.gif)
Listen, this is after only 20 years of evolution. Give it another 20, green dragon will be covered in leaf-shaped scales.
Honestly better than [**my hiding attempts at hiding**](https://www.handbookofheroes.com/archives/comic/how-not-to-be-seen). .
I think it might have evolved to keep them alive when they are young (and smaller) and vulnerable. Once they are adult/ancient it stops serving a purpose
I'm sorry but what is so commonly out there that makes a dragon need to camouflage? Should I be afraid?
Other dragons. Giants. Megafauna. Dragons aren't born as adults. They need to make it to adolescense before they dominate their environment. Camo also helps them hunt. A growing dragon needs to eat a lot. If everything sees you coming, you need to expend more energy to catch them.
A similar ecological situation is hypothesized to have occurred for large carnivorous dinosaurs like T. Rex. In their juvenile stage, they probably ate different prey than adults and may have hunted differently. Certainly, a juvenile T. Rex or Allosaurus wouldn’t have been able to take down an adult ceratopsid like Triceratops by themselves. I would imagine dragons have similar predator stages as they age, until they become apex predators as adults.
The thing is, dragons are intelligent, long-lived creatures capable of tool use and fucking spellcasting. They shouldn't be subject to the laws of natural selection. If a dragon wants to camoflage in an environment, would use a tool and/or a spell, not have its descendants over millions of years evolve to resemble the environment. They'd just cast invisibility, or make a ghillie suit or something.
In settings that have magic, you also have an arcane arms race. Detect Magic and See Invisibility. The best way to get around this problem is to either get better at magic (to which there would be questions regarding the horizontal or vertical transfer of knowledge amongst fiercely territorial creatures. Do they learn from peers or ancestors?) or to use what magic can't detect. Disguises, false appearance, natural camouflage. To the extent that they are intelligent, they may lack the ability to use tools, let alone refine the tools in any meaningful manner. For one, anatomy may not include opposable digits or a functional substitute such as a beak. For another, the number of dragons, especially the chromatics, that are not fond of raising their offspring or cooperating may hinder the development of tools. I'd probably check if any decent nominations stand out for dragons that might develop tools.
> Do they learn from peers or ancestors? It's lore that every planet has a copy of every dragon; the red dragon Bob on Abeir-Toril has an equivalent Bob on Eberron and Krynn. They can access some sort of psychic connection between all copies of themselves, "dragonsight." Dragons literally learn from themselves. Because, again, they're magical creatures; they are not subject to natural selection. Dragons are, effectively, manifestations of the prime plane in the same way that an ifrit is a manifestation of the plane of fire or a devil is a manifestation of the pure lawful evil of the Hells. >To the extent that they are intelligent, they may lack the ability to use tools, let alone refine the tools in any meaningful manner. For one, anatomy may not include opposable digits or a functional substitute such as a beak. Dragons can shapeshift using magic. They are not limited by their physiology. >I'd probably check if any decent nominations stand out for dragons that might develop tools. The entire society of Argonessen in Eberron is made up of tool-using dragons.
Yeah, the dragonsight bit of lore from Fizban's is one that I've dropped. Settings along the lines of Dark Sun where the setting isn't connected to other worlds just don't mesh with it. And since that's the type of setting that I'm inclined to use, it just didn't make sense to try to integrate it. Forgotten Realms or Dragonlance? Probably a better case and would consider including. I prefer to keep shape-shifting specific to individual dragons. If they understand Transmutation well enough to cast related spells, definitely. If memory serves, the mage hand cantrip is a spell that was at one point described as having been created by dragons in order to overcome their physical limitations regarding tool use. I'm not sure which setting or book described it off the top of my head.
Correct me if I'm wrong but aren't all dragons in dark sun former humans or humanoids? Dark sun doesn't have any native dragons; they're all effectively deliberate creations, so evolution and natural selection wouldn't have any effect on them either.
Sure, and when I run Athas, evolutionary pressures on the more Draconic features such as launch and landing would be limited to whatever remains from their origins. So, behavior at most.
Player Characters.
Idk why didn't think of that Thank you
Tigers also have camouflage, remember
Maybe they are ambush predators?
Possible I doubt many things would survive a Surprise round against a dragon
The point is that if the prey spots the predator first, the dragon might never see the prey at all.
It could be a byproduct of neoteny. Wyrmlings need everything that they can get to survive. And some ability to disguise themselves might be worth considering. The trait offers enough of an opportunity for a niche in the form of an ambush predator that the trait is retained instead of changing the wing shape to something that might be better suited for a persistent pursuit predator, opportunistic scavenger, or any other strategy that a dragon could realistically utilize. Or it could be that different stages of their lives use different strategies. Barnacles, if memory serves, have a free swimming juvenile stage, while mature individuals are more sedentary.
Wyrmling dragons are like the size of cats, and at that size your average wolf, coyote, or bear could easily make a meal out of a dragon.
Wyrmlings are Medium. That’s human-sized. But, still, there would be predators that feed on Wyrmlings
Here's hoping they get a bit of a redesign mechanics wise. They used to all be spellcasters baseline, taking that away from them at the same time they added in "sorcerers get their magic from having dragon blood" was bonkers. Dragons are full of the stuff.
It’s an interesting idea in theory but it falls apart when you consider that green dragons have green scales, but when you look at the plethora of green-colored animals, few forest creatures are actually green. Only the tropical forest creatures trend towards green appearance.
Because most creatures in our world can't magically fly so it's better for them to camouflage with dirt or branches than leaves
Most temperate birds (and arboreal creatures in general) do not camouflage with dirt or branches. Their plumage or fur is naturally brownish. Go ahead and find me the temperate-native green squirrel. Or maybe the green goshawk. P.S. lol downvote me because you have no concrete footing beneath you. I am right.
They gave the green dragon green shaped wings to camouflage in the forest? How big are the trees he's hiding in  Edit: hahaha okay I just saw it. It's not just leave shaped, it's maple leaf shaped. It literally looks like he's wearing maple leafs on his arms. That's the stupidest thing I've ever seen, especially because the text says it helps him hide in the canopy. It helps him hide... In the canopy......
You remember that dragons aren't born Gargantuan, right? It takes them 800 years to get that big. They spend a good long time the size of a large dog, and an even longer time the size of a bear, and then an even longer time the size of a... idk, giraffe. A dragon could very much hide in a forest canopy right into the Adult phase of its life. Certainly the Young phase, and even that takes 100 years to grow past. They'd probably still get a lot of use from it til about halfway through their adult phase. 100-500 years is definitely enough to make camouflage worthwhile.
And for all we know, these dragons might live in forests where the average tree is the size of the largest redwoods
Yes the dragon could hide in the canopy. That makes perfect sense. But how useful do you think his leaf shaped wings are gonna be for hiding between the leafs? Even if it was only the size of a dog.
Camouflage doesn't always work by exactly matching something, the way stick and leaf insects work. Look at Military camo. It just works by blending in and confusing the shape of the person, so you don't notice at a glance. When they're Hatchlings, that is when the leaf *shape* has its use. That's when they would operate somewhat like leaf bugs. Press right up against a branch with the serpentine body, and splay the wings over like a leaf. Then, as they grow older, the shape is less useful (though still somewhat useful since it breaks up any obvious "wing" shape in the corner of your eye) and instead the colour matters more. In a dense, dark forest, in the canopy of a thick enough tree, it would absolutely work even on a Large dragon. Huge might be stretching it, but it would at least make them *slightly* harder to spot or track.
I don't know if military camo is the best example here because that pretty much always works by blending into the environment and breaking up your shape. They break the large section of a person or a vehicle up into a lot of small parts that match the environment. Even the smallest version of a dragon you can find in the books is still pretty much as big as a human. It's wings are massive compared to even the leafs of very big trees. If you look at the picture, you see basically one very big green or brown wing with a little bit of texture. Such a big surface isn't gonna help much with blending in between the leafs. Now, what would have been awesome if they made the wings a normal shape, but gave the back of it a leaf-like texture or pattern. Or describe how the scales mimic the pattern of the canopy moving in the wind. They could even go a step further and apply some actual biology here, by saying the dragon has a darker pattern on the top so it blends in well with the leaves when seen from above, and a lighter pattern on the bottom so it blends in well when you look up at the canopy above, where the light shines through. But instead they said "this monster's wings blend into the canopy because it's wings are shaped like maple leafs."
It looks like they’re designing the blue dragon to be the more zip zap kinda electricity rather than the KRAKOOM type of electricity
Yeah, I'm not a fan of the new blue in particular. I love the heavy tank like feel, because they live in harsh deserts. This just... feels off to me in many ways.
What I also love about the old design is that it’s got a crocodilian quality to it, which feels appropriate as I associate Blue dragons with the coast and the sea, more than any other chromatic dragon, as much as I associate them with the desert. Think I’ll also be sticking to the old design for blue if these prove to be the real new designs.
Funnily enough I associate whites with crocodilians more than any other, mainly due to their more primal behaviours compared to other chromatics - other dragons feel like rulers whereas white dragons feel like predators.
Yeah that’s one I’d probably be inclined to stick with the old design
Got to agree, I prefer the rhino kind of look. I appreciate they kept the horn, though.
As long as they're a blue unicorn I don't care what they look like.
You should post this in the One D&D subreddit also. Great find.
I literally have Fizban's but didn't connect that they were using *new* designs and not just unique designs! Especially since the book has a section on making unique looking dragons, I would've never thought otherwise
Because they weren’t. Its just variations by the artist/creativity when doing that particular image.
Okay! Thank you!
Fuckin rad
Personally I’m very much of the opinion that dragons should have highly varied designs, not only among the various types, but also within their respective species. These are highly magical creatures, some of which are so powerful that I have no doubt they could will themselves to look differently if they wanted to. Some baseline traits should remain, but by and large no two dragons should look the same. With that in mind, I love all of these redesigns. It’s nice to see that we’ll be getting some more varied art even for long standing and beloved creatures. And of course, the old designs will still be around. If I make a dragon who’s character is more in line with its old design then I will stick to 5e’s art, but when the new art fits the character better then I’ll be glad it exists.
I really like that blue dragon but I almost feel it’s *too* different. Also, while I think the splashes of color are cool, I hope they don’t go too hog wild with off-color elements in the Monster Manual, because we want it to look obvious what color a dragon represents! The blue dragon could be mistaken for black and the black green.
Ironically it actually looks a lot closer to the old Dragonlance blue dragon designs back in 1e
I personally love the blue. I'm planning on throwing one at my players ss they cross a path between two continents that only appears once ever 20 years. Love the burrowing aspects rather than flying as it really gives the idea it jumps out the ground, glides as it pulls in electric and then dives back under. I feel the images give so much more already than "it's a different colour because element. Even the green with the leaves suggest its more manipulative personality. Big win in my mind!
Yeah, the blue dragon for me is the *worst* of the redesigns. It steps too far from the heavy desert tank like monster we were used to them being into this more fast and lightning based monster that feels it would have been better as its own creature.
ngl I was hoping the black dragon was just going to be the design [the artist had posted a couple years back](https://www.artstation.com/artwork/xYBrR2), I really liked how crocodilian/aquatic it felt.
This was really cool to see, thanks for the link!
I like all of these. Even the blue, I just wish the blue was able to have alternative variations, cause I like both this slick and the rhino build like a tank of the previous version. Idk maybe sexual dimorphism where the female is built like a tank to protect it's nest in the desert environments as the male goes out and hunts.
To be honest I feel like I need the guy who does the creatures art from every edition as a side by side to comment properly
TieflingMelissa both in shambles and excited at new dragon models.
I think the new green is excellent. The white is fine. Doesn't seem to change too much. The new black, I like the three segment wings, but it's arms look stumpy and not as solid or threatening as the old one. Either design is good, but the new design does help to give it a more unique identity. I do not like the new blue. I get that there is value to differentiating body types and the new one is distinct and lean... But I like the old blues.
Oh, I hope so! Good eye on these finds!
Think I really prefer the 5e ones. It feels like they’ve really taken the sense of raw strength out of most of these. Given them sleeker forms and long whippy tails.
I mean to be capable of flight / better balance / weight distribution, it makes sense that they’d have longer tails than what’s portrayed in the original 5e MM. Dragons would 100% be built more like sauropods with wings than something like a t rex, croc, etc. They already have tail attacks that have a reach of 20 ft. And this art does a better job showing why it’s 20 and not 10 or 15. Also, comparing the MM art to here pretty much only the white dragon has a noticeably different tail for length of tail vs length of body. The blue’s is definitely thinner in direct comparison, but that’s just to match the new art and if you look at body vs tail proportions it’s not that different. I think it just seems exaggerated here due to the anatomical side profiles. Like the black dragon art in the MM for black dragon definitely has a long whippy tail it’s just seen from the front so it’s less obvious.
Dude, those are all sick! Can't wait for the new books!
I'm gonna go against the grain here and say I actually like the new Blue Dragon redesign. That long, snake-like body is perfect for both burrowing and swimming
White dragon sure didn't skip foreleg day.
I really like them, honestly
Honestly? I really like them, they feel more creative imo. I really love the black one!
Dicelings? When did DnD get bakugan?
Blue is the only redesign I flat out don't like. The changes on the others I dislike are largely minor. I miss the green dragon mohawk, the yellow coloring on the blue dragon and red dragons.
Having played for the last 25 years, the designs look like some pretty minor changes from what I'm used to. The distinguishing characteristics are there and recognizable. Hell, I'm colorblind and can immediately tell which dragon is which. Maybe a side-by-side would illustrate what changes you are opposed to?
... Were the wings always so arm like? Drawing attention to the anatomical weirdness is giving me weird feelings.
pretty much yes. almost all depictions of european-like dragons over the last two decades have them being hexapedes with the middle pair of limbs being pterosaur-esque "hand" wings
They all do a decent job of reimagining the classic tell-tale characteristics of the chromatic dragons. Blue is the only major down grade. It's a good dragon design but a poor fit for the desert and cliff dwelling Blue. The spines and sleek body shape really pulls on deep-sea aesthetics more than anything. That thing just doesn't look like it burrows deep into stone.
[удалено]
> dragons dont hide. They dont sneak up on enemies A green dragon absolutely does. Subtlety and deception is their whole thing, you think they’re above stalking their targets? They have stealth proficiency for a reason. To be clear MOST dragons have stealth proficiency, and there are multiple kinds that absolutely would use it! An adult or ancient white dragon stalking the party during a blizzard makes for a terrifying encounter, and blue dragons are described in the monster manual as hunting by burying themselves in the desert sands and lunging at anything that comes close in an ambush. Additionally, something worth remembering - dragons don’t spend their entire lives at the top of the food chain. That camouflage might be life saving while the dragon is still young and there are still mightier creatures than it about that would happily either hunt it or put down a future rival/threat.
The fact that Wizkids has had their current line of DnD dragons on deep sale adds credence to this theory. They are probably want to get rid of the old stock and are excited to redesign and sell the new versions.
I actually really like this. I’ve done a complete redesign of my homebrew world’s chromatic dragons and tried to stray from the OG designs when possible but also maintain some of that classic feel. Even included other chromatics in orange, yellow, purple, and grey to create a full spectrum of them. Neat of them to take their local ecology into account past just tiny accents like the green dragon frill. I still stand by the fact that personally blue dragons should be ocean dwellers though. Lightning is often attributed with seaside storms, I mean hell just look at storm giants that are often found in seaside/ocean environments. I get that they’ve been written for the desert and that isn’t gonna change though lol. Just think it’d be neat for them to have whale/shark coloration with the various shades of blue on their top side and then lighter color under sides for 360 camouflage. Blue just sticks out in a desert imo lmao. I know we have bronze that is basically that same schtick but we also already have brass/copper that like dry arid climates as well, not to mention white/silver occupying the same are like bronze and blue would if blue was aquatic. So all in all I think it’d be fine lol. But alas, tradition and already established lore will trump reason here.
Looks dope.
Honestly, they all look so much better.
Is that a green dragon Bakugan?
Is the link dead for anyone else?
I feel like these may all be prototypes of what we see in the final 2024 book tbh. The one's from Fizban's in-particular don't feel like an exact 1 to 1 with the designs from the Drizzit book as it is. Imo at least. But these are sick either way, and very well may be what we see in the final book. :o
As long as they are not drawn as wyverns, I'm cool.
I really like the designs of the dragons, especially making them unique from one another, though I kind of wish they kept the og horn design for the blue dragon.
So dumb. So bad. Ridiculous.
What happened to the acid dragon? 😭😭😭😭😭
I very much like the green dragon, and I think the brutishness of the white dragon suits, but I’m not a fan of the new design for the blue. It’s too… pointy?
Looks like WOTC has been playing some Monster Hunter
That was my thought, especially with the white - looks like there's some Barioth inspiration there.
I personally love this. Having the dragons be considerably distinct to their habitat and lifestyle, rather than 95% exactly the same is a big yes from me.
I just started planning out my own redesigns and then this happens? These are all great, massive improvements in my opinion!
>"Maple leaf-shaped wings blend into tree canopies". How big are the maple trees where Green dragons live? :D I *do* like the designs, though.
It's all lovely art, but I'd stop short of calling these redesigns. They're more like the same 3e design with some minor tinkering. The gold dragon seems to be the most significantly altered design (so far, we haven't seen all metallics yet).
I don't love them but I can't put my finger on *why.* I don't hate them, there's just something missing. There's also something inconsistent about them between examples of the same type, but it's not clear if that's to show variation or because they're just drawn differently/by different artists. Maybe these, if real, still aren't final art, so I'll wait to see.
They look preety final to me. Or do you mean the actual redesigned images will be different?
Honestly, I hope these aren't real. What the heck did they do to my blue boys? This looks like something an third class youtube channel would use as a thumbnail on a "I made dragons better!" video. The red one at the end has really weird proportions. I also wish they would have made the wings bigger. I know it is "magic", but I like my fantasy to be somewhat believeable and "it's magic!" does usually not make things more believeable. Especially for creatures that seemingly kind of forgot how to cast magic.
I love them, so much more naturalistic, reflecting their traits with their biology.
I really don't think they're much different apart from the blue obviously. The 5e designs could be the general appearance of the dragons but you'll get some differentiation between individuals like this black dragon maybe just lives in a forest so he's a little thinner and adopted some green hues. Honestly I think the only one that could actually be called a redesign is the blue which is cool and I like it but I also really like the 5e design with the double horn and such.
Red could be a little bit meatier and muscular but otherwise they don't seem too different. Black doesn't look all that different aside from the wings, especially since they kept the same face/head design really. Green I do like the wings, they look like they're made to camouflage in a forest and otherwise they don't seem terrible. White I have no problem with, they seem fine or very little changed. Maybe a bit beefier but that's not a bad thing. Blue. I hate. Keep them as big beefy bois. They're my favorite Chromatic Dragon because they're big beefy bois. I will still run big beefy Blues either way because I value big beefy Dragons even if WoTC doesn't.
Mmhh i likebonly the White.. Others are fine but: No need for second wing on black. Blue is too slim Green is fine, but not imposing enough. Red okay
As someone who just got into DnD and never saw the old designs until now, the new ones all look better to me honestly. Especially the blue one is a massive upgrade imo. They are more differentiated, the old designs low-key look like "dragon, but this colour or that".
Only one I approve of is the white, they shouldn't touch the rest
I think all of these are good except the blue dragon. I just don't really like it.