Coinciding withDungeons and Dragons’ 50th anniversary, the popular tabletop roleplaying game will be releasing revamped versions of its core rulebooks. The new wave of rulebooks — starting with the release of thePlayer’s Handbookthis September — will feature a variety of updates to the game’s 5th Edition. With the goal to both shake up the game’s meta and implement a decade’s worth of player feedback,D&D’s classes, backgrounds, and monsters are all getting significant updates. However, when it comes to monsters, none seem to be receiving as drastic of a makeover asDungeons and Dragons' fierce mascots: the dragons.
Ever since the game’s inception back in 1974, dragons have been an integral part of theDungeons and Dragonsfranchise — shocker. From book covers to miniatures and the subjects of innumerable campaigns, dragons and their many variations have always been a mainstay in this game. There was never a chance that dragons would be omitted fromDungeons and Dragons’ upcoming overhaul, but given their legacy and importance, many wondered what the game could do to make the inclusion of dragons feel meaningful.
A New Era for Dragons in D&D
The designers put plenty of time and effort into the dragons of this new update.In an interview withComicBook,D&D’s head of art Josh Herman spoke about the decision to “refresh” each and every dragon.
“There are several facets to it. The critique I would have onD&Ddragons is they didn’t feel like they had unique identities in what their personality was or where they lived in their biome. They really spearheaded what a ‘modern-day’ dragon looked like at that time. But since then, they hadn’t really been innovated on in a while, and so we kind of wanted to give them a push while we were doing this refresh. So, this is a good time to reinvent that and kind of look at them as a whole.”
2014’sMonster Manualfeatured 10 dragon types — red, blue, black, white, green, gold, silver, copper, bronze, and brass. Though they each had different stats, attacks, and lore, they all ultimately played the same and looked fairly similar. Going forward, however, each of the previous dragon types will have a wholly unique personality, specific interactions with its environment, and a distinct appearance to reflect those.
A Dragon for Every Occasion
The gold dragon for example will have a more melancholic, introverted disposition, can breathe underwater, and is far more serpentine in shape than any of the other dragons. The silver dragon on the other hand is a hulking, chrome-covered socialite that gravitates towards cities and behaves more like aD&Dpaladinthan the typical Smaug-esque dragon. These lawful dragons can certainly make for interesting roleplay opportunities in game, but those hoping for despicable dragons that offer no moral quandaries in combat are still in luck.
A video recently posted toDungeons and Dragons' YouTube channel showcased the black dragon. This hostile, self-loathing creature is the epitome of evil-aligned dragons. If the coiled horns and exposed bone on its face aren’t enough to scare away a party of adventurers, its acidic breath certainly will.
The goal with these changes is to make every encounter with a dragon feel completely unique for the players. Not only will the dragons look differently, but they will behave differently, and — thanks to a new set of stats and abilities — have a completely personalized strategy in combat. A red dragon can always deliver a full-on brawl, but a green dragon is far more likely to lure unsuspecting adventurers into its woods, mislead them, and then ambush them when the time is right.
Draconic Adventures on D&D’s Horizon
If these switch-ups to the game’s draconic lineup are implemented as they’ve been advertised, it will make for a very exciting update toDungeons & Dragons. Dragons will no longer be predictable, generic additions to an adventure. An entire campaign could be created around each of these dragon types and hypothetically have no overlap in setting, theme, or encounter construction. This is a change that the game has needed for a long time now, and it makes one wonder what other appealing overhauls are waiting within this new roll-out ofD&Dcore rulebooks.
Though actual stats for these updated dragons are not currently available to the public, they will be when theMonster Manualreleases both physically and digitally on July 16, 2025. Pre-orders are currently up for the book, and anyone who pre-orders it through D&D Beyond will also receiveDragons of D&D— a digital book filled with unreleased art of each of the new dragon variations. In addition to theMonster Manual, thePlayer’s Handbookwill release on July 31, 2025, and theDungeon Master’s Guidewill release on July 02, 2025.
Dungeons and Dragons
Created by Gary Gygax, Dungeons & Dragons is a tabletop game in which players craft their own worlds and band together to take on adventures through mysterious realms outlined in companion materials. One of the best role-playing games ever made, it has been adapted into a variety of video games and other media.
