Huh. I thought these guys lived in the ocean. I guess even they don’t want to mess with the Dragon Turtle. Can’t blame them there.
Blue Dragons, the natural enemy to Brass Dragons, are ferociously proud beasts. They won’t stand for even the slightest insult and take great pleasure in establishing their dominance. However, don’t mistake them for fools. In a fight, they will act patiently and methodically. A battle with one could last hours, or even days, as it will fly about and blast lightning from a safe distance.
To survive in the desert that they make home, a blue dragon will often feed on cacti and other desert plants. Don’t be fooled: they are still undoubtedly carnivores. They’ll cook their meal, typically livestock, with lightning before consuming it. Because of that preference, they are considered the bane of nomadic tribes or traveling caravans, as the beast sees them as a convenient food source. Frighteningly enough, they don’t just swoop in and take it; they’ll actually bury themselves in the sand to hide and wait. When they rise, it’s as though an avalanche of sand pours from their wings.
Unlike most dragons, a blue dragon doesn’t seek out lesser monsters (aside from akhegs, giant scorpions, and other desert-faring creatures, whom they let stay near them) to fill out its ranks. Rather, it prefers to surround itself with bards, sages, artists, wizards, and assassins, as they help bolster its ego. Older blue dragons, however, will sometimes keep company with air elementals.
While they aren’t picky, blue dragons generally prefer precious gemstones over anything else. They’ll bury their treasures deep within the sand. Knowing that others would hunt their hoard, they’ll scatter less valuable items in the area as a trap for would-be treasure-hunters.
Once again, there’s a ton you can do with this! Want a purely random boss fight in the desert? You got it! Or maybe you want something more complex; perhaps the party could be hired by the ruler of the desert to find the treasure, only to discover the dragon! Or they could get caught in-between a battle of blue and brass dragons! Possibilities abound!
And best of all: you get a cool boss fight out of it!
Once again, the blue dragon comes in four flavors: wyrmling, young, adult, and ancient. Wyrmlings are the weakest. It’s AC and HP are pretty high for a low-level boss, even more so when you consider the lightning immunity. Its bite attack isn’t all that threatening, but the lightning breath is definitely a force to be reckoned with.
Young blue dragons are a huge upgrade. While the AC only goes up by one, the HP skyrockets by a whole extra 100. Now, on top of an upgraded bite attack and even more deadly lightning breath, it has a claw move that does decent but not frightening damage. But when you recall it can attack thrice with multiattack? It suddenly becomes much more frightening.
Adults are even more frightening. The AC once again goes up by one and the HP practically doubles. This time, it’s got three Legendary Resistances and Legendary Actions, which gives it a massive advantage in a battle. All of its attacks have upgraded damage, with an extra wing attack restricted to the Legendary Actions. Worse yet, it now has Frightful Presence, which can leave the players helpless against its wrath.
Ancient blue dragons are just adults, but with more AC and HP. Like, a lot more. This dude should either a) not be used for an actual fight or b) restricted to a level 20 party. Otherwise, it will kill them. Its numbers are just ridiculous!
In terms of a boss fight, this is yet another slam dunk! With the four varieties, you can give your players the fright and fun of fighting one regardless of their level. Sure, it’s pretty straightforward. But I’ll say it yet again: it’s a dragon! No matter what you do, it’ll scare the hell out of your players!
All in all, blue dragons are fucking sick! Their lore is super cool and they make for an awesome boss fight! This is yet another amazing monster that earns a spot among the top!
With all that in mind, let’s put the Blue Dragon on the Best of the Bestiary!
- Beholder
- Death Tyrant
- Blue Dragons <———–
- Black Dragons
- Couatl
- Behir
- Aboleth
- Chuul
- Chimera
- Death Knight
- Bone Devil
- Dracolich
- Ankheg
- Shadow Demon
- Marilith
- Aarackockra
- Azer
- Demilich
- Spectator
- Cambion
- Animated Armor
- Banshee
- Basilisk
- Yochlol
- Bulette
- Cloaker
- Darkmantle
- Doppelganger
- Pit Fiend
- Erinyes
- Chain Devil
- Bearded Devil
- Barbed Devil
- Spined Devil
- Ice Devil
- Nalfeshnee
- Glabrezu
- Chasme
- Barlgura
- Horned Devil
- Balor
- Shadow Dragon
- Vrock
- Dretch
- Goristro
- Hezrou
- Manes
- Quasit
- Planetar
- Imp
- Displacer Beast
- Carrion Crawler
- Rug of Smothering
- Bugbear Chief
- Bugbear
- Vine Blight
- Twig Blight
- Needle Blight
- Bullywug
- Cockatrice
- Lemure
- Solar
- Deva
- Cyclops
- Centaur
- Dinosaurs (All six of them)
- Flying Sword
- Crawling Claw
Honestly, it was a coin flip between this and the black dragon. Frankly, they should be tied. But I find the flavor text of the blue dragons to be just a bit more interesting than the black dragon. Though not by much; it was a very tight contest.
