Monster of the Month - Black Dragon
Hullo, Gentle Readers. Our Year of the Dragon continues with that deadly and devious swamp-dweller, the Black Dragon. As always, a huge thank you to Scott Fabianek for providing the art for these articles.
Black dragons are a nasty piece of work. Theyâre chaotic evil, so they absolutely cannot be trusted. Sometimes called âSkull dragonsâ because of the unique shape of their head and face, they like to lurk in swamps and marshes. As a result, they are aquatic creatures with a strong swimming speed. Since they can also fly, this gives this dragon an intense mobility and three-dimensional aspect that it should absolutely use to its advantage.
An ideal black dragon lair would be a rotting ruin with submerged caves and tunnels underneath it. It could lay in wait in the corrupted pools of murky water, launch out to spray its enemies with acid or to launch a frenzy of attacks, and then either dive back down or leap off into the sky. A black dragon should be unpredictable and terrifying, never sticking to a routine as it uses its mobility to always keep the upper hand in a fight.
It has the usual suite of attacks that most dragons have, including, if itâs old enough, legendary actions. If itâs encountered in its lair, it also has some very intriguing lair actions. The ability to have pools of water attack on its behalf is amazing. On a failed saving throw, you could have the heavily armored fighter dragged into a deep pool of water to contend with possibly drowning. Swarming insects are an excellent way to force spellcasters to constantly be making Concentration checks. And, of course, magical darkness is an excellent way for the dragon to use its blindsight and darkvision to gain a tactical advantage.
I would have the black dragon use that watery lair to its best ability. Unless the PCs have prepared with a lot of magic-items, potions, spells, etc., they arenât likely to be as effective in the water as the dragon itself is. As the players contend with disadvantage on many attack rolls and reduced mobility, the dragon should be able to operate completely normally, as well as using its various abilities to cause a lot of problems with its darkness and such.
From a role-playing perspective, black dragons have some interesting elements. They are very much a species that believes that strength rules and weakness is to be exploited and subjugated. They are actively sadistic and might pause to allow their prey to think they are safe or about to escape, only to drag them back into danger. I imagine them as loving a game of âcat and mouseâ. In such a way, a lower level group of adventurers might actually encounter a black dragon too powerful for them to fight and survive, because of the dragonâs cruel desire to toy with them. That could make an interesting adventure, as the PCs race through a trap-filled ruin, trying to escape a sadistic pursuing dragon. If they do escape with their lives, that could be a villain to face again later in their careers.
Evil lizardfolk sometimes think of black dragons as gods. This makes for a very visually appealing element. Maybe the lizardfolk paint themselves with black dyes to resemble their âgodâ, or build crude effigies in their village, while also raiding nearby settlements for prizes to sacrifice to their dragon. This gives me a very âSkull Islandâ vibe, and I can immediately feel a story coming from it.
 I feel like the acid breath of the black dragon feeds largely into its overall theme of decay and corruption, and I would play off of this. A young black dragon might try to slowly dissolve the bonds of a community, while an ancient black dragon might be trying to bring down an entire nation. Since they love to dwell in the ruins of old civilizations, a group of players might have to venture into a black dragonâs lair looking for a piece of lost lore. In such a case, they may be glad to escape with the knowledge and their lives.
I hope this article has given you some inspiration on how to use these unique and terrible dragons. If you have any great black dragon stories, weâd love to hear them.