Adult Red Dragon
Huge Dragon (Chromatic) · · CR 17
- Dragon (Chromatic)
- Huge
- Tier 4
Ranges across hill and mountain; Adult Red Dragon lists at CR 17 as a huge dragon (chromatic) (chaotic evil). Sourced from Monster Manual (5e 2014) and Monster Manual (5.5e 2024).
Stat Block
- Challenge Rating
- 17
- Type
- Dragon (Chromatic)
- Size
- Huge
- Alignment
- —
- Speed
- —
- Habitats
- Hill, Mountain
- Sources
- Monster Manual (5e 2014), Monster Manual (5.5e 2024)
Ecology
Adult red dragons claim volcanic peaks, basalt plateaus, and ash-choked valleys, requiring vast hunting ranges to feed their immense appetites. Cattle, deer, giants, and entire villages disappear into their gullets. Their presence sterilizes ecosystems within a hundred miles; ash falls on crops, predators flee, and only fire-adapted scavengers remain. Their lairs include lava chambers heated to temperatures lethal to most life, where their hoards melt into the floor as molten reefs of gold, gems, and pre-melted weaponry.
Behaviour
Red dragons are cruel, vain, and territorial beyond reason. They demand worship, tribute, and acknowledgment of supremacy from every sentient creature in range. Insults are remembered for centuries. They are intelligent enough for politics but too proud for diplomacy, preferring puppet kingdoms ruled through terror to direct governance. They take sadistic pleasure in mortal suffering and stage elaborate cruelties for amusement. Among their own kind, they form temporary alliances only against shared enemies, dissolving these the moment threat passes.
Origin
Red dragons descend from the first chromatic clutch laid by Tiamat in the molten womb of the primordial earth, when the goddess sought champions to challenge the metallic broods of Bahamut. Each red believes itself royalty by virtue of this lineage, and many trace their genealogies obsessively, hoarding heraldic tomes alongside gold. Some old reds claim to remember Tiamat directly, though sages doubt this; more likely, they remember being told they remember, which to a red dragon is identical.
Related Monsters
Frequently Asked Questions about Adult Red Dragon
- What is the challenge rating of Adult Red Dragon?
- Adult Red Dragon's challenge rating is 17. A party in this band works against tier-4 parties.
- What type of creature is Adult Red Dragon?
- Adult Red Dragon is classified as a dragon (chromatic) in D&D 5e, huge size.
- Where does Adult Red Dragon live?
- Adult Red Dragon's listed habitats include Hill, Mountain.