 Goto [ Index ] |
In Short
Draconomicon: Chromatic Dragons sets out to provide a DM with a host of interesting encounters with evil dragons. Featuring the classic five evil dragons along with a variety of alternatives, such as Brown and Purple dragons, Draconomicon offers comprehensive coverage of all evil dragon types. With monster stats, encounter maps, and worthwhile discussion on the nature of dragons this book is an excellent resource for any campaign featuring frequent encounters with dragons.The Good: Lots of worthwhile support material greatly expands a DM's options when it comes to dragon-focused campaigns.
The Bad: The named dragons are mostly 30+, which makes sense but does limit the usefulness of the material for some campaigns. A few paragon-tier named dragons would have been a nice addition. The book doesn't quite measure up to the 3.5 Draconomicon, but then this is meant to be a product much more focused on evil dragons and dragons in play rather than a general aid.
The Physical Thing
Draconomicon includes a lot of beautiful content in its 256 pages, but for $39.95 it's only slightly nicer than what I would expect. Beautiful illustrations of dragons really do a great job of setting mood and inspiring the reader, while many helpful map illustrations flesh out the encounters. Good editing and useful formatting have made this book easy to work with while at the gaming table.Under the Cover
Draconomicon focuses in on presenting information on the evil Chromatic Dragons and is meant to be an antagonist accessory for 4E Dungeons and Dragons. Basic background information on dragons, including their physiology, is presented before moving on to a variety of encounter areas, new monsters, and signature dragons.Right off the bat the reader is provided with more information on dragon society, physiology, hoards, and similar background information on these creatures. This information, and the book as a whole, deviates sharply from previous presentations of dragons in a variety of ways. Of particular note, discussion of dragon physiology focuses in on the role the dragon hoard plays in their development. Those dragons who are unable to find enough meat to sustain their lives can instead eat their hoard, and doing so can also confer certain powerful benefits. For example, a dragon who eats a magic item can make use of that item for some time after consuming it and this allows a dragon to super charge itself when faced with grave danger.
Another change is in the lifecycle of the dragon. One possible way dragons may die is through a process called elemental diffusion where the dragon's associated element continues to grow within until it overwhelms the dragon, causing local devastation as that element takes control. I quite like this addition as it results in dragon graveyards taking on the elemental aspect of the dragon. Indeed, it's even possible that a feature such as a volcano might exist solely because it's a place where one or more red dragons have gone to die rather than it being a place that already existed that simply drew dragons there. For those that like to consider the possibilities of what a dragon could do in war, simply dying this way may be the most effective means of neutralizing an enemy's key resources.
Each of the five chromatic dragons, as well as some new dragons such as the brown dragon, receives a few pages of discussion. While some of the discussion focuses on the physical properties of the dragon, most of it is more interested in where the dragon lairs, how it feeds, and generally what a dragon does to the environment it dwells in. Changes continue through here, with such alterations as blue dragons now being associated with storms and coastal areas rather than deserts. There's nothing wrong with the 4E alterations, indeed many of them make a good deal of sense or are quite creative. However, those who have been with Dungeons and Dragons for some time may not care so much for changes in old favorites.
As for Dming advice, it tends to be a little bland but on the whole is helpful for any DM looking to get a game off the ground. Examples of how various dragon-focused campaigns may play out at each tier of play are helpful, as are suggested skill challenges that may be worked into a dragon campaign. My favorite addition here, though, is the use of weird terrain in a dragon's hoard. Not just impairing movement, some ideas such as Dazzling Treasure blinds characters that stand too close to the highly reflective metallic objects in a dragon's hoard. Curses, slippery piles of treasure, enemy prisoners, and other ideas help to spice up an encounter to be more than just some difficult terrain and a dragon.
In addition to general suggestions to add flavor to a dragon campaign, Draconomicon offers nine different dragon lairs to assault, with 3 at each level of play. I found these to be useful in play as they allowed me to focus more on the plot hooks I wanted to use and allow this resource to deal with the nitty gritty of what the terrain looks like, what an appropriate encounter is composed of, and so forth. The individual lairs are kick ass and offer a variety of concepts, each of which is interesting and offers unique memories at the gaming table. Indeed, were I to run a campaign with even more of a dragon focus I could easily see myself using most of, if not all of, these lairs in that game.
While new adventure locations, complete with encounters, are helpful I was also pleased with an assortment of new adversaries to throw into the mix. The folk I play with tend to already know the stats and vulnerabilities of creatures found in the standard monster manuals, so having the opportunity to introduce something a little bit different was worthwhile. New dragons include the Brown (sandy desert theme, sand breath), the Gray (flatlands, acid + immobilization breath), and Purple (underground dwelling, psychic attacks and dominations). A new size category, Wyrmling, is introduced for those so interested and it does aid in creating situations where the PCs must choose whether or not they will kill so young of an intelligent creature.
In addition to chromatic dragons, Draconomicon also includes Planar dragons. Each of these has only one size category entry, and the general thought is that these are rare dragons that have been changed by the planes. For example, the Abyssal Dragon is a white dragon that was abducted and altered by demons to sport hard armor and a bit of madness. Pact Dragons live on the Astral plane and are descended from the reds that long ago formed a pact with the Githyanki. All of these new dragon types are non-solo encounters, making them nice in that they can be easily mixed in with humanoids for dragon riders, or nice because the PCs might go up against multiple dragons at once.
Even stranger dragons are also included, which has worked out well for my Planescape game. Elemental dragons (dragons made of elements), faerie dragons, mirage dragons, wretch (Underdark) dragons, blight dragons, dreambreath dracolich, dragon zombies, dragon shadows, dragon skeletons, dragon parasites, living breath weapons, and more can be found here. The entries are a mix of very imaginative (living breath weapon) and fairly mundane (zombie dragon). On the whole I've found the variety to be very nice, and thanks to these entries I've found it much easier to maintain a consistent dragon-oriented arc for some of the PCs in my campaign while still focusing on non-dragon related adventure locations and encounters.
Of final note, Draconomicon offers a variety of unique dragon antagonists that may be inserted into a campaign as villains. I've found these to be quite useful in play, having made use of several of them and planning to use yet another. They have interesting, if short, backstories and their abilities are somewhat greater than a typical version of their color would possess. While there aren't a ton of entries here, I've found what the book provides to be fun and useful in play. I don't want to invest the time in carefully building a villain, so these stock adversaries have proven to be invaluable for filling in specific antagonist roles in my campaign.
