I like the improvement with the Ancient Dragon Turtle in Fizban's Treasury of Dragons but I still feel it is a shadow of how it was originally depicted in Basic D&D. In those days it was at the pinnacle of the D&D monsters, at least physically. It was the Tarrasque of its day.
You're certainly welcome to make dragon turtles in your game more like whatever they were like back in the day. I make adjustments to monsters all the time in my games. Sometimes bringing a monster I want to use down to the party's level, sometimes buffing up weaker enemies I want to use to still be a challenge.
If you want to give dragon turtles more abilities or power in your games, there's really no reason not to. It's perfectly fine for the DM to make changes from the monster manual stat blocks.
I will likely scale them to Gold Dragons at the same ratio that existed in Basic D&D. I think I will also grant the Shape Change ability so they can be encountered in humanoid form. I came to D&D during the original Dragon Lance era and liked that chromatic dragons could assume human form, so being as they are grouped with Dragons as a magical creature, I like the idea.
Personally I think that the whole point of Dragon Turtles is that they are mistaken for islands. Shapechange essentially deprives them of that role completely. Who would actually choose to be a dragon turtle? A massive, lumbering, sea dwelling reptile miles wide - what meaningful interactions can it have with any other creature in that form?
I suspect that if a Dragon Turtle could shapechange, it would spend its entire existence in a shapechanged form. Dragons I understand - they are the lords of the sky. They don't have to live in the miserable sea, being inhabited by loads of creatures and plants.
So whilst the answer is actually "This is D&D, do whatever you want," I feel it's a bit like creating a good vampire that doesn't drink blood: you've taken away everything that makes it a vampire.
I am not sure that would be the case. I think being lords of the ocean and the deeps would be more diverse and at least as interesting as the areas metallic and chromatic dragons lord over. I think the immensity of the Dragon Turtle;'s size and lifespan would entice them to be curious about the surface and the humanoids that dwell there and would be reason enough to take on human form but just as Dragons, they wouldn't desire to be other than what they are. It would just be another diversion for the vastness of their lifespan.
I found this in the Homebrew section. This is kind of what I was hoping for.
Could a Dragon Turtle potentially have the ability to Shape Change into humanoid form?
RAW at least in 5E, they do not have this ability.
Could they be given it? That's up to the DM. If you're the DM, feel free to give them whatever abilities you want.
I like the improvement with the Ancient Dragon Turtle in Fizban's Treasury of Dragons but I still feel it is a shadow of how it was originally depicted in Basic D&D. In those days it was at the pinnacle of the D&D monsters, at least physically. It was the Tarrasque of its day.
You're certainly welcome to make dragon turtles in your game more like whatever they were like back in the day. I make adjustments to monsters all the time in my games. Sometimes bringing a monster I want to use down to the party's level, sometimes buffing up weaker enemies I want to use to still be a challenge.
If you want to give dragon turtles more abilities or power in your games, there's really no reason not to. It's perfectly fine for the DM to make changes from the monster manual stat blocks.
I will likely scale them to Gold Dragons at the same ratio that existed in Basic D&D. I think I will also grant the Shape Change ability so they can be encountered in humanoid form. I came to D&D during the original Dragon Lance era and liked that chromatic dragons could assume human form, so being as they are grouped with Dragons as a magical creature, I like the idea.
Personally I think that the whole point of Dragon Turtles is that they are mistaken for islands. Shapechange essentially deprives them of that role completely. Who would actually choose to be a dragon turtle? A massive, lumbering, sea dwelling reptile miles wide - what meaningful interactions can it have with any other creature in that form?
I suspect that if a Dragon Turtle could shapechange, it would spend its entire existence in a shapechanged form. Dragons I understand - they are the lords of the sky. They don't have to live in the miserable sea, being inhabited by loads of creatures and plants.
So whilst the answer is actually "This is D&D, do whatever you want," I feel it's a bit like creating a good vampire that doesn't drink blood: you've taken away everything that makes it a vampire.
I am not sure that would be the case. I think being lords of the ocean and the deeps would be more diverse and at least as interesting as the areas metallic and chromatic dragons lord over. I think the immensity of the Dragon Turtle;'s size and lifespan would entice them to be curious about the surface and the humanoids that dwell there and would be reason enough to take on human form but just as Dragons, they wouldn't desire to be other than what they are. It would just be another diversion for the vastness of their lifespan.
I found this in the Homebrew section. This is kind of what I was hoping for.
https://www.dndbeyond.com/monsters/2078064-ancient-dragon-turtle-revised