Fizban’s Treasury of Dragons arrives October 26 and will be chock-full of our favorite scaled monsters and their minions. The book will provide a deep dive into the First World, a place that existed before the multiverse and that is the birthplace of dragons. It will also formally bring gem dragons to fifth-edition Dungeons & Dragons!
Gem dragons come in five types: amethyst, crystal, emerald, sapphire, and topaz. The sapphire dragon and a brief history of gem dragons first appeared in fifth edition in an exclusive monster stat block released to benefit Extra Life, a charity that helps sick and injured children.
Find out what we know about gem dragons and their history below:
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The 5 types of gem dragons
The release of the adult sapphire dragon provided us with a glimpse of what we can expect this edition's of gem dragons to be like. Here are common traits among the gem dragons:
- Psionic: What sets gem dragons apart from their metallic and chromatic counterparts are their innate psionic abilities. Telepathy is commonplace among gem dragons, and some hone their psychic abilities to greater effect. An adult sapphire dragon, for example, can innately cast scrying and telekinesis.
- Solitary: Gem dragons don't have a tendency of surrounding themselves with others, even with those of their own kind. In general, they prefer not to meddle or be meddled with.
- Charismatic: Those who deal with these types of dragons will often find them to be charming and great conversationalists.
- Followers of Sardior: Where metallic dragons follow Bahamut the Platinum Dragon and chromatic dragons follow Tiamat the Dragon Queen, gem dragons follow the uniquely ruby dragon Sardior.
- Enemies of aberrations: Gem dragons abhor mind flayers, aboleths, and other aberrations. They help protect the Material Plane from the Far Realm, an alien place that exists beyond the multiverse.
Beyond this, our understanding of gem dragons stems from previous editions of D&D. What we cover below is largely based on lore from D&D 3.5's Monster Manual II and Draconomicon. In this previous edition, gem dragons made their lairs in the Elemental Planes as well as in specific environments in the Material Plane.
Amethyst dragons
The amethyst dragon has scales that appear as crystals. They are wise, majestic, and agreeable. Owed to their temperament, they have at times served as intermediaries between warring dragons and even factions of other intelligent creatures. Owed to their ability to burrow, amethyst dragons tend to carve out lairs deep underground and are known to dwell in the Elemental Plane of Earth.
Amethyst dragons prefer to avoid conflict, even if encountered in their lair. However, if they feel the need to protect themselves, their young, or their territory, they will act with care. Should the tides of battle turn against them, an amethyst dragon is likely to flee, finding little value in fighting to certain death.
Crystal dragons
The crystal dragon has scales that appear as translucent crystals. They are curious and the friendliest of the gem dragons, and make their homes on the Material Plane high atop snowy mountains or in the Elemental Plane of Air. Because white dragons sometimes encroach on their territory (or vice versa), crystal and white dragons occasionally war with one another. Such battles are most often instigated by white dragons; crystal dragons care little for needless fighting.
That's not to say crystal dragons are blameless. They are known to steal white dragon eggs on occasion and raise their young to be good. Should you chance upon a crystal dragon lair, though, you would find an icy palace decorated with finely crafted ice sculptures. Owed to their friendly nature, crystal dragons are unlikely to attack at first sight. They prefer conversing with adventurers and avoiding those who are problematic.
Emerald dragons
With scales that range in tones of green from emerald to sea green and mint, emerald dragons are a sight to behold. These inquisitive and highly intelligent dragons commonly take an interest in the history and customs of civilizations they dwell near. For any wizard, playing trivia against an emerald dragon is a true test of one's knowledge. Unfortunately, these dragons are paranoid and don't care much for having tea with strangers.
Emerald dragons commonly make their lairs just beyond the boundaries of civilization, preferring the cones of active or inactive volcanoes. Though they might also make the Inner Planes their home, emerald dragons are careful to keep a close eye on any lairs they have on the Material Plane. They are prone to use mundane and magical traps and alarms in order to avoid trespassers from catching them unawares.
Despite their wariness, emerald dragons are anything but fearful. They are unafraid of going toe to toe with enemies in melee range, though they aren't reckless. They might use spells such fog cloud before unleashing their breath weapon to soften up enemies. These dragons are also known to go hunting for treasure on the seas. They will herd ships to a location where it can safely examine and loot cargo.
Sapphire dragon
Sapphire dragons are the only gem dragons that have thus far been released in fifth edition. We know that their scales glitter and are various shades of blue, and that they are fiercely territorial and warlike. They dwell deep underground and are master tacticians, preferring to take their time studying enemies and planning ambushes rather than committing to a frontal assault.
If you have hopes of hunting down a sapphire dragon — good luck. Their lairs can be impossible to find. Sapphire dragons can shape stone (represented in their lair actions), and will seal off all entrances into their lair.
In D&D 3.5, these dragons commonly warred with creatures of the Underdark, including drow and mind flayers, and kept their heads as trophies. In addition to dwelling on the Material Plane, they also made their homes in the Elemental Plane of Earth. Adventurers who visit a sapphire dragon in their lair would be wise to bring a game of strategy for entertainment — and let them win.
Topaz dragon
A topaz dragon's individual yellow and orange scales can be hard to spot at a distance, making the creature appear as though it were sculpted from a single, enormous gem. Yet, this dragon's temperament betrays its beauty. Topaz dragons are unfriendly, selfish, and erratic. A chance encounter could start as friendly and cheery but then quickly devolve into a battle. In some way, their behavior is akin to the eladrin of the Feywild.
In the Material Plane, topaz dragons make their home near secluded beaches or in underwater caves. There, they feast on aquatic creatures like sharks and squids. They're also known to inhabit the Elemental Plane of Water.
What about obsidian dragons?
Technically, there is a sixth type of gem dragon: the obsidian dragon. These were the cruelest and most intelligent of the gem dragons. They enjoyed making their prey suffer and made their homes in volcanos in the Material Plane and in the Elemental Plane of Fire. However, these dragons aren't mentioned in the adult sapphire dragon's statistics page, so they are not discussed at length here. My guess is that they won't appear in Fizban’s Treasury of Dragons.
Sardior, the god of gem dragons
Where Bahamut and Tiamat preside over metallic and chromatic dragons, respectively, another deity watches over gem dragons: Sardior, the ruby dragon.
In fifth-edition lore, the mysterious Sardior dwells in a floating city made of ruby and red gold that can only be spotted at night. He keeps a council of five ancient gem dragons, one of each kind. Sound familiar? When Bahamut is in his human form, he is accompanied by seven golden canaries — each an ancient gold dragon in polymorphed form.
In playtest material released for new draconic ancestries for dragonborn, Sardior is mentioned in passing. He is said to have been the first creation of Bahamut and Tiamat in the First World.
What we know about the First World
The First World hasn't seen much mention in fifth-edition D&D. Tasha's Cauldron of Everything briefly discusses the First World in an aside following the spell dream of the blue veil:
Traveling to other worlds
The Material Plane holds an infinite number of worlds. Some—like Oerth, Toril, Krynn, and Eberron—are well documented, but there are countless others. You and your friends may even have created some homemade D&D worlds yourselves!
It was not always so. Various scholars speak of a primordial state, a single reality they call the First World, which preceded the multiverse as we know it. Many of the peoples and monsters that inhabit the worlds in the Material Plane originated there. After the First World was shattered by a great cataclysm—giving birth to the worlds that came in its wake—the progeny of the first elves, dwarves, beholders, and other iconic creatures took root on world after world, like seeds scattered by a cosmic wind. If the musings of these great sages are true, every world is a reflection—and in some cases, a distortion—of the First World.
Source: Tasha's Cauldron of Everything
From previous editions of D&D, we know the First World is a place that the primordial gods used as a testing ground for their creations. It is a chaotic place, with even the laws of nature like gravity and light being unpredictable. At times, a small area of the First World might become stable and predictable, but this is sure to be short-lived. Chaos is the default state for the First World.
What is Fizban's Treasury of Dragons?
Fizban's Treasury of Dragons is now available for preorder on D&D Beyond! The book adds new player options, including draconic ancestries for dragonborn, dragon-themed monk and ranger subclasses, as well as feats and spells. Learn all about 20 different kinds of dragons and their minions. Dungeon Masters will enjoy the included lair maps and the rich lore behind the First World and more! Those with a Master-tier subscription can share books they've purchased with players in their campaigns.
Michael Galvis (@michaelgalvis) is a tabletop content producer for D&D Beyond. He is a longtime Dungeon Master who enjoys horror films and all things fantasy and sci-fi. When he isn’t in the DM’s seat or rolling dice as his anxious halfling sorcerer, he’s playing League of Legends and Magic: The Gathering with his husband. They live together in Los Angeles with their adorable dog, Quentin.
I''m interested for the dragonborn updates to become official, but I really hope they've gone for something more flexible; I'd prefer a more modular race variant (pick an element, pick a special ability) as it would give us much more freedom to create dragonborn corresponding to any type of dragon we like. For example, thunder damage and metallic breath for a battle dragonborn, psychic plus darkvision for a deep/purple dragonborn and so-on.
Wasn't a fan of the Kobold variant in the UA at all personally; I've always really liked the Volo's guide version, it's a lot of fun to play.
I guess we'll just have to see; I would have said all this to WotC themselves, but their feedback system for UA is seriously bad. There's no way to know when it's open except to check the UA page every day, and then it closes for responses after about five seconds, so unless loads of people agreed with me I'm worried we'll just get the UA basically as-is, which won't be worth purchasing IMO, I'll just use homebrew instead.
Finally some Saridor lore
You should make Sardior gender-nonbinary so they seem as neutral as possible. Not more like Bahamut or Tiamat than the other.
I already came up with gem dragon homebrews. You don't need to.
You...do know that Salvatore can write about what he wants. And there were plans for more Dragonlance/Krynn books but WotC and Weiss and Hickman got into a legal dispute.
Salvatore isn't employed by WotC if they said "Do something else" he can say "No."
The lack of novels isn't because WOTC isn't letting them be written. Forgotten Realms/TSR/D&D has always struggled to have writers and new blood.
I want to be a gem draconic sorcerer
The real question is: do I preorder it for those sweet, sweet preorder perks, or do I wait until a little while after it's released for when DDB invariably offers a discount code?
Don't worry, nor can I!
What in the planes of existence do you mean?!
This is nightmarish for homebrew-content-makers like me who were already making these things, like topaz and amethyst dragons! What, do you want sourcebooks with a psychic class, thri-kreen race, and modern technology? Because I'm ALREADY MAKING THAT. Look, if they even release this book it'll be a disaster for people like me who already thought up this stuff and tried to put it in homebrew sourcebooks and here. I was working on topaz dragons when I saw this and I panicked. If they make this, I won't be able to release almost a sourcebook's worth of stuff until I get this stupid book or go online and search for it. Even then I'll only be able to make less than half the original amount I was going to.
These kinds of things ruin homemade content by making everything official, unchangeable stuff. It's not fun to not be able to make special content to share with friends and to be limited to buying a thirty-dollar book.
I'm a little late, but really nice article!
...What?! That's like saying "Ugh, I can't believe Wild Beyond the Witchlight is coming out, I'm halfway into a Feywild campaign! Now what am I supposed to do?" or "How dare they release Volo's Guide to Monsters, I already homebrewed a bunch of Goblinkin races". WotC is going to keep making material. Everyone knows this. Everyone also knew that:
Both of these factors should have been a huge indicator that something draconic was coming, so I don't know why you're so surprised and offended. Now, all that aside, here's what you can do now instead of begging WotC to change their minds on the release of the book:
No matter what you choose to do, stop your complaints. They're completely unfounded and frankly ridiculous.
If you're hungry for something now Matt Colville has some amazing Gem Dragon material in his book "Strongholds & Followers" I wonder if they drew any inspiration from his work
Who else thinks that the College of Creation might be included in here?
I haven't read that book, is it good?
Unlikely they looked at it; there would be copyright problems if they had.
Yeah! I'm taking a lot of inspiration and mechanics from it for kingdom building in my homebrew campaign. There's a oneshot in it and a rather extensive bestiary, well worth the money, and the art is great too! I'm also using his stats for an ancient emerald dragon that'll be featured in our next season (we record my campaign for my podcast ChasmQuest). I'm also borrowing a lot from Pathfinder's "Ultimate Campaign" book with kingdom and settlement building. It's all well worth it if you're into that kind of thing.
It does seem suspicious thought that only a few years after release WotC comes out with gem dragons with psionic powers. but I'm guessing Matt's designs were most likely inspired by something older and similar. The cycle continues
Bards with True Polymorph: "Fine. I'll do it myself."
Me too.
"Wont" without the apostrophe is an actual word that means "prone or likely to do something". No grammatical/spelling error there. 🙂