Fizban’s Treasury of Dragons brings with it new kinds of dragons, including the fey-touched moonstone dragon. Players of previous editions of Dungeons & Dragons will recognize “moonstone dragon” as a nickname for third edition’s ethereal dragon. Its rebirth in the fifth edition rules delivers a distinct new identity, with wisps of its ethereal nature still suffusing the creature. A moonstone dragon’s fey roots and connection with the realm of dreams can make for fascinating new encounters with dragons.

A preview of the adult moonstone dragon from 2021's D&D Celebration offers a glimpse at what you'll find in Fizban’s Treasury of Dragons. Expect the book to contain even more information on these fantastical and impetuous creatures!

• Introducing the adult moonstone dragon
• Adult moonstone dragon statistics
• A moonstone dragon’s lair
• Playing with moonstone dragons at your table

An adventure is better with friends!

Master-tier subscribers can share books they've purchased on D&D Beyond with friends in their campaigns. That means when Fizban’s Treasury of Dragons releases on October 26, you and your friends can enjoy the book together and play with all-new character options, including new dragonborn ancestries, dragon-themed subclasses for monks and rangers, and new feat and spell options.

Monster preview: Adult moonstone dragon

Ancient legends suggest that when the gods came to the First World and tried to populate it with their Humanoid followers, a clever dragon fled to the Feywild to hide a clutch of eggs. The magic of that faerie realm suffused the eggs, which hatched into the first moonstone dragons. Their descendants are now found throughout the Feywild.

Source: Fizban’s Treasury of Dragons 

While relatively weaker and less hearty than adult chromatic or metallic dragons found in the Monster Manual, an adult moonstone dragon is the most dextrous of the bunch, and generally has the highest scores in Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma. (Only the adult gold dragon has higher Charisma.) Content to communicate peacefully and to exchange stories or ideas, the ferocity of the moonstone dragon's Claw attacks doesn’t quite match that of other dragons of its size. Beware its Bite, however — the rare adventurer to choose violence against a moonstone dragon will risk taking an extra 7 (2d6) radiant damage on top of the Bite’s normal 16 (2d10+5) piercing damage.

Like its brethren, a moonstone dragon’s thrice-daily Legendary Resistance allows it to shrug off a bout of bad luck, or to perhaps run away to fight another day — a task more easily accomplished if encountered in its lair (see below). It is also immune to being charmed, which — in addition to its high mental stats and proficiency in Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma saving throws — make using all but the most potent mind-altering magic a folly.

Adult moonstone dragon statistics

The below stat block was provided as a sneak peek during D&D Celebration.

A moonstone dragon's lair

Should an adventuring party find themselves dreaming while within 6 miles of an adult moonstone dragon’s lair, they might find that the dragon is able to telepathically converse with them while in such a state. The same area might be dotted by portals linking the Material Plane, the Feywild, and the Border Ethereal. Creatures can pass through a portal in either direction. This could lead the party to a new plane, could let creatures from one plane spill into another, or could even serve as a quick getaway should the moonstone dragon feel overly threatened.

If encountered within its lair, an adult moonstone dragon’s challenge rating increases by 1, due to the lair actions at its disposal on initiative count 20. Channeling the playful spirit of the Feywild, a moonstone dragon can force a creature it can see into a Compulsive Dance, using all of its movement to dance in place and becoming incapacitated until the following round, provided it fails a DC 15 Intelligence saving throw. The dragon can also fill the entire lair with Disorienting Visions, forcing every creature in the lair to succeed on a DC 20 Wisdom saving throw or have disadvantage on ability checks until the following round.

A more potent echo of its ability to telepathically link with dreamers, the moonstone dragon can even use a lair action to Banish Into Dream one target it can see within 120 feet of it. The target must succeed on a DC 15 Charisma saving throw or be banished for one round into a harmless demiplane and become stunned while there.

Moonstone dragons are likely to establish lairs in multiple planes, visiting the Feywild, the Material Plane, and the Ethereal Plane as they whim.

Playing with moonstone dragons at your table

Moonstone dragons make excellent ambassadors for the Feywild, offering adventurers swift passage between planes, perhaps in exchange for an intimate story. Able to touch a creature’s dreams and converse while there, proximity to a moonstone dragon’s lair might be a way to insert one or more solutions to an unsolved problem. Perhaps the answer that eludes a party is a magic item, fabled to be stashed away greedily in a dark corner of the Feywild, for example.

A moonstone dragon might also offer respite to a party in peril, offering a quick escape in the form of a series of portal hops. One harrowing minute later, the intrepid adventurers could have stepped from the Material Plane to the Border Ethereal and back again, with a jaunt through the Feywild, and now find themselves safe and sound — but indebted to the majestic and shimmering dragon now looming before them!

For an adventure hook involving an adult moonstone dragon, see below.

The nightmares of Moonbiter

Glimmering moonlight cascades through the still branches of proud and gently fragrant birch trees, framing a calm, stone-lined pond. A felled spar of silvery paper-wrapped wood pierces the mirror surface at a sharp angle, glowing platinum in the soft yet striking beams. Dimming embers of the evening’s watch fire crackle softly as you begin to doze, beginning to dream of pixies decorating the canopy overhead with yarn.

Suddenly, a deep but comforting presence touches your mind. In an urgent clip, you hear a plea: “Traveler! I have waited for one of your composure, for I require aid.  Something poisons this place on all sides of the veil, and I cannot root it out alone. Come, follow where the roots grow large to the west — there we shall meet!”

An adult moonstone dragon by the name of Hecayandularia (who also goes by Moonbiter) has been unsuccessful in exterminating a recent threat that darkens her lairs across multiple planes. A dark corner of the Feywild has spawned meenlocks, whose lair overlaps the outermost edges of the region surrounding Moonbiter’s lair in the Feywild. These fear-induced creatures have begun to venture through the portals that pierce the thin veil under Moonbiter’s influence, and are preying upon travelers of the Material Plane as well as denizens of the Feywild. Moonbiter is fearsome and capable, but the meenlocks continue to elude her by utilizing their vast network of tunnels, for which she is too large in size.

Players that answer Moonbiter’s call for aid can find 1d4 meenlocks in the region influenced by the moonstone dragon’s lair following a successful DC 13 Wisdom (Survival) or DC 16 Intelligence (Arcana) check. However, they will have to navigate the myriad portals to find and eliminate the full threat of these creatures.

Each time the party (or part of it) crosses to a new plane, they can find another 1d4 meenlocks. Moonbiter has in the past learned a song from a passing bard, "E’er Through the Fen and Fern," which she is willing to teach to anyone with proficiency in Performance. If a player who has learned this song spends an action each round playing the song, any creature that can hear it has advantage on their saving throw against a meenlock’s Fear Aura.

Moonbiter is not without a sense of fair trade. She has also heard a plethora of tales over the years recounting the story of a hidden artifact with magical properties that resides in the Feywild. Details are few and cryptic, but she pledges to share these stories with anyone who successfully rids her lairs of the invasive blanket of fear.

Now you're thinking with portals

Moonstone dragons can bring a whimsical and ethereal element to a draconic encounter and may offer invaluable sources of knowledge or swift passage between the dreamiest of planes. Whether you want to add a little something extra to The Wild Beyond the Witchlight adventure or offer despairing player characters a stash of lore or a portal to a new and fantastical place, moonstone dragons are sure to bring delight when you read more about them in Fizban’s Treasury of Dragons.

Cameron (@CameronRPowell) is a Discord moderator for D&D Beyond. He is a real-life bard who accidentally dumped Charisma, and has played Purloque the loxodon cleric on Dice, Camera, Action!. When he’s not behind the DM’s screen, he enjoys hiking Icelandic volcanoes, knitting, and creating his hundredth unused character on D&D Beyond.