Dungeons and Dragons is more popular than ever and publisher Wizards of the Coast has adopted a strategy of releasing multiple adventures and sourcebooks a year. Each new addition brings in new characters, settings, character options, and rules to the growing canon of Dungeons and Dragons. The newest announced sourcebook called Fizban's Treasury of Dragons is focusing on the titular dragons that have long helped define the overall worlds of D&D. Ironically though, Fizban's Treasury of Dragons is addressing a lack of dragons throughout modern D&D in its fifth edition.
This obviously is not the first book to focus on the impact that dragons can have on a D&D world. From its onset, the Monster Manual and adventures like Tyranny of Dragons have impressed how important dragons can be in a game setting. Dragons rank amongst the most powerful creatures in D&D, and in any game's world. The mere presence of a dragon can impact an entire country. Magic will swell in the domain of a dragon, increasing the prevalence of more terrifying monsters or powerful benevolent creatures depending on the dragon's alignment. And even in the presence of a good-aligned dragon, cities and towns may have developed specific defenses against the threat of a dragon swooping in from above. Often depicted in other media as fairly mindless flying murder machines, a dragon in D&D can be calculating, manipulative, and powerful in ways beyond just scorching a village.
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Bringing More Dragons to Dungeons and Dragons
This level of power and influence may be just why dragons haven't been used in many sourcebooks. Many adventure modules aim to provide adventures for low-level adventurers, and even the youngest of dragons can rank among D&D's most powerful creatures. That being said, it makes sense that many writers would want to avoid using the creatures in any meaningful way. The obvious exception to this rule is the adventure included in the Essentials Kit called The Dragon of Icespire Peak. In that short adventure, players encounter a young dragon that has made its roost out in the frontier. But again outside of the handful of examples given, dragons are not utilized very often in official adventures, and many players have avoided using them because of a relatively sparse set of rules and inspirations for dragons in the Monster Manual and other rulebooks.
Fizban's Treasury of Dragons is looking to change that, however. The book is focused entirely on dragons. It will add new mechanics, lore, statistics, and new character subclasses to D&D. While not too many of the book's details have been released, it's clearly aiming to give DMs the tools to really utilize dragons in a major way. Fleshing out how a dragon might behave, how it would respond to threats, and how it might impact the world around it will all help players use dragons in a narrative function that required much more homebrew work in the past.
It's ironic that dragons weren't a bigger part of the lore in 5th edition DnD, given their place literally in the name of the game. Many DnD games have been focused on lower-level monsters, but Fizban's Treasury of Dragons is aiming to fill that gap in a big way. Giving the winged fonts of magic a larger place in many DMs games could help fulfill a traditional fantasy dream in a big way going forward. Dungeons and Dragons hasn't shown any signs of slowing down any time soon, and Fizban's Treasury of Dragons is likely going to help fulfill a yearning from many fans that's pervaded fifth edition tables.
Fizban's Treasury of Dragons releases October 19th, 2021 in both physical and digital formats.
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