The upcoming Fizban’s Treasury of Dragons will add Great Wyrms to Dungeons & Dragons, which will be some of the strongest enemies in the game. Dragons are already some of the most powerful foes in D&D, but the Great Wyrms are on a whole different level, as their strength stretches across the multiverse.
The dragons that reside in the D&D campaign worlds are engines of destruction. They are giant monsters that have high AC, tons of hit points, the ability to fly, can hit like a truck, force characters to experience uncontrollable fear, and squash humanoids beneath their claws. They were even stronger in the old editions of the game, as there was a time when dragons could cast spells with the same potency as an archmage. A well-prepared D&D DM won’t let players fight dragons on an even footing, as they are also incredibly smart, so they will fill their lair with guardians and traps to whittle the party down before the final encounter. A dragon that fights players in the wild will ensure that it has the advantage before blasting them with its breath weapon.
The existing D&D dragons from the Monster Manual are already a nightmare to face in battle, with plenty of their own interesting uses for DMs and frightening powers to overwhelm less-prepared parties, but there are even more fearsome dragons waiting beyond the boundaries of Dungeons & Dragons’ Prime Material Plane.
The Ultimate Dragons In Dungeons & Dragons
In a recent press event for Fizban’s Treasury of Dragons, writer James Wyatt revealed information about the Great Wyrms that will debut in the book. The dragons that appear in one world are actually connected to other versions of themselves in other Dungeons & Dragons settings. This means that a dragon in the Forgotten Realms could have an alternate version in Greyhawk or Krynn. As time goes on and they develop their dragonsight ability, they start to communicate with their “echoes” on other worlds. The power that these dragons share is collected into a Great Wyrm, which are creatures that have evolved beyond the level of an ancient dragon, one of D&D’s most powerful creatures.
In terms of combat ability, Dungeons & Dragons’ Great Wyrms are all CR 20+ creatures. What makes them scary is that they use the Mythic monster rules from Odysseys of Theros. When a Mythic monster dies, it takes on a new form and usually refreshes its hit points, kind of like a JRPG boss. This means that battling a Great Wyrm in D&D is the equivalent of facing two CR 20+ creatures back to back. These dragons are so powerful that they are considered to be part of the fabric of the universe, which means Dungeons & Dragons players will have an incredibly hard time taking them down in a fight.
Fizban’s Treasury of Dragons will be released on October 19, 2021.
