Gem Dragons - Dragons of Balance (5e)
In May of 1980¸ the gem dragons first appeared in a Dragon Magazine (#37) article entitled¸ "That's Not in the Monster Manual!" Written by Arthur W. Collins¸ it detailed a new family of dragons to go alongside the chromatic and metallic families. But gem dragons were different. They didn't use have a talent for magic as much as they did psionics¸ and they sided firmly with Neutrality¸ eschewing the conflict between Bahamut and Tiamat¸ and their children. Made of scales that scintillated like precious stones¸ which they were named after¸ their patron was the Great Ruby Dragon Deity of Night¸ Psionics¸ and Secrets¸ Sardior. But not long after¸ they faded into obscurity. Sure¸ they were detailed in Second Edition¸ along with an update to the mechanic¸ and then again to Third Edition¸ but Sardior barely got a mention. But they were there! And some of us used them¸ especially in the Council of Wyrms setting that occurred towards the end of Second Edition¸ where the PCs got to take the part of dragons themselves! Well¸ it is now fifth edition¸ and though we have not yet seen psionics officially¸ the dragons themselves don't have to languish in obscurity any longer! Within this document are write-ups for five gem dragons: amethyst¸ crystal¸ emerald¸ sapphire¸ and topaz. As well¸ some briefly updated materials are included to allow players to take the role of gem-related dragonborn¸ if the DM allows it in his campaign. Included are two 27 page PDFs. One is full color and ideal for use in a digital format¸ and one set up to be less graphics heavy¸ ideal for printing out. All five of the dragons are detailed within¸ in the standard Monster Manual format¸ as well as a short update for the Dragonborn race at the very end of the document¸ set as one page so you can print it out separately for your players¸ should you wish to. I truly hope you enjoy what was this labor of love¸ updating more dragons for the D&D Fifth Edition¸ and from one of the favorite dragon families I had in my entire run with the game. Face your players with something they may never have encountered before¸ and challenge them to overcome the long-forgotten children of Io: the Gem Dragons.