Young Red Dragon
Large dragon · CR 10 · 5,900 XP
18 AC · 178 HP
Roll the Young Red Dragon
Press a roll button. The dice land here.
The Young Red Dragon's breath decides the fight before the claws do
How to run it. 178 Hit Points, AC 18, Fly 80, and two modes. Most turns it makes three Rends at +10 for 2d6 + 6 Slashing plus 1d6 Fire, 16.5 on average; against AC 18 each hits 65% of the time, about 32 damage a turn. On a 5 or 6 it recharges Fire Breath instead: 16d6, averaging 56, in a 30-foot cone, DC 17 Dexterity for half.
What the breath does. A level 5 fighter has about 44 Hit Points. A failed save deals 44 or more 97% of the time, and with Dexterity +0 the fighter fails 80% of the time. A success never deals that much. So the whole party's fate rides on how many people stand in one cone.
Recharge. Each turn after it breathes, it has a 1 in 3 chance to recharge. It is back within two turns 56% of the time, within three 70%. Roll it openly: the table watching you pick up the d6 is half the fear.
The choice that matters is when to breathe. Opening with it on a clumped party is honest and brutal. Holding it until the party bunches around a downed friend is cruel and memorable. Pick one on purpose.
The common mistake is landing. With Fly 80 and 10-foot reach, a young red dragon can Rend from above and leave. Grounding it should cost the players something.
For players. Spread out before you see it. Twenty feet apart takes the cone from four people to one or two, and that is worth more than any spell. Fire immunity means your Fireball is wasted; bring cold, force or radiant.
The human angle. Tomaka and colleagues found people who judge they have the resources for a stressful task feel challenged and perform better, with a different heart and blood-vessel response; people who judge they don't feel threatened. A dragon fight lands on that line. The party with a plan for the breath feels challenge; the party without one feels threat. Our post Dragon Hide is about the same feeling away from the table.
Source: Tomaka, J., Blascovich, J., Kelsey, R. M., & Leitten, C. L. (1993). Subjective, physiological, and behavioral effects of threat and challenge appraisal. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 65(2), 248–260. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.65.2.248
Stat block
- Type
- Large dragon, chaotic evil
- Armor Class
- 18
- Hit Points
- 178 (17d10 + 85)
- Speed
- 40 ft., climb 40 ft., fly 80 ft.
- Challenge
- 10 (5,900 XP), proficiency +4
- Immunities
- fire
- Senses
- darkvision 120 ft., blindsight 30 ft., passive perception 18
- Languages
- Common, Draconic
| STR | DEX | CON | INT | WIS | CHA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 23 | 10 | 21 | 14 | 11 | 19 |
Young Red Dragon odds against your Armor Class
Chance to hit, then average damage per attack once misses and critical hits are counted.
| Attack | AC 12 | AC 14 | AC 15 | AC 16 | AC 18 | AC 20 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rend (+10) | 95% 16.2 dmg | 85% 14.6 dmg | 80% 13.7 dmg | 75% 12.9 dmg | 65% 11.3 dmg | 55% 9.6 dmg |
| Full turn (3 attacks) | 48.6 dmg | 43.7 dmg | 41.2 dmg | 38.7 dmg | 33.8 dmg | 28.8 dmg |
Young Red Dragon hit points
The stat block uses the average, 178. Rolled, 17d10 + 85 lands anywhere from 102 to 255.
| Hit points | Chance |
|---|---|
| 140 or more | >99% |
| 179 or more | 50% |
| 217 or more | <1% |
| 240 or more | <1% |
Actions
Multiattack. The dragon makes three Rend attacks.
Rend. Melee Attack Roll: +10, reach 10 ft. Hit: 13 () Slashing damage plus 3 () Fire damage.
Fire Breath. Dexterity Saving Throw: DC 17, each creature in a 30-foot Cone. Failure: 56 () Fire damage. Success: Half damage.
Other CR 10 monsters
Aboleth
Deva
Guardian Naga
Stone Golem
Young Gold DragonThis page includes material from the System Reference Document 5.2.1 (“SRD 5.2.1”) by Wizards of the Coast LLC, available at dndbeyond.com/srd. The SRD 5.2.1 is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. The averages, odds and tables are ours.