Known for their cruelty, evil, and especially odoriferous home, the D&D Black Dragon is one of the worst for an adventurer to encounter.
D&D Black Dragons: First Edition
First Edition D&D Black Dragons are pretty standard, to be perfectly honest. Their home of choice is swamps and marshes and they tend to lean chaotic evil, but 1E doesn’t come with a whole lot of flavor text to differentiate them from other dragons.
Claw and bite attacks are the Black Dragon’s standard go to move, but they have also been known to spit acid and know up to to eight first level spells. The Black Dragon wouldn’t be an encounter to scoff at, but as far as background info goes, we can only go up from here.
D&D Black Dragons: Second Edition
In second edition D&D Black Dragons are “abusive, quick to anger, and resent intrusions of any kind.” The Black Dragon isn’t one you’d want as a neighbor, and considering they Prefer darkness and heavy vegetation, there’s a good chance you won’t have to worry about settling too close to one…
Unless your character is really into swamps. Is your character secretly Shrek? Someone please play Shrek for your next campaign. The Black Dragon’s breath weapon is still a stream of acid, which is bad enough on its own, but their spell abilities now go up to fifth level.
Third Edition
With attitudes getting a little worse in every edition, D&D Black Dragons are now “evil-tempered, cunning and malevolent,” with “crafty, sinister faces.” They also now have a skeletal quality to their faces and are sometimes known as “skull dragons.”
For 3E the Black Dragon has relocated, now living in damp caves and underground caverns where the smell of rotting vegetation and stagnant water stinks just so. The dragon seems to enjoy this water though, sometimes “pickling” red meat they’ve hunted for in the smelly cave water for a few days.
Fourth Edition
For Fourth Edition the Black Dragon is back in the swamp and using the waters there for their hunting tactics. They’ll submerge themselves in water or cling to shadows before surprising their victim with their frightful presence and acidic breath attack. They also prefer to keep themselves obscured during fights by utilizing ‘cloud of darkness’ and making melee attacks while obscured as the D&D Black Dragon waits for its breath weapon to recharge.
Fifth Edition
Fifth Edition D&D Black Dragons are probably some of the more terrible and terrifying. Even just to look at they are scary with faces that seem to deteriorate with age, as if their own cheeks are succumbing to their own acid attacks.
Black Dragons are also some of the most cruel, even by evil chromatic dragon standards. They hate other dragons, often spying on them and looking for opportunities to slay weaker dragons, but in true bully form once a stronger dragon shows up the D&D Black Dragon will leave for a new swamp or smelly cave.
Have you encountered a D&D Black Dragon during your adventures? Which kind of dragon is your favorite? What monster would you like to talk about next time? Let us know in the comments!
Happy Adventuring!
Source: Bell of Lost Souls
