Dungeons & Dragons Brings Back an Iconic Type of Dragon

Gem dragons are officially a part of Dungeons & Dragons once more. Earlier this week, the D&D resource/character builder D&D Beyond announced that it now has the stats for sapphire dragons available on its site. Players can buy access to the sapphire dragon stats for just $1.99, with D&D Beyond's portion of the proceeds going to Extra Life, a charity for children's hospitals around the globe. The sapphire dragon stats were originally included as part of a special set of Anniversary Dice containing a D20 with an inlaid sapphire released to celebrate the game's 45th anniversary.

While not as well known as metallic or chromatic dragons, gem dragons have been part of Dungeons & Dragons since 1980, when they were first detailed in the pages of Dragon magazine. Gem dragons are notoriously neutral, so they can serve as either an ally or foe to adventurers. Gem dragons are also unusual in that they have psionic abilities instead of normal magical powers.

The new Fifth Edition version of sapphire dragons retains most of the dragon's characteristics from past editions. The sapphire dragon lives underground, is fiercely territorial, and has several innate psionic abilities such as telekenesis and the ability to shape stone with its mind. The sapphire dragon also retains its powerful breathe attack - a debilitating noise attack that deals thunder damage and incapacitates enemies until the end of their next turn. Like metallic and chromatic dragons, the sapphire dragon also has a powerful frightful presence ability and the standard bite, claw, and tail attacks.

With the recent release of several psionic subclasses for playtesting, it seems possible that Dungeons & Dragons could include even more gem dragons in an upcoming book. With the first of Dungeons & Dragons' 2020 products set to be announced later this week, we could see more of the gem dragons in the near future.