Dragonlance: Shadow of the Dragon Queen is the latest Dungeons & Dragons campaign for players and Dungeons Masters to explore and enjoy, bringing a round of fresh enemies to the game. This campaign returns players to the world of Krynn from Dragonlance, introducing some brilliant new monsters and enemies. Those familiar with Dragonlance's setting will recognize some of these monsters, which have been updated to DnD fifth edition. Others will be entirely new experiences for the players to face while they explore the world of Krynn.
From the awesome-sounding necromantic dragons of Dragonlance to terrifying undead commanders, this campaign has some truly formidable enemies to challenge both players and DMs. While some of the new adversaries players will be fighting while battling the Dragon Armies of the Dragon Queen Takhisis (better known as Tiamat in other worlds) are updated versions of previously seen DnD monsters, others are unique to the Dragonlance setting. Here are some of the most powerful new monsters adventuring parties can expect to face when traveling through Krynn.
Dragonlance's Kansaldi Fire-Eyes Is A Tough Fanatic
First is Kansaldi Fire-Eyes, the leader of the Red Dragon Army players will find attacking Solamnia, and she is quite an impressive foe for players to face. The name comes from her left eye, which has been replaced by a smoldering Gem of Seeing, which gives her truesight. But with a challenge rating of 11, that's not all this fanatical DnD cleric of Dragonlance has up her sleeves.
With an average of 172 hit points and an armor class of 18, Kansaldi is a tough enemy. She has multi-attack, which means she can attack players with her pike twice, as well as use the ability Flame Burst. FLame Burst does 2d10 fire damage on a hit, and unless the target uses an action to put itself out continues to do 1d10 fire damage at the start of each of its turns.
Although she is a cleric, Kansaldi does not use cure wounds or healing word to aid her allies in battle. Instead, she has Dragon Queen's Favor, which is a bonus action, and heals herself or one creature she can see by 2d12 + 4, making it better than a lot of the best DnD healing spells. Although Kansaldi is classified as a Humanoid rather than a monster, she is still one of the more powerful new foes players will meet in Shadow of the Dragon Queen.
Watch Out For Dragonlance's Death Dragons
Death dragons are the skeletons of dragons infused with magical fires from the Cataclysm. Due to the necromantic energies that created them, they are fueled by hatred and vengeance. Although dead, they keep some of their personality and intelligence, making them dangerous enemies for players.
Death dragons in Dragonlance comes in two versions - the lesser death dragon, with a challenge rating of 10, and the greater death dragon, which poses an even more significant threat to players, with a challenge rating of 14 and three legendary actions. As Shadow of the Dragon Queen will pit DnD players against a log of dragons, it's important to know that while they are less intelligent than their living counterparts, death dragons can still use tactics such as grappling their enemies, flying them into the air, and dropping them. Additionally, death dragons have a flying speed of 80ft, so trying to outrun them isn't an option.
Death dragons have a breath weapon just like their living versions, but since they are undead, this takes the form of a blast of necrotic fire. This terrifying purple flame deals 8d8 necrotic damage and auto-kills any character reduced to 0 hp. However, it gets even worse since creatures killed by this breath weapon, called Cataclysmic Breath, will immediately be raised as zombies under the dragon’s control. While zombies in DnD campaigns aren't very intimidating, it wouldn't be great if a player character becomes one, so avoiding this breath weapon is important.
Prepare For Flying Combat With The Red Ruin In Dragonlance
While fighting against the Dragon Armies, players will come across the leaders of these troops. One such leader is known as the Red Ruin, and this champion of Takhisis specializes in air combat using her dragon mount. Facing the Red Ruin will always mean facing off against her trusty draconic steed as well, so players need to be prepared to fight them both in mounted combat.
Both have impressive armor classes, with the dragonnel mount's being 16, while the Red Ruin will be challenging to hit in full plate armor with a shield for a total AC of 20. With that AC, it will be tough not to spend an entire DnD session in combat with this difficult enemy. Dragonnels are very fast, with a flying speed of 60 feet and an ability called Flyby, which allows them to swoop and attack an enemy and then fly away without provoking an attack of opportunity. With her mount, the Red Ruin obviously favors airborne combat, which means an aerial battle probably be on the cards for the party.
When she is within melee range, the Red Ruin will use her Ember Lance three times per turn and attempt to knock the players out of the air. This attack is even more deadly due to her Draconic Devotion, which gives her advantage on attack rolls so long as she can see a dragon. However, if the party chooses to keep her at a distance, that can also cause problems as her Explosive Hand Crossbow, one of the best weapons in DnD, deals 10d6 fire damage in a 20-foot radius area-of-effect blast when it hits a target.
Lord Soth Is Dragonlance's Most Powerful Foe
Lord Soth is one of the main villains for the Shadow of the Dragon Queen campaign, and those familiar with the Dragonlance setting will already be familiar with the formidable Death Knight. Players will eventually come face to face with Lord Soth over the course of the campaign. This will likely happen once the party is level 10 or higher, and that’s a good thing, as Lord Soth is not an easy fight.
With a challenge rating of 19 and an average of 228 hit points, taking down Lord Soth is not an easy task. As one might expect from a Death Knight, he is immune to necrotic and poison damage as well as being immune to the DnD 5e status conditions of exhaustion, frightened, and poisoned. With three Legendary Resistances and advantage on saving throws against magical effects, Lord Soth can easily hold his own against an adventuring party.
Lord Soth uses a mace called the Forsaken Brand, which deals 1d8 + 6 bludgeoning damage plus an additional 4d8 necrotic damage. Forsaken Brand also prevents anyone hit by it from regaining hit points until the start of Lord Soth’s next turn. One of his most dangerous abilities comes from him blasting his opponents with Cataclysmic Fire, which, if it kills the target, raises them immediately as a skeleton under his control, as well as all medium or smaller humanoid corpses in the area.
If all of that wasn't enough, Lord Soth could also use word of death once a day. Proving why saving throw proficiencies matter in DnD, targets must make a DC 19 Constitution saving throw or take 100 necrotic damage on a failed save and half on a success. If the damage reduces the target to 0 hit points, then they die, with no death saves, making Lord Soth one of the most powerful enemies players will face during their playthrough of the latest Dungeons & Dragons adventure.
