3rd place: Ancient Red Dragon
- Strength score: 30
- CR: 24
- Alignment: Chaotic evil
- Type: Huge dragon (chromatic)
- English name: Ancient Red Dragon
- Found in: Core Rules (2014) & Monster Manual (2024)
In a list of opponents in Dungeons & Dragons, dragons must of course be included. Ancient red dragons are among the most feared beings in the multiverse. Their insatiable greed drives them to amass enormous hoards of legendary artifacts and magical items. They establish their lairs in volcanoes or steep cliffs, often with connections to other planes of existence, where they recruit servants from the fire realm or the lower planes.
Red dragons take what they want and destroy everything that stands in their way. Their pride knows no bounds – they consider themselves the mightiest of all dragons and expect others to revere them. Their wrath is as legendary as their greed: Those who dare to steal their possessions are relentlessly hunted and burned.
This makes them the most feared and strongest among the malicious chromatic dragons. They also have the maximum value of 30 in the strength attribute. While their +10 modifiers on their skill and saving throws are not particularly impressive in this attribute, their abilities and high CR of 24 make up for it.
A group of 4 level 20 players must come up with quite a bit to contend with an ancient red dragon – let alone physically match it.
