The Red Dragon

Let's take the toughest ancient red dragon in every edition and compare them. One thing to keep in mind is that in every edition of the game, the basic longsword weapon does the same damage in all of these games, 1d8 + STR mod.

Not all of the stats will be repeated here, just enough to get an overall power level of each creature in the rules. This is important when playing a module with a set of rules it wasn't designed for, normally you should "roll back" to the same monster in the original game if you have it.

AD&D

The AD&D red dragon felt really weak, and this is one of my problems with AD&D and B/X. Certain spells, if they hit, can wipe out an ancient red dragon in one hit. Magic and spell resistance here is standard, so dragons in AD&D are more vulnerable to spells and casters.

• AC -1
• 8 HD, hit points 88
• Three attacks (d8,d8,3d10)
• Breath weapon = current hp
• Magic use (2 spells of levels 1 to 4)

AD&D 2e

AD&D 2 has 12 dragon age categories instead of 8, and it looks like the influence of Dragonlance making dragons "boss monsters" has had an impact here. The hit points are only slightly higher, but the attack damage - especially breath weapon - has gone way up. Breath weapons can be used every three rounds.

I do like the AD&D 2 monsters a little better than the AD&D 1e classics, just because they feel play-tested and rebalanced for a better party challenge. Also, older dragons were given magic resistance, which could cause any spell to fail instantly. While casters hated this, my melee players loved being needed again.

• AC -11
• 23 HD, hit points 104
• Three attacks (d10,d10,3d10)
• Breath weapon = 24d10+12
• Magic use (caster level 9; wizard: 2 spells of levels 1 to 4, 1 level 5; priest: 2 level 1, 1 level 1)
• Magic resistance 65%

D&D 3.5

D&D 3 and 3.5 introduced multi-attacks for martial classes as characters leveled, which slowed down play and caused the game to "scale" higher-level encounters on a steeper curve. While the low-level game isn't too much different than B/X, the high-level game has this

Pathfinder 1e's version of this dragon is similar, with slightly fewer hit points, but far more special abilities, special attacks, defenses, and spells. Multiple attacks at that cumulative -5 modifier make their debut here, and you have to factor that into average per-turn damage. Of all the dragons in the D&D 3 through 5 eras, Pathfinder 1e's dragon is my favorite just because of the detail and design. At times those monster stats feel too complicated and overboard, but I appreciate the thought and effort that went into them.

Spell resistance replaces magic resistance and it is 1d20 + caster level, which works out to about the same level of magic resistance as AD&D 2e, but is modified for caster level (and punishes lower level casters harder).

• AC 41
• 40 HD (d12), hit points 660
• Attack modifier +49 / grapple +73 (avg. attacks 4d8, 4d6, or 2d8; +18 to all damage)
• Breath weapon = 24d10
• Magic use (caster level 19)
• DR 20 (magic), SR 32

D&D 4

With D&D 4 we never really felt the higher-level monsters were play-tested all that much. They kept changing and rebalancing monsters as the game went on, and the first version of the red dragon was this massive pile of hit points and relatively low damage attacks. Also, the lack of spell use just feels like an oversight and makes the monster feel like it was rushed through development and tossed in a book to mark the "red dragon" checkbox.

If two of these dragons fight each other, their average per-turn damage will be 82/turn (2 claws and tail slap), which will take 17 hits to win, or at a 50% hit-rate 34 turns. I am eliminating fire damage for auras and breath weapons here because of resistance.

No wonder Pathfinder 1e felt better designed, the monsters just have more care and love put into them. D&D 4 was a fun game from levels 1-10. At higher levels, things felt incomplete, sloppy, and not much design and attention was put into them to make them feel like the classic D&D monsters of old. The answer was "bigger numbers" and that was it, and the numerous turn-denial attacks and conditions made this a boring rinse-repeat loop of "take away monster turn" and "whittle down hit points."

We loved this game, which made it hurt all the more when we left and realized how broken and thoughtless some of the design elements were.

• AC 48
• Hit points 1390
• Fire resistance 40
• Attack modifier +37 (two claws, bite 2d12+12, bites do an extra 6d6 fire damage)
• Tail slap 4d10+12, reaction
• Breath weapon = 4d12+10, ongoing 15 fire damage
• No spells

D&D 5

I haven't played too much D&D 5, so I don't really have a good opinion on the red dragon here. It feels some care and balance went into the design, and the bounded accuracy feels like the numbers have been pulled way down. Hit points feel high like D&D 3.5, but I am feeling the damage scaling of the D&D 3.5 era is still around.

I do like this version of the ancient red dragon, but I feel the hit points are a bit high, like 3E due to damage scaling. Given the bounded accuracy of D&D 5 it feels like some care went into the design.

• AC 22
• 546 hit points
• Bite = +17, 2d6 + 10
• 2 Claws = +17, 2d6  +10
• Tail = +17, 2d8 + 10
• Breath weapon = 26d6 (91) damage
• Magic use is a variant rule.
• Legendary resistance, CR 17, 3/day

Castles & Crusades

C&C has a nice red dragon that feels like an AD&D 2e dragon, and one that has a higher damage output as well. The spell resistance is a 6 (on 1d20, 1-6 makes the spell fail), so while there is some magic resistance there isn't enough to make a majority fail.

While hit points are lower, you do not have the plethora of multi and special attacks you have in games after AD&D 2e. I like the original damage scale where a 1d8 longsword still means something.

The breath weapon is epic, and almost feels like too much damage, but it is something that should be feared. Of all the AD&D 1e, B/X, and 2e red dragons, this one is my favorite. I do feel the spells are a little on the lower side, but this could be house-ruled for dragons who may have studied magic and are more full casters.

• AC 32
• 34 HD, 156 hp
• Full fire immunity
• +34 to-hit
• 2 claws (1d8+12), wing (1d10+12), tail (1d10+12), and bite (4d10+12)
• Spell resistance 6
• Breath weapon = 34d10
• Twelve 1st level spells, three 2nd level spells