Welcome to our guide to white dragons in 5e.
White Dragon Lair
White dragons are the least intelligent, and most animalistic of the dragons. They prowl the icy tundra of the coldest regions on the material plane, hunting mastodons and rhemoraz, and while they are still dragons and happy to horde treasure, instead they mostly focus on survival in an inhospitable region.
The hex leading up to a white dragon is a hazard of its own, covered in a freezing fog, sleet storm, and blizzard for the majority of it. The adventure there might even be more dangerous than the battle with the white dragon itself. Luckily for the adventurers, the white dragon doesn’t sit in its lair all day, its not hampered by these effects and will find them and meet them while they try to make camp. A white dragon’s lair is almost impossible to find without magic, thanks to the sheets of ice that continually form and seal off the entrance to its cave. Combined with a snow storm and its essentially a guess and check game of digging.
If fought in its lair, its lair actions are pretty stereotypical, with falling ice and freezing clouds. It will use its wall of ice powers to try and separate a party. Dividing the warriors off on their own, and leaving the soft casters trapped in a cage with it.
White Dragon Tactic
Most of the time, a white dragons tactics are to simply stalk and hunt. When they detect adventurers trekking through near their lairs, they stalk from a distance making use of the blinding snowfall to prevent detection. They stalk until they identify a perfect time to strike, and do so without mercy. Favored times include a party member falling through a hidden crevasse, the horses freezing to death and collapsing, or even just a loud argument highlighting a lack of dry clothes and food.
White Dragon Spells
White dragons don’t actually all get spells, and the ones who do get limited ones. As a DM you may want to consider not giving them any, but some straight forward ones are below. They tend to favor spells that enhance survivability in a harsh environment, and help with scouting.
| Dragon Type | CR of Dragon | Spells Known |
| Wyrmling | 2 | None |
| Young | 6 | Detect Thoughts |
| Adult | 13 | Control Water, Hallucinatory Terrain |
| Ancient | 20 | Guards and Wards, Move Earth, Wall of Ice |
To follow along with this project as it goes on, entries have been tagged with the dragon tag.
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