Steel dragons, like most metal dragons, have a high defense and are fairly weak to magic due to their metal nature. Their main weakness is water spells, making spells like Ice Barrage or Water Surge useful against them. If a player does not have access to super antifires, a wand is recommended. The Protect from Magic prayer provides no protection against dragonfire from metallic dragons. A super antifire potion or extended equivalent offers complete protection without the need for a shield.
There are three methods to kill steel dragons: Melee with a Stab Weapon, Protect from Melee, Mage, or Ranged with a Crossbow. All methods benefit from an Antifire. Magic is one of the quickest ways to kill metal dragons cheaply and without taking damage. The only potential for making money is the Fire Bolt. Trident is too expensive and lacks 100 exp gain, while Slayer dart will be slow.
The most cost-efficient ways to kill steel dragons involve using a Trident of the seas/ swamp or casting Fire Bolt with Chaos gauntlets and a Smoke staff. Steel dragons will go on the defensive and use a melee attack against you if you try approaching them. You will lose the fight unless you have the Protect from Melee spell.
Slayer masters can assign metal dragons, but many players prefer to use their specific elemental weakness. The best location to kill them is at the end of Kuradal’s Dungeon. The Protect from Magic prayer provides no protection against dragonfire from metallic dragons. A super antifire potion or extended equivalent is recommended.
In summary, steel dragons are weak to magic, but they can be killed using various methods and strategies.
📹 What They Don’t Tell You About Steel Dragons – D&D
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What are steel dragons weak to?
Metal dragons are dragons with scales coated in metal, created by pouring molten metal on dragon eggs. They have higher Defence and Magic levels compared to chromatic dragons, making them slightly harder to kill. Metal dragons are weak to stab and heavy ranged attacks and are susceptible to earth spells. Bronze, iron, and steel dragons fight with melee, while mithril, adamant, and rune dragons use ranged and magic attacks. Metal dragons can fire long-range dragonfire, which is stronger than chromatic dragons. The Protect from Magic prayer does not affect metal dragons.
Metal dragons drop metal bars when killed, corresponding to the type of dragon. For example, a steel dragon will drop steel bars, while an iron dragon will drop iron bars. The quantity of bars depends on the quality of the metal. Metal dragons have unique drops due to their increased difficulty over chromatic dragons. All metal dragons, excluding bronze ones, can drop the draconic visage, platelegs and plateskirts, and full helms. Adamant and rune dragons can drop dragon limbs, adamant dragons exclusively drop dragon metal slices, and rune dragons exclusively drop dragon metal lumps.
What spell are iron dragons weak to?
Magic or Ranged is a common method for killing Metal dragons in Brimhaven Dungeon, as they will not attempt to close in distance to Melee, making them invulnerable as long as they maintain their dragonfire protection. Melee users should use the Protect from Melee prayer, as they can hit hard. offensive Magic, especially Earth spells, is effective against them due to their elemental weakness. Stabbing weapons like the Zamorakian hasta and dragonbane weapons like the dragon hunter lance can be effective against these creatures.
If fought without complete dragonfire protection, staying in melee range and using Protect from Melee can reduce dragonfire damage. With completion of the elite Karamja diary, all Metal dragons in Brimhaven Dungeon will drop their respective bars if toggled-on through Pirate Jackie the Fruit.
What is steel dragon effective against?
The item is resistant to a variety of attacks, including those that utilize the attributes of flying, fire, water, ice, and fairy. Additionally, it is capable of withstanding attacks that employ the characteristics of bug, steel, grass, and dark moves. The sole vulnerability of the item is to weak rock moves, which inflict double damage.
What is the best spell to use against steel dragons?
Steel dragons have a high defense and are weak to magic due to their metal nature. Their main weakness is water spells, making spells like Ice Barrage or Water Surge useful against them. To counter this, players should use a wand, anti-fire potions, and an anti-fire shield or dragonfire shield. The polypore staff spell is effective when combined with Mystic Might and/or a magic potion, but at a cost of accuracy. A high Magic level of at least 85 is suggested.
An anti-dragon shield or dragonfire shield reduces most damage from dragonfire, while an antifire potion or antifire mix reduces some damage. Dragonfire damage can also be negated with protection from magic prayers.
Melee tactics are no longer weak to steel dragons, but they can be almost as effective as magic at higher levels if chaotic or drygore weapons are used. However, it is generally slightly less effective than using water spells, particularly with higher-level magic weapons. Steel dragons also have the ability to use their fire breath from a distance, which is their only danger. Super antifires can negate their effect and make them easier to kill.
What is the best method for killing steel dragons?
Magic can be a powerful tool for killing metal dragons, with the Trident of the seas or Fire Bolt being the most cost-efficient method. This spell is effective against all metal dragons, including Mithril and lava dragons, due to its swift, hard hits. To avoid the devastating Melee attack, keep a distance of several spaces from the dragon and ensure your antifire is up to par. Mage Void Knight equipment is also a great alternative, as it boosts the player’s accuracy and makes their spells hit more frequently.
The inventory includes 5, 000 Chaos runes, Fire Bolt, 1-2 Prayer potions, 12-15 Antifires or Extended antifires, Imbued heart or Magic potion, good-healing food, any axe, 905 coins, a House tab or an Ectophial for emergency, and 25-50 Alchs. The full set of equipment boosts the player’s accuracy and makes their spells hit more frequently.
What is the most effective type against dragons?
Ice-types are often the most effective way to counter Dragons, as most Dragons are part Flying-type (Dragonite, Rayquaza) or part Ground-type (Garchomp, Flygon). Dragons are very scary to face in games like Pokemon GO, with more pseudo-legendary Dragons with boosted stats. The top 5 Pokemon trainers can use to defeat the strongest Dragon-types in Pokemon GO are Dragonite, Salamence, Palkia, and Dialga. Failing to plan for these Pokemon can lead to failure.
What are all dragons weak to?
It is possible that certain poisons, metals, magic spells, or holy weapons may present a potential threat to them.
What is a dragon’s weakness?
The stone, inscribed with archaic dragon runes, disclosed a hitherto unknown aspect of dragon biology: all dragons possess a latent vulnerability in their abdomens, which could potentially result in the temporary loss of their magical abilities if struck.
Are there any fire dragon type Pokémon?
Reshiram, a legendary Pokémon, was first introduced in Pokémon Black and can be found in the Dragonspiral Tower. It is one of the few Dragon Pokémon with a Fire Type and is known for scorching the world with fire. Reshiram is weak against Ground and Rock Pokémon. Zekrom, another legendary Pokémon, was only available in Pokémon White and is the only Dragon and Electric Pokémon. It generates electricity from its cone-shaped tail, making it the only Dragon and Electric Pokémon to date.
What is a dragon type weak to?
Pokémon type charts have been a crucial tool for players to understand the Rock Paper Scissors system in the game. Type effectiveness has been a part of the main series since its inception, with recent releases like Scarlet and Violet offering in-game math lessons. Elemental types determine the effectiveness of one Pokémon’s attack against an opposing Pokémon and the resistance of the opponent. Neutral damage and immunity are also considered.
Match-ups result in different damage amounts for the same Pokémon. Pokémon Go slightly differs from the main series, with immunity not being a feature and damage multipliers tweaked for mobile games. Despite these differences, the match-ups remain the same.
📹 OSRS Steel Dragon Slayer Guide – Melee / Magic – Quick Guide
Here’s my quick guide on how to kill steel dragons in OSRS! Get setup quick and kill a steel dragon with melee or magic!
Well then, I imagine this happening: Dave: wakes up Huh?… What happened? Kevin: You were an evil sorcerer and almost took over the world with your dark powers. Dave: Hm, okay, why didn’t I? Kevin: Some ragtag group of adventurers stopped you. Dave: Cool cool, what did we decide I was going to be in this life? Kevin: Oh, you’re gonna be a virtuous king. Dave: Cool cool, what if an evil sorcerer comes? Kevin: Then you’ll just have a ragtag group of adventurers deal with him. Dave: Cool cool.
…My god this is beautiful and sad. I can understand why they picked steel for this element. It’s reflective, yet inexpensive. It’s functional, but also decorative. It writes the histories of ‘modern’ mortals, yet is so easily overlooked as just background against magic and more flashy metals. It represents conviction. It represents protection and death. Its worth is made in the hands of those who use it, not by rarity.
I really like how the steel dragons actually want their hoards to have meaning – not just for themselves, but as a legacy for the world as a whole. I’m not sure if even the good-aligned metallic dragons would be able to do such a deed, of giving up their treasure – and knowing that they would give it up from the very beginning.
I feel as though these dragons embody the spirit of DnD itself. As they create great art, we create great memories, good and bad. They spread their art so it can mean something. We do the same with our fun and exciting stories we make. And they’re all overseen by Ao, who in turn serves the Luminous Ones, which would be the DMs themselves. Feels kind of amazing to think about.
Came in prepared for some sort of incredibly badass metal creature. Wasn’t prepared for the onslaught of heartwarming feels about transcendental friendship and the profoundly touching value of life and all the great experiences, lessons and achievements we should be aiming to make out of it like steel dragons do.
Now I want to DM a campaign where my players are confronted to a master criminal and his elf acolyte. When they finally dismount his organization and defeat him, they witness a flying shape leaving whatever was their final encounter area, understanding that the threat might still be real and that they might have to confront a dragon. When they arrive to his lair after some quests, they meet his elf minion, his soulbond, who explains them that his friend was living a crimininal life to expand his composition, and that he is now vaulting and will forever forget that life and might begin a new one, perfectly virtuous. Now the players must choose : will they defeat the elf and kill the dragon during his vault, or will they let him finish his composition ?
AHAH! I knew it, the OverGod Aio IS Asgorath, leader of the Draconic pantheon, as well as the god of all gods. Now I’m going to spin the current lore of Asgorath dying from getting sliced in half and those two halves becoming Bahamut and Tiamat(this is the lord of their creation), and make it so that Asgorath was just a lesser piece of Aio. Which being the god of gods he could totally do. Gonna do this in my setting for my campaigns. The reason why perusal him say this made me come to this conclusion is because it’s been a long standing argument from old lore and new lore(1st and 2nd ed vs 3rd 4th and 5th).
Song Dragons too are a lot like steel and silver dragons. For instance, though they can have children with humanoids. These children, while looking like their humanoid parent, are actually half-dragons (and most cases don’t know it). Aj Pickett YT creator has a whole series of D&D vids on monsters in 5e manual and beyond. It is were I learned about song and other dragons. Granted there are things revealed about steel dragons or other dragons here that Aj Pickett did not talk about.
about to start a campaign, and I saw this article immediately after one of the players set his backstory up PERFECTLY. PC is half-elf. Didn’t know (so kinda resented) his bard dad, mom’s an elf, neighbor-elf-guy was always around, kinda looking after him. It all came together in this article: Dad was a Steel Dragon. Neighbor was the soul-bff. Walking away from his son was so hard, the experience will allow dad to ascend. I’mma make a grown man weep
I think I have a new favorite dragon, they’re SO complex (a true masterpiece of a character). Although, what would happen if a steel dragon decided to not clean their memory? or wrote to their future self something and how all those past lifes are one? What if their soul bound was to get killed? Could a soulbound be their couple every single lifetime? And imagine how hard it must be for a long lived humanoid to find out that their old friend was a steel dragon, to go through hell itself to find them and that they don’t remember them? (Add more drama by being their spouse/descendant) Could their soulbound guide them to stick to a certain morality? What if they ended being in opposite sides of the law or a war?
I am so happy to see you doing the Steel Dragons, my favorite for years now. I’ve even had a recurring NPC Steel for many campaigns. Argh, so awesome. You even including the lesser known things, too. But I will say there are several things missing from the info. For example, their polymorphed forms always have some sort of Steel-colored aspect to it, be it hair, nails, or even a trinket. Its just something they do, and allows only other Steels to tell what they truly are. They also leave into the wilds far away once a month to go a feeding frenzy, as while they prefer to eat while human, it can’t sustain itself that way. The reasons it gives for leaving depends on it’s current life. And two last things; there are notes of several Steels actually having several lives at a time, notably one of the ones you mentioned living in Waterdeep. Lastly, they have a ‘unbound curiosity’, which is it typically leads it into its life choices. These are just extra tidbits, as the lore you stated goes way beyond those little things. Good God I loved the article, made me love them even more.
seems like the steel dragon was made for the PC’s. can’t think of a background for your character? boom! you’re a steel dragon! nothing else needed. though if not used in a lazy way you could have stories from your past vault that creates obstacles, treasure cashes, and have created opportunities like chipped away at a wall that helps cut a way to a dungeon boss.
Steel dragons are now my all time favorite dragons. I just made a character who has a backstory tied to one of these incredible creatures. He is an inheiritor druid who’s sage teacher was a soul bond to a steel dragon. The sage asked my character to help him disperse the composition of the steel dragon. The dragon enchanted copper coins from an ancient mint so it couldn’t be spent easily. Instead, to ensure impartiality each coin will transform into one of the items from the composition when it is given to someone with the intent to give. The coin then reads the person and an item is selected from among the composition so it would have the most use and then the coin will shift into that item. For instance a poor farmer who’s family is starving might inherit the fortune the dragon accumulated as a merchant.
For some reason the stuff about the steel dragon’s composition really got to me. The idea that these dragons, instead of stealing and hoarding to fill their lair, creates things to decorate its home and then spreads it to society at large when it dies is amazing. Added to that the idea that only one person will ever recognize the accomplishments of a specific steel dragon in its entire lifetime and even its own children won’t remember it until they are about to die. This is kind of a beautifully tragic creature.
I keep thinking about how they always know deep down inside they are a dragon. So I began thinking about all the critical or tragic moments in their lives they could prevent by being an actual dragon again. So I’m thinking about making a story where a Steel Dragon must decide whether or not to intervene to save someone/something important, but the downside is it would alienate itself from its current life and rob itself from being able to create the magnum opus at the end of this particular life. A wasted life is no small thing because that is one less article in the Composition that the dragon will one day be tested for before IO. Now imagine a love or cause so meaningful that the Steel would be willing to make such a sacrifice just to soar and fight for it. Fun thought.
Reminds me of a book I read about a college kid who took Dungeons and Dragons so seriously that his mind never quite left it behind. Even in real life. I suspect that steel dragons were conceived as a subtle suggestion for fanatics to get a life. This inspires me, though. I should be working on my own “composition”….
Imagine the final years of the soulbind (elf or dwarf or such). They’ve had this friend who’s been a constant, even though they keep changing their personalities completely around every century or so. But then after hundreds of years together, they tell you that their time has come…and then go into a reflection for hundreds of years, while their soulbind just comes every so often to check on them, one day to find the reflection over and their friend has finally passed away. And now the responsibility of their lifesworks is still to come.
How do steel half dragons exist if steel dragons are really careful about their dragon identity? My guess is that they’re the result of when a steel dragon soulbonds with someone of the opposite sex, and friends become mates (and then they mate). A steel half-dragon may be the incarnation of the ultimate love, a love that transcends lifetimes.
A steal dragon’s layer would be the perfect place for my diviner to hide his backup spellbook, as long as the dragon is okay with the diviner stoping in to update or coppy form the book. Edit: My diviner, like Steal Dragons, is all about the preservation and speading of knowledge. So he would be honered to have his spellbook distributed as part of the steal dragon’s hoard.
I love the idea of a soul bonded PC whos mission is to carry all these amazing magical items and books, but can’t use them and must give them away. The party could never know about it or they would go nuts trying to figure out why my character just sold this scroll of resurrection in a shop for cheap instead of using it on the party member that just died lol.
There is, in fact, a steel dragon in 5th edition…sort of. In the Dungeon of the Mad Mage module there is an encounter with a steel dragon that polymorphed into a dueregar and leads an army of dueregar. Granted when it comes to stats it was just a reskinned silver dragon with poison instead of cold breath
Omg imagine a steel dragon ended up botching their vault and end up forgetting they WERE dragons and end up as amnesiac humans who have superior strength. And then imagine that character going through campaigns with party members who end up losing family to different dragons and develop a hatred for all dragons. Then somehow Plot kicks the steel dragon character into his true form shocking both him/herself and the entire party and going through denial that they were a dragon and insist they’re human. And then they’re stuck in dragon form for a while struggling with who they actually are while the party splits into two factions to protect the dragon character and the other to kill them due to their intense hatred. That’s some heart wrenching plot opportunity with the steel dragon!!!
My new plan is to have all the characters I play to be the same steel dragon. I already have one life down for them (Rest in Peace Mishal Rune). It could be so fun they could even be an NPC whenever I DM and the players would probably never know. In many years time, I could play with my spouse (If I get to that point and still be interested in the game) and be the first to reveal the steel dragon’s identity making them their soul bond both in-game and out. Okay, that last part was a bit cheesy but you get the whole idea.
Huh … this article really makes me want to create a character who is actually a steel dragon that doesn’t yet remember its true nature. I’m thinking Bard for their love of art and story or Barbarian for their empowered polymorph, essentially using the mechanics of the barbarian’s 20th level ability to say he found and reconnected with his true self. And the interesting thing about this idea is that you can actually use any race or background and have it work.
You seem to not know about Song Dragons. As they share many of the same abilities, which you said was unique to Steel Dragons. Elminster even had a daughter with a Song Dragon, without knowing she was a Dragon, and the Child doesn’t know her mother was a Dragon. Look up Ammaratha Cyndusk, and Narnra Shalace. Good stuff.
I immediately imagine a kingdom that was founded by a man who was secretly a steel dragon, and that that steel dragon occasionally shows up to re-insert themselves into the royal bloodline. Whenever they do so, they have a bunch of bastards, causing the kingdom to be home to numerous draconic-bloodline sorcerers and nobody knows the real reason why.
I love this dragon, and I am thinking of playing a Steel Dragon in “The Black Ballad” campaign. One that went through all of thier lives and can’t seem to recall how they ended up here. Because they should have went through all of the process and either became apart of IO or failed the test and is retaking his life lessons. But something must have happened during this point in thier life as they are here and with no memory. Did they end up having to Vault again? Do they actually have amnesia or are they dead? If they died, then how, because this is not what should have happened. Oh the possibilities of this combo! XD
This sounds so messed up. It’s like the whole species had caused a grevous offence to a god/s in the distant past, and the God/s cursed Steel Dragons in this way. There is no evolutionary reason I can see for this type of life. Other dragons who like humanoids have choice. Steel ones don’t. 4000 years of not living as yourself. Has to be a major curse
“How happy is the blameless vestal’s lot The world forgetting by the world forgot Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind Each pray’r accepted, and each wish resign’d.” “Blessed are the forgetful: for they get the better even of their blunders.” These Dragons have the most romantic lives of any in all creation.
That retcon is horrible and everyone ignores it because of how bad it is. If you know what i mean you know. It undoes something so artful and magnificence and steamrolls all over lore Dishonorable mention in the same place where that happened goes to topaz dragons they made them necrotic instead of them dehydrating with their breath. also backwards wings..
WOW, this one was.. outstanding! I knew Steels before, but with not half the information provided here. I knew about soulbound, I knew about living of the lives, but didnt know about a voulture. This made the whole chain of lives even more sad, if they are to be forgotten by its own dragon children, and forgots them also. For now I have couple ideas to work with, how to incorporate Steel to my future (and previous) campaigns… For example players will met in each campaing a different npc, who will incorporate their (or memories about all my players) stories into his work. They will didn’t know this, until someone, once day, will give them a magic scrying orb. Orb that looks for first impression as broken, because shows only emotions, no images etc. But if one of the players touches it the vision became clear, and recognizable only by this player. A glimpse of memory from story of his one previous character… And the note with information, that out there are more of these kind of items. And the pursuit for the memories will start. Maybe if players will successfully collect some part of the collection it will lead them to dreaming dragon in a very moment before IO will “Judge ” him. This could be very good legacy of my players, especially because I have copies of all theirs characters ever played in my DM history. Thanks for the article!
In my campaign there is a steel dragon who has worked for a king as a bodyguard, server etc. for many lifetimes. And the king was always good to his servants. The king also was long living. He’s based off the beheaded from dead cells. Who’s practically immortal in the sense of taking new bodies each time he dies.
now i’m tempted to make a steel dragon character, a human of any class really but throughout the campaign hearing about various famous people (generals, druids, archmages, evil warlords, paladins, etc) that in the end discovers they were all himself in past “lives”, and that this current “life” was to be his last before the recollection ritual.
I find the resemblance with Song Dragons quite uncanny, both in behaviour, abilities and even appearance, although to a lesser degree (in 3E, not Pathfinder’s whole new ‘family’ of Song Dragons, of course). Even their territories overlap, namely Waterdeep. Could they be related? Someone suggested to Song Dragons could simply be the females of the species, pointing at their habit of taking only female forms. I personally don’t really believe that to be the case, since that would imply quite the sexual dimorphism (although not impossible with such magical beings), but they must a have very similar origins. I’d be curious to see what you could find on the subject. Either way, excellent work! The Steels have been amongst my very favourite since that article came out!
Have a modified version of the steel dragon where they don’t have the special presence abilities or anything more than that of the race they choose to be, except I have a twist. In the campaign, I play that steel dragons are like silvers and are 100% good not neutral and I am half with a black dragon so I appear as a half-dragon despite being a full dragon. I get no extra health, or abilities as In this my character was never taught in his first life anything by his parents as they were killed except to vault before they died so he lives as this conflicted character damned to try to do good and except the black dragon in him is constantly trying to make him do evil or do good acts in the most underhanded way possible. He is a fighter that is an ex-paladin of justice that didn’t become a full oathbreaker but lost his abilities for his actions and is trying to get penance.
I appreciate your articles. I eat up all the lore for the sessions I host. My sessions aim for the tone that the players are indeed heroes with self determination and world consequence, while being a single reflection of a great crystals’ last enchanted throe – the last cries of a passing age. The easily accesible material you provide made that possible.
I wanna play as a PC that is secretly a steel dragon. Like, the part enters my Composition and I either am forced to drop the disguise or try and keep it up and persuade my party to not take anything. Also the Control Emotion Aura can be useful in potentially overwriting bad effects. Just send the DM a secret message like “I use my Control Emotion Aura to inspire the party” and they have me roll Sleight of Hand or what not to see if the party notices. Can be awesome!
MrRhexx now I got a real weird question, what would happen if two steel dragons met in human form (can they tell a steel dragon in human form from a normal human?) and went to mate (as humans do) since they are both dragons what would be the kid? just a steel dragon in auto-human form without knowing or…? I still have some questions about this T_T
So if a steel dragon is living a life of a common farmer, does that farmer retain the strength and durability of a dragon? I.e. if that farmer ends up being ambushed by bandits, will he/she eliminate all of them with a few punches, while shrugging off sword slashes and arrows to the chest? Or does the dragon somehow suppress those capabilities to make the farmer be truly ordinary?
One thing I did not understand is this: They mostly socialise and live as humans, but can call on draconic power all day every day. They get moulded by human society each time they vault and each time they do not end up as kings or warlords etc. they go like “Yup. maid/farmer/seaman is the life for me. That is totally what a human would do with that amount of power.” They must have really strong minds to keep such a guise up. Imagine one sitting in a tavern across one of their working class buddies blabbering about “If I was in charge” after their seventh pint. Carefully listening, having an odd “been there done that” notion in the back of their mind.
Given everything said here about Steel Dragons, I wouldn’t be surprised if on worlds where they exist the overwhelming majority of Dragon-Blooded Sorcerers were descended from Steels. Also, could you imagine the look on a Bandit’s face when they try to rob an isolated farmstead only to find those giant scaly eggs…?
Steel🐉1st life: – becomes a hero and start a village Steel🐉2nd life: – becomes a demon lord to destroy that village Steel🐉3rd life: – being isekai into a fantasy world that must rebuild a village destroyed by the demon king Steel🐉4th life: – becomes famous author of fantasy novels (his previous lives)
i could totally see this happen on a random dnd adventure. DM: you see a frail old woman with weak bones on the street 100 ft away minding her own business when a robber pulls out their sword and demands to be handed gold. PLAYERS: we charge at the robber DM: roll initiative! PLAYERS: (go last) DM: the old woman refuses to hand over the gold. then the robber attacks the woman (rolls nat20) PLAYERS: NNNNNOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!! DM: As the blade screams through the air and colides with the weak lady’s skin the blade EXPLODES with metallic Shrapnel. the woman doesn’t have a single scratch on her. PLAYERS: …WTF…
Mr.Rhexx. I enjoy your learned descriptions of so many different monsters, but this one is particularly interesting! Vaulting?! Multiple lives? I mean why do the steel dragons even exist if they spend 99% of their lives as humans? It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense because what is the point of being a dragon at all even? It lives the life of a human, so how on earth will it even identify one another when they are both incognito their entire life? Unless Steel Dragons have a special ability to be able to pick another steel dragon out of a crowd of humans I think that finding a mate must be nigh impossible! How do steel dragons even develop a culture or proper childhood/adulthood being raised properly by a parent steel dragon when it seems like they will never ever see another steel dragon? I find this entire creatures existence to be very interesting, but ultimately TOTALLY RIDICULOUS AND BORDERLINE IMPOSSIBLE! I don’t blame you Mr.Rhexx, I blame the particularly vivid imagination on the part of D+D monster manual writers who have created a very interesting creature here, but it is also one that is ultimately a poor case for the propagation of their species. Too much imagination killed this species off with simply too much detail. Forgetting their memories every time they vault is also a major problem because they will forget their mates entirely or any other important things like having children or raising them. This entire creatures lifestyle and very specific way of life is truly unfortunate and ultimately it will lead to its own extinction.
VAULTED LEAP “….The Steel Dragon woke to find himself trapped in the past, facing mirror images that were not his own, and driven by an unknown force to change history for the better…. And so The Steel Dragon finds himself leaping from life to life, striving to put right what once went wrong, and hoping each time that his next leap will be the leap home…”
This “steel dragon thing” in my mind has a problem. If servants of IO. That sets them on or above the level of the Godlike Bahumat platium dragon, which to my knowlage is the father of the Metalic dragons. And to the a point your describs some of the traits of Silver dragons, the want of be freinds and have connections with out smaller races.
So….here’s a thought…..you’re a baby steel dragon….grown up….turning adult….vaulting…..so is your parents……everyone forgets about everyone……sometime later in the future…….what if you accidentally commited incest without knowing??…..i guess it’s not a problem…since…polymorph…science whatever….
okay…just shy of 9 minutes into the article and we’ve hit a point where Steel Dragons are unquestionably the single most dangerous type: all that power and toughness condensed down into a smaller form would let them manhandle literally any other creature to the point where they could walk up to the Tarrasque itself and simply push through whatever part of it gets to close. on top of that they aren’t nearly as full of specific behavioral weaknesses as most other types. …guess the rest of the article touches on why they would be that crazily overpowered.
I am immune to memory wipes, memory blocks, death, reincarnation, polymorphs into anything other my draconic form. I can only have my original shadow demon phoenix dragon goat form. I am the most highest god of all, and I can’t be absorbed by anyone. Their judgments do not matter to me. I am immune to this vaulting ritual. I AM A DRAGON FOREVER.
Me: “Waaaait a minuet, are you sure you are a human? Because I suspect you may actually be a Steel Dragon.” The Human: “I am going to tell you what you meant by what you just said, and if you disagree with me I’m going to call you arrogant.” Me: “Yep, checks out ok, your a human alright.” Leaves. The Human: Whispering “Heh heh heh… Works every time!”
I have the absolute perfect idea for a character, most likely a crucial NPC – a Steel Dragon that runs a major city’s Adventurer’s Guild as the Guildmaster. And maybe, there could be a Steel Dragon that doesn’t like to Vault. (Edit: And I mean that it keeps its collections of knowledge, but just doesn’t Vault often.)
Watching this made me realize, Roland The Giant King, the fabled hero king that united the lands and creatures and created 1 Kingdom of the Covenant in my POST-Post-Apocalyptic Hombrew, is and always has been, a Steel Dragon…. and that every king thereafter in his line, current on Roland IX, have been a different life of the same Steel Dragon.
Hey Rhexx (or anyone who read this) I have a question to ask: A friend of mine created a new species called Imperial Dragons: they are the size of mountains, can procreate asexually, they are surrounding by a deadly miasma and most important of all: they can CONTROL other dragons against their will(mind control). The question I have is: can Steel Dragons when polymorph into human or humanoid appearance, become immune to their influence? Please answer this question, you will save my life and my Adventurer.
According to AD&D MM: “When these dragons take on human form, they always have one steel-gray feature-hair, eyes, nails or sometimes a ring or other ornament.” Eyes and hair would make it easier to identify them. A ring would be a more subtle clue. 🙃 Btw, did you mention the breath weapon? I think I’ve missed it.
Great article, you and AJ Picket should co-DM a game sometime… or at least co-author a mission and have him DM it. I scoffed at Steel Dragons as lame plot armor dragons… now I realize how unfair I was. I would follow you on Twit User (Twitter) but I hate most social media. I don’t fault you for it, you are a social media personality who probably would commit platform suicide by not including the idiot platforms.
Another question: How does the dragon know it’s time to vault? Do they simply choose to do so when their form becomes “old”? Why couldn’t they choose to “die” (say, as a pirate) at an early age, sneak away, and vault into a new life? There seems to be no mechanism for this. I’ve created a steel dragon who was yanked into Toril from Greyhawk before it was 10 years old (it was about 6), so its training is incomplete and it has no idea how to Vault correctly. It doesn’t even know it’s supposed to refrain from changing into its true draconic form. It was just discovered by the PCs and became friends with them but decided to vault because it realized that something had gone wrong.
got a few questions. Isnt Ao busy bitchslapping the other gods to make them do their job? How does Ao have time to micromanage an entire race of superspecial snowflakes? Anti-dragon divinitation camo protects against things that would reveal that he is a dragon. So what if. Dragon loses a small scale. Vaults. Keeps the scale. Has non-dragon children. Gives scale to children. “””dies”””. If the kid(s) perform divination magic on the scale, will it fail or will it point them towards the dragons new life?
The first campaign I DM’ed had a Steel Dragon NPC, who disguised himself as a burly Dwarf and called himself Dagmar Brimstone. The party knew he was a Steel Dragon but never saw him in his Dragon form – until they discovered his dead body. He was the closest thing they had to a true friend among the Dragons they encountered (the Silver being more of a mentor, the Gold being the one they were searching for most of the campaign because they were led to believe he was insane and harming the land with his ridiculous demands of tribute – but was actually imprisoned and being impersonated by a rival Red Dragon) and treated with mistrust and suspicion by the Crystal Dragon they briefly encountered) so they took this really hard. But it was good motivation for them to uncover the plot that Brimstone was trying to uncover before his death. Yeah, there were a lot of Dragons in my campaign. Because Dragons are cool. There was the Silver matriarch and her two whelplings, the Gold, two Bronzes, the Steel (Brimstone), a Red, two Blacks… It was truly Dragon Central in that valley.
Imagine if we are like steel dragons when we play D&D. We play character after character, remembering all our past play experiences but casting them aside when we play new ones and when we stop that campaign, we vault. And start anew… anyway these dragons are just like D&D players trapped IN the D&D world and I frickin’ love it! Also what if during a modern D&D campaign a steel dragon’s temporary life ends it vaults to make a article game XD
I’m pondering how it’d go to secretly have a PC be a steel dragon who underwent an experimental advanced vaulting. This advanced vaulting would’ve completely wiped the steel dragon’s memory and completely locked away their draconic nature. Throughout the campaign, the PC would discover bits and pieces of their past life, hinting that there’s something more to the PC than even the player knows.
“In the begining the was the One (Ao). The One knew everything but experienced nothing. So the One became many to experience everything.” From now on my headcanon is that Steels are Aos way of experiencing life as a mortal for the sake of keeping up his wisdom in maintaining the Balance. PS. Thank you for theese articles.
Wow… I’m blown away! I feel like I just watched a sad movie. I know its all a game…. but damn…. I was weeping. The whole Steel Dragon story arc has a very Hindu resonance. Their whole existence is purely for the betterment of mankind…. damn… that’s heavy if you think about it. You give hundreds or thousands of years of your life to benefit a species that either doesn’t want you around or doesn’t care if you exist.
Sorry, but there actually is a steel dragon in 5e, and its behaviour contradicts what youre saying. In Floor 21 of the Dungeon of the Mad Mage, there is the wife of the brother of King Steelshadow V, Valtagar Steelshadow, whos’s wife named Stalagma is a steel dragon. She disclosed that information to him, and the book explicitly states that she transforms into a dragon when fighting.
One concern: The Soulbond will never live as long as the steel dragon (example: An elf). Therefore, it is extremely likely that the Soulbond will be dead by the time the dragon enters Reflection, but it can only create one Soulbond in its lifetime. How do we reconcile this? My thought is that the status passes to the current Soulbond’s descendant, or if they have none, their closest friend of a similarly long-lived race.
In-depth on inventory and gear, Table of Content, showcases best techniques, includes both locations, and all information was delivered smoothly, at a good steady pace and a good volume. (Hate it when guides are either ear rape or far too quiet) Had all decent gear setups. Welfare Vs BiS, Prayer conservation vs DPS, etc How tf are you under 2k subscribers.
Just wondering, why is the leaf bladed sword better than the dragon sword when it comes to stab? The leaf sworded only has a small stab advantage while the dragon sword has a +13 melee strength over the leaf sword. I’m asking cause I’m on a budget and can’t afford anything above the bladed sword lol. But thanks again for the guides as always!
Why you suggest to choose firecape over ardy cloak by far? Ardy cloak gives huge amount of Stab bonus.. how higher the ardy cape how bigger the stab bonus is. You pick stab weapons cause its the metal dragon there weakness. The Stab Bonus of the Cloak ables the boost the accuracy and is also boost your prayer. As a mage is suggest to use a Smoke Staff cause of the passive. While using the Smoke Staff you dont need any fire and air runes + its passive gives +10% accuracy and damage bonus while using standard spells.