WizKids has revealed a brand newDungeons & Dragonsminiature, bringing to life the newly redesigned red dragon from the 2024 rules update. As part ofDungeons & Dragons' 50th anniversary, Wizards of the Coast redesigned the game’schromatic and metallic dragons. Each dragon’s redesign took into account their unique abilities, the biomes they usually call home, and also their general personalities to craft bold new looks for the D&D’s most iconic monsters.
WizKids recently revealedthe first in a series of miniatures that brings these new dragon designs to the table.The Black Dragon Corrupter (revealed earlier this year) and Red Dragon Tyrant will terrorize miniature versions of adventurers in 2025. Both dragons sit on a 75-millimeter base, with the Black Dragon Corrupter having a 10-inch wingspan and the Red Dragon Tyrant having an 8-inch wingspan.
Both sculpts will come with a painted version and an unpainted version, with the unpainted version costing $59.99 and the painted version costing $79.99. The Black Dragon Corrupter will be released in February 2025, while the Red Dragon Tyrant will be released in July 2025.
Why Dungeons & Dragons Redesigned Its Iconic Dragons
2024 Redesigns Aimed To Make The D&D Version Of Dragons Stand Out
In a recent interviewwith Screen Rant,Dungeons & Dragons art director Josh Herman explained why his team moved away from the iconic dragon designs made by Ted Lockwood. "
Josh Herman: The biggest thing when we talk about the Dragon designs, overall, the biggest goal was to give them more character and personality. Those are the big things that if I had to give a critique on the previous designs, those didn’t come through as clear for me. I think that they were beautiful designs that really innovated and established what a lot of Dragon designs looked like for about 20 years, which is pretty impressive honestly when you think about that.But one of the things moving forward is that a D&D Dragon can talk, it can speak because it can cast magic spells, it has motivations, it has plots.
Herman and his team looked at each monster’s statblocks, pulling out differences in Strength scores and Constitution scores to determine the build and body type of each creature.They also incorporated small details pulled from the lore,with the skull of the black dragon exposed to represent its prolonged use of its acid breath weapon. Meanwhile, the red dragon’s wings and underbelly have smoky scales meant to help it camouflage in the sky while flying through smoke clouds.
Our Take: Dragons Are Cool, These Miniatures Look Awesome
WizKids Makes Very Good Miniatures, These Dragons Should Be No Exception
My living room contains an entire shelf of WizKids-crafted dragon miniatures, so I can say with some confidence that this company knows how to make big dragons look scary. The new redesigns of the chromatic dragons are all generally awesome,so I can’t wait to see physical versions of the black and red dragons at my table.
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While $80 is a high price for a figure that will only be used occasionally in grid combat, most WizKids dragons look fantastic on a display shelf. These are great pieces for anyDungeons & Dragonsfan and the only negative is that they can’t be released sooner.
