If you subscribe to the moral axiom that “might makes right,” then the Red Dragons are rightness personified. They see the world as theirs, without question or argument, and they will destroy anyone or anything that dares to say otherwise. They are conquerors, and if Dragons are the greatest of all creatures in existence, then the Reds know that they are the greatest of them all. A Red Dragon in your game does not question or wonder or dither over plans and schemes.

The scheme of a Red Dragon is very simple: burn the world to ash until it gets what it wants.

After the long-game Green Dragons, these might feel refreshingly straightforward. No devious plots or webs of intrigue – just fire and ash.

And you can play them that way, sure. But that won’t be as much fun as you think it is.

The best way to use a Red Dragon in your campaign is as a shaper of worlds. Wherever it decides to make its lair, it will change the world around it into something that serves its power and glory. This is where the history of your campaign world can pivot, as a wealthy kingdom is drained of its resources, its most brilliant minds are kidnapped and held hostage to the whims of the Great Red King, and everything of value is stripped away to make a bed for a malevolent tyrant.

If ever a land has needed heroes, this is it. But what kind of heroes are at your table?

As with all the Chromatic and Metallic Dragons in the 2024 Monster Manual, we have four Red Dragons to play with in our games, depending on what level you’re working at.

The Red Dragon Wyrmling is a bully, pure and simple. It’s intelligent and charismatic, but it has yet to gather the kind of clout that it needs in order to command kingdoms to kneel before it, and has barely any of the great powers that it will one day possess. It will probably lead with fire and claws in any negotiation, cackling with glee to see creatures aflame, trying to run for their lives. But those Wyrmlings are not likely to last long. I imagine that those born from a clutch of Red Dragon eggs are vicious competitors the moment they are born, and those that rely solely on brutality are unlikely to leave the nest. A newborn Dragon will need cunning and ruthlessness to survive their first trial: leaving the nest.

This is not just because their siblings are as murderous as they. Perhaps even their parents see them as potential rivals someday. Creatures to be watched, guarded against, lest they attempt to steal the vast wealth of the hoard.

Therefore, any Red Dragon Wyrmling that your Players encounter is probably trying to do two things: escape the competition of its family, and start a new reign of terror somewhere else. They have no lair, no treasure, and probably very few minions that are terrified enough of this mastiff-sized fire-breather to do its bidding. Alternatively, perhaps the hangers-on they have collected actually believe they can use this creature. A gang of bandits has promised that it will help a Wyrmling set up their lair if it acts as a weapon for them. The bandits ply the wyrmling with treasures that they steal, talk to them as though the creature were their secret leader, and promise that when they come into their own, the Red Dragon will be well taken-care-of.

How much fun it will be, then, when these Red Dragon Bandits come up against your Players and decide that this monster isn’t worth dying for. How will the Wyrmling react when its minions betray it and flee? Are your Party willing to take a chance on trying the same gambit, hoping that the creature is arrogant and self-centered enough to fall for the same lie twice?

Should the Wyrmling survives its early, fragile stages, it becomes a Young Red Dragon. The Manual says that these are dangerously unpredictable creatures, already immensely powerful in their own right. While they have yet to grow into their full power, their fire breath can deliver double the damage of a Fireball, and the Strength and Constitution outstrip any normal stats that your Party might possess.

If this Dragon succeeded in gathering power-hungry minions from its Wyrmling days, it’s probably setting its sights on greater things at this point. No more raiding merchant caravans or burning villages to the ground. This dragon is looking for two things: a Lair, and things to fill it with. And it will be ruthless in its search, because once it digs in and has something to defend, it will become a terrible force indeed.

As they go on their adventures, your Party begins to hear about refugees from a nearby land. People have been forced out of their homes by a small army bearing the sigil of a roaring Red Dragon. By this time, it’s not just scruffy bandits who have joined this monster. More seasoned soldiers and mercenaries will join its cause, knowing that being in service of a creature like this can bring them power and wealth beyond their wishes. Some of them, of course, will just be in it for the violence of it all. Feel free to make those guys as hateable as you can.

The Young Red Dragon can still be stopped, however. It has nowhere to call home, and its minions follow out of fear and greed. If your Party can muster enough help from their allies, perhaps rally the next land in the Dragon’s path, they can bring enough force to bear to stop their march of devastation. But be warned – this is a desperate Dragon on the verge of getting everything it wanted. There will be no quarter asked or given, and a careless Party will meet their doom here.

The Red Dragon that faces off all its foes, that destroys any Adventurer foolish enough to stand in its way becomes an Adult Red Dragon, and the change at this stage makes it a very formidable foe. In addition to improved stats and skills, this Dragon finally has the qualities that make it a true challenge.

In addition to its Legendary Resistances, where it can shrug off certain effects that might otherwise hinder its ability to slaughter, as well as Legendary Actions so it can kill more quickly, it gains the ability to cast spells. It can cast Scorching Ray at will, for when its even more terrible Fire Breath is still recharging. If it needs to, it can cast Command to disrupt a Party’s coordination and throw their plans into disarray.

And when it has finally killed all the Adventurers who come before it, it can cast Detect Magic to see which bits of loot are worth adding to the good hoard.

That’s another important point: this Dragon has a Lair now. It found a hollowed-out mountain or dormant volcano or deep cavern system to call home, and getting it out will be nearly impossible. Perhaps it has enlisted worshipful Kobolds to keep watch on its home, lacing it with the kinds of traps that only these little Dragonkin can craft – clever, cruel, and effective.

Other servants that it has either bullied into submission or promised endless slaughter to are willing to undertake its missions for it, terrorizing towns and cities in the name of the Great Wyrm and demanding pledges of wealth and power. Any land that refuses will meet the fate of the last land to refuse – the land whose very name has been burned from the maps.

In fact, the Dragon at this point may have already amassed enough power that it no longer has to take care of its lands and holdings by itself. The minions it has gathered will do that, while the Dragon spends time with its treasure, keeping it, sorting it, cataloging it, and sending servants out for more. Perhaps there is a vital piece of a magical suit of armor that it is missing, or a potion that can only be concocted by one very clever alchemist in the kingdom. What seems at first to be a simple robbery, easily handled by your Players, will turn out to be the first step in a journey that leads them into the heart of fire and terror.

If they cannot stop that Dragon’s plans and schemes, and if it is allowed to grow in strength and power, then it becomes an Ancient Red Dragon. This is no longer simply a monster to be hunted down and destroyed. This is a force of nature, and destroying it is nearly beyond the might of armies, to say nothing of adventuring parties.

This Dragon is at the apex of its power. Everything it can do – hurl flame, cast spells, tear with claws – is at its most powerful. This Dragon is no longer satisfied with bringing kingdoms under its talons. It wants worlds. Its servants are no longer simple mercenaries or even the armies of the kingdoms it has conquered. Through its vicious, single-minded need to acquire more and more, it has brought some of the most powerful beings in existence under its heel. Other dragons, for sure – Critical Role’s Chroma Conclave is an excellent example of how an Ancient Red Dragon can be terrifying enough to bring other Chromatics into its service.

But if you really want to show your Players how powerful this creature is? Give it elemental servants that prosper under its terrible rule. Fire Giants and Azers, Fire Elementals and Efreeti are all excellent candidates for the servants of this impossibly powerful creature. They may plot and plan amongst themselves, to be sure, but not one of them will set a foot wrong with their draconic master. Serving it brings power and wealth. Betraying it brings only a painful death to you and everyone you have ever loved.

Defeating an Ancient Red Dragon should be comparable to defeating a god, and the fallout from its death will bring immeasurable change to the worlds it has held in its grip. The power vacuum alone will bring about chaos as its former servants all battle for the wealth and power left behind. Your Players may decide, in fact, that as terrible as this creature is, destroying it may be even worse.

There are people in our own world who believe the only way to influence the world is through violence and terror. They believe that tribute is owed to them simply because they can inflict pain and fear on those they see as lesser beings.

Red Dragons embody that worldview perfectly. And in our games, we get to face that evil, recognize it for what it is, and prove it can be defeated.

Sometimes that’s the practice we need.