say it with me MrRhexx Cat-A-Go-Ries, by god your pronunciation of that word make my ears bleed... otherwise greate video as always, i really love this named dragon series ^_^
TBH I'm surprised your first book wasn't about dragons. Like I imagined a book where the adventures climb their way through all the named dragons in farun to kill them all.
New watcher of the channel here and I loved this last video too. I have a question tho, have you any intention of making more videos about the planes or that's a closed door for now? After those videos, I am thinking about looking around for those second-edition books and try reading them for myself!
You've covered a LOT of my favorite dragons without me ever even needing to asking. Thank you so much, this dragon series has been AMAZING. Hope to see Gildenfire in a future installment. :)
This honestly is super interesting. I have an area in my campaign that I want to have a very limited number of dragons, as they’re the last ones that survived, but I never fully knew how to justify it. But a dragon that hunts others relentlessly? Seems like a fairly interesting setup if you ask me
He is also called Old Snarl. He features as a minor antagonist in the third chapter of Neverwinter Nights. He offers the player character a deal, get him the essence of a young dragon to help him extend his life. You can do this and he awards you with a key item, a Word of Power. You can also betray him and give him a corrupted essence of a dead dragon instead which will hurt him when he absorbs it and put him near death and weakens him but make him go hostile. He is basically impossible to beat without tricking him by having him absorb the dead essence. In game he is an ancient dragon who is also a sorcerer with a full arsenal of spells up to level 9. Even when at near death and weakened he can still kill a player in a couple rounds. He doesn't have any of these lore spells in the NWN game, but Time Stop coupled with Ancient Dragon Dragon Breath spam, and straight up Save or instantly Die magic at a pretty unreasonable DC check makes him the most difficult fight in the game.
Yeah, remember him. A pretty tough fight. A certified PITA for a melee character, that's for sure. An Evocation/Invocation specialist wisard with Isaac's greater missile storm (this spell was a boss killer back then) did him in with ease, however.
@@АлександрДараган-з8ц IGMS would kill him quickly. That's the most powerful offense spell in the game, and by quite a margin. 2d6 damage per missile and a missile per level. It scales better than any damaging spell, and most importantly is thatt there is no save. It's magic/force damage and not elemental so very few things resist. Even the epic level hellball has a reflex save for half damage (or no damage with evasion). This dragon has some high saves, including fortitude that's basically untouchable by any normal player character or spell other than it rolling a 1. The spell exists in NWN but doesn't exist for pen and paper D&D and that is probably a good thing. But no shame using it, as it exists and I was spamming it on my sorcerer too.
Imagine if dragons watched this video: Klauth: Why are there a bunch of angry dragons outside my cave. All of Klauth’s enemies: It’s time to run those cheeks Klauth
I actually can't wait to hear about the Vampire Green Dragon just east of the Vilhon Reach to be talked about here. Mostly because of my dream campaign Rise of Psionics from the Sea of Fallen Stars
Excuse me kind sir…. Did you just say the words DRAGON and VAMPIRE in the same sentence and describing the same creature? Because HOLY FUCK that’s terrifying…..
In case somebody need source: Dragons of Faerun (also a lot of klauth related text) Dragon magazine #244 (main part) Dragon magazine #424 (just a small mention) 5e "Storm Kings Thunder" (statblock info) 5e Fizban tressure (just a small mention)
I kinda felt like it would be Dragon-Highlander but the egg/baby sacrifice of red dragons did surprise me and so he's almost like a Red Dragon Hag in his characteristics? _definitely explains his complete isolation_ -- to challenge him is also to threaten and doom some other eggs since wounding him will require recovery and sacrifice.
It could actually be a cool adventure idea for a dragon to die leaving a big power vacuum as well as lots of his treasures, knowlege and artifacts behind, causing adventurers, wizards, monsters and villians alike to come flocking in.
Amazing idea for a campaign. Klauth has been killed and your party is composed of people who are after his hoard for separate reasons that are character specific. They go up against various other interested groups that are after it as well as other adventuring groups
Klauth, to me, has always been one of the absolute best big name guest antagonists. His rampages make for great cinematic moments. His vast lists of enemies mean it's easy to weave him into a story. His surprising stealth can make for hillarious ambushes. His scrying makes it easy to attract his attention to a thing, and stay abreast enough to not be easily surprised. And "rescue the babies" will never not be a good simple motivation for the players. Also, frankly, he's a character easy to write back out of the game without having to be directly confronted. He slinks off. He goes into hiding. He realises his target is out of reach so changes his priorities. And has there ever been a more iconic piece of D&D art than that line drawing of just his head looming over the mountainside/ledge at the suprised swordsman?
Klauth is a fun enemy, and I'm actually rather glad he popped up in one 5e campaign book, and is a fearsome beast there. Personally, I enjoy a pastime of taking already monstrous threats, and then stacking a few extra perils on them, and ancient/great wyrm dragons with many wizard levels is one of my favorites, so I'm always glad when D&D does it themselves. He might struggle to compete with Niv-Mizzet, of Ravnica fame, but he's still a right terror, even to 5e parties. I wonder if Old Snarl could ever push himself up to Greatwyrm, from Fizban's? He likes to eat other dragons, so why mot alternate himselves, and grow even mightier?
I think Klauth's size is still being undersold here. Thanks to that spell that lets him steal energy from eggs, he is one of the biggest dragons in the entire world. The statue of him at 8:52 shows him sitting on and being bigger than a CASTLE, and it was supposedly made to accurately to scale. That'd put Klauth at up to like 600 feet long, 5x bigger than a basic Ancient Red Dragon. He's beyond Fizban's Greatwyrm level. The lore from his Wyrms of the North article states that he defeats entire armies of orcs by "landing next to the gathered horde and rolling around (crushing thousands at a time)." If you had a tabletop mini of an ancient red dragon, at 1 inch = 5 feet scale, a normal red would be 2 feet long. Klauth's mini would be 10 feet long. Bigger than the table.
He's big but not bigger than the strongest dragon alive in Faerun tho, Invaernarho or Inferno dwarfs him by stats and size category in 3rd edition as well as 3.5E Klauth was only at Gargantuan size meanwhile Inferno was at Collossal+ size category but they removed collosal category and just streamlined it to Gargantuan, plus Klauth was CR 26 at the time of that edition meanwhile Inferno and Tchazzar was at CR 40
I'm gonna use Klauth in my Rise of Tiamat campaign. He'll have an aerial showdown against the characters and a silver dragon ally of theirs, looking forward to it.
I'll miss these patron names, I understand the feelings you expressed, but I've always loved the way you do the presentation, and even the pattern of the names themselves will be a mantra that reminds me of you and the joy of hearing your videos. I'm glad you're moving to something much more comfortable for yourself! It's important to operate within your own consent, and knowing that can be hard. Good on you for acting according to your own moral code!
I remember in SKT, a player thought they should make the airship go talk to Klauth. Since he was their benefactor and he was already helping. ....marched right up to the dragons mouth and one fire-breath and a bunch of wand blasts later near tpk.
@@Satchmojones I think that every edition has childish stories so that point is irrelevant to me. Regardless, I don't think the mere concept of having a power dragon being a benefactor is childish if done right. Dragons are smarter than me and you, it's not even an argument, they just are. Assuming that creatures with such high Intellect are unable to act more than in 1 manner is where things get silly and childish. As for the power fantasy. Every D&D game is a power fantasy. Every, damn, one. It's not call of cthulhu where you're meant to die/lose/fail. You're supposed to be a hero and win against all odds. Statistically 5e is a lot less of a power fantasy than some older editions too. Compare it to my favorite version, 3.5. In 3.5 due to the way the game is built a great wyrm red dragon could win against an army of.... well. Literally infinite level 3 fighters. None of them could ever hurt it. Yet in 5e? 200 peasants with crossbows have a solid chance of killing an ancient red dragon lol. 5e nerfed everyone from old editions. The numbers are never as high, and the magic is weaker, especially necromancy where they gutted it entirely.
@@Satchmojones I don't like 5e regardless of saying that. I just don't think attacking the story or saying it's a power fantasy is a fair way to say it's bad. The game is trying to be a power fantasy. And the story/world is separate from the system itself.
Doesn't that spell also extend his lifespan? Also, I think another reason he kills so many dragons was that stealing and killing dragon eggs is a huge taboo among dragons, and so he is hated by pretty much all of dragonkind.
Pretty much hypocritical of the other chromatic dragons to hate Klauth though as they heartlessly prey on plenty of others themselves. "Faerun deserves a better class of dragon. And I'm gonna give it to them."
@@stevenyoung9738 That's probably what they indeed think, but as long as you personally understand that that's actually a terrible logical argument. lol
Why? You know how players are. Given the chance they will kill him. In some outrageous abstract way you didn't plan for... So be careful. As a paranoid ancient red dragon. Lololol
@@crownprince76 I'd say the inverse, that they might get TPKed. I'd worry that someone is definitely going to do something stupid and the horrific CR 36 dragon just isn't going to have it.
This has been a great series. I enjoy all your D&D videos but this series is about the greatest monster of all time, dragons! Nothing could be better. Thank you for all the hard work you put into these.
Thank you! The timing on this video was perfect. I actually recently purchased that Klauth Statue so I was trying to find more information about this Dragon. These named Dragon Videos so far are my favorite of your content. Looking forward to seeing more.
My personal favorite D&D campaign I've had was actually two. The first started relatively common with heroes eventually tasked with saving the world from ultimate evil. When we finally fought the evil boss the party completely wiped thanks to a few of our bad rolls and some of the DM's good rolls. When trying to come up with another campaign we decided to keep up with this one. However, instead of playing more heroes we played after a bit of a time jump with the world falling apart. We created evil characters instead who decided to conspire against the big bad and split the world into separate kingdoms for each of us to rule, each tasked with different aspects to keep our own Order. It was wicked fun. 😎🍻😎
Tbh his stealth is what would scare me the most - imagine getting sneak-attacked by a dragon? I don't even wanna know how many dice you'd need to roll should he crit on that sneak attack!
A long time ago, in the first Neverwinter Nights game, I remember facing old Klauth in his lair. It was a challenge getting to him, but actually Fighting Klauth was a near impossible task when you are under level and under-equipped. 'sigh' Good times.
Klauth, like Old Gnawbone, appears in the published campaign _Storm King's Thunder_ - there he has a slightly more prominent role. After the PCs leaving a certain area and find they'll need a means of conveyance, Klauth will send cultists from the Cult of the Dragon to provide the PCs with an airship for their use and a (false) promise of a great reward once they deal with the giant problem. This is due to his odd quirk of "providing assistance to those who he does not deem a threat". Of course, challenging an ancient red dragon is already tantamount to suicide for anything less than multiple 20th level parties working together, but Old Snarl has got even more power than your "base" ancient red dragon, even with the limited description he gets in the campaign book. First, he can cast as a 14th level wizard, and can innately cast Banishment, Etherealness, Find the Path, Locate Object, Prismatic Spray, and Suggestion each 1/day. He also has a Ring of Cold Resistance on one of his fingers at all times. But his nastiest trick that the book mentions (aside from his stupidly powerful breath weapon) is that he can innately DUAL-WIELD WANDS. He can expend 1 charge from any two wands on his person as a single action - and he carries both a Wand of Fireballs and a Wand of Lightning Bolts with him. All of these additional abilities actually increase his CR from 24 to 25...and this doesn't even account for the exclusive spells and the special ritual that MrRhexx discussed in the video.
The dual wielding wands thing *is* the result of the spell that Khelben Blackstaff talks about in his novel. Regardless, 5e Klauth dies to Forcecage and some persistent damage spell (Faithful Hound is an obvious choice. Stuff like Sickening Radiance works well if your DC is high enough. Wall of Force doesn't work, so you would have to bump into him *late* into the campaign in order to actually get him with a strategy like this - and if you don't have a strategy like this then he probably just breath weapon and wand spams you out of existence. However, the idea that you would need "multiple 20th level parties working together" to beat a single Ancient Red is laughable. For clarity, this isn't "Klauth is ez lmao", almost all enemies in 5e have the same problem where a couple of competent spellcasters working in tandem completely roflstomp any single creature.
The Secret Of Klauth Klauth, the Red Horror, Cannibal Tyrant of the North, the Lonely Assassin, supreme and unconquerable, feared by even the greatest of dragons and wizards, his name strikes terror into the hearts of all who know his fiercesome reputation and savage urges. He rules unchallenged in the bleak north, a monster few would dare to face in open battle and a force of primal darkness that stains the land of Faerûn. But it was not always so. Snatched when he was still growing inside his egg by gnomish alchemists, he was taken down to their secret laboratories deep within the Underdark to be used in disturbing and unnatural experiments. The purpose of these gnomes was not cruel or evil, however, for they were in the service of a cabal of Silver Dragons who worked alongside the Harpers, and sought to create new and powerful weapons as the never ending war with Chaos entered a darker phase. Ripping Klauth from his egg before he was fully ready to hatch, their sciences and magicks mutated his original Golden Dragon form and transformed him into a Red Dragon, hoping to combine the brute strength of the Reds with the reality warping abilities of a Gold. Klauth endured untold agonies as he was experimented upon, and when the gnomes failed to create their perfect hybrid, the mewling, twisted abortion was thrown into the rubbish tip outside the laboratories. Amidst the filth and decay, Klauth would surely have died. But, a simple-minded Shoggoth, who regularly fed on the corrupted leftovers from the laboratories, heard the dragon’s pitiful cries. Something akin to pity stirred inside the unfathomable abomination and instead of devouring him outright, the Shoggoth spirited him back to its lair to care and nurture. Raised in the icy darkness by his oozing nursemaid, Klauth grew strong and hateful. The experiments done to him had left his body deformed and crippled and he was destined to live out his days an invalid in the Shoggoth’s faithful care, but his plight had not gone unnoticed by other denizens of the Underdark. The disembodied Aboleth intelligence Nyarlathotep, while idly performing a psychic scan of his abominable servants, sifted through the Shoggoth’s memories and discovered Klauth’s existence. Piecing together what had happened to the wretched creature, the Devil God savoured the raging fury inside the Red Dragon’s broken heart and saw great potential. Taking physical form in one of his many avatars, Nyarlathotep approached Klauth with an offer. He would teach the dragon the secret powers of the Great Old Ones in exchange for helping him spread destruction and chaos across the Material Realm. The Crawling Chaos revealed the truth of what had been done to him and by whom, and Klauth readily agreed to become an agent of the Elder Evils. Most terrible of all, Nyarlathotep transformed Klauth into a Soul Eater, thereby giving him the means to reshape and invigorate his wrecked body. Since then, Klauth has hunted his own kin with unrelenting relish and hatred. Each dragon he slaughters he absorbs their very soul, harvesting their essence and merging their reality matrix with his own. His purpose is not mere revenge though, but to gather enough energy to transcend to godhood, for when he achieves that omnipotent state he can implement his great masterplan, to resurrect all the dragons he has murdered as Dracolichs. Infused with Far Realm energy and utterly loyal to him, Klauth will use his infernal army to conquer the very Multiverse itself and reshape it into the playground of fever dreams it once was during the reign of the Aboleths. It remains to be seen if the beleaguered forces of Light and Law can prevent this dark plan from ever reaching fruition.
Watching Iymrith video and him describing her lair with the statue armies and hidden golems everywhere. I picture Klauth just casually and stealthily tiptoeing and stealing stuff while behind a line of gargoyles who are giving their backs to the loot
@@aaronnunavabizniz199 is more along being able to name drop some dragons when my party starts researching dragons that may or may not be a part of the cult. Maybe through in some hooks to interact with some of them.
Another awesome video. I wonder why cities of the north or other dragons are not taking advantage of an injured Klauth and take him out in his own lair?
ahhh klauth boy did i thurrally enjoy kicking the shit out of him in neverwinter nights one thing you neglected to mention is that spell of his also extends his life...the term "anciant" does not even begin to describe his age as he is one of the oldest dragons in all of faerun...so old in fact that he remembers the days of thunder, when the Sarrukh still ruled the north and the words of power and thier magic still floorished.
Isn't Klauth technically a great wyrm? Like I know it's not used in dnd 5e (well it is used in Fizzban but there it's achieved through some magic shennanigans) but it's a term that has been used for years and just better puts how old he actually is
@@joshholmes1372 They are cannon but in Fizban, the new book with and about dragons, they are described not as a new stage in their aging process, they describe it as this "Often a chromatic greatwyrm's ascension involves fusing the power of a single dragon's echoes across different worlds of the Material Plane. " Plus in the stats they are....kind of weaker than an ancient dragon. Especially when it comes to the breath weapon, for some reason they decided to increase the die but drastically lower the number of dies. For example the ancient red deals 26d6 (91 average and 156 maximum) while a red greatwyrm deals 12d12 (78 average and maximum of 144, it is a much bigger cone but it's still quite a bit weaker)
14:54 So, he's an energy vampire? Or it's his form of experience grinding. ... wait, the bost is only temporary? okay, I guess that makes it a powerup instead. ... Althoguh it's probly for the best for us that there are less chromatic dragons, man is this horibly evil thing to do to your own kin.
With the introduction of greatwyrms from fizbans this I crease in size would be really cool to just watch it grow in size and then keep buffing up that form with the additions.
I can just imagine a setting where Klauth is declared dead, a party is hired by a mage to escort him to the lair to plunder and loot the dragon treasures. But as they expect to face other raiding groups and creatures, they see overhead a great number of dragons ( metalic and chromatic) all in a desperate race to get to the treasure 1st
As always, love the video. I do have one problem with it though, that being that with the addition of Fizban's greatwyrm, there are 5 age categories of dragons.
Great video, like the series is a must watch if one or more videos includes creatures you will use next sesion. A little detail about the sizes in 5e, Fizban added the wyrm and great wyrm categories and i dont doubt Klauth has enough eggs to attain great wyrm powers as a last resort, will probably will destroy the mountain range and some nearby towns.
Funny my current campaign started in the northern deserts, a massive red skinned, horned orc army made from the sands bolstered by a company of Gnolls make up The Doom. Session 17 tomorrow night. Great minds think alike.
Can't wait for the Inferno, He's currently the BBEG of my campaign and i've dug up all that i can find out about him so far, would be amazing to learn more.
for some reason. i now imagine a warning sign that has a picture of old snarls mug saying something like "beware! old snarl ambush zone!" or "if you are close enough to read this chances are your doomed."
I get a lot of amusement imagining the draconic politics of all these various dragons. Like obviously Klauth knows he can’t take Imyrith head on and so sneaks around her lair instead but what might happen if a dragon such as Klauth found themselves wandering into the territory of Daurgothoth. Given Klauth’s tendancy to prey upon dragon eggs to increase his power and Daurgothoth’s desire to find a way to reproduce and be the most powerful dragon, it seems this would immediately put them at odds where Daurgothoth would want him dead on sight before Klauth has even done anything to incur his wrath. He could just be passing through and Daurgothoth most likely knowing of Klauth’s reputation would see him as a threat not to his own power but a threat to whatever experimental young he may have created and so would not tolerate Klauth’s presence and would exterminate him with extreme prejudice. However as stated in this video Klauth is an expert at scrying magics and so its not impossible that he also knows about Daurgothoth despite how reclusive he is and actually makes great efforts to avoid him and his territory at all costs even when heading out to raid other dragons. This would be an interesting reason as to why the two have never interacted directly in the history of the forgotten realms. Unless there’s some interaction between these two that I don’t know about.
Than you were talking about dragon Size, you meantioned us having 4. Can i get a reason why you dont count the greatwyrm from fizbin? It would be interessting to hear
Not sure how familiar everyone else is to this, but there was an official end show called dice camera action, and klaith actually appeared a couple of times, showing off the wands on wings trick, though he was after the party to get the ring of winter. Kinds wonder what Chris perkins plans were for him.
Video idea: I'd love to learn about the differences of magic. Cuz ppl talk about with druids, nature magic. This video you said dragon magic. And of course arcane. There's also clerical magic. Are these all derived from the weave? If so, why couldnt a druid cast magic missile. Idk, I'd like to know though
I really hope we get to see his rise once more, he really is one of my favorite Dragons and I even have him as a magic card. Could you imagine him versus inflamero {also my favorite} for the crown of who's the greatest red dragon? I'd be both terrified and amazed not going to lie 😸
17:06 There are Greatwyrms in 5e, see Fizban's Treasury of Dragons, so there's actually 5, not 4. TBH I think Klauth sounds like he should be considered a Greatwyrm at this point. Given his lore, and current Gretwyrm lore, that fits together well, he'd totally be the sort of dragon to seek out and consume his alternate reality forms to achive this state. Or if not, maybe that's been his ultimate goal all along? His dragon killing has really been practice to build himself up to overcome his echos and become an immortal greatwyrm?
Honestly, this might be my favorite of your dragon videos. Either this or Inferno. Thank you for all you do! *Would you be able to advise on where to read up on the spell that Klauth uses to boost himself?
Check out the Kickstarter! www.kickstarter.com/projects/mrrhexx/sands-of-doom?ref=3c0f8y
Will you do Tasha book of demons
say it with me MrRhexx Cat-A-Go-Ries, by god your pronunciation of that word make my ears bleed... otherwise greate video as always, i really love this named dragon series ^_^
TBH I'm surprised your first book wasn't about dragons. Like I imagined a book where the adventures climb their way through all the named dragons in farun to kill them all.
I swore you were pronouncing some latin/elvish word or something then I realize you're saying cat-ta-gor-ree.
New watcher of the channel here and I loved this last video too.
I have a question tho, have you any intention of making more videos about the planes or that's a closed door for now?
After those videos, I am thinking about looking around for those second-edition books and try reading them for myself!
You've covered a LOT of my favorite dragons without me ever even needing to asking. Thank you so much, this dragon series has been AMAZING. Hope to see Gildenfire in a future installment. :)
I hope he will branch out and do cyan bloodbane.
This honestly is super interesting. I have an area in my campaign that I want to have a very limited number of dragons, as they’re the last ones that survived, but I never fully knew how to justify it. But a dragon that hunts others relentlessly? Seems like a fairly interesting setup if you ask me
He is also called Old Snarl. He features as a minor antagonist in the third chapter of Neverwinter Nights. He offers the player character a deal, get him the essence of a young dragon to help him extend his life. You can do this and he awards you with a key item, a Word of Power. You can also betray him and give him a corrupted essence of a dead dragon instead which will hurt him when he absorbs it and put him near death and weakens him but make him go hostile.
He is basically impossible to beat without tricking him by having him absorb the dead essence. In game he is an ancient dragon who is also a sorcerer with a full arsenal of spells up to level 9. Even when at near death and weakened he can still kill a player in a couple rounds. He doesn't have any of these lore spells in the NWN game, but Time Stop coupled with Ancient Dragon Dragon Breath spam, and straight up Save or instantly Die magic at a pretty unreasonable DC check makes him the most difficult fight in the game.
On normal difficulty, my sorcerer can beat him, but it may require some strategy.
Yeah, remember him. A pretty tough fight. A certified PITA for a melee character, that's for sure. An Evocation/Invocation specialist wisard with Isaac's greater missile storm (this spell was a boss killer back then) did him in with ease, however.
@@АлександрДараган-з8ц
IGMS would kill him quickly. That's the most powerful offense spell in the game, and by quite a margin. 2d6 damage per missile and a missile per level. It scales better than any damaging spell, and most importantly is thatt there is no save. It's magic/force damage and not elemental so very few things resist. Even the epic level hellball has a reflex save for half damage (or no damage with evasion). This dragon has some high saves, including fortitude that's basically untouchable by any normal player character or spell other than it rolling a 1.
The spell exists in NWN but doesn't exist for pen and paper D&D and that is probably a good thing. But no shame using it, as it exists and I was spamming it on my sorcerer too.
Is is the spell, “The Power of Friendship”? That’s the most powerful spell.
It's the Power of Friendship....and this gun I found
Friendship orbital canon
But Love conquerors all!
Friendship is magic, and magic is heresy.
@@canis2020 I tried using love and friendship to win against someone who simply hates me. It didn't work.
I had no idea that all these Ancient legendary dragons had so much personality! I'm loving these videos, getting to learn about them!
Klauth: *_" There is something you carry... a scroll made of gold. Except only much... more... Precious... "_* 📜
Nezerithian Hobbit: _" G-gulp! "_ 😨
Not having "What They Don' Tell You About" feels like betrayal at this point, my heart is broken
Imagine if dragons watched this video:
Klauth: Why are there a bunch of angry dragons outside my cave.
All of Klauth’s enemies: It’s time to run those cheeks Klauth
I actually can't wait to hear about the Vampire Green Dragon just east of the Vilhon Reach to be talked about here.
Mostly because of my dream campaign Rise of Psionics from the Sea of Fallen Stars
Excuse me kind sir…. Did you just say the words DRAGON and VAMPIRE in the same sentence and describing the same creature? Because HOLY FUCK that’s terrifying…..
Sound interesting but i can't find campaign of this name.
-flies in
-burns the dracolitch
-refuses to elaborate further
-leaves
In case somebody need source:
Dragons of Faerun (also a lot of klauth related text)
Dragon magazine #244 (main part)
Dragon magazine #424 (just a small mention)
5e "Storm Kings Thunder" (statblock info)
5e Fizban tressure (just a small mention)
Klauth, Arveiaturace and Claugiyliamatar are my three most favorite dragons in all of fantasy they are just amazing XD
Wait till you read about Ashardalon and Inferno. They are way more epic in deeds
BTW Inferno video is up
I kinda felt like it would be Dragon-Highlander but the egg/baby sacrifice of red dragons did surprise me and so he's almost like a Red Dragon Hag in his characteristics? _definitely explains his complete isolation_ -- to challenge him is also to threaten and doom some other eggs since wounding him will require recovery and sacrifice.
It could actually be a cool adventure idea for a dragon to die leaving a big power vacuum as well as lots of his treasures, knowlege and artifacts behind, causing adventurers, wizards, monsters and villians alike to come flocking in.
Amazing idea for a campaign. Klauth has been killed and your party is composed of people who are after his hoard for separate reasons that are character specific. They go up against various other interested groups that are after it as well as other adventuring groups
Klauth, to me, has always been one of the absolute best big name guest antagonists.
His rampages make for great cinematic moments. His vast lists of enemies mean it's easy to weave him into a story. His surprising stealth can make for hillarious ambushes. His scrying makes it easy to attract his attention to a thing, and stay abreast enough to not be easily surprised. And "rescue the babies" will never not be a good simple motivation for the players.
Also, frankly, he's a character easy to write back out of the game without having to be directly confronted. He slinks off. He goes into hiding. He realises his target is out of reach so changes his priorities.
And has there ever been a more iconic piece of D&D art than that line drawing of just his head looming over the mountainside/ledge at the suprised swordsman?
Klauth is a fun enemy, and I'm actually rather glad he popped up in one 5e campaign book, and is a fearsome beast there. Personally, I enjoy a pastime of taking already monstrous threats, and then stacking a few extra perils on them, and ancient/great wyrm dragons with many wizard levels is one of my favorites, so I'm always glad when D&D does it themselves. He might struggle to compete with Niv-Mizzet, of Ravnica fame, but he's still a right terror, even to 5e parties. I wonder if Old Snarl could ever push himself up to Greatwyrm, from Fizban's? He likes to eat other dragons, so why mot alternate himselves, and grow even mightier?
I think Klauth's size is still being undersold here. Thanks to that spell that lets him steal energy from eggs, he is one of the biggest dragons in the entire world. The statue of him at 8:52 shows him sitting on and being bigger than a CASTLE, and it was supposedly made to accurately to scale. That'd put Klauth at up to like 600 feet long, 5x bigger than a basic Ancient Red Dragon. He's beyond Fizban's Greatwyrm level. The lore from his Wyrms of the North article states that he defeats entire armies of orcs by "landing next to the gathered horde and rolling around (crushing thousands at a time)."
If you had a tabletop mini of an ancient red dragon, at 1 inch = 5 feet scale, a normal red would be 2 feet long. Klauth's mini would be 10 feet long. Bigger than the table.
Yeah. A "typical" ancient red dragon would be equivalent in length to a Los Angeles Class attack submarine.
@@ironl4nd are you an american using any unit of measure but the meter?
@@amphitheremajesticon4928 Nope. From Finland. Just picked that up from an AJ Pickett video on red dragons. You should watch it, it's very good.
So like, basically Godzilla size?
Wow...
He's big but not bigger than the strongest dragon alive in Faerun tho, Invaernarho or Inferno dwarfs him by stats and size category in 3rd edition as well as 3.5E Klauth was only at Gargantuan size meanwhile Inferno was at Collossal+ size category but they removed collosal category and just streamlined it to Gargantuan, plus Klauth was CR 26 at the time of that edition meanwhile Inferno and Tchazzar was at CR 40
I'm gonna use Klauth in my Rise of Tiamat campaign. He'll have an aerial showdown against the characters and a silver dragon ally of theirs, looking forward to it.
You make the best lore content on UA-cam, keep it up!!!
You should check out the 40k Warhammer stuff too. Just as good as this dude in many cases
I'll miss these patron names, I understand the feelings you expressed, but I've always loved the way you do the presentation, and even the pattern of the names themselves will be a mantra that reminds me of you and the joy of hearing your videos. I'm glad you're moving to something much more comfortable for yourself! It's important to operate within your own consent, and knowing that can be hard. Good on you for acting according to your own moral code!
I remember in SKT, a player thought they should make the airship go talk to Klauth. Since he was their benefactor and he was already helping. ....marched right up to the dragons mouth and one fire-breath and a bunch of wand blasts later near tpk.
Near? Benifactor? God 5e sucks.
@@Satchmojones I think that's more to do with the story. Not the edition.
@@drunkenrambler8138 Just sounds to me 5e facilatates childish stories and player power fantasies, like bad YA fiction.
@@Satchmojones I think that every edition has childish stories so that point is irrelevant to me. Regardless, I don't think the mere concept of having a power dragon being a benefactor is childish if done right. Dragons are smarter than me and you, it's not even an argument, they just are. Assuming that creatures with such high Intellect are unable to act more than in 1 manner is where things get silly and childish.
As for the power fantasy. Every D&D game is a power fantasy. Every, damn, one. It's not call of cthulhu where you're meant to die/lose/fail. You're supposed to be a hero and win against all odds.
Statistically 5e is a lot less of a power fantasy than some older editions too. Compare it to my favorite version, 3.5. In 3.5 due to the way the game is built a great wyrm red dragon could win against an army of.... well. Literally infinite level 3 fighters. None of them could ever hurt it. Yet in 5e? 200 peasants with crossbows have a solid chance of killing an ancient red dragon lol. 5e nerfed everyone from old editions. The numbers are never as high, and the magic is weaker, especially necromancy where they gutted it entirely.
@@Satchmojones I don't like 5e regardless of saying that. I just don't think attacking the story or saying it's a power fantasy is a fair way to say it's bad. The game is trying to be a power fantasy. And the story/world is separate from the system itself.
Doesn't that spell also extend his lifespan?
Also, I think another reason he kills so many dragons was that stealing and killing dragon eggs is a huge taboo among dragons, and so he is hated by pretty much all of dragonkind.
Pretty much hypocritical of the other chromatic dragons to hate Klauth though as they heartlessly prey on plenty of others themselves.
"Faerun deserves a better class of dragon. And I'm gonna give it to them."
Considering how much food they must eat, they have no choice but to keep their numbers down or all of faerun would be barren of life.
@@arnox4554 they believe themselves to be above other creatures, its like comparing eating monkeys to eating babies.
@@stevenyoung9738 That's probably what they indeed think, but as long as you personally understand that that's actually a terrible logical argument. lol
@@arnox4554 you gonna explain why? I explained their mindset that makes the action not hypocritical in their world view
I'm actually running a winter survival campaign in the aree of Klauths horde. I'm definitely gonna plan an encounter with him now.
Why? You know how players are. Given the chance they will kill him. In some outrageous abstract way you didn't plan for...
So be careful. As a paranoid ancient red dragon. Lololol
@@crownprince76 I'd say the inverse, that they might get TPKed. I'd worry that someone is definitely going to do something stupid and the horrific CR 36 dragon just isn't going to have it.
@@LupineShadowOmega Yeah if you have a decently skilled DM who has exp dealing with super creative and the Rules gamers who can wreck a game.
My man! These latest named dragon vids have been an absolutely awesome view!
This has been a great series. I enjoy all your D&D videos but this series is about the greatest monster of all time, dragons! Nothing could be better. Thank you for all the hard work you put into these.
Thank you! The timing on this video was perfect. I actually recently purchased that Klauth Statue so I was trying to find more information about this Dragon. These named Dragon Videos so far are my favorite of your content. Looking forward to seeing more.
With Fizban's Treasury of Dragons, they added the Great Wyrm category of Dragons, but reserved only for extra special dragons who're multiplanar too.
My personal favorite D&D campaign I've had was actually two. The first started relatively common with heroes eventually tasked with saving the world from ultimate evil. When we finally fought the evil boss the party completely wiped thanks to a few of our bad rolls and some of the DM's good rolls. When trying to come up with another campaign we decided to keep up with this one. However, instead of playing more heroes we played after a bit of a time jump with the world falling apart. We created evil characters instead who decided to conspire against the big bad and split the world into separate kingdoms for each of us to rule, each tasked with different aspects to keep our own Order. It was wicked fun.
😎🍻😎
Tbh his stealth is what would scare me the most - imagine getting sneak-attacked by a dragon? I don't even wanna know how many dice you'd need to roll should he crit on that sneak attack!
Klauth almost seems to be the Conan the barbarian of Dragons the way you describe him.
A long time ago, in the first Neverwinter Nights game, I remember facing old Klauth in his lair. It was a challenge getting to him, but actually Fighting Klauth was a near impossible task when you are under level and under-equipped. 'sigh' Good times.
Skip to 13:30 to get to where he actually talks about the spell and 15:20 for what it actually does.
Both my wife and I love this series! Well done!
also love these videos , Thank you so much for making them , you got me into DND and i love it !!
Klauth, like Old Gnawbone, appears in the published campaign _Storm King's Thunder_ - there he has a slightly more prominent role. After the PCs leaving a certain area and find they'll need a means of conveyance, Klauth will send cultists from the Cult of the Dragon to provide the PCs with an airship for their use and a (false) promise of a great reward once they deal with the giant problem. This is due to his odd quirk of "providing assistance to those who he does not deem a threat".
Of course, challenging an ancient red dragon is already tantamount to suicide for anything less than multiple 20th level parties working together, but Old Snarl has got even more power than your "base" ancient red dragon, even with the limited description he gets in the campaign book. First, he can cast as a 14th level wizard, and can innately cast Banishment, Etherealness, Find the Path, Locate Object, Prismatic Spray, and Suggestion each 1/day. He also has a Ring of Cold Resistance on one of his fingers at all times. But his nastiest trick that the book mentions (aside from his stupidly powerful breath weapon) is that he can innately DUAL-WIELD WANDS. He can expend 1 charge from any two wands on his person as a single action - and he carries both a Wand of Fireballs and a Wand of Lightning Bolts with him.
All of these additional abilities actually increase his CR from 24 to 25...and this doesn't even account for the exclusive spells and the special ritual that MrRhexx discussed in the video.
The dual wielding wands thing *is* the result of the spell that Khelben Blackstaff talks about in his novel.
Regardless, 5e Klauth dies to Forcecage and some persistent damage spell (Faithful Hound is an obvious choice. Stuff like Sickening Radiance works well if your DC is high enough. Wall of Force doesn't work, so you would have to bump into him *late* into the campaign in order to actually get him with a strategy like this - and if you don't have a strategy like this then he probably just breath weapon and wand spams you out of existence. However, the idea that you would need "multiple 20th level parties working together" to beat a single Ancient Red is laughable.
For clarity, this isn't "Klauth is ez lmao", almost all enemies in 5e have the same problem where a couple of competent spellcasters working in tandem completely roflstomp any single creature.
Klauth: I can use 3 wands in a round -> 3 spell effects / round
Beholder: Hold My Beer 👁🗨
Yeah but that’s randomised
That wizard apprentice after seeing klauth was probably like "if this dragon ever finds out I know how hurt he was I am so dead"
The Secret Of Klauth
Klauth, the Red Horror, Cannibal Tyrant of the North, the Lonely Assassin, supreme and unconquerable, feared by even the greatest of dragons and wizards, his name strikes terror into the hearts of all who know his fiercesome reputation and savage urges. He rules unchallenged in the bleak north, a monster few would dare to face in open battle and a force of primal darkness that stains the land of Faerûn.
But it was not always so.
Snatched when he was still growing inside his egg by gnomish alchemists, he was taken down to their secret laboratories deep within the Underdark to be used in disturbing and unnatural experiments. The purpose of these gnomes was not cruel or evil, however, for they were in the service of a cabal of Silver Dragons who worked alongside the Harpers, and sought to create new and powerful weapons as the never ending war with Chaos entered a darker phase.
Ripping Klauth from his egg before he was fully ready to hatch, their sciences and magicks mutated his original Golden Dragon form and transformed him into a Red Dragon, hoping to combine the brute strength of the Reds with the reality warping abilities of a Gold. Klauth endured untold agonies as he was experimented upon, and when the gnomes failed to create their perfect hybrid, the mewling, twisted abortion was thrown into the rubbish tip outside the laboratories.
Amidst the filth and decay, Klauth would surely have died. But, a simple-minded Shoggoth, who regularly fed on the corrupted leftovers from the laboratories, heard the dragon’s pitiful cries. Something akin to pity stirred inside the unfathomable abomination and instead of devouring him outright, the Shoggoth spirited him back to its lair to care and nurture.
Raised in the icy darkness by his oozing nursemaid, Klauth grew strong and hateful. The experiments done to him had left his body deformed and crippled and he was destined to live out his days an invalid in the Shoggoth’s faithful care, but his plight had not gone unnoticed by other denizens of the Underdark.
The disembodied Aboleth intelligence Nyarlathotep, while idly performing a psychic scan of his abominable servants, sifted through the Shoggoth’s memories and discovered Klauth’s existence. Piecing together what had happened to the wretched creature, the Devil God savoured the raging fury inside the Red Dragon’s broken heart and saw great potential.
Taking physical form in one of his many avatars, Nyarlathotep approached Klauth with an offer. He would teach the dragon the secret powers of the Great Old Ones in exchange for helping him spread destruction and chaos across the Material Realm. The Crawling Chaos revealed the truth of what had been done to him and by whom, and Klauth readily agreed to become an agent of the Elder Evils. Most terrible of all, Nyarlathotep transformed Klauth into a Soul Eater, thereby giving him the means to reshape and invigorate his wrecked body.
Since then, Klauth has hunted his own kin with unrelenting relish and hatred. Each dragon he slaughters he absorbs their very soul, harvesting their essence and merging their reality matrix with his own. His purpose is not mere revenge though, but to gather enough energy to transcend to godhood, for when he achieves that omnipotent state he can implement his great masterplan, to resurrect all the dragons he has murdered as Dracolichs. Infused with Far Realm energy and utterly loyal to him, Klauth will use his infernal army to conquer the very Multiverse itself and reshape it into the playground of fever dreams it once was during the reign of the Aboleths.
It remains to be seen if the beleaguered forces of Light and Law can prevent this dark plan from ever reaching fruition.
Gnomes... Worse than kender.
The way you say "category" tickles my brain.
Klauth is the dragon equivalent of a pay to win player.
Watching Iymrith video and him describing her lair with the statue armies and hidden golems everywhere. I picture Klauth just casually and stealthily tiptoeing and stealing stuff while behind a line of gargoyles who are giving their backs to the loot
Running a Dragon Queen game so these videos are perfect. Gonna be scattering clues about these Dragons throughout the game
All of these dragons hate the cult of the dragon. It's a key factor in their survival.
@@aaronnunavabizniz199 is more along being able to name drop some dragons when my party starts researching dragons that may or may not be a part of the cult. Maybe through in some hooks to interact with some of them.
17:00
I was so confused what a katteggerie was until I read what it said on-screen.
😭
Another awesome video. I wonder why cities of the north or other dragons are not taking advantage of an injured Klauth and take him out in his own lair?
They don’t know where he is. Were given the perspective of omniscience, but most beings in that world are much less well informed.
@@oriondye3212 just saying, sounds like he's as weak as he's ever been right now.
If they attack him and he survives, he is going to raze that city. Best let him be.
Juat backed your kickstarter. Good fortune in this endeavor! i really hope it turns out as awesome as all of your other content!
ahhh klauth
boy did i thurrally enjoy kicking the shit out of him in neverwinter nights
one thing you neglected to mention is that spell of his also extends his life...the term "anciant" does not even begin to describe his age as he is one of the oldest dragons in all of faerun...so old in fact that he remembers the days of thunder, when the Sarrukh still ruled the north and the words of power and thier magic still floorished.
Klauth- my goals are beyond your understanding
DvH achievable spells. have imagined that for 20+ years, nice to see that mentioned here. Love your vids!
My group still has a long journey ahead of them until the BBEG but you just gave me an idea that will make the encounter epic.
After the famous dragons, you should do famous dungeons!
Isn't Klauth technically a great wyrm?
Like I know it's not used in dnd 5e (well it is used in Fizzban but there it's achieved through some magic shennanigans) but it's a term that has been used for years and just better puts how old he actually is
I think greatwyrms are just cannon now as the next stage past ancient. Even in faerun/sword coast. klauth is definitely a greatwrym
@@joshholmes1372 They are cannon but in Fizban, the new book with and about dragons, they are described not as a new stage in their aging process, they describe it as this "Often a chromatic greatwyrm's ascension involves fusing the power of a single dragon's echoes across different worlds of the Material Plane. "
Plus in the stats they are....kind of weaker than an ancient dragon. Especially when it comes to the breath weapon, for some reason they decided to increase the die but drastically lower the number of dies.
For example the ancient red deals 26d6 (91 average and 156 maximum) while a red greatwyrm deals 12d12 (78 average and maximum of 144, it is a much bigger cone but it's still quite a bit weaker)
@@catalin2766 I do recall thinking that as well when I first read there stat blocks.
Wow! Great and cool video!
14:54 So, he's an energy vampire? Or it's his form of experience grinding.
...
wait, the bost is only temporary? okay, I guess that makes it a powerup instead.
...
Althoguh it's probly for the best for us that there are less chromatic dragons, man is this horibly evil thing to do to your own kin.
Wow, one of the coolest background story's to a dragon that I've heard in awhile.
Thank you for what you do, love your videos! DON'T STOP!
Your videos are really well done ! Love listening to them and imagining the challenge of fighting some of these Dragons.
these videos are great! I hope you cover inferno or a silver dragon next.
Inferno is next! Coming in 3 days
@@MrRhexx excited to see it.
With the introduction of greatwyrms from fizbans this I crease in size would be really cool to just watch it grow in size and then keep buffing up that form with the additions.
These videos have me rewatching the older dragon lore videos again.
I love Klauth and all of the dragon's you've covered so far, but I hope to see a video on Tchazzar too. My favorite dragon from Forgotten Realms.
I can just imagine a setting where Klauth is declared dead, a party is hired by a mage to escort him to the lair to plunder and loot the dragon treasures.
But as they expect to face other raiding groups and creatures, they see overhead a great number of dragons ( metalic and chromatic) all in a desperate race to get to the treasure 1st
Really enjoy your videos MrRhexx, thank you for creating and sharing
As always, love the video. I do have one problem with it though, that being that with the addition of Fizban's greatwyrm, there are 5 age categories of dragons.
very much enjoying your dragon series ... good luck with your kickstarter !
Great video, like the series is a must watch if one or more videos includes creatures you will use next sesion. A little detail about the sizes in 5e, Fizban added the wyrm and great wyrm categories and i dont doubt Klauth has enough eggs to attain great wyrm powers as a last resort, will probably will destroy the mountain range and some nearby towns.
Best series on the tube
Funny my current campaign started in the northern deserts, a massive red skinned, horned orc army made from the sands bolstered by a company of Gnolls make up The Doom. Session 17 tomorrow night. Great minds think alike.
I'm still waiting for the Githyanky video and there city, but awsome videon men. Love your content
Yesss, fell in love with Klauth with his card from MtG
AYO Klauth is spawn farming what the heck
The stat blocs for Great Wyrms for 5e are in Fizban's Treasury of Dragons. The Chromatic Greatwyrm has a challenge rating of 27.
Can't wait for the Inferno, He's currently the BBEG of my campaign and i've dug up all that i can find out about him so far, would be amazing to learn more.
for some reason. i now imagine a warning sign that has a picture of old snarls mug saying something like "beware! old snarl ambush zone!" or "if you are close enough to read this chances are your doomed."
Really loving this series, thanks for doing it!
my favorite. keep up the good work!
Favorite channel lately
Dragon lore is
Fire
I get a lot of amusement imagining the draconic politics of all these various dragons. Like obviously Klauth knows he can’t take Imyrith head on and so sneaks around her lair instead but what might happen if a dragon such as Klauth found themselves wandering into the territory of Daurgothoth.
Given Klauth’s tendancy to prey upon dragon eggs to increase his power and Daurgothoth’s desire to find a way to reproduce and be the most powerful dragon, it seems this would immediately put them at odds where Daurgothoth would want him dead on sight before Klauth has even done anything to incur his wrath. He could just be passing through and Daurgothoth most likely knowing of Klauth’s reputation would see him as a threat not to his own power but a threat to whatever experimental young he may have created and so would not tolerate Klauth’s presence and would exterminate him with extreme prejudice.
However as stated in this video Klauth is an expert at scrying magics and so its not impossible that he also knows about Daurgothoth despite how reclusive he is and actually makes great efforts to avoid him and his territory at all costs even when heading out to raid other dragons.
This would be an interesting reason as to why the two have never interacted directly in the history of the forgotten realms. Unless there’s some interaction between these two that I don’t know about.
The Srinshee developed a method for controlling multiple wands at once as well. I'm not sure if she did it first or not but it was pre Myth Drannor.
I fought this guy in Neverwinter nights!
Hey, love the monster classes two, a fun way to have a young steel dragon character with a little tweaking.
Than you were talking about dragon Size, you meantioned us having 4.
Can i get a reason why you dont count the greatwyrm from fizbin?
It would be interessting to hear
What’s the artwork you used for the thumbnail? It looks really nice!
Its the art from the Magic The Gathering Card "Klauth's Will" from the Forgotten Realms Edition. The artist is Olivier Bernard
Not sure how familiar everyone else is to this, but there was an official end show called dice camera action, and klaith actually appeared a couple of times, showing off the wands on wings trick, though he was after the party to get the ring of winter. Kinds wonder what Chris perkins plans were for him.
Looking at the title my first thought was that the dragon can cast Aarau's Destroy Universe. :D
Video idea: I'd love to learn about the differences of magic. Cuz ppl talk about with druids, nature magic. This video you said dragon magic. And of course arcane. There's also clerical magic. Are these all derived from the weave? If so, why couldnt a druid cast magic missile. Idk, I'd like to know though
Yes, you always need a weave. But clerics are effected differently by wild magic.
I really hope we get to see his rise once more, he really is one of my favorite Dragons and I even have him as a magic card. Could you imagine him versus inflamero {also my favorite} for the crown of who's the greatest red dragon? I'd be both terrified and amazed not going to lie 😸
Going by their 3.5e stats, Inferno would tear him apart or send him running in short order.
He wasn't too hard, dude's got a real weakness for Poisoned Dragon Eggs.
17:06 There are Greatwyrms in 5e, see Fizban's Treasury of Dragons, so there's actually 5, not 4.
TBH I think Klauth sounds like he should be considered a Greatwyrm at this point.
Given his lore, and current Gretwyrm lore, that fits together well, he'd totally be the sort of dragon to seek out and consume his alternate reality forms to achive this state.
Or if not, maybe that's been his ultimate goal all along? His dragon killing has really been practice to build himself up to overcome his echos and become an immortal greatwyrm?
22:26 magister magic?
Santa Klauth: the Father Xmas & Krampus of D&D just without the gifts.
Thanks for the dragon lore!
I was waiting for Klauth
Same, he's my favorite chromatic dragon.
I actually played as klauth who was cursed to become a human in a dnd campaign
There is actually the category of Wyrm in 5E (introduced in Fizbans). A chromatic greatwyrm has CR 27
Voted most likely to be featured on "To Catch A Dracolich"
MrRhexx: "Dragons that have a beard multiple times..."
Me: "I mean, that's kind of awesome though."
MrRhexx: "...and will appear..."
Me: "Oh."
I feel like this is where Mercer got the inspiration for Thordak.
Honestly, this might be my favorite of your dragon videos. Either this or Inferno. Thank you for all you do!
*Would you be able to advise on where to read up on the spell that Klauth uses to boost himself?
So klauth is like Smaug?
Big pile of treasure that everyone wants once the dragon is gone?
Smaug would be a snack
I think that's just every ancient dragon lol
Smaug isn't even half the size or crazyness of Klauth.
@@aaronnunavabizniz199 smaug bigger than an ancient red dragon I think, at least in wingspan.