Running a Green Dragon fight this week? Loreify records your session and writes the recap, including every monster, NPC and loot drop your party ran into.
Green Dragon 5e: Stats for Every Age, Poison Breath and the 2024 Mind Games
A green dragon is the chromatic dragon that talks first. The adult is a CR 15 Huge dragon with AC 19, 207 hit points, a swim speed, and a 60-foot cone of poison gas that deals 56 damage on a failed DC 18 Constitution save. It is immune to poison damage and the Poisoned condition and can breathe underwater. The 2024 rules turn its talent for manipulation into spells: the adult casts Mind Spike at will and Geas once a day, and the ancient adds Modify Memory.
Your players will remember this fight. Will you? Loreify turns your session audio into notes, NPC lists and quotes in 5-10 minutes.
Green Dragon Ages Compared
Green dragons breathe a cone, like red dragons, but the save is Constitution instead of Dexterity. That flips who's in danger: the rogue and monk who shrug off a red dragon's fire are the ones choking here, and the fighter with Constitution proficiency is the safest person in the cone.
Age
CR (XP)
AC
HP (2014 / 2024)
Poison Breath
Melee per round if all hit (2014 / 2024)
Wyrmling
2 (450)
17
38 / 38
15-ft cone, DC 11 Con, 21 (6d6)
10 / 20
Young
8 (3,900)
18
136 / 136
30-ft cone, DC 14 Con, 42 (12d6)
44 / 54
Adult
15 (13,000)
19
207 / 207
60-ft cone, DC 18 Con, 56 (16d6)
50 / 66
Ancient
22 (41,000)
21
385 / 402
90-ft cone, DC 22 Con, 77 (22d6)
73 / 81
Two patterns stand out. The 2024 green dragon is a much better melee fighter at every age (the adult's three Rends deal 22 each, all with 7 poison riders). And among the red, green, black and blue ancients, only the green gained hit points in 2024: 385 to 402.
Bite.Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 7 (1d10 + 2) piercing damage plus 3 (1d6) poison damage.
Poison Breath (Recharge 5–6).The dragon exhales poisonous gas in a 15-foot cone. Each creature in that area must make a DC 11 Constitution saving throw, taking 21 (6d6) poison damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.
Stat block from the SRD 5.1 (2014 rules) by Wizards of the Coast, licensed under CC-BY-4.0. Check an encounter with this monster in the encounter calculator.
Rend.Melee Attack Roll: +4, reach 5 ft. Hit: 7 (1d10 + 2) Slashing damage plus 3 (1d6) Poison damage.
Poison Breath (Recharge 5–6).Constitution Saving Throw: DC 11, each creature in a 15-foot Cone. Failure: 21 (6d6) Poison damage. Success: Half damage.
Stat block from the SRD 5.2.1 (2024 rules) by Wizards of the Coast, licensed under CC-BY-4.0. Check an encounter with this monster in the encounter calculator.
At CR 2, the wyrmling is a low-level boss with AC 17, which a level 2 character with +5 to hit needs a 12 to beat. Its 15-foot cone deals 21 poison damage, and a level 2 wizard with a +1 Constitution modifier has about 12 hit points, so one failed DC 11 save drops them. A wizard with Con +1 fails on a 9 or lower, 45% of the time.
The 2014 wyrmling has one bite for 10 damage. The 2024 wyrmling makes two Rends for 10 each, so it averages about 10 damage a round against AC 15 (each Rend hits on 11 or higher) instead of 5. Its swim speed of 30 feet and Amphibious trait mean it can fight from a pond or a flooded cellar and dive away when hurt.
Multiattack.The dragon makes three attacks: one with its bite and two with its claws.
Bite.Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 15 (2d10 + 4) piercing damage plus 7 (2d6) poison damage.
Claw.Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 11 (2d6 + 4) slashing damage.
Poison Breath (Recharge 5–6).The dragon exhales poisonous gas in a 30-foot cone. Each creature in that area must make a DC 14 Constitution saving throw, taking 42 (12d6) poison damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.
Stat block from the SRD 5.1 (2014 rules) by Wizards of the Coast, licensed under CC-BY-4.0. Check an encounter with this monster in the encounter calculator.
Rend.Melee Attack Roll: +7, reach 10 ft. Hit: 11 (2d6 + 4) Slashing damage plus 7 (2d6) Poison damage.
Poison Breath (Recharge 5–6).Constitution Saving Throw: DC 14, each creature in a 30-foot Cone. Failure: 42 (12d6) Poison damage. Success: Half damage.
Stat block from the SRD 5.2.1 (2024 rules) by Wizards of the Coast, licensed under CC-BY-4.0. Check an encounter with this monster in the encounter calculator.
The young green has 136 hit points, a 30-foot cone of poison (42 damage, DC 14 Con) and a Deception bonus of +5. It is the first age that speaks Common, which matters more for a green dragon than any other color: this is the age where it starts bargaining instead of just biting.
The 2024 version is the clearer threat in melee. Three Rends at +7 for 18 each (11 slashing plus 7 poison) against AC 17 hit on a 10 or higher, 55% of the time, for about 30 damage a round. The 2014 bite-and-claws routine averages about 24. Neither version has Legendary Resistance, so this is the last age where a failed save against a disabling spell simply sticks. Its Charisma save is +5 in 2014 and +2 in 2024, which makes a young green a good target for Banishment.
Legendary Resistance (3/Day).If the dragon fails a saving throw, it can choose to succeed instead.
Actions
Multiattack.The dragon can use its Frightful Presence. It then makes three attacks: one with its bite and two with its claws.
Bite.Melee Weapon Attack: +11 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 17 (2d10 + 6) piercing damage plus 7 (2d6) poison damage.
Claw.Melee Weapon Attack: +11 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 13 (2d6 + 6) slashing damage.
Tail.Melee Weapon Attack: +11 to hit, reach 15 ft., one target. Hit: 15 (2d8 + 6) bludgeoning damage.
Frightful Presence.Each creature of the dragon's choice that is within 120 feet of the dragon and aware of it must succeed on a DC 16 Wisdom saving throw or become frightened for 1 minute. A creature can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success. If a creature's saving throw is successful or the effect ends for it, the creature is immune to the dragon's Frightful Presence for the next 24 hours .
Poison Breath (Recharge 5–6).The dragon exhales poisonous gas in a 60-foot cone. Each creature in that area must make a DC 18 Constitution saving throw, taking 56 (16d6) poison damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.
Legendary Actions
The adult green dragon can take 3 legendary actions, choosing from the options below. Only one legendary action option can be used at a time and only at the end of another creature’s turn. The adult green dragon regains spent legendary actions at the start of its turn.
Detect.The dragon makes a Wisdom (Perception) check.
Tail Attack.The dragon makes a tail attack.
Wing Attack (Costs 2 Actions).The dragon beats its wings. Each creature within 10 ft. of the dragon must succeed on a DC 19 Dexterity saving throw or take 13 (2d6 + 6) bludgeoning damage and be knocked prone. The dragon can then fly up to half its flying speed.
Stat block from the SRD 5.1 (2014 rules) by Wizards of the Coast, licensed under CC-BY-4.0. Check an encounter with this monster in the encounter calculator.
Challenge 15 (XP 13,000, or 15,000 in lair; PB +5)
Traits
Amphibious.The dragon can breathe air and water.
Legendary Resistance (3/Day, or 4/Day in Lair).If the dragon fails a saving throw, it can choose to succeed instead.
Actions
Multiattack.The dragon makes three Rend attacks. It can replace one attack with a use of Spellcasting to cast Mind Spike (level 3 version).
Rend.Melee Attack Roll: +11, reach 10 ft. Hit: 15 (2d8 + 6) Slashing damage plus 7 (2d6) Poison damage.
Poison Breath (Recharge 5–6).Constitution Saving Throw: DC 18, each creature in a 60-foot Cone. Failure: 56 (16d6) Poison damage. Success: Half damage.
Spellcasting.The dragon casts one of the following spells, requiring no Material components and using Charisma as the spellcasting ability (spell save DC 17):
At Will: Detect Magic, Mind Spike (level 3 version)
1/Day Each: Geas
Legendary Actions
Legendary Action Uses: 3 (4 in Lair). Immediately after another creature’s turn, the adult green dragon can expend a use to take one of the following actions. The adult green dragon regains all expended uses at the start of each of its turns.
Mind Invasion.The dragon uses Spellcasting to cast Mind Spike (level 3 version).
Noxious Miasma.Constitution Saving Throw: DC 17, each creature in a 20-foot-radius Sphere centered on a point the dragon can see within 90 feet. Failure: 7 (2d6) Poison damage, and the target takes a −2 penalty to AC until the end of its next turn. Failure or Success: The dragon can’t take this action again until the start of its next turn.
Pounce.The dragon moves up to half its Speed, and it makes one Rend attack.
Stat block from the SRD 5.2.1 (2024 rules) by Wizards of the Coast, licensed under CC-BY-4.0. Check an encounter with this monster in the encounter calculator.
2014 Adult Green Dragon
2024 Adult Green Dragon
Melee
Bite 24, two claws 13 each, tail 15 (reach 15 ft)
Three Rends, 22 each (15 slashing + 7 poison)
Breath
56 (16d6), DC 18 Con
56 (16d6), DC 18 Con
Fear or control
Frightful Presence, DC 16 Wis
Mind Spike at will (level 3, DC 17 Wis)
Out-of-combat spells
None
Detect Magic at will; Geas 1/day
Legendary actions
Detect, Tail Attack, Wing Attack (2)
Mind Invasion, Noxious Miasma, Pounce
Social skills
Deception +8, Insight +7, Persuasion +8
Deception +9, Persuasion +9
Saves
Dex +6, Con +10, Wis +7, Cha +8
Dex +6, Con +5, Wis +7, Cha +4
The breath weapon didn't change between editions. Everything around it did. The 2014 adult frightens and claws. The 2024 adult attacks the mind: Mind Spike is a Wisdom save for 18 (4d8) psychic damage (half on a success), and on a failed save the dragon always knows where the target is. That target can't hide from it, and being Invisible gives no benefit against it. The spell needs Concentration, so each new casting ends the last one, but the damage lands every time.
Legendary Resistance (3/Day).If the dragon fails a saving throw, it can choose to succeed instead.
Actions
Multiattack.The dragon can use its Frightful Presence. It then makes three attacks: one with its bite and two with its claws.
Bite.Melee Weapon Attack: +15 to hit, reach 15 ft., one target. Hit: 19 (2d10 + 8) piercing damage plus 10 (3d6) poison damage.
Claw.Melee Weapon Attack: +15 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 22 (4d6 + 8) slashing damage.
Tail.Melee Weapon Attack: +15 to hit, reach 20 ft., one target. Hit: 17 (2d8 + 8) bludgeoning damage.
Frightful Presence.Each creature of the dragon's choice that is within 120 feet of the dragon and aware of it must succeed on a DC 19 Wisdom saving throw or become frightened for 1 minute. A creature can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success. If a creature's saving throw is successful or the effect ends for it, the creature is immune to the dragon's Frightful Presence for the next 24 hours.
Poison Breath (Recharge 5–6).The dragon exhales poisonous gas in a 90-foot cone. Each creature in that area must make a DC 22 Constitution saving throw, taking 77 (22d6) poison damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.
Legendary Actions
The ancient green dragon can take 3 legendary actions, choosing from the options below. Only one legendary action option can be used at a time and only at the end of another creature’s turn. The ancient green dragon regains spent legendary actions at the start of its turn.
Detect.The dragon makes a Wisdom (Perception) check.
Tail Attack.The dragon makes a tail attack.
Wing Attack (Costs 2 Actions).The dragon beats its wings. Each creature within 15 ft. of the dragon must succeed on a DC 23 Dexterity saving throw or take 15 (2d6 + 8) bludgeoning damage and be knocked prone. The dragon can then fly up to half its flying speed.
Stat block from the SRD 5.1 (2014 rules) by Wizards of the Coast, licensed under CC-BY-4.0. Check an encounter with this monster in the encounter calculator.
Challenge 22 (XP 41,000, or 50,000 in lair; PB +7)
Traits
Amphibious.The dragon can breathe air and water.
Legendary Resistance (4/Day, or 5/Day in Lair).If the dragon fails a saving throw, it can choose to succeed instead.
Actions
Multiattack.The dragon makes three Rend attacks. It can replace one attack with a use of Spellcasting to cast Mind Spike (level 5 version).
Rend.Melee Attack Roll: +15, reach 15 ft. Hit: 17 (2d8 + 8) Slashing damage plus 10 (3d6) Poison damage.
Poison Breath (Recharge 5–6).Constitution Saving Throw: DC 22, each creature in a 90-foot Cone. Failure: 77 (22d6) Poison damage. Success: Half damage.
Spellcasting.The dragon casts one of the following spells, requiring no Material components and using Charisma as the spellcasting ability (spell save DC 21):
At Will: Detect Magic, Mind Spike (level 5 version)
1/Day Each: Geas, Modify Memory
Legendary Actions
Legendary Action Uses: 3 (4 in Lair). Immediately after another creature’s turn, the ancient green dragon can expend a use to take one of the following actions. The ancient green dragon regains all expended uses at the start of each of its turns.
Mind Invasion.The dragon uses Spellcasting to cast Mind Spike (level 5 version).
Noxious Miasma.Constitution Saving Throw: DC 21, each creature in a 30-foot-radius Sphere centered on a point the dragon can see within 90 feet. Failure: 17 (5d6) Poison damage, and the target takes a −2 penalty to AC until the end of its next turn. Failure or Success: The dragon can’t take this action again until the start of its next turn.
Pounce.The dragon moves up to half its Speed, and it makes one Rend attack.
Stat block from the SRD 5.2.1 (2024 rules) by Wizards of the Coast, licensed under CC-BY-4.0. Check an encounter with this monster in the encounter calculator.
The ancient green's breath is a 90-foot cone for 77 (22d6) on a DC 22 Constitution save. A wizard with Con +2 fails on a 19 or lower, 95% of the time. Its 2014 claws are unusually heavy (22 each, 4d6 + 8), so the 2014 ancient deals 73 damage a round if everything lands.
The 2024 ancient casts Mind Spike at level 5 (27 damage, 6d8, DC 21) and, once a day each, Geas and Modify Memory. Its Noxious Miasma covers a 30-foot radius for 17 (5d6) poison damage and a −2 AC penalty. It has 4 Legendary Resistances a day (5 in its lair), and its +15 initiative means it acts first in most fights.
How Green Dragons Fight
A green dragon wins fights before they start. Run it as a creature that would rather own the party than kill it.
Talk first, from a position of strength. A green dragon with Deception +8 or +9 starts the scene hidden in the canopy or under a lake, then speaks. It offers a deal. It lies about part of it. It learns the party's names, their goal, and who is the weakest-willed. If the talk goes badly, it already knows who to target.
Recharge math for the breath. Poison Breath recharges on a 5 or 6 at the start of the dragon's turn: a 1 in 3 chance each round. Expect it to breathe about twice in a four-round fight (once on round one, then 3 x 1/3 more). Because the save is Constitution, a breath hurts the casters most. Against an adult's DC 18:
Character
Con save
Fails on
Expected damage from one breath
Wizard (Con +2)
+2
15 or lower (75%)
about 49
Rogue with Con +3
+3
14 or lower (70%)
about 48
Fighter (Con +3, proficient at level 13)
+8
9 or lower (45%)
about 41
That's 0.75 x 56 + 0.25 x 28 for the wizard. You can roll the 16d6 with our dice roller if you prefer rolled damage to the average.
The 2014 adult: fear, then claws. Frightful Presence (DC 16 Wisdom, 120 feet) goes out on round one as part of the Multiattack. Frightened characters can't move closer and have disadvantage on attacks while they can see the dragon. Its bite and two claws hit AC 19 on an 8 or higher (+11, 65%) for about 33 damage a round. Tail attacks as legendary actions add 15 each at 15 feet of reach.
The 2024 adult: psychic pressure every turn. Mind Invasion, its first legendary action, casts Mind Spike after another creature's turn, and unlike its other options it has no once-per-round limit. An adult that spends all three legendary actions on it deals 18 psychic damage three times a round on failed Wisdom saves, against characters whose Wisdom is often their weak save. Against a +2 Wisdom save (fails on 14 or lower), that averages about 15 damage per casting, roughly 46 a round, on top of its own turn.
Miasma before the bite. Noxious Miasma gives every creature in a 20-foot radius −2 AC until the end of its next turn. Use it right before the dragon's own turn, on the group in melee, and the three Rends that follow hit on a 6 instead of an 8 against AC 19.
Fight from water. Amphibious and a 40-foot swim speed let an adult wait under a lake or river as long as it likes, surface to use its breath weapon, and dive again. Most characters can't follow, and the ones who can are fighting a Huge dragon in its element. A green dragon that's losing simply sinks and waits.
Geas is for after the fight. Geas takes 1 minute to cast, which for a monster means taking the Magic action and holding Concentration for 10 rounds, so it isn't a combat spell. Its purpose is the end of a fight the party lost, or a parley where the dragon holds a hostage: a failed Wisdom save leaves the target Charmed for 30 days, and acting directly against the command deals 5d10 psychic damage, at most once a day.
Running a Green Dragon Encounter
The 2024 XP budget (SRD 5.2.1) for four characters, at the levels where each age fits best:
Age
XP
Four characters of level
Low / Moderate / High budget
Difficulty
Wyrmling
450
2
400 / 600 / 800
Moderate
Young
3,900
6
2,400 / 4,000 / 5,600
Moderate
Adult
13,000 (15,000 in lair)
12
8,800 / 14,800 / 18,800
Moderate (High in lair)
Ancient
41,000 (50,000 in lair)
19
22,000 / 42,800 / 68,800
Moderate (High in lair)
Under the 2014 Dungeon Master's Guide guidelines (used by our encounter calculator), a solo adult green at 13,000 XP is Hard for four level 11 characters (Hard 9,600, Deadly 14,400) and Medium for four level 13 characters.
A green dragon fight should rarely be the dragon alone. Green dragons work through others, so give it charmed or bribed servants: a band of bandits who believe they work for a forest lord, a green hag who trades favors with it, or a druid it has under Geas. The servants absorb the party's first turn. The dragon breathes over them, because it doesn't care.
How Players Beat a Green Dragon
•Don't use poison. Every age is immune to poison damage and the Poisoned condition. Cloudkill, poisoned weapons and Poison Spray do nothing.
•Shore up Constitution. The breath targets Con. Protection from Poison grants resistance to poison damage, and a dwarf's Dwarven Resilience gives resistance in both editions. Characters with Con save proficiency (fighters, barbarians, sorcerers) can stand closer.
•Protect Wisdom saves against the 2024 dragon. Mind Spike and Geas both target Wisdom. Clerics, druids and paladins (proficient in Wisdom saves, and a paladin's aura helps everyone near it) become the front line of the conversation.
•Know who's tracked. Once a character fails a save against Mind Spike, hiding from the dragon and turning invisible stop working for that character while the spell lasts (up to an hour). Send someone else to sneak.
•Counterspell the mind games. The 2024 dragon still uses Verbal or Somatic components (Mind Spike is Somatic, Geas Verbal), so Counterspell can stop either. In the 2024 rules the dragon resists with a Constitution save, which is only +5 for the adult.
•Drain Legendary Resistance, then hit its Charisma. The 2024 adult's Charisma save is +4 (it was +8 in 2014). Once its three Legendary Resistances are gone, Banishment lands on a failed save about 60% of the time at DC 17.
•Don't fight it in the water. Pull the fight onto land, or drain the advantage by making it come to you: a green dragon that has to leave the lake to reach the party loses its escape route.
What the SRD Says About Green Dragon Lairs
Not much, and this page doesn't invent more. SRD 5.2.1 gives the adult and ancient green three lair changes: one extra Legendary Resistance per day (4 for the adult, 5 for the ancient), four legendary action uses instead of three, and higher XP (15,000 for the adult, 50,000 for the ancient). It lists no lair actions or regional effects for green dragons and doesn't describe the lair.
SRD 5.1 has no lair actions for green dragons, and no general lair-action rules either. Forest lair actions and regional effects for green dragons appear in the Monster Manual, not the SRD, so this page doesn't reproduce them.
Green Dragon Encounter Ideas
The forest lord's steward. Woodcutters pay a monthly tithe to "the steward of the old wood," a polite man who visits each village. He is an adult green dragon's servant under Geas, and he has 12 days left on it. He'll quietly help the party if they promise to kill the dragon before the Geas renews. The dragon will offer the party a better deal.
The lost hour (2024). The party wakes on a forest road with their horses gone, and one character's spell slots are spent. That character has no memory of the last 10 minutes. An ancient green dragon met them, cast Modify Memory on the one who saw its face, and let them go. The others remember only a voice and a smell. The dragon wants something carried to a city, and someone in the party is already carrying it.
The millpond. Cattle are dying around a village millpond. The cause is a green dragon wyrmling that swims in from the river at night, plus its 15-foot cone of poison. It's small enough to fit under the mill wheel and clever enough to bargain for its life: it knows where its parent hunts.
A green dragon wyrmling is CR 2, a young green dragon CR 8, an adult green dragon CR 15 and an ancient green dragon CR 22, in both the 2014 and 2024 rules.
What saving throw does green dragon breath use?
Constitution. Poison Breath forces a Constitution save in a cone: DC 11 for a wyrmling, DC 14 for a young dragon, DC 18 for an adult and DC 22 for an ancient. A success halves the poison damage.
Is a green dragon immune to poison?
Yes. Every green dragon is immune to poison damage and the Poisoned condition in both editions. It has no other damage immunities or resistances.
Can green dragons breathe underwater?
Yes. All four ages have the Amphibious trait (they breathe air and water) and a swim speed: 30 feet for the wyrmling and 40 feet for the young, adult and ancient.
What spells can a 2024 green dragon cast?
The 2024 adult casts Detect Magic and Mind Spike (level 3) at will and Geas once a day, with spell save DC 17. The 2024 ancient casts Mind Spike at level 5 and adds Modify Memory once a day, with DC 21. Wyrmlings and young dragons don't cast spells.
What's the difference between a green dragon and a black dragon?
Both swim and breathe water, but a green breathes a cone of poison (Constitution save) and leans on deception, while a black dragon breathes a narrow line of acid (Dexterity save) and ambushes from swamps. The green has more hit points at every age, from 38 against 33 as wyrmlings to 207 against 195 as adults.
Stat blocks: System Reference Document 5.1 (2014) and 5.2.1 (2024), Wizards of the Coast, CC-BY-4.0. Tactics, encounter math and ideas are Loreify's own.
This page includes material from the System Reference Document 5.1 and 5.2.1 by Wizards of the Coast LLC, available under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Loreify is not affiliated with Wizards of the Coast.