Ancient red dragon
Gargantuan dragon · Challenge 24
A single ancient red dragon is above a High budget for low-level parties; it's a boss for level 20+ groups.
How many ancient red dragons for a party of four?
The most ancient red dragons that fit each difficulty. A dash means even one is too many.
| Level | 2024 rules (XP budget) | 2014 rules (stays below…) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Low | Moderate | High | Medium | Hard | Deadly | |
| 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 2 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 3 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 19 | – | – | 1 | – | – | – |
| 20 | – | – | 1 | – | – | – |
Mixed party or different size? Use the encounter builder; it handles any combination.
Questions
What CR is a ancient red dragon in 5e?
A ancient red dragon is challenge rating 24, worth 62,000 XP. It is a gargantuan dragon with an armor class of 22 and 546 hit points on average.
How many ancient red dragons should I use against a level 20 party?
For four level 20 characters under the 2024 rules: up to 0 for a Low encounter, 0 for Moderate and 1 for High.
Is a ancient red dragon a good fight for level 3 characters?
Not really. Even one ancient red dragon (62,000 XP) is beyond the High budget of four level 3 characters (1,600 XP).
Monsters of similar challenge
Lich
CR 21 · Medium undead · 33,000 XP
Tarrasque
CR 30 · Gargantuan monstrosity · 155,000 XP
Adult red dragon
CR 17 · Huge dragon · 18,000 XP
Adult blue dragon
CR 16 · Huge dragon · 15,000 XP
Iron golem
CR 16 · Large construct · 15,000 XP
Adult green dragon
CR 15 · Huge dragon · 13,000 XP
Statistics from the System Reference Document 5.1. Full stat block: see the SRD or your rulebook.