Klauth - The Dragon With The Most Dangerous Spell in D&D 

Check out the Kickstarter! www.kickstarter.com/projects/mrrhexx/sands-of-doom?ref=3c0f8y

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. :)

Is is the spell, “The Power of Friendship”? That’s the most powerful spell.

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

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.

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

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

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.

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

Klauth, Arveiaturace and Claugiyliamatar are my three most favorite dragons in all of fantasy they are just amazing XD

I had no idea that all these Ancient legendary dragons had so much personality! I'm loving these videos, getting to learn about them!

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.

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?

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 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 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.

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.

Klauth almost seems to be the Conan the barbarian of Dragons the way you describe him.

I'm actually running a winter survival campaign in the aree of Klauths horde. I'm definitely gonna plan an encounter with him now.

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.

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!

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.

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. 😎🍻😎

You make the best lore content on RU-vid, keep it up!!!

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"

-flies in -burns the dracolitch -refuses to elaborate further -leaves

Klauth: I can use 3 wands in a round -> 3 spell effects / round Beholder: Hold My Beer 👁‍🗨

My man! These latest named dragon vids have been an absolutely awesome view!

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

also love these videos , Thank you so much for making them , you got me into DND and i love it !!

17:00 I was so confused what a katteggerie was until I read what it said on-screen. 😭

Your videos are really well done ! Love listening to them and imagining the challenge of fighting some of these Dragons.

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

AYO Klauth is spawn farming what the heck

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.

Juat backed your kickstarter. Good fortune in this endeavor! i really hope it turns out as awesome as all of your other content!

Really loving this series, thanks for doing it!

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.

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

Klauth- my goals are beyond your understanding

Klauth is the dragon equivalent of a pay to win player.

I fought this guy in Neverwinter nights!

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 enjoy your videos MrRhexx, thank you for creating and sharing

The only DnD experience I had was an "ultra realistic" nightmare, I said I would never play it again. But you my friend make this hobby sound like the coolest thing in the world. I wanna DM a high fantasy, rule of cool, fudge number, slobberknocker of a game. Shadow hide you and luck find you

Running a Dragon Queen game so these videos are perfect. Gonna be scattering clues about these Dragons throughout the game

Thank you for what you do, love your videos! DON'T STOP!

The way you say "category" tickles my brain.

After the famous dragons, you should do famous dungeons!

I'm still waiting for the Githyanky video and there city, but awsome videon men. Love your content

very much enjoying your dragon series ... good luck with your kickstarter !

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 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.

Both my wife and I love this series! Well done!

Skip to 13:30 to get to where he actually talks about the spell and 15:20 for what it actually does.

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.

So klauth is like Smaug? Big pile of treasure that everyone wants once the dragon is gone?

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.

Looking at the title my first thought was that the dragon can cast Aarau's Destroy Universe. :D

DvH achievable spells. have imagined that for 20+ years, nice to see that mentioned here. Love your vids!

Can't wait for the Imvaernarho video, he's one of my favorite red dragons.

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.

Wow, one of the coolest background story's to a dragon that I've heard in awhile.

I was waiting for Klauth

my favorite. keep up the good work!

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.

I love this collection!

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.

Santa Klauth: the Father Xmas & Krampus of D&D just without the gifts.

these videos are great! I hope you cover inferno or a silver dragon next.

"Today we have 4 age categories" is true for just the PHB, but didnt Fizban's add the Greatwyrm again, making it 5?

Wow! Great and cool video!

Yesss, fell in love with Klauth with his card from MtG

Really enjoying this series! :)

These videos have me rewatching the older dragon lore videos again.

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.

Hey, love the monster classes two, a fun way to have a young steel dragon character with a little tweaking.

These individual dragons are similar to crime families.

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

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.

Klauth must have expertise in stealth and sleigh of hand

Voted most likely to be featured on "To Catch A Dracolich"

Love these vids!

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.

Loving the named dragon videos

Thank you for the video.

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 😸

I feel like this is where Mercer got the inspiration for Thordak.

I love this series so much

Best series on the tube

The stat blocs for Great Wyrms for 5e are in Fizban's Treasury of Dragons. The Chromatic Greatwyrm has a challenge rating of 27.

Thanks for the dragon lore!

A special kind of evil to sacrifice the dragon eggs of his own kind! Quite the villain!