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Dragons Most Fearsome!

Tuesday, October 28, 2025

Howdy! Luis Loza here! I’m here to preview a few more dragons you can expect with the upcoming Pathfinder Monster Core 2. This time around, we’re taking a look at a new divine dragon and a new occult dragon.


Requiem Dragon Concept, artist Kent Hamilton: A sketch design of a requiem dragon, a dragon with webbing between its legs and a pair of horns growing upward and downward on the front of its face. The sketch includes a close-up look of the dragon’s features.

Requiem Dragon Concept, artist Kent Hamilton


This is a requiem dragon, a divine dragon concerned with caretaking souls as they travel through the afterlife. Requiem dragons tend to focus on specific planes and shepherd souls to those planes, leading to requiem dragons linked with the likes of Heaven or Hell. They also have a connection to life energy, as they are born from the energies of Creation’s Forge.

A requiem dragon’s link to life allows them to always know the Hit Points of creatures they can see. They are also able to link a dying creature’s soul to their own body, preventing them from slipping into death. Their breath is a line of spirit damage that dooms undead creatures, helping guarantee their destruction.

Monster Core 2 also features the resurrection dragon, a divine dragon with power over death who can unleash void energies and bring creatures back to life. You can see both of these dragons on the cover of the upcoming Pathfinder Lost Omens Draconic Codex!


Despair Dragon Concept, artist Kent Hamilton: A sketch design of a despair dragon, a dragon with a bestial face and a long tongue with a strange bladder covered in cilia. The sketch includes a close-up look of the dragon’s features.

Despair Dragon Concept, artist Kent Hamilton


Today’s occult dragon is the despair dragon. Like all occult dragons, despair dragons have an innate compulsion that drives them. In their case, they must feed on fear in addition to their typical sustenance. Despair dragons are shrewd and scheming creatures, using their abilities to seek useful sources of anguish. Some despair dragons delight in their hunt for fear, diving deep into wickedness to fulfill their needs. Others dread their very nature and choose to hunt creatures they feel are deserving of torment. It’s not uncommon for a despair dragon to agonize a local tyrant or a vile criminal.

Despair dragons, of course, have the frightful presence ability. They can use their reaction to gain temporary Hit Points whenever a creature loses the frightened condition. Their breath is made up of every scream they’ve drawn from terrified creatures, dealing sonic damage to all in the blast. As they grow older, they can use their tongues to create grotesque decoys. These decoys have the general silhouette of a humanoid or animal and are useful for tricking unsuspecting creatures to follow them toward the dragon lying in wait.

The book’s other occult dragon is the whisper dragon, a successor to legacies of brass from the past. These dragons are compelled to hoard secrets and rumors, are highly diplomatic, and maintain vast whisper networks.

Next week, we'll be showing off a dragon Eleanor gave us some clues about at PaizoCon who's known for being quite sharp—what could that mean?

Hope you enjoyed the previews so far. Make sure to check out Pathfinder Monster Core 2 when it releases this November!

Luis Loza (he/him)
Creative Director (Rules & Lore)

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Tags: Dragons Pathfinder Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Pathfinder Second Edition
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1 person marked this as a favorite.

Let your requiem play as despair takes you!
7 people marked this as a favorite.

Ooh, so Monster Core 1's divine dragons were linked to Heaven and Hell, and Monster Core 2's are to Creation's Forge and the Void. Here we were all thinking the Boneyard and Abaddon, but they're going for more direct Opposites.

Scrolling down…AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!

There's a snack for you, big guy.

I had not pegged the Whisper Dragon as our first metallic remaster! From the art that's been posted around the brassy boys have been dieting!
3 people marked this as a favorite.
TheTownsend wrote:

Ooh, so Monster Core 1's divine dragons were linked to Heaven and Hell, and Monster Core 2's are to Creation's Forge and the Void. Here we were all thinking the Boneyard and Abaddon, but they're going for more direct Opposites.

Scrolling down…AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!

There's a snack for you, big guy.

I had not pegged the Whisper Dragon as our first metallic remaster! From the art that's been posted around the brassy boys have been dieting!

I believe Draconic Codex's Mocking and Sage Dragons have been described as successors to the Copper and Bronze dragons, so some other remasters aren't far behind.

RPG Superstar Season 9 Top 16

Are resurrection dragons the replacement for umbral dragons?

Can't wait for the Edge Dragon next week
Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber

That occult dragon is creepy, Good job!
Paizo Employee Rule and Lore Creative Director
19 people marked this as a favorite.
Cyrad wrote:
Are resurrection dragons the replacement for umbral dragons?

Nope! The only dragons that we're not maintaining going forward are the chromatic and metallic dragons. Anything beyond that is fair game to remaster. I can confirm that remastered umbral dragons will be showing up in Draconic Codex.

Scarab Sages
3 people marked this as a favorite.

I love how varied and bizarre the new dragons are. Do not miss the old Chomatic/Metallic snorefest.
6 people marked this as a favorite.

Not gonna lie, I'm not fond of the artwork for either the requiem dragon or the despair dragon though I do like the concepts of them.
Paizo Employee Developer
19 people marked this as a favorite.
Luis Loza wrote:
Nope! The only dragons that we're not maintaining going forward are the chromatic and metallic dragons. Anything beyond that is fair game to remaster. I can confirm that remastered umbral dragons will be showing up in Draconic Codex.

Luis! Stop spoiling everything in my book again!

Dark Archive
4 people marked this as a favorite.

I was really curious of the role that Requiem dragons would play, considering the very draconic (though technically not dragons) Yamaraj Psychopomps. Very distinct from one another, in that the former ferry souls to their afterlife while the latter are judges that oversee particularly sticky "cases" that aren't *quite* at the level of needing Pharasma's direct attention.

Hoping there might be a little blurb on how Requiem Dragons relate to the Psychopomps, particularly the Yamaraj =] Wonder if they're ever hobby-buddies?
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Pathfinder Rulebook Subscriber

Just like how havoc dragons are going to be renamed to be delight dragons in the draconic codex, are requiem dragons renamed crypt dragons? Because both requiem and crypt dragons appear to shepherd souls to the afterlife.

Or are crypt dragons and requiem dragons like infernal and diabolic dragons, which are two separate species of dragons that live in Hell
Liberty's Edge

I just want to know which of the new dragons are meant to talk the place of the chromatics and metallics. Beyond that I can wait for the book to come out to know more.
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Getting angler fish vibes from despair dragons. I dig the nightmare fuel.
Verdant Wheel
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Wow, these are so much more flavorful than the old Chromatic/Metallic dragons.

On a side thing...will we see any Imperial Dragons from Tian Xia? There are so many there (based on TX:WG), there should at least be a few entries!
Dark Archive
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Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber
Khefer wrote:

Wow, these are so much more flavorful than the old Chromatic/Metallic dragons.

On a side thing...will we see any Imperial Dragons from Tian Xia? There are so many there (based on TX:WG), there should at least be a few entries!

Not in Monster Core 2, but they're supposedly in the upcoming Draconic Codex.

2 people marked this as a favorite.

I would s$~+ myself if I saw a despair dragon. My literal reaction was reading the requium dragon's blurb, going "oh that's nice", and scrolling down to get jump scared and actually jump in my seat at this chiansaw man looking freak. 11/10 design honestly, it's neat to see such a extreme departure from classical dragon design.
1 person marked this as a favorite.
SpontaneousLightning wrote:

Just like how havoc dragons are going to be renamed to be delight dragons in the draconic codex, are requiem dragons renamed crypt dragons? Because both requiem and crypt dragons appear to shepherd souls to the afterlife.

Or are crypt dragons and requiem dragons like infernal and diabolic dragons, which are two separate species of dragons that live in Hell

As their description implies, Requiem Dragons aren't specifically interested in a single plane. It varies from dragon to dragon.

They are also confirmed to be born at Creation’s Forge, and that would be the positive energy plane. Crypt dragons are native to the Boneyard instead.

So they aren't really connected to each others. At least not as much as infernal and diabolic dragons are, both natives of Hell.
Liberty's Edge

I love those two. So beautiful, even the Despair one, awesome concepts and execution that are springboards for a GM's creativity.

Thanks for this.

Despair dragon is so incredibly cool.
RPG Superstar Season 9 Top 16
Luis Loza wrote:
Cyrad wrote:
Are resurrection dragons the replacement for umbral dragons?
Nope! The only dragons that we're not maintaining going forward are the chromatic and metallic dragons. Anything beyond that is fair game to remaster. I can confirm that remastered umbral dragons will be showing up in Draconic Codex.

I can't put into words how happy one of my players is about this.

Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber

Though the Primal (not-Tradition) dragons will need a rebranding for their band so that they don't get confused for the Primal Tradition dragons, even if there's a Venn diagram that's basically a circle.
Dark Archive
Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

Despair dragon is chef's kiss.
Wayfinders Contributor

Will my favorite cloud dragons appear in this book?
1 person marked this as a favorite.

Ok, but does the Despair Dragon have a pair of small dot like eyes or a trio of big vertical eyes?
Grand Archive
3 people marked this as a favorite.
Pathfinder Pathfinder Accessories Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber
The Gold Sovereign wrote:
Ok, but does the Despair Dragon have a pair of small dot like eyes or a trio of big vertical eyes?

... Yes? (I think it's both.)

Advocates

Petition to rename the Despair dragon the Nightmare Fuel Dragon!
2 people marked this as a favorite.
Pathfinder Rulebook, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
The Gold Sovereign wrote:
Ok, but does the Despair Dragon have a pair of small dot like eyes or a trio of big vertical eyes?

Looking at the full-colour pic in MC2, it appears to have both, for a total of five eyeballs! (incidentally the finished art looks creepy as all get out, and I mean that as a very sincere compliment! Lovely colour scheme, too!)

Horizon Hunters
1 person marked this as a favorite.

Interesting that the long boi whisper dragon is the new brass dragon
Cassi wrote:
Petition to rename the Despair dragon the Nightmare Fuel Dragon!

What's odd is that P1E already had a Nightmare Dragon...

Paizo Employee Rule and Lore Creative Director
10 people marked this as a favorite.
The Gold Sovereign wrote:
Ok, but does the Despair Dragon have a pair of small dot like eyes or a trio of big vertical eyes?

The big eyes are fake. :)

1 person marked this as a favorite.
Luis Loza wrote:
The Gold Sovereign wrote:
Ok, but does the Despair Dragon have a pair of small dot like eyes or a trio of big vertical eyes?
The big eyes are fake. :)

Ah! So like the Basilisks from the Dark Souls series of games. Big ol' eyes to scare people with, tiny little eyes to actually see with!

Grand Archive
1 person marked this as a favorite.
Pathfinder Pathfinder Accessories Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber

It's a legit defense against adventurers that weirdly ALL think that "big globulous eyes" = "weak point", so they have useless giant fake eyes. :P (joke)
2 people marked this as a favorite.
Elfteiroh wrote:
It's a legit defense against adventurers that weirdly ALL think that "big globulous eyes" = "weak point", so they have useless giant fake eyes. :P (joke)

"Adventurers?!" The raven shakes his head. "It's a defense against us, because eyes are so YUMMY!"

A Penny Wise dragon.

I'm surprised nobody's mentioned that undead cannot be doomed by the breath weapon yet.

Dragons Most Fearsome!" By Luis Loza wrote:
Their breath is a line of spirit damage that dooms undead creatures, helping guarantee their destruction.

Undead are not impacted by doom since they are generally destroyed at 0 hp.

Doomed Condition wrote:

Your soul has been gripped by a powerful force that calls you closer to death. Doomed always includes a value. The dying value at which you die is reduced by your doomed value. If your maximum dying value is reduced to 0, you instantly die. When you die, you're no longer doomed.

Your doomed value decreases by 1 each time you get a full night's rest.

Oftentimes undead don't even have a soul present for the powerful force to grip in the first place.

2 people marked this as a favorite.
The Contrarian wrote:

I'm surprised nobody's mentioned that undead cannot be doomed by the breath weapon yet.

Dragons Most Fearsome!" By Luis Loza wrote:
Their breath is a line of spirit damage that dooms undead creatures, helping guarantee their destruction.

Undead are not impacted by doom since they are generally destroyed at 0 hp.

Doomed Condition wrote:

Your soul has been gripped by a powerful force that calls you closer to death. Doomed always includes a value. The dying value at which you die is reduced by your doomed value. If your maximum dying value is reduced to 0, you instantly die. When you die, you're no longer doomed.

Your doomed value decreases by 1 each time you get a full night's rest.

Oftentimes undead don't even have a soul present for the powerful force to grip in the first place.

They are impacted, though.

If your Doomed condition reduces your (theoretical) Dying value to 0, you die instantly. The Undead would, therefore, be destroyed instantly.

To be more specific with the Requiem Dragon's breath weapon and its mechanics, if such an Undead creature is already Doomed when they're hit with the Requiem Dragon's breath weapon, they instead increase their Doomed value. So they can eventually have their Doomed value increased to Doomed 4. AKA Instant Death.
Liberty's Edge
The Contrarian wrote:

I'm surprised nobody's mentioned that undead cannot be doomed by the breath weapon yet.

Dragons Most Fearsome!" By Luis Loza wrote:
Their breath is a line of spirit damage that dooms undead creatures, helping guarantee their destruction.

Undead are not impacted by doom since they are generally destroyed at 0 hp.

Doomed Condition wrote:

Your soul has been gripped by a powerful force that calls you closer to death. Doomed always includes a value. The dying value at which you die is reduced by your doomed value. If your maximum dying value is reduced to 0, you instantly die. When you die, you're no longer doomed.

Your doomed value decreases by 1 each time you get a full night's rest.

Oftentimes undead don't even have a soul present for the powerful force to grip in the first place.

All undead have at least a sliver of soul animating them. Which is why Pharasma does not like their existence.

2 people marked this as a favorite.

I took it as figurative language. The undead are doomed, not Doomed. While it's true that you are definitely doomed if your Doomed value goes up to Doomed 4, you don't need to be Doomed 4, or even Doomed, to be doomed.
Liberty's Edge

Maybe Persistent spirit damage to undead.
1 person marked this as a favorite.
Adventure Path Charter Subscriber; Pathfinder Rulebook, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game, Starfinder Society Subscriber
The Contrarian wrote:

I'm surprised nobody's mentioned that undead cannot be doomed by the breath weapon yet.

Dragons Most Fearsome!" By Luis Loza wrote:
Their breath is a line of spirit damage that dooms undead creatures, helping guarantee their destruction.
Undead are not impacted by doom since they are generally destroyed at 0 hp.

Note that PC undead using the skeleton ancestry and the undead archetypes from Book of the Dead are subject to the Doomed condition (as well as many others that normally don't affect undead)...

Unless applying the optional "Unleashing the Undead" on page 45 of that book.
Dragonchess Player wrote:

Note that PC undead using the skeleton ancestry and the undead archetypes from Book of the Dead are subject to the Doomed condition (as well as many others that normally don't affect undead)...

Unless applying the optional "Unleashing the Undead" on page 45 of that book.

Hence why I said "generally destroyed." There's exceptions to almost everything in Pathfinder.

1 person marked this as a favorite.
Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber

Also, also, all NPCs and monsters have an effective maximum Dying Value of 1 since they always expire when reduced to 0 HP (except with attacks bearing the nonlethal trait).
Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber; Pathfinder Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
HenshinFanatic wrote:
Also, also, all NPCs and monsters have an effective maximum Dying Value of 1 since they always expire when reduced to 0 HP (except with attacks bearing the nonlethal trait).

LOL. Quite right!

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