Happy New Year! 🐉 Content Sneak Peeks, Art Reveals & More!
9 months ago
– Mon, Jan 12, 2026 at 04:31:24 PM
Howdy, Adventurers!
Megan here, for a change – nice to meet you all! 👋🥸
Though I’m Nord Games’ Community Manager by day, I’m also the Art Director for this Elemental Dragons book series, as well as Lead Writer for the Campaign Setting and Contributing Writer for the Bestiary & Crafting Guide, Quests & Lairs, and Treasure Hoard books 🐉✨
The team and I have been hard at work chugging away on this project over the holidays and into the new year! Every week something new and beautiful takes shape that has me positively buzzing to share with you all (which is why Nord CEO Chris very kindly let me commandeer this Kickstarter update 😆)
So, grab a snack and buckle your seatbelts as I take you on a (long-winded) tour of the Elemental Dragons series as it currently stands – only possible thanks to your incredible support! ❤️
🐉 BESTIARY & CRAFTING GUIDE 🐉
DRAGONS!!! Aren’t they looking gorgeous?! 🥰
Our main dragon artists Mitch Mueller, Leonardo Giordano, and Lucas Melo are hard at work bringing the creatures from this bestiary to life. Above is a sneak preview of four new dragons, each from a different element. From the crystal element, we have the wise and illusory geode-born Amethyst Dragon. From the water element, we have the angler-fish-inspired Depth Dragon with a siren for a lure (terrifying). From the light element, we have the ceremonial Dawn Dragon that symbolizes beautiful beginnings. And from the air element, we have the brilliantly-plumed preyer-upon-birds-of-prey, the Sky Dragon!
For those wondering at specifics for content, we have great news! The Bestiary & Crafting Guide will feature 8 dragons of each element for 80 dragons total. Each dragon will then feature four stat blocks for the Wyrmling, Young, Adult, and Ancient variants of that dragon (or equivalent, since not all dragons age the same or are categorized as such). Lastly, the “Other Dragons” chapter will feature 20 miscellaneous dragons, which will have one or more stat blocks each.
That means, in total, the Elemental Dragons: Bestiary and Crafting Guide will feature 100 unique dragons, and a minimum of 340 stat blocks! Not to mention the Elemental Dragons you might create using the Dragon Generator included in the back… 😍
Writers Tom Knauss and Matthew Lastimosa are swift approaching a level-up as Draconic Sorcerers with all the writing and stat-blocking going on for these dragons, so rest assured that they remain in skilled (and increasingly scaly) hands 🙌
🐉 CAMPAIGN SETTING 🐉
Welcome to the world of Ouros! 🔮
Since the Campaign Setting is ✨my writing baby ✨, please know that it took concerted effort to keep this segment (relatively) brief… However, though I am wildly biased, this book is looking fabulous so far! Over 100 pieces of brand-new artwork will be featured in this book to depict its fantastical locations, strange inhabitants, and even some new ancestries/subclasses… 😏
For those who didn’t get the chance, you can find a preview of Zyrkan, the Shifting Expanse (one of the regions of Ouros) in our fourth Kickstarter update!
👉 https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/nordgames/elemental-dragons/posts/4507796
As for the layout & content of this book: the world of Ouros is divided into four main realms (Northern, Eastern, Southern, and Western), which are separated by stark magical barriers that arose at the end of an ancient war. To cross between these realms, one must bypass those barriers by braving the dangerous underrealm called The Nexus (which was unlocked via our $100,000 Stretch goal – thank you! 🥳)
Each cardinal realm contains three regions, which all feature different biomes, creatures, lore, and occasionally even optional game mechanics. Each region will also feature eight points of interest – settlements, landmarks, dangerous destinations, characters/creatures, organizations, etc. – and each of those will come with their own unique artwork, descriptions, and a few adventure hooks for GMs & players who find themselves there. The Nexus works a bit differently, but will still be chalk-full of its own mysteries and dangers… 😈
So, for those counting at home: this book will feature 12 main regions, 96 points of interest, and almost 200 adventure hooks full of elemental and draconic goodness – and that’s not even including the Nexus! This world is shaping up to be a truly magical one, so I hope you all enjoy adventuring in it as much as I’ve enjoyed creating it ☺️
🐉 QUESTS & LAIRS 🐉
Who’s ready for some adventures?! ⚔️
Quests & Lairs is well underway, spearheaded by the incredible Tom Knauss! For those who don’t know Tom by name, you may still know his work, which has been featured in dozens of TTRPG publications over the last 25 years. He is both an incredible wealth of knowledge, and a fountain of surprising and hilarious ideas, both of which are present in his bestiary entries and adventures. Someday, when you all meet Slonk the potato-obsessed goblin, you will swiftly understand… 🥔
This book will feature 10 adventures for parties of various levels and gaming interests (roleplay-centric vs. combat-centric, darker themes vs. lighter themes, etc.) Because pre-written adventures can sometimes be difficult to learn (especially for new GMs, or for people like me who don’t possess functioning attention spans), we’re doing our best to make these adventures skimmable, intuitively organized, visually interesting, and full of advice for GMing each adventure to the fullest. Each adventure will also feature recommended starter hooks to lead players into the quest’s inciting events, as well as recommended ending hooks, for tables who aren’t ready for their journey to end just yet 💪 Though there will be options provided for those who want to play in the Elemental Dragons: Campaign Setting, all adventures function as stand-alone experiences, and will feature all the maps, stat blocks, and info you need to run the games!
For sneak peeks, please kindly ogle the incredible key artwork above for One Final Violent Waltz, the adventure I’m writing for this book! In this three-act adventure, a series of disappearances are linked to a traveling cellist called "The Maestro", whose music lures desperate souls deep into the jungle toward an eternal freeing dance. But something sinister lurks beneath nature’s stage: an onyx dragon who hoards contradiction, feasting on her victims’ ecstasy and agony as they agree to dance until death… (insert evil laugh here)
Also, for those of you attending TotalCon in Marlborough, Massachusetts from February 19-22, feel free to snag tickets or come say hi as Tom runs this book’s introductory adventure, Four Adventurers and a Baby (Dragon), on Friday and Saturday! You can find more info about TotalCon below:
👉 https://tabletop.events/conventions/total-con-40
🐉 TREASURE HOARD 🐉
Magic items abound! 🪄
As mentioned in the Kickstarter, Elemental Dragons: Treasure Hoard will feature over 400 new items inspired by elemental dragons. These items will be split into 50 Common, 100 Uncommon, 100 Rare, 100 Very Rare, and 50 Legendary items, all of which we’re hoping will range from totally badass to downright strange (balance in all things, of course… 😎) The book will also feature 20 relics with more in-depth lore, abilities, and possibilities (and beautiful half page artwork!)
For a peek behind the curtain: this book is the least complete of the four thus far, since (a) that’s a lotta items, and (b) item creation, we’ve found for us, is best done in bright bursts of strange inspiration. As Chris, Tom, Matt & I work on the other three books, we all have “Eureka!” moments that lead to frantic note-taking and Discord messages. These ideas then receive feedback such as “I love this!” or “... what?”, which then informs whether or not that item gets developed further 🤷 A normal process, I’m sure. But it did also result in the upper right item: a Siren’s Singing Bowl, made from the resonant “skull” of the siren lure from that Depth Dragon shown above… 🎶
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And so ends a VERY long update! 😮💨 Thank you to everyone who made it to the end! For now, we’ll get back to the grind, and will be back in February with another update! ❤️
Happy adventuring!
- Megan & the Nord Games Team
