The first Draconomicon (1990) was also the first of the softcover FOR-series of sourcebooks for the Forgotten Realms, which looked at different inhabitants and organizations of Faerun. This one tackled dragons.

Typical of the period, there’s a little bit of everything here – some Realms-specific history, new monsters, spells, some short adventures, a selection of NPC dragons. Like a lot of Forgotten Realms books, a lot this one is kind of doofy (just look at that illustration of the dragon in his wizard workshop). The best bits of the book (which honestly, don’t take up nearly enough space) are about how dragons live and how dungeon masters should run them.

Draconomicon feels like a culmination of the D&D dragon up to this point – a dragon potpourri, if you will – rather than something that breaks new ground. The potential is clear, especially from a financial perspective: Draconomicon was popular enough to warrant Wizards of the Coast reprinting it as late as 1999.

When I flip through it, though, I can almost feel the speed at which this was produced and the constraints deadlines put on the text. With a little more time and thought, this could have been a masterpiece. How do I know? Well, check out tomorrow’s post…