5E: Converting Monsters from White Dwarf Magazine for Fifth Edition

Heck, I think I'll start statting something out…

Dragon Warriors
Medium monstrosity, neutral
Armor Class [see below](natural armor)
Hit Points [see below]
Speed 30 ft.

Dragon Warriors Statistics Table

Saving Throws proficient in DEX, CON, WIS, CHA.
 DEX +5 if gold; DEX +4 if black or silver; DEX +3 if green or red; DEX +2 if blue, brass, bronze, copper or white
 CON +6 if gold, red or silver; CON +5 if bronze or white; CON +4 if black, blue, brass, copper or green
 WIS +5 if gold, red or silver; WIS +4 if blue or bronze; WIS +3 if black, brass, copper, green or white
 CHA +5 if gold or red; CHA +4 if silver; CHA +3 if blue, bronze or copper; CHA +2 if black, brass or green; CHA +1 if white
Skills proficient in Perception and Stealth.
 Perception +5 if gold, red or silver; Perception +4 if blue or bronze; Perception +3 if black, brass, copper, green or white
 Stealth +5 if gold; Stealth +4 if black or silver; Stealth +3 if green or red; Stealth +2 if blue, brass, bronze, copper or white
Damage Immunities acid if black or copper; cold if silver or white; fire if brass, gold or red; lightning if blue or bronze; poison if green
Condition Immunities charmed, frightened, paralyzed; poisoned if green
Senses blindsight 10 ft., darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 15 if gold, red or silver; passive Perception 14 if blue or bronze; passive Perception 13 if black, brass, copper, green or white
Languages Common, Draconic
Challenge CR 6 (2,300 XP) if gold; CR 5 (1,800 XP) if red or silver; CR 4 (1,100 XP) if blue, bronze or green; CR 3 (700 XP) if black, brass, copper or white
Proficiency Bonus +3 if gold, red or silver; +2 if black, blue, brass, bronze, copper, green or white

Dragonscale Equipment. The dragon warrior's armor and longsword are part of its body, formed from its own scales.
 Damage to dragonscale equipment does not affect the dragon warrior's own hit points. A dragon warrior can repair its own dragonscale items by spending a Hit Die at the end of a Short Rest; the warrior does not regain hit points from the spent Hit Die, but its dragonscale items are fully repaired and maintained. If the dragon warrior's dragonscale armor or dragonscale longsword are lost or destroyed (see Dust to Dust), the dragon warrior can grow a replacement after finishing a Long Rest by spending one Hit Die for a new sword, two Hit Dice for new armor, or three Hit Dice for both.

Dragonscale Weapon Master (Gold or Red Dragon Warrior Only). The dragon warrior deals 3 (1d6) extra damage when it hits with a dragonscale weapon (included in the attack).

Dragonscale Weapon Master (Silver Dragon Warrior Only). The dragon warrior deals 2 (1d4) extra damage when it hits with a dragonscale weapon (included in the attack).

Dust to Dust. If the dragon warrior dies, its body and dragonscale equipment immediately crumbles to dust. If any part of its body, including an item of dragonscale equipment, is separated from the dragon warrior for more than 1 minute it will also crumble into dust.

Dragon Warriors Combat Table
1. A green dragon warrior is also immune to the poisoned condition.
2. A dragon warrior's Stealth equals its DEX save, Perception equals its WIS save.

Actions

Multiattack. The dragon warrior makes two melee attacks.

Longsword (Chromatic Black Dragon Warrior). Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 8 (1d8 + 4) slashing damage plus 3 (1d6) acid damage, or 9 (1d10 + 4) slashing damage plus 3 (1d6) acid damage if used with two hands.

Longsword (Chromatic Blue Dragon Warrior). Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 8 (1d8 + 4) slashing damage plus 3 (1d6) lightning damage, or 9 (1d10 + 4) slashing damage plus 3 (1d6) lightning damage if used with two hands.

Longsword (Chromatic Green Dragon Warrior). Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 8 (1d8 + 4) slashing damage plus 3 (1d6) poison damage, or 9 (1d10 + 4) slashing damage plus 3 (1d6) poison damage if used with two hands.

Longsword (Chromatic Red Dragon Warrior). Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 12 (1d8 + 1d6 + 4) slashing damage plus 5 (2d4) fire damage, or 13 (1d10 + 1d6 + 4) slashing damage plus 5 (2d4) fire damage if used with two hands.

Longsword (Chromatic White Dragon Warrior). Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 8 (1d8 + 4) slashing damage plus 3 (1d6) cold damage, or 9 (1d10 + 4) slashing damage plus 3 (1d6) cold damage if used with two hands.

Longsword (Metallic Brass, Copper or Bronze Dragon Warrior). Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 8 (1d8 + 4) slashing damage, or 9 (1d10 + 4) slashing damage if used with two hands.

Longsword (Metallic Gold Dragon Warrior). Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 12 (1d8 + 1d6 + 4) slashing damage, or 13 (1d10 + 1d6 + 4) slashing damage if used with two hands.

Longsword (Metallic Silver Dragon Warrior). Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 11 (1d8 + 1d4 + 4) slashing damage, or 12 (1d10 + 1d4 + 4) slashing damage if used with two hands.

Bonus Actions

Flashing Blade (Bronze or Silver Dragon Warriors Only). The dragon warrior makes one melee attack, with +2 to the attack roll if it is a longsword attack.

Flashing Blade (Gold Dragon Warriors Only). The dragon warrior makes one melee attack, with +3 to the attack roll if it is a longsword attack.

Reactions

Counterstrike. If an opponent the dragon warrior can see makes a melee attack against it while the dragon warrior is wielding a melee weapon, the dragon warrior ripostes that attack by using a bonus action or action from its next turn to make a melee attack with that weapon. In addition to the attack's normal effects, if the dragon warrior's melee attack roll is a critical hit or higher than its opponent's melee attack roll, the opponent's attack misses and does no damage.
 If the dragon warrior counterstrikes with an action that makes more than one attack, such as Multiattack, the action's first melee attack occurs on its reaction when it ripostes, and the warrior's remaining melee attacks occur on its next turn.


Description

At first glance, a dragon warrior appears to be a human, orc or other sturdy humanoid completely coated in dragon scale armor so exceptionally crafted it fits them like a second skin. A close inspection reveals the creature inside is no normal humanoid, but some sort of reptilian or draconic creature whose finely scaled skin is the hue of its armor. The warrior is normally armed with a broad-bladed longsword made from the same material as its armor.
 Organic Armory. An intimate inspection reveals a dragon warrior's scale mail is, quite literally, a second skin; a partially shed hide whose living scales have thickened into a suit of armor. Its longsword is similarly formed from the dragon warrior's body: a single massive scale, or perhaps an enormous fang, that has assumed the shape of a blade.
 Draconic Scions. Dragon warriors come in ten varieties matching the five chromatic dragons (black, blue, green, red, white) and the five metallic dragons (brass, bronze, copper, gold, silver). A dragon warrior's scales match the corresponding dragon in color and texture and it often has minor features reminiscent of it, such as vestigial horns or crests. While metallic dragons are renowned for their benevolence and chromatic dragons are notoriously malign, dragon warriors rarely follow the true dragon's morality. While there may be a faint tendency towards their corresponding dragon's alignment (a red dragon warrior is slightly more likely to be evil or chaotic than a bronze one, for example), most dragon warriors are strictly neutral. The dragon warriors do have some other draconic traits though, such as being immune to the damage type of their dragon's breath weapon.

 Children of the Dragon's Teeth. The common dragon warrior encountered by adventurers is an artificial being produced by a dragon tooth, an item that becomes a dragon warrior to serve the tooth's user; the transformed tooth is a temporary creature that exist only briefly before crumbling into dust.
 These dragon teeth imitate ancient myth, which says the first dragon warriors were born by planting the teeth of a slain legendary dragon in plowed earth. Called Spartoi (literally "the Sown"), these warriors sprouted from these strange seeds armed for battle, growing to adulthood in moments. Some myths say the handful of Spartoi who survived their initial battlefield went on to found lineages of true dragon warriors. The legendary Spartoi and their dragon warrior descendants are living creatures, rumored to have incredibly long lifespans like a true dragon. True dragon warriors are fantastically rare creatures, and how they reproduce is unknown (or even if they can reproduce). The tales say dragon warriors, or at least the original Spartoi, would marry into human tribes, but the resulting offspring were humanoid, not dragon warriors. A few modern sages claim dragon warriors can mate with dragons or reptilian humanoids as well as each other to produce newborn dragon warriors or eggs, but that is pure speculation.


New Magic Item

DRAGON TOOTH
Wondrous item, rarity by dragon: very rare for gold, red and silver; rare for black, blue, brass, bronze, copper, green and white

A dragon tooth is a reptilian fang three to six inches long, small enough to fit in a pocket. They are usually found in pairs or sets of four, all canine teeth from a deceased dragon of young age or older, and their command word is often a nickname of that dragon (e.g. "Emerald Emperor Salvia" for a set of green dragon teeth). Some legendary ancient dragons have had a score or even dozens of dragon teeth harvested from their remains, but the normal limit is four per dragon.
 When activated by use of its command word, the tooth becomes a living creature, a dragon warrior whose type matches the tooth's dragon (black, blue, brass, bronze, copper, gold, green, red, silver, white). A dragon tooth may be used in one of two ways: it can become a dragon warrior immediately, or it can transform into a trap that becomes a dragon warrior when triggered. See the individual dragon warrior entries for the creature's statistics.
 The dragon tooth warrior exists for 1 hour. At the end of this duration, the creature reverts to its tooth form and crumbles to dust, destroying the dragon tooth. It reverts and crumbles early if it drops to 0 hit points or if you use an action to speak the command word again while touching it.
 To use a dragon tooth immediately, you use an action to speak the command word, squeeze the tooth firmly, and then throw it to a point on the ground within 60 feet of you, where the tooth becomes a dragon warrior. If the space where the warrior would appear is occupied by other creatures or objects, or if there isn't enough space for the creature, the tooth doesn't become a dragon warrior. This dragon warrior is friendly to you and your companions and obeys your spoken commands. It speaks Common and Draconic, but the magic of the tooth allows the dragon tooth warrior to understand commands given in any of your languages. If you issue no commands, the warrior defends itself but takes no other actions.
 To use a dragon tooth as a trap, you use an action to speak the command word and then set the trap-activated tooth, either by laying it upon a firm and level surface within 5 feet (floor, table, etc.), planting it into earth within 5 feet, or sowing it onto plowed soil within 60 feet. You can use one action to activate multiple dragon teeth from the same set as traps and lay any number of them upon a surface within an adjacent 5-foot square, but setting them can require additional actions: it takes one action to plant up to four teeth into earth within an adjacent 5-foot square, or one action to sow up to eight teeth onto plowed soil within a 60-foot cone. You may also use an action to move up to your speed and set one tooth, allowing you to set dragon tooth traps from multiple positions. If you are killed or incapacitated, you will drop any trap-activated dragon teeth you have not yet set, laying each upon a random surface within 5 feet.
 Once planted, a trap-activated dragon tooth will become a dragon warrior if it takes any damage or is stepped upon by a creature sized Small or bigger (including stepping on earth or soil the tooth is buried in, which causes the warrior to sprout from the ground). This dragon warrior ignores you and your orders, and will attack you if its hostility is triggered. The warrior attacks the creature that triggered the trap, fighting to the death. If the triggering creature flees, the warrior pursues it unerringly, sensing its direction as if it was using a locate creature spell. If another creature injures the dragon warrior, the warrior views it as a new triggering creature to fight to the death, although its locate creature ability can only locate the original triggering creature. If no triggering creature is alive, the warrior defends itself but takes no action.

(Originally created by Tony Wilson; appeared in White Dwarf Magazine #21 (Oct/Nov 1980) as part of the Fiend Factory mini-module "One-Eye Canyon", edited by Albie Fiore.)

Cleon said:

Armor Class 18 (natural armor) if black, blue, bronze, gold, green, red or silver; 17 (natural armor) if white, brass or copper

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The original text says "The warriors are clad in exceptionally complete scale armour, colour and armour class equating with that of their “parent” dragon" and are usually armed with broadswords (a weapon that doesn't exist in the 5E SRD). The illustration shows the Warriors with Heater Shields but they're also clearly wearing full Renaissance period plate armor rather than the scale they're stated to wear.

Also, note that the text makes no mention of shields, they're only in the illustration. The Dragon Warrior might not be supposed to have one.

Now Scale Armor is a Medium Armor with base AC 14. As Medium armor, the max Dex bonus to AC is +2 for AC 16, so if the Warrior doesn't have a shield then it must get a +1 or +2 bonus from something else to get the AC 17 or 18 I'm aiming for.

I suppose these could be suits of +1 scale armor or +2 scale armor as they're "exceptionally complete", whatever that means.


Or it could have a DEX modifier of +0 or +1 and use a shield as shown in the illustration.


However, I prefer the current (natural armor) version. Perhaps the "exceptionally complete scale armor" is really the Dragon Warrior's actual skin, which is plated in immensely large and strong scales that just happens to look like a suit of armor.

As for the "broadsword" I guess that could be part of the Dragon Warrior's body too. Or we could just give it a Longsword or Greatsword as those are the commonest hefty sword in 5E.

Cleon said:

As for the "broadsword" I guess that could be part of the Dragon Warrior's body too. Or we could just give it a Longsword or Greatsword as those are the commonest hefty sword in 5E.

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I guess the Whateversword doesn't have to follow the standard Weapon table rules if it's a monstrous ability, no more than the Longsword and Whip of a Balor are normal versions of those weapons.

Cleon said:

Well I doubt he meant someone could yank a fang out of the dragon's mouth, shout it's name and hey-presto you've got a Dragon Warrior.

My thinking was the original monster was clearly some sort of one-use magic item analogous to a disposable figurine of wondrous power, some of which had limited uses (i.e. a goat of terror only functioned three times then "loses its magical ability forever" per the 1E Dungeon Master's Guide.

So I'd say they are magic items made from the canines of a dragon, so no more than four can be made from one dragon.

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Agreed.

Cleon said:

Well an identify might just give the caster the knowledge of the command word that activates the fang rather than the proper true name of the dragon. It's just the command word defaults to some casual or use-name of the dragon in question.

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Elegant.

Cleon said:

Well Dragons did get a significant power boost in the switch from 1E to 2E so that's hardly surprising. In the 1977 Monster Manual all age categories of dragon had the same Armour Class, so a Red Dragon was AC –1 whether it was a wyrmling and a great wyrm. In 2E AD&D, a Young dragon has the same AC as a 1E dragon, but younger and older dragon's have better or worse AC based on their Hit Die Modifiers.

Annoyingly, the Dragon, General entry of the Monstrous Compendium and Monstrous Manual are very bad at explaining this, and the example in MC1 - Monstrous Compendium Volume One (1989) got its sums wrong: a juvenile Brass Dragon is AC 0 and a Very Old one is AC –5 not the –4 it claims, since Very Old is 5 age categories better than Juvenile. The Dragon, Brass entry in MC1 shows the correct ACs for all a 2E Brass's age categories.

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Heh. Never even noticed the brass dragon thing. But then I always use my own edited versions of the monsters I run. Since I must have rewritten the 2E dragons a gazillion times to include all information available, the mistake probably disappeared without me even noticing.

Cleon said:

For our conversion I'd either give them the AC of one of the lower age ranks, like Wyrmling or Young, whichever we feel is appropriate.

Let's see, in In 5E those are:

Dragon	Wyrmling	Young Dragon
Black	AC 17	AC 18
Blue	AC 17	AC 18
Green	AC 17	AC 18
Red	AC 17	AC 18
White	AC 16	AC 17
Brass	AC 16	AC 17
Bronze	AC 17	AC 18
Copper	AC 16	AC 17
Gold	AC 17	AC 18
Silver	AC 17	AC 18

So either 16 or 17 if we use a Wyrmling or 17 or 18 for a Young Dragon. I'd lean towards the latter.

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I suppose 5E Wyrmling equals 2E Hatchling and therefore 5E Young Dragon = 2E Very Young dragon?
Seeing as that the 1E dragon's AC (typically) went to become that of the 2E Very Young dragon, giving the 5E dragon warriors the 5E Young Dragon AC would, indeed, seem to be the way to go.

Cleon said:

That does raise an issue. It seems more trouble than it's worth to have ten Dragon Warrior entries, one for each of the ten 10 standard types of Dragon (i.e. a Black Dragon Warrior, Red Dragon Warrior, et cetera.) so I'm rather fold them all into one entry.

Which means it'd need something like:

Armor Class 18 (natural armor) if black, blue, bronze, gold, green, red or silver; 17 (natural armor) if white, brass or copper​

Damage Immunities acid if black or copper; cold if silver or white; fire if brass, gold or red; lightning if blue or bronze; poison if green​

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Yup. I'd do it in a table for 2E, but then 2E does things in tables.

Cleon said:

My preference would be to stat them up as a monster of some kind and have the "dragon warrior's fang" be a single use magic item that just summons, creates or conjures a dragon warrior for X period of time.

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Mine, too.

Cleon said:

Not sure what type would make the most sense for them. Humanoid might work, as would Monstrosity, but other types don't feel quite right.

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Isn't there something like "magical creation" or "summoned creature"?

Cleon said:

Don't want to go overboard on the immunities. These are comparatively low-powered critters and I'm not convinced they are constructs, so I wouldn't support giving it immunity to charmed, exhaustion, frightened, paralyzed, petrified, poisoned like a 5E Flesh Golem

Also, these are comparable to a figurine of wondrous power and the creatures those figurines create don't have any extra immunities: a bronze griffon is just a Griffon, for example. The only 5E figurine in the SRD with immunities is the obsidian steed, but that's because it turns into a Nightmare and those monsters possess fire immunity.

The original's immunity to sleep, charm and hold was one of the standard immunity sets of undead or constructs. Most constructs and undead don't have many immunities in 5E. A standard Skeleton, for example, is just immune to poison and exhaustion.

The 5E sleep spell doesn't affect creature immune to being charmed, and the hold spells cause the target to be paralyzed. So if we gave them:

Condition Immunities charmed, paralyzed; plus poisoned if green​

Then that'd roughly duplicate the immunities of the original Dragon Warriors. It's worth noting that Dragons had immunity to paralysis in some editions of D&D.

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I agree on not making them constructs, first because the original doesn't really state as much and then because this would make them too powerful (as per your "flesh golem" above).

That leaves the "strange" immunities to sleep, charm, and hold, which, indeed, typically were signs of undeath or being-a-construct in early D&D. However, these immunities can also be read as a non-intelligent creature/entity simply not having a brain as old school PCs recognized it - making that it cannot be influenced as if it had one.
So I'd explain away these immunities as being due to this rather than anything else - which, admittedly, also makes them immune to various other mind-affecting spells and effects.

Am I correct in understanding that 5E hold effects lead to actual physical paralysis (in as that your body ceases to function) as opposed to your mind telling you that you cannot move?
If so, and in the light of possibly explaining the immunities through "having no brain", I'd say that adding immunity to 5E paralysis would be giving dragon warriors a defense they don't have in the original (e.g., against paralyzing poisons or nerve damage).

[removes ring of niggling from finger]

Anyway. That's the 2E converter speaking. I don't know if making dragon warriors "magical creations powered by magic instead of an actual brain" is at all possible in 5E monster making.

[quaffs potion of pedantry]

Dragons immune to paralysis? Is that post-2E?

Cleon said:

The original text says "The warriors are clad in exceptionally complete scale armour, colour and armour class equating with that of their “parent” dragon" and are usually armed with broadswords (a weapon that doesn't exist in the 5E SRD). The illustration shows the Warriors with Heater Shields but they're also clearly wearing full Renaissance period plate armor rather than the scale they're stated to wear.

Also, note that the text makes no mention of shields, they're only in the illustration. The Dragon Warrior might not be supposed to have one.

Now Scale Armor is a Medium Armor with base AC 14. As Medium armor, the max Dex bonus to AC is +2 for AC 16, so if the Warrior doesn't have a shield then it must get a +1 or +2 bonus from something else to get the AC 17 or 18 I'm aiming for.

I suppose these could be suits of +1 scale armor or +2 scale armor as they're "exceptionally complete", whatever that means.

Armor Class #2 [with DEX 14-15 (+2)] 18 (+2 scale armor) if black, blue, bronze, gold, green, red or silver; 17 (+1 scale armor) if white, brass or copper​

Or it could have a DEX modifier of +0 or +1 and use a shield as shown in the illustration.

Armor Class #3 [with DEX 12-13 (+1)] 18 (+1 scale armor, shield) if black, blue, bronze, gold, green, red or silver; 17 (scale armor, shield) if white, brass or copper​

​

Armor Class #4 [with DEX 10-11 (+0)] 18 (+2 scale armor, shield) if black, blue, bronze, gold, green, red or silver; 17 (+1 scale armor, shield) if white, brass or copper​

However, I prefer the current (natural armor) version. Perhaps the "exceptionally complete scale armor" is really the Dragon Warrior's actual skin, which is plated in immensely large and strong scales that just happens to look like a suit of armor.

As for the "broadsword" I guess that could be part of the Dragon Warrior's body too. Or we could just give it a Longsword or Greatsword as those are the commonest hefty sword in 5E.

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In 1E and 2E, armor made from dragon hide used to be much like scale mail armor (e.g., Roger Moore, Bazaar of the Bizarre – Evil Dragon Armors, in: Dragon 62). Is there something like it in 5E?

Cleon said:

I guess the Whateversword doesn't have to follow the standard Weapon table rules if it's a monstrous ability, no more than the Longsword and Whip of a Balor are normal versions of those weapons.

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Since the dragon warriors seem to be based on Greek myth (or least seem to be in case of the WD version), maybe the author meant a broadsword known as the rhomphaia (Greek single-edged straight or slightly curved broadsword (blade 60–80 cm) for slashing (primary) and thrusting; wiki)?

By the by: I wouldn't let the armors, shields, and weapons shown in the illustration influence me. After all, it was Mr. Hunter's illustration of the grey sqaarg that got Mr. Liber thinking that the thing looked like a clay golem...

ilgatto said:

I suppose 5E Wyrmling equals 2E Hatchling and therefore 5E Young Dragon = 2E Very Young dragon?
Seeing as that the 1E dragon's AC (typically) went to become that of the 2E Very Young dragon, giving the 5E dragon warriors the 5E Young Dragon AC would, indeed, seem to be the way to go.

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Well 5E and 2E are built on such different progressions I'm hesitant to make direct comparisons, but I'll give it a go.

A Young Dragon in 5E may only have a point higher AC than a Wyrmling but its HD and attacks are MUCH better. I'd compare it more to a 2E Juvenile or Young Adult dragon.

Each of the 5E Dragon ages is an entire size category bigger (i.e. Wyrmlings are Medium, Young are Large, Adults are Huge, Ancients are Gargantuan).

ilgatto said:

Isn't there something like "magical creation" or "summoned creature"?

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Not as a monster type. There are fourteen in the SRD: Aberration, Beast, Celestial, Construct, Dragon, Elemental, Fey, Fiend, Giant, Humanoid, Monstrosity, Ooze, Plant, Undead.

The Dragon Warrior has to be one of those types.

ilgatto said:

That leaves the "strange" immunities to sleep, charm, and hold, which, indeed, typically were signs of undeath or being-a-construct in early D&D. However, these immunities can also be read as a non-intelligent creature/entity simply not having a brain as old school PCs recognized it - making that it cannot be influenced as if it had one.
So I'd explain away these immunities as being due to this rather than anything else - which, admittedly, also makes them immune to various other mind-affecting spells and effects.

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Yes, like how Oozes and Vermin are immune to mind-affecting spells in 3E due to being non-intelligent.

However, in 5E not even Oozes are completely mindless. The lowest Intelligence score that's legal is INT 1. Even a Gelatinous Cube is INT 1.

A standard 5E Ooze has Condition Immunities blinded, charmed, deafened, exhaustion, frightened, prone.

Of those, the charmed, frightened immunities can be credited to its pathetic intelligence: it's too single-minded to feel fear or be distracted by glamour.

I've been toying with the idea of making the Dragon Warriors immune to fear, so I'd be OK adding that trait.

ilgatto said:

Am I correct in understanding that 5E hold effects lead to actual physical paralysis (in as that your body ceases to function) as opposed to your mind telling you that you cannot move?
If so, and in the light of possibly explaining the immunities through "having no brain", I'd say that adding immunity to 5E paralysis would be giving dragon warriors a defense they don't have in the original (e.g., against paralyzing poisons or nerve damage).

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Well, a hold spell allows a Wisdom saving throw in 5E so is likely to be a mental effect. If it was nerve damage or poison it'd likely use a Constitution saving throw.

ilgatto said:

Anyway. That's the 2E converter speaking. I don't know if making dragon warriors "magical creations powered by magic instead of an actual brain" is at all possible in 5E monster making.

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Sure, but that's just a matter of flavour in the Description. Heck, a significant portion of monsters in every edition of D&D could be considered to be creatures animated by magic with no organic style brains. Everything from golems to ghosts probably don't have actual brains (or, in the case of the ghost, it just hasn't used any of its fleshy bits for a long, long time…).

ilgatto said:

Dragons immune to paralysis? Is that post-2E?

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It's exclusive to 3E. Creatures of the Dragon Type are immune to sleep and paralysis in Third Edition, unless stated otherwise.

ilgatto said:

In 1E and 2E, armor made from dragon hide used to be much like scale mail armor (e.g., Roger Moore, Bazaar of the Bizarre – Evil Dragon Armors, in: Dragon 62). Is there something like it in 5E?

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I'm sure stuff made from pieces of a monster still exists in 5E.

ilgatto said:

Since the dragon warriors seem to be based on Greek myth (or least seem to be in case of the WD version), maybe the author meant a broadsword known as the rhomphaia (Greek single-edged straight or slightly curved broadsword (blade 60–80 cm) for slashing (primary) and thrusting; wiki)?

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Well the Children of the Dragon's Teeth is such a widely disseminated story I expect it must have been a factor in this monster.

You'd think he'd mention bronze weapons or armour if it was supposed to be ancient Greek equipment though, so it is most likely meant to be a normal 1E Broadsword made of steel. A rhomphaia would likely have similar AD&D stats, but be shorter and more likely to bend.