The books in the Young Adventurer's Guides series are devoid of rules, avoiding numbers, in general, except for when giving a very general idea of how dangerous certain monsters might be if encountered, indicated by a skull with a number or range of numbers from 0 to 5 or "Epic," which basically means beyond measure and that, should you find yourself in such an encounter, something, somewhere earlier, went very, very wrong**.
While not having the "crunch" of full-sized source books, Dungeons & Dragons: A Young Adventurer's Guide - Dragons & Treasures does a very good job of spilling the tea on dragons, from the three different types of true dragons - Chromatic, Metallic and Gem - and their alignments, types of terrains they inhabit, interests and typical behavior... to the stages of dragon development, from the nest to their Twilight years, and the ways that a dragon can opt to leave this realm of existence... or opt not to...
There is even a section on dragon anatomy, including the mysterious and mystical Draconis Fundamentum... a powerful and amazingly efficient metabolic and elemental powerhouse. Of course, there's also a rundown of draconic senses, and some general descriptions of different aspects of dragon anatomy, including some comparisons to more familiar beasts.
Although any language could easily serve as a topic for its own book, there is a section on the Draconic language, including contemplations of the origin of the written form, some specific tips on sentence structure, a page containing an illustration of the Draconic alphabet and even a few useful phrases, should you encounter a dragon***.
Additionally, there is a section on Dragon Hoards. This includes some information about some unique aspects of the lairs of different types of dragons, along with some horrors that could frighten an adventurer out of any desire to be near a dragon's hoard... and an interesting section on "Hoard Magic" that could easily rekindle that same adventurer's desire. (As it turns out, magic items in a dragon's hoard become enhanced by Hoard Magic, leading to added powers and magical effects****)
Other books in the Young Adventurer's Guide series have had several "Encounter" sections, where a brief text describes an in-game scene, followed up with, perhaps, a couple of possible ways it might play out. Dragons & Treasures has but one section specifically labeled as an Encounter: Emerald Dragon (p.25). While it may be the only Encounter by their labeling criteria, there are other sections that have most, if not all, of the hallmarks of an Encounter: a full-page illustration accompanied by some in-game scenario description text, to give you a feel for the flavor, if you will. So, the "unlabeled Encounters" to be enjoyed are:
- Anatomy of a Dragon (p.26)
- The Dragon Life Cycle (p.38)
- Dragon Society (p.50)
- Dragons of Note (p.67)
- Dragon Hoards (p.78)
- Draconic Treasures (p.90)
- Using Dragons to Tell Your Own Stories (p.103)
Also within the pages of this halfling-sized tome, you'll find advice on fighting dragons (perhaps the best advice is to avoid it, if possible), weapons for fighting dragons, and a section called "Dragons of Note", which gives descriptions of three Epic threat level Dragons: Bahamut (The God of Metallic Dragons), Dragotha (a Dracolich), Fyrnanth The Fate-Finder (A Gem Dragon), and IO - the Creator of Dragonkind. Additionally, the last section in the book is four pages on "Using Dragons to Tell Your Own Stories"... suitable for aspiring DMs or players who are keen on the role-playing aspects of the game wanting to create a more in-depth background for their Dragonborn or Sorcerer character.
The color images are plentiful and fitting to the topics they adorn and illustrate. Most are high-fantasy art typical of D&D source book imagery, but the anatomical illustrations and lair-cutaway views are appropriately more technical in appearance. The illustrations are beautifully detailed and perfect for just starting at and letting your eyes and mind wander while rolling around ideas about your newfound dragon knowledge - and the implications they could have or the adventures they could inspire.
I actually missed Dragons & Treasures when it came out and only now got one for review, included in The Young Adventurer's Collection: Box Set 2. I'm glad to finally have the chance to check it out, as it is now my favorite book of the series. I highly recommend Dragons & Treasures, but I would advise getting it in The Young Adventurer's Collection: Box Set 2, if possible, as the price to value is a bit better and you get a really sturdy and display-worthy collector's box to store, display and protect your Young Adventurer's Guides. Either way, I highly recommend Dragons and Treasures.
* While Gem dragons were introduced in 2nd edition in the Monster Compendium, I never happened upon one.
** Seriously. This is the sort of introspective moment where you ponder bad life choices while rolling up your new character to get a jump on things...
***Oddly, the phrase "Beware: I am full of gristle and disappointingly bland" was noticeably absent.
**** Hmm... Interesting...
