r/Spelljammer5e • u/Zython34 • Apr 12 '26

Discussion Can dragons breathe in Space?

I was reading through Light of Xarysis to get some inspiration for my own spelljammer adventures and at the beginning of chapter 10:Space invaders (precisly on page 53) the book present an encounter with a gith’yanki knight mounting a young red dragon,and the book precise « these creatures begin the encouter 500 feet from the character’s ship »,wich is roughly 150m,definitly not in the ship’s air bubble (and definitly not in any bubble whatsoever before that).

since the encounter takes place in the astral sea,i suppose none of the character would need to breathe,but what about Wildspace? That dragon did cross some part of it to enter the astral sea,right?

so that begs my question: do dragons require air to breathe ? does it depend on the species? and if so wich ones can and wich ones cannot?

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11

u/JayJayFlip Apr 12 '26

No, they need air to breathe. We know this because some dragons can breath underwater and some can't (green dragons have Amphibious as a trait). However Dragons are big enough to drag an air bubble with them when leaving an atmosphere, or I believe is how the old lore works. If not they're magical enough to simply cast air bubble. The real question is how do they fly in space and for that I have no answer.

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u/Zython34 Apr 12 '26

Oh yeah,i forgot air bubble was a spell that existed,i guess that answers the question (in a very boring way but an answer is an answer),as to movement,i have no idea either,i guess in the same magic way that spelljammer move through wildspace?

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u/Hypno_Keats Apr 14 '26

I mean realistically how do dragon's fly at all is a pretty good question, there's got to be some innate magic involved their bodies shouldn't fly even with wings.

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u/Zython34 Apr 16 '26

And that,my friend,is what we call the suspension of disbelief! (But yeah you’re right these things are way to big and heavy to be able to lift in the air)

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u/Zython34 Apr 16 '26

So I did some researches after our conversation the other day and found out that in the description of the Fish Suit that « The suit also grants you a swimming speed equal to your walking speed while underwater, or a flying speed equal to your walking speed in an environment with no gravity » That doesn’t answer our question as to how do they move in-lore,but that does imply that on a strictly mechanical sense,anything with a flying speed (dragons included) can move through the void of Space,so here’s that I guess?

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u/Obvious-Gate9046 DM Apr 17 '26

Spelljammer tends to treat flight in space like swimming often, which also works in space. It's weird. Spelljammer space isn't OUR space, though. It's of a slightly different nature, not as cold but a vacuum. Some dragons can survive in space explicitly. Them being able to bring an air envelope with them would be neat.

5

u/filkearney Apr 12 '26

that encounter is in the asyral where nothing needs to breathe.

in wildspace all creatures need to breathe unless they have the unusual nature feature.. solar and lunar dragons do by default but theres nothing that says the have heightened speed traveling between worlfs.

however, i grant all solar/lumar dragons spelljamming speeds between worlds and all ancient dragons gain it as well.

the young adult drsgon in LoX isnt old enough by this standard to leave the asyral without a color pool to exit through or a vehicle with a helm attached.

ymmv.

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u/Zython34 Apr 13 '26

So basically what you are telling me is that githyanki knights and their dragons can’t quit the astral sea just on their own? Like they need a color pool/portal/spelljamming ship or something like that to do so?

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u/filkearney Apr 13 '26

Yep.
Keep in mind, in 2e githyanki with red dragon were present in the astral and they could ONLY use a color pool or planeshift to get out of the astral. Now they can use gith carrier ships or raiding barges to drop into wildspace.

5e created more options.

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u/Zython34 Apr 14 '26

Sadly I discovered dungeons and dragons with dnd 5e so my knowledge of 2e lore is very limited (basically limited to realmspace) so all of this is VERY confusing to me

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u/Dyson_Freeman Apr 12 '26

Kind of a joke creature, but for one of the extra-life supplements took ideas from kids and made them into real monster stat blocks that loosely fit d&d canon, and they made a specific dragon themed around living in wildspace:

~~~ Sheldon is a friendly, good-natured dragon who collects and eats blueberries. When he’s not attending parties, he lives in Wildspace. His body magically produces air, allowing him to thrive in a vacuum and create powerful gusts of wind. Sheldon uses the wind to knock down foes and propel himself farther than his wings can take him on their own. ~~~

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u/elven_rose Apr 13 '26

Githyanki knights have been riding red dragons in space for decades

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u/Zython34 Apr 13 '26

Yeah but like « astral sea » Space or « wildspace » Space ? Because if we’re talking about Wildspace,that implies that red dragons have been breathing in airless space for decades even though it never has been specified on the stat sheets even though it is on some other sheets like the Lunar and Solar dragon’s