Converting True Dragons

[RavinRay]

Dragon, Onyx

Most stats identical to 2e black dragon. I'm highlighting the differences below.

INTELLIGENCE: Low (5-7)

Equal to white dragon.

• SR ranges from 5% at age 5 to 40%.

• SR is equal to that of white dragon.
• XP value is lower than that of white dragon.

At a distance of 120 feet or more, the onxy dragon cannot be distinguished from a black dragon, unless there is bright sunlight (in which case the dragon’s bright scales are conspicuous). At closer range the onxy dragon’s lustrous, jeweled scales shimmer and sparkle in the light, revealing the mighty reptile’s true nature. In sunlight, the onxy dragon’s deep black scales shine as brightly as a thousand mirrors.

The picture of the 2e onyx dragon is very similar to that of the 2e black dragon, to the point of having forward-pointing horns. So maybe we can later add a Knowledge or Spot check for onyx dragons (and the other gem dragons as well) to distinguish them from their chromatic counterparts, the check increasing in low-light conditions?

 

[Shade]

So mostly follow black's progression, except use white's mental scores and SR?

Besides the alternate breath weapon, perhaps mix up the SLAs a bit as well?

The picture of the 2e onyx dragon is very similar to that of the 2e black dragon, to the point of having forward-pointing horns. So maybe we can later add a Knowledge or Spot check for onyx dragons (and the other gem dragons as well) to distinguish them from their chromatic counterparts, the check increasing in low-light conditions?

Sounds good!

 

[Cleon]

Most stats identical to 2e black dragon. I'm highlighting the differences below.

I can see a couple of other differences between the Onyx and Black.

It has bigger claw damage: 2-8 against a black's 1-6.

AC is a point better - base AC 0 vs AC 1.

 

[Cleon]

So mostly follow black's progression, except use white's mental scores and SR?

I'd suggest giving it a Black's Wisdom and a White's Intelligence and Charisma, since:

(a) The original Onyx uses Priest spell-casting, so the 3E version would presumably use Wisdom for cleric spells.
(b) The Onyx has the same morale as the black, which suggests it may have equal strength of will.
(c) It means we can just copy over the Black Dragon's Will saves without having to recalculate them.

As mentioned earlier, it has base AC0 like a blue dragon, so we could stick the blue dragon's natural armour progression in too.

That would come out as:

Age-Step-Size---Hit-Dice(hp)-Str-Dex-Con-Int-Wis-Cha--SR---NA
Wyrmling---T------4d12+4(30)--11--10--13---6--11---6--XX---+5
Ver,-young-S------7d12+7(52)--13--10--13---6--11---6--XX---+8
Young------M----10d12+20(85)--15--10--15---6--11---6--XX--+11
Juvenile---M---13d12+26(110)--17--10--15---8--11---8--XX--+14
You,-Adult-L---16d12+48(152)--19--10--17---8--13--10--16--+17
Adult------L---19d12+76(199)--23--10--19--10--13--12--18--+20
Mat,-Adult-H--22d12+110(253)--27--10--21--12--15--12--20--+23
Old--------H--25d12+125(287)--29--10--21--12--15--12--21--+26
Ver,-Old---H--28d12+168(350)--31--10--23--14--17--14--23--+29
Ancient----H--31d12+186(387)--33--10--23--14--17--14--24--+32
Wyrm-------G--34d12+238(459)--35--10--25--14--19--16--25--+35
Gre,-Wyrm--G--37d12+296(536)--37--10--27--18--21--18--27--+38
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[freyar]

I can go with that stat progression.

Giving it cleric casting would be kind of fun, but I'd only be inclined to do that if all these Mystaran gem dragons cast as clerics. Otherwise, I'd do the usual dragon sorc with cleric as arcane trick.

 

[RavinRay]

Spell progression for the black and onyx dragons is identical, except that one uses wizard and the other priest spells. In 3.5e terms, this would mean sorcerer and cleric spellcasting levels respectively. So the onyx should have levels 1-15 as well beginning at young adult. If they are clerical spellcasters, then we need to pick two domains for them. The black's Wis progression is sufficient to meet the minimum requirements for spellcasting (Wis 11 needed at young adult for cleric 1), but as Cleon pointed out, the Wis may need to be buffed.

For an onyx dragon with sorcerer levels just like other dragons, I used the white's Int scores but kept the black's Cha scores, which means those two mental abilities are no longer identical as they are for all chromatics and metallics.

And a clarification on the XP value/CR: at first the onyx is inferior to the white; but by very old it catches up.

As for the AC that could also mean natural AC = HD instead of HD-1. This may have something to do with the crystalline nature of gem dragon scales.

 

[Shade]

I'd prefer to stick with the "dragon standard" of sorcerous casting, but allow it to select its spells from the cleric list (and thus Cha remains the important mental stat).

Natural AC = HD sounds like a good idea.

 

[freyar]

Agreed.

 

[Shade]

Added to Homebrews.

 

[freyar]

Not sure about what SLAs to suggest, but we need to work on the breath still:

The second effect comes into play only if the first saving throw is missed; the victim must make a second saving throw—this time vs. spell—or a darkness spell effect (15-foot radius) appears, centered on the victim. It moves as he moves. It only can be countered by a light spell, or removed by dispel magic (use the draogn’s age category as the opposing caster level); otherwise, it remains for 1 round per Hit Die of the the dragon. This darkness is a special tpe through which the dragon can easily see; it otherwise functions exactly as a normal darkness spell.

It goes on to say that there is darkness left behind if the victim makes the save. That seems a little hard to implement with the usual darkness spell, so I'd maybe just do this.

Breath Weapon (Su): An onyx dragon has one type of breath weapon, a cone of acid. Its breath weapon is equally effective above and below the water's surface. Any creature damaged by the breath weapon must make an additional Will save or be targeted by darkness, as the spell, at caster level equal to the dragon's age category.

How's that look? Should we give the dragon see in darkness, or is blindsense sufficient?