Mystaran Amber Dragon Working Draft
Mystaran Amber Dragon
Dragon (Fire)
Environment: Warm plains
Organization: Wyrmling, very young, young, juvenile, and young adult: solitary or clutch (2-5); adult, mature adult, old, very old, ancient, wyrm, or great wyrm: solitary, pair, or family (1-2 and 2-5 offspring)
Challenge Ratings: Wyrmling 5; very young 7; young 9; juvenile 11; young adult 14; adult 16; mature adult 19; old 21; very old 22; ancient 24; wyrm 25; great wyrm 27
Treasure: Triple standard
Alignment: Always chaotic evil
Advancement: Wyrmling 9–10 HD; very young 12–13 HD; young 15–16 HD; juvenile 18–19 HD; young adult 21–22 HD; adult 24–25 HD; mature adult 27–28 HD; old 30–31 HD; very old 33–34 HD; ancient 36–37 HD; wyrm 39–40 HD; great wyrm 42+ HD
Level Adjustment: Wyrmling +4; very young +5; young +6; others —
Mystaran Amber Dragons by Age
Age
| Size | Hit Dice (hp)
| Str
| Dex | Con | Int | Wis | Cha | Base Attack/
Grapple | Attack | Fort Save | Ref Save | Will Save | Breath
Weapon (DC) | Frightful
Presence DC |
| Wyrmling | M | 8d12+16 (68) | 17
| 10 | 15 | 14 | 15 | 14 | +8/+11 | +11 | +8 | +6 | +8 | 2d10 (16) | — |
| Very young | L | 11d12+33 (104) | 21 | 10 | 17 | 16 | 17 | 16 | +11/+20 | +15 | +10 | +7 | +10 | 4d10 (18) | — |
| Young | L | 14d12+42 (133) | 25 | 10 | 17 | 16 | 17 | 16 | +14/+25 | +20 | +12 | +9 | +12 | 6d10 (20) | — |
| Juvenile | L | 17d12+68 (178) | 29 | 10 | 19 | 18 | 19 | 18 | +17/+30 | +25 | +14 | +10 | +14 | 8d10 (22) | — |
| Young adult | H | 20d12+100 (230) | 31 | 10 | 21 | 18 | 19 | 18 | +20/+38 | +28 | +17 | +12 | +16 | 10d10 (25) | 24 |
| Adult | H | 23d12+115 (264) | 33 | 10 | 21 | 20 | 21 | 20 | +23/+42 | +32 | +18 | +13 | +18 | 12d10 (26) | 26 |
| Mature adult | H | 26d12+156 (325) | 35 | 10 | 23 | 20 | 21 | 20 | +26/+46 | +36 | +21 | +15 | +20 | 14d10 (29) | 28 |
| Old | G | 29d12+203 (391) | 39 | 10 | 25 | 24 | 25 | 24 | +29/+55 | +39 | +23 | +16 | +23 | 16d10 (31) | 31 |
| Very old | G | 32d12+256 (464) | 41 | 10 | 27 | 26 | 27 | 26 | +32/+59 | +43 | +26 | +18 | +26 | 18d10 (34) | 34 |
| Ancient | G | 35d12+315 (542) | 43 | 10 | 29 | 28 | 29 | 28 | +35/+63 | +47 | +28 | +19 | +28 | 20d10 (36) | 36 |
| Wyrm | C | 38d12+380 (627) | 45 | 10 | 31 | 30 | 31 | 30 | +38/+71 | +47 | +31 | +21 | +31 | 22d10 (39) | 39 |
| Great wyrm | C | 41d12+451 (717) | 47 | 10 | 33 | 32 | 33 | 32 | +41/+75 | +51 | +33 | +22 | +33 | 24d10 (41) | 41 |
Mystaran Amber Dragon Abilities by Age
Age
| Speed | Initiative | AC | Special Abilities | Caster Level | SR |
Wyrmling
| 60 ft., fly 200 ft. (poor), swim 60 ft. | +0 | 17 (+7 natural), touch 10, flat-footed 17 | Alternate form, immunity to fire, vulnerability to cold, water breathing | — | — |
| Very young | 60 ft., fly 200 ft. (poor), swim 60 ft. | +0 | 19 (–1 size, +10 natural), touch 9, flat-footed 19 |
| — | — |
| Young | 60 ft., fly 200 ft. (poor), swim 60 ft. | +0 | 22 (–1 size, +13 natural), touch 9, flat-footed 22 |
| 1st | — |
| Juvenile | 60 ft., fly 200 ft. (poor), swim 60 ft. | +0 | 25 (–1 size, +16 natural), touch 9, flat-footed 25 | Protection from law | 3rd | — |
| Young adult | 60 ft., fly 200 ft. (poor), swim 60 ft. | +0 | 27 (–2 size, +19 natural), touch 8, flat-footed 27 | DR 5/magic | 5th | 21 |
| Adult | 60 ft., fly 200 ft. (poor), swim 60 ft. | +0 | 30 (–2 size, +22 natural), touch 8, flat-footed 30 | Luck bonus | 7th | 23 |
| Mature adult | 60 ft., fly 200 ft. (poor), swim 60 ft. | +0 | 33 (–2 size, +25 natural), touch 8, flat-footed 33 | DR 10/magic | 9th | 25 |
| Old | 60 ft., fly 250 ft. (clumsy), swim 60 ft. | +0 | 34 (–4 size, +28 natural), touch 6, flat-footed 34 | Detect gems, disintegrate | 11th | 27 |
| Very old | 60 ft., fly 250 ft. (clumsy), swim 60 ft. | +0 | 37 (–4 size, +31 natural), touch 6, flat-footed 37 | DR 15/magic | 13th | 28 |
| Ancient | 60 ft., fly 250 ft. (clumsy), swim 60 ft. | +0 | 40 (–4 size, +34 natural), touch 6, flat-footed 40 | mass charm monster | 15th | 30 |
| Wyrm | 60 ft., fly 250 ft. (clumsy), swim 60 ft. | +0 | 39 (–8 size, +37 natural), touch 2, flat-footed 39 | DR 20/magic | 17th | 31 |
| Great wyrm | 60 ft., fly 250 ft. (clumsy), swim 60 ft. | +0 | 42 (–8 size, +40 natural), touch 2, flat-footed 42 | foresight | 19th | 33 |
*Can also cast cleric spells and those from the Chaos, Destruction, and Luck domains as arcane spells.
On hatching, a Mystaran amber dragon’s scales are dark brown with golden flecks.
The flecks get larger as the dragon matures until, at the young adult stage, the scales are completely golden. The scales rapidly darken to brown-black at the adult stage, then change back to golden when the dragon enters the old stage. Mystaran amber dragons’ faces are bewhiskered and sagacious; as they age, their pupils fade until the eyes resemble pools of molten gold.
A young adult or elderly Mystaran amber dragon (old and older) looks very much like a gold dragon, the main difference is their shimmering golden scales are slightly transparent, like amber. A DC 20 Spot or Knowledge (arcana) check is required to notice the difference.
Combat
Mystaran amber dragons usually parley before fighting. They use Bluff, Diplomacy and charm magic to mislead intelligent creatures towards the dragon's ends. In combat, they employ protection from law and their luck bonus; older dragons use their luck bonus at the start of each day. They make heavy use of spells in combat. Among their favorites are
bestow curse,
black tentacles, blade barrier,
cloudkill,
entropic shield,
mass charm monster,
slow and
spell turning.
A Mystaran amber dragon's breath weapons and
disintegrate power are likely to destroy any treasure an opponent is carrying, so the dragon may avoid using these attacks if it believes it will win using other methods.
Breath Weapon (Su): A Mystaran amber dragon has two breath weapons: a cone of jade-green and putrid-yellow corrosive gas (acid damage), or a cone of ruby-red flames (fire damage). Any creature or object within the area of effect can attempt Reflex saves to take half damage, but if they fail this save they must also attempt a Fortitude save or contract a supernatural curse carried by the breath weapon, as follows.
Jade Curse: Objects and creatures affected by this curse begin to rot away. The jade breath curse does not affect anything made of metal or targets with a hardness of 10 or more. Anything affected by the curse takes damage every minute as indicated in the Amber Dragon Breath Weapon table. Creatures vulnerable to ability damage take the Constitution damage, while targets immune to ability damage take the typeless damage instead. Targets with immunity to disease take half damage. Damage caused by the jade curse cannot be repaired or healed until the curse is neutralized by any effect that cures disease, such as
remove disease or
heal.
Ruby Curse: This curse is harmless to creatures, but objects affected by it begin to melt away. Anything affected by the curse takes damage every round as indicated in the Amber Dragon Breath Weapon table. The damage is half fire and half typeless.
Dragon's
Size
| Jade Curse
Con damage
| Jade Curse
Typeless damage
| Ruby Curse
damage
|
| Medium | 1d2 | 1d2 | 1d2 plus 1d2 fire |
| Large | 1d4 | 1d4 | 1d4 plus 1d4 fire |
| Huge | 1d8 | 1d8 | 1d8 plus 1d8 fire |
| Gargantuan | 2d6 | 2d6 | 2d6 plus 2d6 fire |
| Colossal | 3d6 | 3d6 | 3d6 plus 3d6 fire |
Alternate Form (Su): A Mystaran amber dragon can assume any animal or humanoid form of Medium size or smaller as a standard action three times per day. The dragon can remain in its animal or humanoid form until it chooses to assume a new one or return to its natural form.
Water Breathing (Ex): A Mystaran amber dragon can breathe underwater indefinitely and can freely use its breath weapon, spells, and other abilities while submerged (the cone of fire becomes a cone of superheated steam underwater).
Luck Bonus (Sp): Once per day an adult or older Mystaran amber dragon can touch a gem, usually one embedded in the dragon’s hide, and enspell it to bring good luck. As long as the dragon carries the gem, it and every chaotic creature in a 10-foot radius per age category of the dragon receives a +1 luck bonus on all saving throws and similar rolls, as for a stone of good luck. If the dragon gives an enspelled gem to another creature, only that bearer gets the bonus. The effect lasts 1d3 hours plus 3 hours per age category of the dragon but ends if the gem is destroyed. This ability is the equivalent of a 2nd-level spell.
Detect Gems (Sp): An old or older Mystaran amber dragon can use this ability three times per day. This is a divination effect similar to a
detect magic spell, except that it finds only gems. The dragon can scan a 60-degree arc each round: By concentrating for 1 round it knows if there are any gems within the arc; 2 rounds of concentration reveal the exact number of gems; and 3 rounds reveal their exact location, type, and value. This ability is the equivalent of a 2nd-level spell.
Other Spell-Like Abilities: 3/day—
protection from law (juvenile or older); 1/day—
disintegrate (old or older),
mass charm monster (ancient or older),
foresight (great wyrm).
Skills: Appraise, Disguise, and Swim are considered class skills for Mystaran amber dragons.
Originally appeared in the D&D Master Set (1985) as the Brown Gemstone Dragon.
