Converting True Dragons
- Thread starter Shade
- Start date
GrayLinnorm
Explorer
If it's finished, then we have at least 10 dragons that haven't been posted to the Creature Catalog yet (hint).
Shade
Monster Junkie
Oh, I'm well aware of that herculanean task awaiting me. <sigh>
On the bright side, it's the last batc of true dragons I'll have to methodically enter field by agonizing field.
Undead will be this week's update, though, in honor of Halloween.
Cleon
Legend
Well before you start on that, there's one typo to fix - mimicking should have a k in "perfectly mimicing humans".
Oh, and their breath weapon is missing an l from "permanenty blinded".
So what we need is an Undead Pumpkin-themed dragon...
Shade
Monster Junkie
Fixed the typos.
How fun would that be? We could stat one up in its own thread just for kicks.
Anway, here's the last unconverted dragon, according to Echohawk's list...
Dragon, Air
CLIMATE/TERRAIN: Any
FREQUENCY: Very Rare
ORGANIZATION: Family
ACTIVE CYCLE: Any
DIET: Special
INTELLIGENCE: Supra-genius (19-20)
TREASURE: Nil
ALIGNMENT: Any Lawful and non-evil
NO. APPEARING: 1d2
ARMOR CLASS: -8 (Base)
MOVEMENT: 80
HIT DICE: 20 (Base)
THAC0: -3 (Base)
NO. OF ATTACKS: Nil
DAMAGE/ATTACK: Nil
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Spell Use and wind Control
SPECIAL DEFENSES: Spell use and wind control
MAGIC RESISTANCE: 80% (Base)
SIZE: G (50')
MORALE: Fearless (20)
XP VALUE: 20,000 + 1,000 per additional Hit Die
The air dragon looks very much like a shimmerless diamond suspended in mid air. The rippling of pseudo-muscles, teeth, claws and bone make up the diamond-like cuts. It still possesses the wings, feet and toes of its former dragon self, but it now is nothing more than the Shape Air creation of its powerful mind. They are truly beautiful to see, but they still possess the dragon-fear aura that so many adventurers feel when they are near. The eyes of the dragon often resemble the color of its scales before the body died during transformation into an Air Dragon.
Combat: When the Air Dragon feels that it has no choice but to fight, it has several attacks abilities at its disposal. It cannot cause physical damage through bites, claws or tail buffeting, but it has several magical and magic-like abilities. It can cause items within range to be sucked towards it at the incredible velocity of 100 miles per hour using its Control Air abilities. The speed and the amount of mass that can be moved diminishes with the range, and increases with the Hit Dice of the Air Dragon. For every Hit Dice the Air Dragon possesses, it can move ten pounds of matter at distance of five feet. With every additional foot distance, the amount of weight effected decreases by one pound. Therefore a 20 Hit Dice Air dragon can move 200 pound objects at five feet, but can only move objects weighing 1 pound at 205 feet away. It can use this ability once per turn. However, it can push objects with the same parameters as its pull ability the very next round following the pull. This is its favorite tactic. It prefers not to combat through spell use, but luckily, most opponents do not wish to fight after experiencing such a powerful buffet.
The Air dragon also has all of the spell like abilities and immunities Qf its former self. In other words, a Gold Dragon who becomes an Air Dragon, is able to Detect Lies, Detect Gems, Luck Bonus, Sleep, Slow, and the dozens of other abilities it possessed before its transformation. The dragon still has use of the breath weapon of its former body.
Habitat/Society: Since the rarity of the Air Dragon far exceeds that of other dragons on Coliar, they are often looked after and cared for. This deep caring and affection is what keep them alive. This symbiotic feeding is why an Air Dragon cannot be evil. The emotional emanations they feed on come only from affection, adoration or love. This also explains why the dragon of other worlds cannot become an Air Dragon. All these non-Coliar dragons are solitary, and have no emotions to feed upon.
The Coliar Dragons are often looked to when a problem arises. Their incredible Intelligence and Wisdom makes them the perfect ambassador to another family if a feud is dangerously approaching a war.
Each dragon family unit on Coliar has an Air Dragon, or two as its leader. They make all the decisions that may have serious implications. Even the non-dragon races look to them for their insight and ingenuity.
Ecology: The Air Dragon is the transformation of a standard dragon who has passed through the Great Wyrm stage of its life. When the dragon's body becomes too weak and decrepid, its mind actually leaves the coflfines of its body, and the body withers. When this transformation occurs, it looks as though a large non-corporeal diamond perfectly shaped after the dragon's former body pulls away from the dying husk.
At this point the dragon can choose to allow the body to die, or it can keep it alive by sheer mental strength. There are advantages to both. If the Air Dragon chooses to keep the body alive, his Air Dragon form cannot be completely destroyed. No matter how much damage it may take, it can still reform elsewhere within 1d4 turns. However, the Air Dragon body can never get farther that 15,000 miles from its living real-body husk. As long as the body is not slain, the dragon lives forever.
If the Air Dragon chooses to allow the physical body to die, the dragon has no limitations in where they can choose to go. These Coliar Air Dragons have been seen on other planets and even in other crystal spheres. They do, however run the risk of dying should their air dragon body be destroyed.
The chart below depicts the age categories, and their assumed ability improvements. The oldest reported Air Dragon is Similion Longlife. At the time of his demise, he was 4,230 years old. No one knows if there is a limit to an Air Dragon's life, but it is likely that one does exist. The likelihood that a dragon older than Similion is in existence is slim, the possibilities do exist.
Air Dragon Table:
Age Category, AC & HD Modifier, Combat Modifier, Fear Modifier, Radius, Save Modifier
13, 1200-1600, +0, +1, 50 Yds, -4
14, 1601-2000, +1, +2, 60 Yds, -5
15, 2001-2400, +2, +3, 80 Yds, -6
16, 2401-2800, +3, +4, 100 Yds, -7
17, 2801-3200, +4, +5, 120 Yds, -8
18, 3201-3600, +5, +6, 140 Yds, -9
19, 3601-4000, +6, +7, 180 Yds, -10
20, 4001-4400, +7, +8, 220 Yds, -11
21, 4401-4800, +8, +9, 280 Yds, -12
22, 4801-5200, +9, +10, 320 Yds, -13
23, 5201-5600, +10, +11, 360 Yds, -14
24, 5601-6000+, +11, +12, 400 Yds, -15
[Note: The column headings don't seem to quite match the columns]
Originally appeared in SJR2 - Realmspace (1991).
So what we need is an Undead Pumpkin-themed dragon...
How fun would that be? We could stat one up in its own thread just for kicks.
Anway, here's the last unconverted dragon, according to Echohawk's list...
Dragon, Air
CLIMATE/TERRAIN: Any
FREQUENCY: Very Rare
ORGANIZATION: Family
ACTIVE CYCLE: Any
DIET: Special
INTELLIGENCE: Supra-genius (19-20)
TREASURE: Nil
ALIGNMENT: Any Lawful and non-evil
NO. APPEARING: 1d2
ARMOR CLASS: -8 (Base)
MOVEMENT: 80
HIT DICE: 20 (Base)
THAC0: -3 (Base)
NO. OF ATTACKS: Nil
DAMAGE/ATTACK: Nil
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Spell Use and wind Control
SPECIAL DEFENSES: Spell use and wind control
MAGIC RESISTANCE: 80% (Base)
SIZE: G (50')
MORALE: Fearless (20)
XP VALUE: 20,000 + 1,000 per additional Hit Die
The air dragon looks very much like a shimmerless diamond suspended in mid air. The rippling of pseudo-muscles, teeth, claws and bone make up the diamond-like cuts. It still possesses the wings, feet and toes of its former dragon self, but it now is nothing more than the Shape Air creation of its powerful mind. They are truly beautiful to see, but they still possess the dragon-fear aura that so many adventurers feel when they are near. The eyes of the dragon often resemble the color of its scales before the body died during transformation into an Air Dragon.
Combat: When the Air Dragon feels that it has no choice but to fight, it has several attacks abilities at its disposal. It cannot cause physical damage through bites, claws or tail buffeting, but it has several magical and magic-like abilities. It can cause items within range to be sucked towards it at the incredible velocity of 100 miles per hour using its Control Air abilities. The speed and the amount of mass that can be moved diminishes with the range, and increases with the Hit Dice of the Air Dragon. For every Hit Dice the Air Dragon possesses, it can move ten pounds of matter at distance of five feet. With every additional foot distance, the amount of weight effected decreases by one pound. Therefore a 20 Hit Dice Air dragon can move 200 pound objects at five feet, but can only move objects weighing 1 pound at 205 feet away. It can use this ability once per turn. However, it can push objects with the same parameters as its pull ability the very next round following the pull. This is its favorite tactic. It prefers not to combat through spell use, but luckily, most opponents do not wish to fight after experiencing such a powerful buffet.
The Air dragon also has all of the spell like abilities and immunities Qf its former self. In other words, a Gold Dragon who becomes an Air Dragon, is able to Detect Lies, Detect Gems, Luck Bonus, Sleep, Slow, and the dozens of other abilities it possessed before its transformation. The dragon still has use of the breath weapon of its former body.
Habitat/Society: Since the rarity of the Air Dragon far exceeds that of other dragons on Coliar, they are often looked after and cared for. This deep caring and affection is what keep them alive. This symbiotic feeding is why an Air Dragon cannot be evil. The emotional emanations they feed on come only from affection, adoration or love. This also explains why the dragon of other worlds cannot become an Air Dragon. All these non-Coliar dragons are solitary, and have no emotions to feed upon.
The Coliar Dragons are often looked to when a problem arises. Their incredible Intelligence and Wisdom makes them the perfect ambassador to another family if a feud is dangerously approaching a war.
Each dragon family unit on Coliar has an Air Dragon, or two as its leader. They make all the decisions that may have serious implications. Even the non-dragon races look to them for their insight and ingenuity.
Ecology: The Air Dragon is the transformation of a standard dragon who has passed through the Great Wyrm stage of its life. When the dragon's body becomes too weak and decrepid, its mind actually leaves the coflfines of its body, and the body withers. When this transformation occurs, it looks as though a large non-corporeal diamond perfectly shaped after the dragon's former body pulls away from the dying husk.
At this point the dragon can choose to allow the body to die, or it can keep it alive by sheer mental strength. There are advantages to both. If the Air Dragon chooses to keep the body alive, his Air Dragon form cannot be completely destroyed. No matter how much damage it may take, it can still reform elsewhere within 1d4 turns. However, the Air Dragon body can never get farther that 15,000 miles from its living real-body husk. As long as the body is not slain, the dragon lives forever.
If the Air Dragon chooses to allow the physical body to die, the dragon has no limitations in where they can choose to go. These Coliar Air Dragons have been seen on other planets and even in other crystal spheres. They do, however run the risk of dying should their air dragon body be destroyed.
The chart below depicts the age categories, and their assumed ability improvements. The oldest reported Air Dragon is Similion Longlife. At the time of his demise, he was 4,230 years old. No one knows if there is a limit to an Air Dragon's life, but it is likely that one does exist. The likelihood that a dragon older than Similion is in existence is slim, the possibilities do exist.
Air Dragon Table:
Age Category, AC & HD Modifier, Combat Modifier, Fear Modifier, Radius, Save Modifier
13, 1200-1600, +0, +1, 50 Yds, -4
14, 1601-2000, +1, +2, 60 Yds, -5
15, 2001-2400, +2, +3, 80 Yds, -6
16, 2401-2800, +3, +4, 100 Yds, -7
17, 2801-3200, +4, +5, 120 Yds, -8
18, 3201-3600, +5, +6, 140 Yds, -9
19, 3601-4000, +6, +7, 180 Yds, -10
20, 4001-4400, +7, +8, 220 Yds, -11
21, 4401-4800, +8, +9, 280 Yds, -12
22, 4801-5200, +9, +10, 320 Yds, -13
23, 5201-5600, +10, +11, 360 Yds, -14
24, 5601-6000+, +11, +12, 400 Yds, -15
[Note: The column headings don't seem to quite match the columns]
Originally appeared in SJR2 - Realmspace (1991).
RavinRay
Explorer
A Spelljammer dragon! Could it be that the sun, moon, stellar, and radiant dragons are not far behind (they're the ones I'm converting 2e stats into text and Excel tables, Shade).
A templated class or a draconic prestige class as an alternative to the advancement rules in Draconomicon and Epic Level Handbook for me, the PrCs in Draconomicon had 12 levels incidentally.
A templated class or a draconic prestige class as an alternative to the advancement rules in Draconomicon and Epic Level Handbook for me, the PrCs in Draconomicon had 12 levels incidentally.
Cleon
Legend
The columns seem pretty straightforward to me, they follow the table in Monstrous Manual's Dragon, General entry:
Age Category // Age (in years) // AC & HD Modifier // Combat Modifier // Fear Radius // Fear Save Modifier
Cleon
Legend
Hmm, I'm not sure what the best approach would be.
It'd be simplest to make it some sort of "scalable" template that can be applied to a Great Wyrm true dragon.
The difference between its age category 13 and age category 24 seem at least as extreme as between an age category 1 wyrmling and an age category 12 great wyrm, do we really want to squeeze all that down to a mere 12 levels or a Prestige Class?
Cleon
Legend
It just seems too powerful for a Savage Species style monster racial class. The dragon racial classes that were published in Dragon magazine went from wyrmling to Young or Juvenile in 20 levels, and Air Dragons are far mightier than that.
