Dune Dragon
Dragon (Earth)
Environment: warm desert or warm aquatic (beaches)
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 Rating: Wyrmling 4; very young 5; young 7; juvenile 10; young adult 13; adult 15; mature adult 18; old 20; very old 21; ancient 23; wyrm 24; great wyrm 26
Treasure: Triple standard
Alignment: Always neutral
Advancement: Wyrmling 9-10 HD (Small); very young 12-13 HD (Medium); young 15-16 HD (Medium); juvenile 18-19 HD (Large); young adult 21-22 HD (Large); adult 24-25 HD (Huge); mature adult 27-28 HD (Huge); old 30-31 HD (Huge); very old 33-34 HD (Huge); ancient 36-37 HD (Gargantuan); wyrm 39-40 HD (Gargantuan); great wyrm 42+ HD (Gargantuan)
Level Adjustment: Wyrmling +4, very young +4, young +5
Dune Dragons by Age
Age
|
Size
|
Hit.Dice.(hp)
|
Str
|
Dex
|
Con
|
Int
|
Wis
|
Cha
| BAB/
Grapple
|
Attack
| Fort
Save | Ref
Save | Will
Save | Breath
Weapon.(DC)
| Fear
DC
|
1
| S
| 8d12+8 (60)
| 13
| 10
| 13
| 14
| 15
| 10
| +8/+5
| +10
| +7
| +6
| +8
| 2d10 (15) | — |
2
| M
| 11d12+22 (93) | 15
| 10 | 15
| 14
| 15
| 12
| +11/+13
| +13
| +9
| +7
| +9
| 4d10 (17) | — |
3
| M
| 14d12+28 (119) | 17
| 10 | 15
| 16
| 17
| 12
| +14/+17
| +17
| +11
| +9
| +12
| 6d10 (19) | — |
4
| L
| 17d12+51 (161) | 19
| 10 | 17
| 18
| 19
| 14
| +17/+25
| +20
| +13
| +10
| +14
| 8d10 (21) | — |
5
| L
| 20d12+80 (210) | 23
| 10 | 19
| 18
| 19
| 14
| +20/+30
| +25
| +16
| +12
| +16
| 10d10 (24) | 22
|
6
| H
| 23d12+115 (264) | 27
| 10 | 21
| 20
| 21
| 16
| +23/+39
| +29
| +18
| +13
| +18
| 12d10 (26) | 24
|
7
| H
| 26d12+130 (299) | 29
| 10 | 21
| 20
| 21
| 18
| +26/+43
| +33
| +20
| +15
| +20
| 14d10 (28) | 27
|
8
| H
| 29d12+174 (362) | 31
| 10 | 23
| 22
| 23
| 20
| +29/+47
| +37
| +22
| +16
| +22
| 16d10 (30) | 29
|
9
| H
| 32d12+192 (400) | 33
| 10 | 23
| 22
| 25
| 22
| +32/+51
| +41
| +24
| +18
| +25
| 18d10 (32) | 32
|
10
| G
| 35d12+245 (472) | 35
| 10 | 25
| 24
| 27
| 24
| +35/+59
| +43
| +26
| +19
| +27
| 20d10 (34) | 34
|
11
| G
| 38d12+304 (551) | 37
| 10 | 27
| 26
| 29
| 24
| +38/+63
| +47
| +29
| +21
| +30
| 22d10 (37) | 36
|
12
| G
| 41d12+328 (594) | 41
| 10 | 29
| 26
| 31
| 26
| +41/+67
| +51
| +30
| +22
| +32
| 24d10 (38) | 38
|
Dune Dragon Abilities by Age
Age
| Speed
| Init
| AC
| Special
Abilities
| CL*
| SR
|
1
| 40 ft., burrow 20 ft., swim 60 ft. | +0
| 16 (+1 size, +5 natural), touch 11, flat-footed 16
| Pass without trace, water breathing
| — | — |
2
| 40 ft., burrow 20 ft., swim 60 ft. | +0 | 18 (+8 natural), touch 10, flat-footed 18 |
| — | — |
3
| 40 ft., burrow 20 ft., swim 60 ft. | +0 | 21 (+11 natural), touch 10, flat-footed 21 |
| 1st
| — |
4
| 40 ft., burrow 20 ft., swim 60 ft. | +0 | 23 (-1 size, +14 natural), touch 9, flat-footed 23 | heat metal
| 3rd
| — |
5
| 40 ft., burrow 20 ft., swim 60 ft. | +0 | 26 (-1 size, +17 natural), touch 9, flat-footed 26 | DR 5/magic
| 5th
| 21
|
6
| 40 ft., burrow 20 ft., swim 60 ft. | +0 | 28 (-2 size, +20 natural), touch 8, flat-footed 28 | move earth
| 7th
| 23
|
7
| 40 ft., burrow 20 ft., swim 60 ft. | +0 | 31 (-2 size, +23 natural), touch 8, flat-footed 31 | DR 10/magic
| 9th
| 25
|
8
| 40 ft., burrow 20 ft., swim 60 ft. | +0 | 34 (-2 size, +26 natural), touch 8, flat-footed 34 | hallucinatory terrain
| 11th
| 26
|
9
| 40 ft., burrow 20 ft., swim 60 ft. | +0 | 37 (-2 size, +29 natural), touch 8, flat-footed 37 | DR 15/magic
| 13th
| 28
|
10
| 40 ft., burrow 20 ft., swim 60 ft. | +0 | 38 (-4 size, +32 natural), touch 8, flat-footed 38 | waves of exhaustion | 15th
| 30
|
11
| 40 ft., burrow 20 ft., swim 60 ft. | +0 | 41 (-4 size, +35 natural), touch 8, flat-footed 41 | DR 20/magic
| 17th
| 32
|
12
| 40 ft., burrow 20 ft., swim 60 ft. | +0 | 44 (-4 size, +38 natural), touch 8, flat-footed 44 | whirlwind
| 19th
| 34
|
* Can also cast druid spells and those from the Earth and Sun domains as arcane spells. If you use the
Sandstorm book a dune dragon can also cast spells from the Sand domain as arcane spells.
A wormlike reptile covered in shell-shaped scales the color of sand, with strikingly blue eyes set in a diamond-shaped head. Its long sinuous body has a forked tail and short, powerful legs well suited for swimming and burrowing. The creature's four feet are strongly clawed and webbed.
These wingless dragons live in deserts, beaches and similar sandy areas. They love to wander and are often encountered far from their lairs. Dune dragons are basically solitary, but are willing to converse with travelers, sometimes even going so far as to provide helpful information to adventurers. They normally only become aggressive when threatened or if their treasure is disturbed - the hoards of these dragons are usually buried deep under the sand, near or below their own lairs.
Female dune dragons produce three eggs once every decade or so, which they bury deep and leave. The hatchlings emerge after a year and instinctively seek out an adult dune dragon to care for it (who may or may not be its parent). The unrestricted society of dune dragons is based on teaching magic to these hatchlings and introducing them to other dune dragons.
Combat
Dune dragons are typically content to avoid other creatures, preferring to hide from contact. However, they are implacable foes when irritated, especially if their treasure hoard is disturbed. Dune dragons often try to ambush or outmaneuver their enemies by burrowing under the sand.
Breath Weapon (Su): A dune dragon has one breath weapon, a line of strange energy that causes 2d10 damage per age category. A victim that makes a successful Reflex save takes only 1/4 damage, but any living creature killed by the breath weapon is turned into a pile of fine white sand. Creatures who are immune to petrification are unaffected by this breath weapon.
A creature that has been turned to sand can be restored to life with a
wish,
miracle, or
resurrection spell - the sand counts as the small portion of a body required for
resurrection. Alternatively, a
make whole spell can turn the pile of sand into a petrified corpse, which can then be turned into a fleshy but still dead body with a
stone to flesh spell, then returned to life with a
raise dead spell. Two carefully worded
limited wish spells can also restore the victim's original body - the first to transform their remains into a petrified corpse, and the second to return the corpse to living flesh.
The victim can also be brought back in another body using a
reincarnate spell (or a
limited wish used to duplicate
reincarnate).
The save DC against the dragon's breath weapon is 10 + ½ dragon’s HD + dragon’s Con modifier.
Increased Claw Damage (Ex): Because of their sharp claws and muscular legs, dune dragons deal claw damage as if they were one size category larger.
Pass Without Trace (Sp): A dune dragon can use
pass without trace (as the spell) at will.
Other Spell-Like Abilities: 3/day—
heat metal (juvenile or older),
move earth (adult or older); 1/day—
hallucinatory terrain (old or older),
waves of exhaustion (ancient or older) and
whirlwind (great wyrm).
Water Breathing (Ex): A dune dragon can breathe underwater indefinitely and can freely use its breath weapon, spells, and other abilities while submerged.
Skills: A dune dragon gains a +4 racial bonus on Hide checks when in beach or desert areas. Further, a dune dragon can burrow through sand with only its eyes and nostrils showing, gaining a +8 cover bonus on Hide checks, which increases to a +24 cover bonus when the dune dragon is immobile.
Note: This monster was originally called a "sand dragon", but was renamed to differentiate it from the sand dragon in
Sandstorm (2005).
Originally from Dragon Magazine #134 (1988)
