Dragons' Initiative

[Quidam]

I looked.

I looked again. I checked the errata of the MM.

WHERE is the initiative bonus of a dragon listed in the MM?

I'm quite prepared to say "Oh, gosh, am I dumb! How could I have missed it?"

 

[IceBear]

Dragons (and other monsters) are no different than PCs - their initiative bonus is based on their Dex and their feats.

Looking at the dragon stat blocks, since their Dex is 10 regardless of age, then they have no initiative bonus, unless it comes from a feat.

I think the reason they aren't listed in the MM is because Dragons are complex and may (or may not) have the Improved Initiative feat or not (depending on the dragon).

IceBear

 

[Wolf72]

unless they have a dex bonus or improved initiative ... it's 0

 

[Demon Knight]

All dragons are (somewhat) unique, which is probably why they didn't list the feats a particular dragon has. This means that the DM must go through and pick which feats he thinks are appropriate to his dragon. Dragons are rare, powerful creatures, that deserve the time put into them. The slaying of a dragon is indeed a sad day.

I usually give Imp Init to the smarter dragons. The lack of Dex Bonus puts dragons at a disadvantage. Dumber dragons probably are too dumb or dont care to take this feat.

 

[Spatzimaus]

IMC we changed the stats of Dragons a bit. Basically, take the MM. Add 8 DEX, and subtract 4 from STR and CON. It's not quite that simple; I do vary it a bit with age (since small dragons are probably more agile) but it's not as severe a change as the STR increases.

Then, when picking their Feats remember to take Combat Reflexes. If the average Ancient Wyrm can take AoOs on the entire party, things get more interesting.

Other DEX-related Feats can be fun, too. Ever seen a Dragon with Whirlwind Attack? *shudder*

 

[dcollins]

You might consider using the documents I composed which present full dragon stat blocks (the "Dragon Directory" and the "Monster Monograph"), down this page here: www.superdan.net/dnddocs.html

Or consider Charles Greathouse's dragon generator, here: http://www.geocities.com/crgreathouse/d_gen.html

 

[CRGreathouse]

Or consider Charles Greathouse's dragon generator, here: http://www.geocities.com/crgreathouse/d_gen.html

I haven't used that address in over a year. Try:
http://mwtools.thyle.net/d_gen.html
http://mwtools.thyle.net/

It's my shiny new location, fast and banner-free. It includes templates and a new dragon type, courtesy Ambient.