Arboreal Dragon -
By Bill Silvey
Frequency: Very Rare
No. Appearing: 1-3
Armor Class: 1
Move: 12"/24"
Hit Dice: 7-9
% In Lair: 70%
Treasure Type: U,V,X
No. Of Attacks: 3
Damage/Attack: 1-8/1-8/3-24
Special Attacks: Breath weapon + possible magic use
Special Defense: Nil
Magic Resistance: Standard
Intelligence: Very
Alignment: Neutral (good tendencies)
Size: L (30')
Psionic Ability: Nil
Attack/Defense Modes: Nil
Level/XP Value: VIII/8550 + 5 per HP
Probability of:
Speaking: 25%
Spell Use: 30%
Sleeping: 50%
A beautiful creature, the arboreal dragon is perhaps a distant cousin of the Faery Dragon (q.v.). The Arboreal Dragon is so named because it makes it's home in great, ancient forests, usually among great oaks or redwoods. The dragon's color is a shimmering green, with a faintly scintillating rainbow highlight. This is rumored to have lead to more than one unfortunate encounter with overenthusiastic dragon hunters, thinking they'd stumbled upon a sleeping Green Dragon!
The Arboreal Dragon resides in temperate climes, and eschews jungle and swamp when possible. The only time it will make an exception is to find and kill the aforementioned (and more common) Green Dragon. This is because Arboreal Dragons view themselves as wardens of forest and wood, and feel that their Green cousins make otherwise pleasant fens and marshes dismal places. They are no friends of those who would wield an axe indiscriminately, and will often hide or fly away to watch encroaching adventurers from a distance to make sure that they do no harm to the woods.
Arboreal Dragons can speak the tongue of all woodland creatures, including Wood Elves, Sprites, Pixies, Dryads, Brownies, Treant and Centaur among others. They care little for the affairs of humankind, and view them suspiciously since in their mindset few humans seem able to live in harmony with nature. They are even-tempered overall, and like the Copper Dragon (q.v.), great lovers of conversation - particularly if it is flattering or complimentary to the Arboreal Dragon! They are not, however, unkind and consider Elves and those who travel with them to be kindred spirits. Any creature which exhibits destructive behavior (hewing down trees for firewood, burning undergrowth for no reason etc.) are subject to a hostile response from these great beasts!
The Arboreal Dragon's breath weapon consists of a paralytic gas which functions as a Sleep spell; a successful saving throw means that the gas has no effect. Also, the spells of the Arboreal Dragon are exclusively from the Druid class. For every age the dragon has, it may cast that level of Druid spell (with the probability of any spell use at all noted above).
Unlike their cousins, Arboreal Dragons do not lust after precious metals. Their weakness is for fine jewelry (jade and emerald, especially) and magical items, and unless a person has transgressed against them, they will gladly accept gifts of such things in exchange for information or for permission to spend a night in the whatever glade the Dragon occupies.
...
Lava Dragon -
By Bill Silvey
Frequency: Very Rare
No. Appearing: 1-4
Armor Class:
Move: 12"/24"
Hit Dice: 8-12
% In Lair: 90%
Treasure Type: See Below
No. Of Attacks: 3
Damage/Attack: 1-8/1-8/3-24
Special Attacks: Breath weapon + possible magic use
Special Defense: See Below
Magic Resistance: Standard
Intelligence: Very
Alignment: Neutral Evil
Size: L (30')
Psionic Ability: Nil
Attack/Defense Modes: Nil
Level/XP Value: VIII/15550 + 5 per HP
Probability of:
Speaking: 25%
Spell Use: 30%
Sleeping: 30%
Rare, dangerous, and extremely malicious, the Lava Dragon is a relative to the great Red Dragon (q.v.), and is found exclusively lava fissures and volcanoes and other pools of molten rock within the earth. The Lava Dragon's temperament mirrors it's environment in that it is mean-spirited and of ill temper.
The Lava Dragon can fight and fly as can others of it's ilk, with the exception being it's breath weapon. Whereas other dragons spew forth a great gout of flame or cloud of gas (or bolt of electricity in the case of the Blue Dragon), the Lava Dragon can vomit forth a gush of molten rock at targets, almost instantly killing any struck by it. This super-heated breath weapon strikes for 10d12 points of damage; a successful Save vs. Dragon Breath will halve that. All items worn or carried by anyone struck by the lava-exhalation must make saving throws versus fire or be destroyed.
Worse still, the Lava Dragon radiates a great heat that will damage armor (and the wearers) as a Heat Metal spell. Non-magical weapons that are used against the Lava Dragon must have saving throws rolled for them against fire. Failure means that the weapons are damaged too badly by the great heat to use. Magical weapons' (and armor) may add their plus to the saving throw.
The Lava Dragon takes no damage from any Fire-based attacks. Water-based attacks or damage from water elementals etc. do half or no damage. Cold based attacks that do a base damage equal to or greater than the number of hit dice the dragon possesses do full damage; all others do half or no damage.
Lava Dragons must remain in or around their fiery lairs or else the cooling and contraction of their hide will cause them to slow to half movement within 12 turns. It is this (fortunate) disadvantage that forces the dragon to remain rare and little trouble the world at large.
The Dragon's heat is too great for any treasure beyond gems to survive in it's lair, and it lusts after these greatly.
...
Opium Dragon - By Tim Martin
Frequency: Very Rare
No. Appearing: 1-8
Armor Class: 1
Move 18"/20"
Hit Dice: 9-11
% In Lair: 100%
Treasure Type: A,G,H
No. Of Attacks: 3
Damage/Attack: 1-8/1-8/2-12
Special Attacks: See Below
Special Defense: See Below
Magic Resistance: See Below
Intelligence: Genius
Alignment: Neutral Evil
Size: L
Psionic Ability: Nil
Attack/Defense Modes: Nil
Level/XP Value: 6000 + 100/HP
Opium dragons are generally solitary creatures, and 95% of all encounters with this type will be with lone individuals. A very rare type of dragon, its native homeland is not known though it has spread far and wide throughout the planes. In appearance an opium dragon is that of a snake-like purplish creature with a white underbelly, looking vaguely like a gold dragon, but considerably shorter. The smallest of the true dragons (though some scholars debate its taxonomy), great wyrms are often only 30 feet in length. Like the oriental dragons they fly without the benefit of wings, but with a magical organ that is inextricable. Their true native habitat is thought to be steamy rain forests, preferably mountainous, though others believe it to be arid, desert mountains. More often than not though they are found in cities, and rarely in the Underdark.
Opium dragons are unusual in that their breath weapon causes pleasure rather than pain, at least in the short term. Five times per day an opium dragon can breathe a cloud of misty vapors, 3” width, 8” length, and 3” depth. All air-breathing creatures caught within the area of effect must save versus breath weapon successfully or enter a state of intense euphoria. Those in the area of effect will be subjected to intense physical and psychological pleasure for 1-10 rounds, feeling no pain from any wounds or sicknesses, and so caught up in the pleasure caused by the breath weapon that they will be unable to attack, run, or really do much of anything else. Instead they will generally stand around, often sitting down or falling down, and experience intense waking dreams and vivid hallucinations. No combat or spell actions are possible if a victim fails the saving throw. If the saving throw is successful, the victim will be slightly numbed and suffer a –2 penalty on to hit rolls and dexterity checks for 1-10 rounds, but suffer no damage. Both effects of the breath weapon are cumulative.
The more damaging in some ways effects of the breath weapon is that those who are subjected to it and fail their saving throws, even only once, will become addicted to the breath weapon. Unless they are subjected again within 12 hours, they will go into severe withdrawal, experiencing violent mood swings, flu-like symptoms, and general nausea. To hit rolls and dexterity checks will be at a –2 penalty, and constitution scores will go down 1 point a day until five days have elapsed, at which the victim will have successfully beaten the addiction. If a victim is exposed to an opium dragon’s breath weapon during this withdrawal period they will automatically fail their saving throw and be subject to their effects for 2-20 (x2 ) rounds. Withdrawal symptoms first start to manifest themselves within three hours of initial exposure to the breath weapon (for those who failed their saves), and become intense within six hours, and effects detailed above will manifest within 12 hours.
Though those exposed to the breath weapon don’t develop any special allegiance to the opium dragon, the canny beast often uses this addiction-causing ability to win followers and converts, those who would defend it and provide for it. Using their ability to turn invisible as per the spell Improved Invisibility twice a day, the opium dragon has been known to suddenly attack people with their breath weapon and then fly off, and later through operatives indicate how the addiction might be relieved. Through this way opium dragons have taken control of entire thieves guilds, wererat clans, orc tribes, and the like. Such dragons will always use their addicted minions to do their fighting and dirty work for them, never entering combat themselves if they can avoid it. Opium dragons will never be encountered alone.
Should an opium dragon be forced to enter combat, they can use a claw/claw/bite routine for 1-8/1-8/2-12 points of damage. As noted they can use Improved Invisibility twice per day as per the spell. In addition, an opium dragon gains spells by age categories; 1- Hypnotism, 2 – Sleep, 3- Spook , 4 – Fascinate, 5- Hypnotic Pattern, 6 – Misdirection, 7- Suggestion, 8 – Confusion, 9 – Rainbow Pattern. These spells are usable twice per day at a level equal to the dragon’s hit dice.
There are those that believe that opium dragons are in control of entire nations, that their rulers are beholden to the dragons, forever chained by their addiction to the breath weapon. Such an addiction can be removed by Neutralize Poison, Limited Wish, Wish, and Alter Reality. Killing the dragon that caused the addiction will have no positive effect.