| RACE:
War Dragon
CLIMATE/TERRAIN: Any FREQUENCY: Rare ORGANIZATION: Pairs or groups ACTIVITY CYCLE: Any DIET: Special (Carnivore) INTELLIGENCE: Low (5-7) TREASURE: Special ALIGNMENT: Chaotic Good NO. OF APPEARING: 2-20
War dragons were bred hundreds of years ago to serve as minions of several nations' armies. They were intended to be highly resistant to magic and to be good fighters; in this role, they excel. While all war dragons have bodies of similar size and shape, each alignment has a unique head, as well as minor differences in colorations. All three types have black bodies and heads. Chaotic good types have a silver neck, tail, and wings; their heads are similar in shape to a silver dragon's. War dragons speak their own tongue, a tongue common to their appropriate type of dragon (good, neutral, or evil), and 7% of hatchling war dragons have an ability to communicate with any intelligent creature. The chance to possess this ability increases 5% per age category of the dragon. A war dragon will also develop a telepathic link with a single rider; see below. COMBAT: War dragons normally fight with a rider who directs the attacks; the dragonrider (usaully a fighter, wizard, or fighter/wizard) ensures the breath weapons and special abilities are used at the right time and against the proper targets. Some armies have considerable numbers of war dragons; these highly organized "dragoncorps" are normally found at the forefront of battle, attacking enemy ground forces from above, or engaging enemy aerial forces. BREATH WEAPON: Of the three types of war dragons each has three separate breath weapons; The Chaotic good war dragon’s breath weapon is a ** cone of fire/frost ** : 80' long, 5' wide (mouth), and 30' wide (end), the breath attack (regardless of composition) may be made once every three rounds, as long as the same one is not used more than three times in a 10-round period. Each breath weapon does identical damage. The dimensions of the various breath weapons are as follows: Good war dragons may breathe (and are immune to) fire, lightning, and gas; All war dragons use their special abilities at 5th level plus their combat modifier. In addition to the immunities mentioned above (which they have from birth), war dragons gain the following additional powers as they age: AGE SPECIAL ABILITY Young ** Protection from normal missiles ** (three times per day) Young Adult ** Minor globe of invunerability ** (twice per day) Mature adult ** Glode of invunerability ** (twice per day) Old ** Anti-magic shell ** (once per day) Wyrm ** Prismatic wall ** (twice per week) A war dragon's magic resistance may be extended to include one or two riders at will. All special abilites will extend to completely envelop the dragon and its rider(s), except the ** prismatic wall **, which will obviously cover only one side of it. Being immobile, the ** globes of invulnerabilty ** are not of much use when flying, but will be used in ground melee, or to protect friendly ground forces (if other creatures are to be protected by a war dragon's special abilities, then the radius of the effect is as per the corresponding spell.) HABITAT: The majority of war dragons are "domestic" dragons, as they are used and controlled by humans. They are bred not unlike horses, and the offspring are trained for war while still in the very young or even hatchling stage. Each war dragon is exclusively trained by one dragonrider; after one year of training per age category of the dragon, a war dragon and its rider develop a telepathic link which is used to direct the dragon in combat. Once this link is established, the war dragon will not willingly leave its rider until one or the other is killed. If one of the pair is killed, the survivor immediately suffers 2-20 hit points of damage with no saving throw. A war dragon may not be ridden into combat until it has established a link with its rider. If anyone attempts to ride a war dragon without a link to that dragon, the war dragon will attempt to throw the rider, unless its controlling rider is present as well. ECOLOGY: War dragons are basically carnivores, but are capable of eating other food as well. They are either fed by their riders, or are allowed to hunt. Chaotic evil war dragons will often feast on the corpses of slain enemies after a battle has ended. War dragons are normally encountered in patrols of 2-4 or in battle groups of 2-20. War dragons do not collect hordes of treasure like most dragons unless they are of the renegade type. RENEGADES If a war dragon's rider is killed, there is a 5% chance per age category of the surviving dragon, that it becomes a renegade, unless it is subdued or otherwise prevented from doing so. Renegade war dragons will live in any climate and terrain, and are usually loners; renegade war dragons will only rarely mate. Renegades are the only war dragons that will hoard treasure. If a war dragon is prevented from becoming a renegade, a new rider may take control of it, but only after it is retrained and a new link is established with the new rider. This new link is established in half the normal time (1/2 year per age category of the dragon.) If a renegade war dragon is encountered in the wild, it may be retrained. This may only be done by someone with war dragon riding proficiency, and only after the dragon is subdued. The retraining of a renegade takes twice the normal time (2 years per age category of the dragon), and as the dragon will normally try to resist, it may have to be subdued a number of times throughout the retraining process. Renegade war dragons (those that have struck out on their own) usually use breath weapon attacks at the beginning of any battle; their low intelligence prevents them from making better use of their abilities, and they are sometimes caught in a tough fight with no remaining breath attacks. Allan J. Mikkola (allanm@vulcan.med.ge.com) |