RACE: Yellow Dragon
CLIMATE/TERRAIN: Temperate and subtropical plains and subterranean
FREQUENCY: Very rare
ORGANIZATION: Solitary or clan
ACTIVITY CYCLE: Any
DIET: Special
INTELLIGENCE: High (13-15)
TREASURE: Special
ALIGNMENT: Neutral evil
NO. OF APPEARING: 1 (2-5)
ARMOR CLASS: -1 (base)
MOVE: 12, Fl 38 (C), Br 6
HIT DICE: 13 (base)
THAC0: 7 (base)
NO. OF ATTACKS: 3 + special
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 1-6/1-6/5-50 (5d10)
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Special
SPECIAL DEFENSES: Variable
MAGIC RESISTANCE: Variable
SIZE: G (42' base)
MORAL: Champion (15-16)
XP VALUE: Variable
BODY
TAIL BREATH
SPELLS TREASURE
XP
AGE LENGTH LENGTH AC
WEAPON WIZARD/PRIEST MR TYPE
VALUE
1 2-8
2-6 2 1d10+1d8+1 Nil
Nil Nil
1,400
2 8-20
6-16 1 2d10+2d8+2 Nil
Nil Nil
2,000
3 20-38 16-34
0 3d10+3d8+3 Nil
Nil Nil
3,000
4 38-48 34-42
-1 4d10+4d8+4 1
Nil Hx1/2 5,000
5 48-60 42-50
-2 5d10+5d8+5 2
25% H
8,000
6 60-72 50-58
-3 6d10+6d8+6 3
30% H, T 10,000
7 72-80 58-68
-4 7d10+7d8+7 3 1
35% H, T, U 11,000
8 80-89 68-76
-5 8d10+8d8+8 3 2
40% H, T, U 12,000
9 89-100 76-84
-6 9d10+9d8+9 3 2 1
45% H, Tx2, U 13,000
10 100-110 84-88
-7 10d10+10d8+10 3 2 2 1 / 1 50% H, Tx2, U, X 15,000
11 110-120 88-96
-8 11d10+11d8+11 3 2 2 2 / 2 55% H, Tx2, U, Xx2 17,000
12 120-128 96-106 -9 12d10+12d8+12
3 3 2 2 / 2 60% H, Tx2, U, Xx2 18,000 |
Yellow dragons are by nature timid and reclusive; they
shun all other creatures including their own kind.
When two or more yellow dragons are encountered together,
it is almost always a mated pair with offspring.
At birth, a yellow dragon's scales are ivory or even
white in color; as they age, the scales gain streaks
and splotches of yellow. Once the adult stage is reached,
the scales are a dull yellow, and a black stripe
develops along the back of the dragon. The scales become
a bright yellow once the old stage is reached. The most
distinguishing feature of a yellow dragon is its huge
head, which appears well out of proportion with the
rest of its body.
Yellow dragons speak their own language, a tongue
common to all evil dragons, and 14% of hatchling yellow
dragons have an ability to communicate with any
intelligent creature. The chance to possess this
ability increases 5% per age category of the dragon.
COMBAT: Due to their timid nature, yellow dragons avoid
combat whenever possible; they are not above fleeing,
even from equal or slightly inferior foes. However, if
forced to fight, yellow dragons can be viscious
opponents - they will use all available attack modes,
including spells and breath weapon attacks. Because of
this, yellow dragons will usually retreat to their lairs
for an extended period of time after a major battle, in
order to rest and recover used spells and breath attacks.
The yellow dragon's most used attack form is its bite;
due to its oversized head and mouth, a yellow dragon
is able to deliver one of the most ferrocious bites
of any dragon species. Opponents are often snatched
or pinned with claws in order to make the bite more
effective.
BREATH WEAPON: A yellow dragon's breath weapon is a
** sonic blast ** in the shape of a cone 80' long, 5'
wide at the dragon's mouth, and 25' wide at the base.
Creatures caught in the area of effect suffer the
indicated damage and are deafened for a number of turns
equal to the age category of the dragon. A successful
saving throw vs. breath weapon negates the deafness and
halves the damage. If a target is already deaf, a +2
bonus is added to the save, but if this save fails, the
target is deafened permanently (until healed.) Exposed
glass and crystal items are shattered, and brittle items
will break unless they make a successful save (at -2)
vs. crushing blow. Creatures who are deafened by this
blast suffer a -1 penalty to surprise rolls, and spells
with a verbal component have a 20% chance of misfiring.
A yellow dragon casts its spells and uses its magical
abilities at 7th level, plus its combat modifier.
At birth, yellow dragons are immune to any attack that
directly affects the senses such as those that cause
blindness or deafness (this does not include spells such
as ** invisibility **, ** blur **, and the like.) As they
age, they gain the following additional powers:
AGE SPECIAL ABILITY
Young ** Blindness ** (three times per day)
Juvenile ** Hypnotic pattern ** (three times per day)
Adult ** Shout ** (twice per day)
Old ** Eyebite ** (once per day)
Wyrm ** Forcecage ** (three times per week)
HABITAT: Yellow dragons live in regions of open plains
in temperate and subtropical climates. They lair in
large underground caverns or caves; some yellow dragons
spend much of their lives in old dungeons and will come
out in the open only to hunt or to gather more treasure.
Yellow dragons dislike and distrust most other creatures;
they prefer to spend the majority of their time in
solitude. They rarely associate with other dragons and
almost never form alliances; this behavior has earned
them the hatred of nearly all dragonkind, both good and
evil; of course this only serves to reinforce their
policy of isolationism.
ECOLOGY: Yellow dragons may eat nearly anything but
prefer to consume meat. They will usually hunt for
creatures that are easy to find and kill; this allows
them to spend as little time as possible out in the open.
Allan J. Mikkola (allanm@vulcan.med.ge.com)
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