Aquatic Dragon
Created by Gregory Detwiler
FREQUENCY: Very rare
NO. APPEARING: 1-2
ARMOR CLASS: 1 (3 on land)
MOVE: 9"//24"
HIT DICE: 9-11
% IN LAIR: 15%
TREASURE TYPE: H, S, T
NO. OF ATTACKS: 4 claws, 1 bite, and 1 tail strike
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 1-4/1-4/1-4/1-4/1-12/2-16
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Breath weapon, spell use, high intelligence, six attacks
per round
SPECIAL DEFENSES: Acute senses, saving throw bonuses
MAGIC RESISTANCE: Standard
INTELLIGENCE: High
ALIGNMENT: Lawful evil
SIZE: L (70' long)
PSIONIC ABILITY: Nil
CHANCE OF:
Speaking: 95%
Magic Use: 10%
Sleeping: 25%
LEVEL/XP VALUUE: 9-10 HD: VIII/2,900 + 14 per hit point; 11 HD: IX/5,800
+ 16 per hit point
The aquatic dragon is a water-breathing
relative of the terrestrial dragons,
more
closely related to them than to the dragon
turtle or Oriental lung wang (sea dragon).
It is fully as deadly as its winged cousins,
although it cannot fly. This sea-green
creature lives in all depths of the ocean,
immune to changes in water pressure
from some inborn magical ability.
Although it cannot breathe air, it can take
great draughts of water in its lungs to
enable it to ?hold its breath? out of the
water for 10 rounds at a time, though it
cannot then bite. The creature is thus able
to raid surface vessels and coastal com-
munities. The aquatic dragon, unlike most
others, bears its young alive. Aquatic
dragons live equally well in fresh or salt
water.
The aquatic dragon is amazingly maneu-
verable for such a large beast. In this
environment, it moves above or below a
large enemy or a party of small foes, strik-
ing out at once with its jaws, all four
clawed feet, and its spike-tipped tail. Even
deadlier is the creature?s breath weapon.
Three times per day, the aquatic dragon
can exhale a concentrated cloud of heavy
particles which, after being in contact
with the water for one segment, undergo
a mysterious chemical reaction. Anything
within the cloud (a cone 15? by 60?) is
affected as if it had undergone a lightning
bolt attack for 4-40 hp damage. Aquatic
dragons often use this attack on the
underside of a major ship or warship; the
ship?s bottom is thus blasted away, and the
vessel sinks in 1-4 rounds unless the wood
saves vs. lightning. This attack has no
effect in the air.
Almost all aquatic dragons are capable
of speaking, being intelligent; very few of
them use magic, however, because of the
difficulty in acquiring spell books and
scrolls underwater. A spell-using dragon of
this type often has as its lair a cavern with
a chamber filled with air to preserve
books and papers. Magical items of inter-
est to aquatic dragons are those which
enable their users to go without breathing
or which are normally regarded by air-
breathers as cursed, because they fill the
lungs of the user with water. These items
enable an aquatic dragon to conduct
extended plundering and hunting forays
on the land of coastal areas. As for spells,
the dragon gains a 1st-level magic-user
spell the first two stages of its life, a 2nd-
level spell for each of the next two, a 3rd-
level spell for each of the two after that,
and one 4th-level spell for each of the last
two life stages.
The entrances of aquatic dragon lairs
are tangled in seaweed, one strand of
which is often tied to the beast?s tail when
it is asleep, thus awakening the dragon
with its movement when someone tries to
enter. Consequently, it is difficult at best to
catch an aquatic dragon napping. Addi-
tionally, these dragons are immune to the
effects of strangle weed, as their neck
muscles and pressure-resistant bodies are
so strong, so they often use this plant in
their lairs as well.
Aquatic dragons gain +2 to their saving
throws vs. water-based attacks, +1 to
their saving throws vs. fire-based attacks,
and have a -2 penalty to their saving
throws vs. electrical attacks. These same
values also apply to their chances to be
struck in combat by creatures using these
powers (such as elementals) and to the
number of hit points taken per hit die of
damage from such effects. Thus, an attack
by a lightning quasi elemental would do
+2 hp/HD damage and have a +2 bonus
to hit.