The third very rarely seen dragon type
is the purple. Two well documented
dragons, the red and the blue, may mate
to produce a purple dragon. This is the
strongest of the three missing dragon
types, since its parents are the largest
and most intelligent evil dragons.

Purple Dragon
FREQUENCY: Very rare
NO. APPEARING:  1-4
ARMOR CLASS: 1
MOVE:  9”/24”
HIT DICE: 8-10
%  IN LAIR: 55%
TREASURE TYPE: H, T
NO. OF ATTACKS: 3
DAMAGE/ATTACK:  2-7/2-7/5-27
SPECIAL ATTACKS:  Breath weapon
and possible magic use
SPECIAL DEFENSES:  Nil
MAGIC RESISTANCE:  Standard
INTELLIGENCE:  High
ALIGNMENT:  Neutral evil
SIZE:  L (45’ long)
PSIONIC ABILITY:  Nil
Attack/Defense Modes:  Nil
CHANCE OF:
    Speaking: 65%
    Magic Use: 35%
    Sleeping:  25%

Purple dragons can lair in almost any
climate, but a lair will always be a deep
complex of underground caves, free from
any natural light sources. The breath
weapon of a purple dragon is at its most
startling in utter darkness.




A purple dragon will either attack with
its claw/claw/bite routine (bite is 2d12 +
3) or by its breath weapon, generating a
bolt of energy in a straight line 1/10”
wide and 10” long, similar to that of a
blue dragon, but narrower. The bolt is a
high-energy lance, a merging of the
lightning and fire from the dragon’s blue
and red parents. Victims take damage
equal to the dragon’s hit points from be-
ing fully struck; victims who make a save
vs. breath weapon are only struck a
glancing blow and take half damage.
Both the victim and anyone else stand-
ing in a 120° arc in front of the dragon’s
head are struck blind for 8-10 (hit dice of
dragon) melee rounds due to the eye-
searing brightness of the beam. The
blindness is of half duration outside in
daylight, and of three-quarters duration
(round fractions up in both cases) in a
torch-lit room underground.




Magic-using purple dragons gain a
1st-level spell at each of the first three
stages of growth; a 2nd-level spell at the
fourth and fifth stages; a 3rd-level spell
at the sixth and seventh stages; and a
4th-level spell at the final stage. A magic-
using ancient purple dragon would know
random spells consisting of three 1st-
level, two 2nd-level, two 3rd-level, and
one 4th-level incantation. Purple drag-
ons take half damage from lightning and
fire attacks (regular and magical).

 
 

Dragon Magazine	Monster Manual III	Dragons	Redefining the Dragon	Dragon #38
Orange Dragon	Yellow Dragon	Purple Dragon	The Missing Dragons	Dragon #65