Dragon	-	Monsters	-	Dragon #38
Preparing dragon hide	Brown Dragon	Orange Dragon	Yellow Dragon	Bahamut
-	-	Tiamat	-	-

-
Dragons are probably one of the most interesting types of monsters for the Dungeon Master to play, but I feel the rules for their play
are too sparse and in places could use some change and alteration. I
would like to discuss the rules for Subduing dragons, possible
speech and magic use, their Magic Resistance, the damage they do
from their Breath Weapon(s), how they attack with spells, breath
and bite, and modifications to some of the existing dragons?
especially the suggestion that Tiamat and Bahamut be elevated to
the rank of Deity. As with all of the material in this column, this is not
?official?  Advanced Dungeons and Dragons  but is given for your
consideration and possible use. If you do decide to agree with me, be
sure your players are aware of the CHANGES!

Have you even had your little band of characters stumble upon a
sleeping dragon and subdue the ancient fellow because the dice call
for it? Here is this giant monster with fabulous wealth and, let?s say,
80 hit points. The band comes in and scores 12 points of damage for
a ratio of 12/80, or 15%; you roll the dice, and sure enough a 12
comes up and the dragon gives up without a fight! Now, friends, this
does not make for good  AD&D!  I suggest to you the following rule:
The dragon?s subdual percent can not be less than the product of
his/her hit dice and age. Thus, this dragon mentioned would have a
minimum chance of 80% to NOT be subdued, so that a chance to
subdue could not exist until the monster takes 80% of 80, or 64
points of damage.

You can go further and say that magic-using dragons add 1% for
every spell level they can cast, so that if this fellow could cast 4 1st
and 4 2nd-level spells his percent chance would be 80 + 4(×1) +
4(×2) = 92%. Naturally, a dragon which takes 100% of its hit points
in subdual damage is automatically subdued.

Note further that subdual is NOT accomplished with Fireballs,
Cones of Cold, Lightning bolts, etc.! Those forms do real damage to
the monster and must be used in an attempt to kill. If the party
decides to subdue, but sees that they will lose, and chooses to revert
to actual damage, then subdual points can be counted at 1/3 their
value as real damage.

Almost every dragon I?ve ever placed in my world can speak, and
most of them can cast spells. Having any non-speaking dragons,
save for those produced by summons or as part of a family group, is
reducing the monster from a playability point of view. It is a lot more
fun to play a speaking, gullible dragon or a powerful, spell-casting
one than some dull fellow who can only bite and breathe. Thus I
suggest to you that the percentage chances of speaking and spell use
be dramatically increased! The percentages I use follow?and remember that if you want the dragon to speak/cast spells don?t let the
dice change your mind?however, summoned dragons or the lesser
dragons (younger) ones in a family group do use the percentages
given in the Monster Manual.

Color	Speaking	Magic Use	Sleeping
Black	65%	45%	30%
Blue	85%	65%	20%
Brass	70%	50%	25%
Bronze	75%	55%	20%
Copper	75%	55%	20%
Gold	95%	100%	5%
Green	75%	55%	25%
Red	95%	75%	15%
Silver	85%	85%	15%
White	55%	35%	35%
Brown*	60%	65%	20%
Orange*	50%	75%	20%
Yellow*	50%	75%	20%

*The latter three types, of my creation, will be outlined at the end
of the article.

I have also increased the chance of the dragon being awake, i.e.
not asleep. If more than 3 are encountered, 1 will always be awake!

What spells can a dragon cast? From reading the  Monster Manual,  it would appear that any spell is allowed. I have reduced the list
significantly and allowed some colors to cast other than Magic-User
spells!
 
 

Color	Magic-User	Clerical	Druidic	Illusionist
Black	85%	15%	0	0
Blue	85%	15%	0	0
Brass	80%	15%	5%	0
Bronze	75%	25%	0	0
Copper	95%	5%	0	0
Gold	75%	25%	0	0
Green	95%	0	0	5%
Red	100%	0	0	0
Silver	75%	25%	0	0
White	85%	15%	0	0
Brown	0	0	100%	0
Orange	20%	0	0	80%
Yellow	10%	70%	0	20%

This percentage means that any particular dragon casts ALL
spells of the type given; it is not a mixture in those percents!
Here is the list of spells I would allow for a dragon divided by class
and level:

MAGIC-USER

First	Second	Third	Fourth	Fifth	Sixth
Affect Normal Fires	Audible Glamer	Clairvoyance	Confusion	Distance Distortion	Geas
Charm Person	Continual Light	Dispel Magic	Fear	Magic Jar	Legend Lore
Comprehend Languages	Detect Evil	Feign Death	Fire Charm	Wall of Force	Project Image
Detect Magic	Detect Invisibility	Haste	Fumble	Teleport	-
Enlarge	ESP	Slow	Polymorph Self	-	-
Light	Invisibility	Tongues	Remove Curse	-	-
Magic Missile	Locate Object	-	-	-	-
Shocking Grasp	Mirror Image	-	-	-	-
Sleep	Pyrotechnics	-	-	-	-
Unseen Servant	Ray of Enfeeblement	-	-	-	-

CLERICAL
(Evil dragons cast the opposite spell in all cases except Cure
Light Wounds)

First	Second	Third	Fourth	Fifth	Sixth
Bless	Augury	Continual L	Cure Ser. W.	Commune	Blade Barrier
Command	Find Traps	Create F & W	Detect Lie	Plane Sh.	Heal
Cure Light W.	Hold Person	Dispel M.	Tongues	True See.	Speak w, Monst.
Detect M.	Know Alignment	Feign D.	-	-	-
Light	Silence 15' r.	Glyph Ward.	-	-	-
Resist Cold	Resist Fire	Locate Obj.	-	-	-
Remove Fear	Speak w anim.	Remove Curse	-	-	-

Note that Neutralize Poison, Cure Blindness, Cure Disease and
Raise Dead are specifically excluded. However, see the courts of
Tiamat and Bahamut.

DRUIDIC

First	Second	Third	Fourth
Detect Magic	Charm Person/Mam.	Hold Animal	Cure Serious W.
Detect S&P	Cure Light Wounds	Protection fire	Dispel Magic
Faerie Fire	Fire Trap	Pyrotechnics	Protection Lightning
Pass w/o trace	Obscurement	Tree	-

ILLUSIONIST

First	Second	Third
Audible Glamer	Blur	Continual Light
Change Self	Detect Magic	Fear
Detect Invisibility	Hynotic Pattern	Paralyzation
Light	Invisibility	Suggestion
Phantasmal Force	Mirror Images	-
Wall of Fog	Misdirection	-

The number and type of spells are as per the  Monster Manual.
The dragon casts the spells at the level of proficiency needed to gain
the spell as if the dragon were a human of the class indicated. A
dragon that can cast a 2nd-level Magic-User spell does so at 3rd
level, since a human MU must be 3rd level to cast a 2nd-level spell;
5th level proficiency for a 3rd-level spell, 7th for 4th, 9th for 5th and
12th for 6th respectively for dragons using Magic-User Spells,

I have omitted almost every major attack spell (i.e. Fireball,
Color Spray, Ice Storm, Cone of Cold, Slay the Living, Call Lightning, etc.), since that would give a dragon too much power. (See,
everything is not in the monster?s favor!)

Dragons have an innate Magic Resistance measured by dividing
their age level by 4 and rounding down. Yet this does not, in my
opinion, go quite far enough. I give some dragons an actual Magic
Resistance depending upon their age level. Again, this makes them
tougher and less likely for a party to stumble into and walk over. The
vast amounts of treasure dragons guard makes this rule acceptable.
If you can blow them away too easily, the gain outweighs the
potential hazard. Cheer up, the resistance isn?t too great.

Color	Adult	Old	Very Old	Ancient
Black	0	0	5%	10%
Blue	5%	10%	15%	20%
Brass	0	0	0	5%
Bronze	0	5%	10%	15%
Copper	0	0	5%	10%
Gold	10%	15%	20%	25%
Green	0	5%	10%	15%
Red	10%	15%	20%	25%
Silver	5%	10%	15%	20%
White	0	0	0	5%
Brown	0	0	5%	10%
Orange	0	0	5%	10%
Yellow	0	0	5%	10%
Tiamat	-	-	-	75%
Bahamut	-	-	-	85%

If you are wondering about Tiamat and Bahamut, remember that
I consider them deities, not just powerful monsters. They are both
emissaries of powerful Lawful gods.

If you read the  Monster Manual  word for word, it says that all
breath weapons of dragons do damage equal to the product of Age
and Hit Dice. Yet I am sure that you have noticed that some of the
metallic dragons have breath weapons that do not seem harmful, i.e.
Fear, Sleep, Repulsion, Slow, Gaseous Form and Paralyzation.
Since it must be remembered that Hit Points are partially theoretical
in nature when applied to characters, it is quite logical that some
damage does occur from these attacks. I use the sum of Age and Hit
Dice, however, and not the product in such case, with no damage if
the saving throw is successfully made. Thus a 4th Age dragon with 6
H.D. would do 10 points of damage with one of these weapons if the
s.t. fails, and no damage otherwise.

Dragons are for the most part highly intelligent and at the very
least very cunning. Thus they are not so stupid as to land and fight it
out on the ground if they do not have to! If they can Enlarge
themselves, create Mirror Images, etc., they will do so. If they are
Slowed, they will try to back off until the Slow wears off! While the
book calls for a choice between bite and breath, controlled by the
dice, it is essential that the DM use the monster?s best attack once the
monster has received damage. The right to let the dice choose for the
first attack is usually all well and good, but once the dragon has been
hit it will opt for its most powerful attack?usually its breath?the
next chance it gets. Give the monster an even break here. If the
monster is losing, it very well might try to fly away or go to the
ethereal or astral plane if it can (Tiamat and Bahamut are geniuses,
not fools!). A dragon is very likely to fly over once or twice and
breathe on its opponents before deciding to enter a normal melee.
Remember too that dragons have been flying all of their lives and
they can cast a spell if in uninterrupted flight! A dragon that can use a
touch spell like Shocking Grasp or Cause Serious Wounds will do
damage for the spell and its claw, if it hits.

Preparing dragon hide
Following are the special properties and use of a piece of dragon
hide:

Once a dragon has been killed, the section of hide over the heart
(about a 2?x2? piece) can be carefully removed for further use. It
must be dried and tanned within 7 days. If it has been damaged
during a melee (about a 25% chance, which could vary depending
on what killed/damaged the dragon), it is of no value. The properly
prepared hide must then have the spell Enchant an Item cast upon it
successfully (see that spell for details); failure negates the use of that
particular piece of hide. Once it is properly enchanted, a Magic-User
or Illusionist can scribe a spell upon the hide (NOTE: the spell Write
can never be used for this purpose!). The spell?s maximum level is
equal to the Dragon?s age level. The chance of success is a base
100%  minus 3%  for each level of the spell being written. Remember
that spells written by hand take 1 week per level and there can be no
other activity save for normal eating, sleeping, etc. Once successfully
scribed, that piece of dragon hide will retain the spell forever?
unless the hide is destroyed, of course?just as if it were a MagicUser?s book. Further, the hide gains the s.t. of the dragon in life,
including any magic resistance the dragon may have had, versus all
forms of attack. Only one spell per piece of hide is allowed in all
 cases. Tiamat and Bahamut?s body will never remain on the prime
material plane if killed.

Now, on to the three new dragons I have proposed and the
elevation of Tiamat and Bahamut to the rank of deity.

Brown Dragon	-	Orange Dragon	-	Yellow Dragon
-	Bahamut	-	Tiamat	-