Copper Dragon, Ancient

Metallic dragons make up the good branch of dragonkind, but they are every bit as aggressive as their evil cousins when threatened or challenged. They also tend to be covetous and proud.

Copper dragons are incorrigible pranksters, joke tellers, and riddlers. Most are good-natured but also have a covetous, miserly streak. They are powerful jumpers and climbers.

At birth, a copper dragon’s scales have a ruddy brown color with a metallic tint. As the dragon gets older, the scales become finer and more coppery, assuming a soft, warm gloss by young adult age. Very old dragons’ scales pick up a green tint. A copper dragon’s pupils fade with age, and the eyes of great wyrms resemble glowing turquoise orbs.

Copper dragons like dry, rocky uplands and hilltops. They lair in narrow caves and often conceal the entrances using move earth and stone shape. Within the lair, they construct twisting mazes with open tops that allow the dragon to fly or jump over intruders.

Copper dragons are determined hunters, considering good sport at least as important as the food. They are known to eat almost anything, including metal ore. However, they prize monstrous scorpions and other large poisonous creatures (they say the venom sharpens their wit).

Because copper dragons often inhabit hills in sight of red dragons’ lairs, conflicts between the two varieties are inevitable. The smaller coppers usually run for cover until they can even the odds.

A copper dragon appreciates wit and usually doesn’t harm creatures that can relate a joke, humorous story, or riddle the dragon has not heard before. It quickly gets annoyed with anyone who doesn’t laugh at its jokes or accept its tricks with good humor. It likes to taunt and annoy opponents into giving up or acting foolishly.

An angry copper dragon prefers to mire foes using <a href=”/transmute-rock-to-mud-2889″>transmute rock to mud/a>. The dragon pushes trapped opponents into the mud or snatches and carries them aloft. A copper dragon tries to draw airborne enemies into narrow, stony gorges where it can use its spider climb ability and maneuver them into colliding with the walls.

Breath Weapon (Su): 100-ft. line, damage 20d4 acid, Reflex DC 32 half; or 50-ft. cone, slow 1d6+10 rounds, Fortitude DC 32 negate. Using a breath weapon is a standard action. Once a dragon breathes, it can’t breathe again until 1d4 rounds later.

Frightful Presence (Ex): A young adult or older dragon can unsettle foes with its mere presence. The ability takes effect automatically whenever the dragon attacks, charges, or flies overhead. Creatures within a radius 300-ft are subject to the effect if they have 31 HD or less.

A potentially affected creature that succeeds on a Will DC 31 remains immune to that dragon’s frightful presence for 24 hours. On a failure, creatures with 4 or less HD become panicked for 4d6 rounds and those with 5 or more HD become shaken for 4d6 rounds. Dragons ignore the frightful presence of other dragons.

Crush (Ex): This special attack allows a flying or jumping dragon of at least Huge size to land on opponents as a standard action, using its whole body to crush them. Crush attacks are effective only against opponents of Small or less size (though it can attempt normal overrun or grapple attacks against larger opponents).

A crush attack affects as many creatures as can fit under the dragon’s body (an area of 15-ft × 15-ft in this case). Creatures in the affected area must succeed on a Reflex DC 32 or be pinned, automatically taking 2d8+16 bludgeoning damage during the next round unless the dragon moves off them. If the dragon chooses to maintain the pin, treat it as a normal grapple attack. Pinned opponents take damage from the crush each round if they don’t escape.

Snatch (Ex): The dragon can choose to start a grapple when it hits with a claw or bite attack, as though it had the improved grab special attack. If the dragon gets a hold on a creature of Small size or smaller with his claws, or Medium size or smaller with his bite, it squeezes each round for automatic bite or claw damage. A snatched opponent held in the dragon’s mouth is not allowed a Reflex save against the dragon’s breath weapon.

The dragon can drop a creature it has snatched as a free action or use a standard action to fling it aside. A flung creature travels 1d6×10 feet, and takes 1d6 points of damage per 10 feet traveled. If the dragon flings a snatched opponent while flying, the opponent takes this amount or falling damage, whichever is greater.

Blindsense (Ex): Dragons can pinpoint creatures within a distance of 60 feet. Opponents the dragon can’t actually see still have total concealment against the dragon.

Keen Senses (Ex): A dragon sees four times as well a human in shadowy illumination and twice as well in normal light. It also has darkvision out to 120 feet.

Spider Climb (Ex): A copper dragon can climb on stone surfaces as though using the spider climb spell.

Stone Shape (Sp): 2/day—as stone shape. Caster level 15th.

Transmute Rock to Mud/Mud to Rock (Sp): 1/day—as transmute rock to mud or transmute mud to rock. Caster level 15th; Reflex DC 20.

Wall of Stone (Sp): 1/day—as wall of stone. Caster level 15th; Reflex DC 20.

Spells: As 15th-level sorcerer. *Can also cast cleric spells and those from the Chaos, Earth and Trickery domains as arcane spells.

Typical Sorcerer Spells Known (6/8/7/7/7/7/6/4; save DC 15 + spell level): 0—arcane mark, dancing lights, daze, detect magic, disrupt undead, flare, ghost sound, read magic, resistance; 1st—command, grease, mage armor, Nystul’s magic aura, shield; 2nd—alter self, blur, invisibility, soften earth and stone, Tasha’s hideous laughter; 3rd—fireball, haste, magic circle against evil, nondetection; 4th—confusion, chaos hammer, spike stones, stoneskin; 5th—baleful polymorph, dispel law, false vision, teleport; 6th—animate objects, mislead, veil; 7th—earthquake, prismatic spray.

Feats: This dragon has 11 feats available.

Skills: These skills are considered class skills for all dragons: Concentration, Diplomacy, Escape Artist, Intimidate, Knowledge (any), Listen, Search, Sense Motive, Spot and Use Magic Device. These skills are considered class skills for copper dragons: Bluff, Hide and Jump. This dragon has 385 skill points available.