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thecreaturecodex · 3 years

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Dragon, Yellow

“Citrine Dragon” © Robert Burke Games, by Kerem Beyit. Accessed at his deviantArt gallery here

[Commissioned by @mr-w-rambles. Folks, this is the longest single creature entry I’ve ever written. See ya, hordlings! It’s also my first true dragon. Which, taking the Pathfinder Bestiary format, means a table and three whole stat blocks. Tumblr handles tables poorly, so I’ve put those below the cut as image files--they’re a bit jarringly large, but they’re still legible.

There have been two different versions of the yellow dragon, one from the 1990 Draconomicon, which lives in deserts, and this one, from Dragon Magazine, which is semi-aquatic. The article it comes from uses color theory to predict the breath weapons of the “missing dragons”, so it gets a bit weird. The yellow dragon itself evolved through its three iterations. The 1e version is a pretty standard dragon, the 2e version is wingless and flies magically, and the 3e version (from Dragon Compendium Vol. 1) is incredibly dexterous for a dragon. I went with the 3e concept, but toned it down (as all dragons have been toned down in the shift from 3.x to Pathfinder). This is also a dragon that might play a little weirdly. Its AC is even better than the inflated AC for dragons, but its damage dealing capabilities are pretty pathetic. It also inflicts more status conditions than usual for a dragon. The CR on this is somewhat of a stab in the dark, comparing it to core Pathfinder dragons. Let me know if you think it needs further adjustment.]

Dragon, Yellow This dragon’s long, serpentine body is covered in yellow scales, flecked with green and white. It has no wings, but moves through the air with surprising grace. Its eyes are sea green and somewhat beady, and multiple ridges run along its skull and body, giving it a streamlined appearance.

Yellow dragons live at the convergence of air, earth and water. They are found on sandy beaches, coral reefs, salt marshes and mangrove forests. The scales of a yellow dragon remain small throughout the creature’s entire life, giving them a supple skin and a glittering appearance. They can breathe a cone of pressurized brine, which deals as much damage above as below water. They are carnivores, with a taste for desiccated and heavily salted meat. They are physically weak by the standards of dragons, but are remarkably nimble, and can maneuver in three dimensions in multiple kinds of terrain. Yellow dragons prefer to make hit and run attacks, stopping to make full attacks only when opponents are blinded and agonized by salt crystals.

Yellow dragons are cruel and temperamental creatures. They often make raids inland to attack settlements of intelligent creatures, and savor the meat of humanoids for special occasions. They may ally with sahaugin or other evil aquatic creatures, but yellow dragons feel clearly that they are the dominant party in the relationship. Yellow dragons fear bronze dragons above all others, as the bronze dragons are larger and better spellcasters besides. Almost all yellow dragons take spells that protect them from electricity once they are capable enough spellcasters. Yellow and black dragons sometimes have overlapping territories, but the two species keep a wary distance from each other.

Yellow Dragon LE dragon (air, water) Base Statistics CR 3; Size Tiny; Hit Dice 3d12 Speed 60 ft., burrow 30 ft., swim 60 ft. Natural Armor +3; Breath Weapon cone of salt, 2d4 bludgeoning and acid Str 7, Dex 16, Con 13, Int 8, Wis 11, Cha 8 Ecology Environment warm and temperate coastal and aquatic Organization solitary Treasure triple standard Special Abilities Agonizing Breath (Su) A creature that takes damage from an adult or older yellow dragon’s breath weapon must succeed a Fortitude save (same DC as the breath weapon) or be sickened for a number of rounds equal to the dragon’s age category. This is a pain effect. Blinding Breath (Su) A creature that takes damage from a young or older yellow dragon’s breath weapon must succeed a Fortitude save (same DC as the breath weapon) or be blinded for a number of rounds equal to ½ the dragon’s age category. Brine Storm (Su) An ancient or older yellow dragon can use its breath weapon to create a cloud of acid as a standard action that deals damage to any creature inside it. The cloud moves with the dragon and has a radius of 20 feet. When it's created, anyone inside this area takes an amount of acid damage equal to half the dragon's breath weapon, with a Reflex save for half damage. The number of damage dice rolled is halved each round until the result would be less than 1d4. Any creature that starts its turn inside the cloud takes damage, but can make a Reflex save for half. A strong wind, such as that created by a gust of wind, disperses the cloud in 1 round. Flight (Su) A yellow dragon’s flight is a supernatural ability. It always has good maneuverability with its flight speed, no matter its size. Graceful Attacks (Ex) An old or older yellow dragon may add its Dexterity modifier to its damage with natural weapons instead of its Strength modifier. It does not add 1.5 times its Dexterity modifier to damage bonuses to its bite or tail slap attacks. Nimble (Ex) A yellow dragon uses the following table for its Strength, Dexterity and natural armor bonuses. All of its other ability scores and qualities use the normal dragon table. In addition, it uses its Dexterity modifier to modify Swim checks.

Spell-like Abilities A yellow dragon gains the following spell-like abilities, usable at will upon reaching the listed age category. Very young—obscuring mist; Young adult—control water; Mature adult—control winds; Very old—control weather; Great wyrm—horrid wilting. Terrible Claws (Ex) A yellow dragon of young or older age does not have wing slap attacks, but its claws deal damage as if it were one size larger. Water Breathing (Ex) A yellow dragon can breathe underwater indefinitely and can freely use its breath weapon, spells and other abilities while submerged.

Young Yellow Dragon CR 7 XP 3,200 LE Medium dragon (air, water) Init +5; Senses blindsense 60 ft., darkvision 120 ft., dragon senses, Perception +10 Defense AC 22, touch 16, flat-footed 16 (+5 Dex, +1 dodge, +6 natural) hp 66 (7d12+21) Fort +8, Ref +10, Will +6 Immune acid, paralysis, sleep Offense Speed 60 feet, burrow 30 ft., swim 60 ft., fly 150 ft. (good) Melee bite +12 (1d8), 2 claws +12 (1d8) Space 5 ft.; Reach 5 ft. (10 ft. with bite) Special Attacks blinding breath (Fort DC 16, 1 round), breath weapon (60 ft. cone, 1d4 rounds, Ref DC 16, 6d4 acid and bludgeoning) Spell-like Abilities CL 7th, concentration +7 At will—obscuring mist Statistics Str 11, Dex 20, Con 17, Int 10, Wis 13, Cha 10 Base Atk +7; CMB +7; CMD 23 (27 vs. trip) Feats Combat Reflexes, Dodge, Mobility, Weapon Finesse Skills Appraise +9, Bluff +9, Fly +18, Perception +10, Sense Motive +10, Stealth +14, Survival +10, Swim +13; Racial Modifiers uses Dex to Swim Languages Draconic SQ flight. nimble, terrible claws, water breathing

Adult Yellow Dragon CR 11 XP 12,800 LE Large dragon (air, water) Init +8; Senses blindsense 60 ft., darkvision 120 ft., dragon senses, Perception +14 Aura frightful presence (180 ft., Will DC 18) Defense AC 30, touch 18, flat-footed 21 (-1 size, +8 Dex, +1 dodge, +12 natural) hp 138 (12d10+60) Fort +13, Ref +16, Will +11 DR 5/magic; Immune acid, paralysis, sleep; SR 21 Offense Speed 60 feet, burrow 30 ft., swim 60 ft., fly 200 ft. (good) Melee bite +19 (2d6+1), 2 claws +19 (2d6+1), tail slap +14 (1d8+1) Space 10 ft.; Reach 10 ft. (15 ft. with bite) Special Attacks agonizing breath (Fort DC 21, 6 rounds), blinding breath (Fort DC 21, 3 rounds), breath weapon (80 ft. cone, 1d4 rounds, Ref DC 21, 12d4 acid and bludgeoning) Spell-like Abilities CL 12th, concentration +14 At will—control water, obscuring mist Spells CL 3rd, concentration +5 1st (6/day)—alarm, protection from good (DC 13), ray of enfeeblement (DC 13) 0th—arcane mark, detect magic, detect poison, mage hand, message Statistics Str 13, Dex 26, Con 21, Int 14, Wis 17, Cha 14 Base Atk +12; CMB +14; CMD 33 (37 vs. trip) Feats Blind-fight, Combat Reflexes, Dodge, Flyby Attack, Mobility, Weapon Finesse Skills Appraise +13, Bluff +13, Fly +21, Intimidate +13, Knowledge (arcana, nature) +13, Perception +14, Sense Motive +14, Spellcraft +13, Stealth +17, Survival +14, Swim +21; Racial Modifiers uses Dex to Swim Languages Aquan, Common, Draconic SQ flight. nimble, terrible claws, water breathing

Ancient Yellow Dragon CR 16 XP 76,800 LE Huge dragon (air, water) Init +11; Senses blindsense 60 ft., darkvision 120 ft., dragon senses, Perception +25 Aura frightful presence (300 ft., Will DC 24) Defense AC 40, touch 20, flat-footed 28 (-2 size, +11 Dex, +1 dodge, +20 natural) hp 283 (21d12+147) Fort +17, Ref +23, Will +17 DR 15/magic; Immune acid, paralysis, sleep; SR 26 Offense Speed 60 feet, burrow 30 ft., swim 60 ft., fly 250 ft. (good) Melee bite +30 (2d8+11), 2 claws +30 (2d8+11/19-20), tail slap +25 (2d6+11) Space 15 ft.; Reach 15 ft. (20 ft. with bite) Special Abilities agonizing breath (Fort DC 27, 10 rounds), blinding breath (Fort DC 27, 5 rounds), breath weapon (100 ft. cone, 1d4 rounds, 20d4 acid and bludgeoning, Ref DC 27), brine storm (10d4 acid, Ref DC 27), crush (2d8+6, Ref DC 27), graceful attacks Spell-like Abilities CL 21st, concentration +25 (+29 casting defensively) At will—control water, control weather, control winds, obscuring mist Spells CL 11th, concentration +15 (+19 casting defensively) 5th (5/day)—cone of cold (DC 19), polymorph 4th (7/day)—dimensional anchor, enervation, fire shield, resilient sphere (DC 18) 3rd (7/day)—dispel magic, haste, heroism, protection from energy 2nd (7/day)—bear’s endurance, invisibility, mirror image, scorching ray, see invisibility 1st (7/day)—alarm, comprehend languages, mage armor, protection from good (DC 15), ray of enfeeblement (DC 15) 0th—arcane mark, detect magic, detect poison, light, mage hand, message, prestidigitation, ray of frost, read magic Statistics Str 19, Dex 32, Con 25, Int 18, Wis 21, Cha 18 Base Atk +21; CMB +33; CMD 48 (52 vs. trip) Feats Agile Manuevers, Blind-fight, Combat Casting, Combat Reflexes, Dodge, Flyby Attack, Improved Critical (claw), Iron Will, Mobility, Stand Still, Weapon Finesse Skills Appraise +25, Bluff +25, Fly +31, Intimidate +25, Knowledge (arcana, nature) +25, Perception +25, Sense Motive +25, Spellcraft +25, Stealth +23, Survival +26, Swim +31; Racial Modifiers uses Dex to Swim Languages Aquan, Auran, Common, Draconic, Giant SQ flight. nimble, terrible claws, water breathing

#yellow dragon #dragon #commissions #D&D #pathfinder 1e

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