Dragon, Gold
- Armor Class
- 2 [17]
- Hit Dice
- 10–12
- Attacks
- Bite (2d6+2)
- Special
- Breathes poisonous gas or fire
- Move
- 12/24 (when flying)
- HDE/XP
- 12/2,000; 13/2,300; 14/2,600
Description
Gold dragons are of lawful alignment, can always speak, and cast spells as if they were a Magic-user of equal level to their age category (so that “Very Old” gold dragons are 6th level Magic-users). They can choose to either breathe fire in a cone 90 feet long and roughly 30 feet wide at the base or breathe chlorine gas in a cloud 50 feet in diameter.
Dragons
All dragons have a breath weapon of some kind, which can be used up to three times in a day. The Referee chooses when a dragon will use the breath weapon or may roll for it (50% chance) in any given round.
Referees should not roll for a dragon’s hit points, like one would for other monsters. Instead, determine the age category of the dragon—this will give both the dragon’s hit points per hit dice and how many points of breath weapon damage per hit dice the dragon inflicts.
For example, an “Adult” dragon has both 4 hit points and 4 points of breath weapon damage per hit dice. So an “Adult” black dragon with 6 HD would have 24 HP and deal 24 points of acid damage when using its breath weapon.
Table 41: Dragon Age Category
| Roll | Age | Hit Points/Hit Dice | Damage/Hit Dice |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Very Young | 1 | 1 |
| 2 | Young | 2 | 2 |
| 3 | Immature | 3 | 3 |
| 4 | Adult | 4 | 4 |
| 5 | Old | 5 | 5 |
| 6 | Very Old (100 years) | 6 | 6 |
| 7 | Aged (100–400) | 7 | 7 |
| 8 | Ancient (400+) | 8 | 8 |
Table 42: Dragon Breath Weapons
| Shape* | Type |
|---|---|
| Cloud | Gaseous |
| Cone | Fiery/Frosty |
| Line | Spitting |
* The dimensions of a dragon’s breath differ according to the dragon’s type.
Note that dragons, while dangerous opponents, are not by any means invincible. In a medieval-type fantasy world, dragons are a common problem rather than a godlike creature of legend—so the statistics for dragons reflect a deadly but not mythical foe. The Referee is, of course, free to create stats for a more “mythical” conception of dragons. Since dice aren’t rolled for dragon hit points, it is possible for a truly mythical dragon to have more “numbers” per die than it’s actually possible to roll on a hit dice.
See Also
Other creatures in the Dragon category: Dragon, Black, Dragon, Blue, Dragon, Cave, Dragon, Cloud, Dragon, Death, Dragon, Green, Dragon, Plains (Yellow Dragon), Dragon, Red, Dragon, Sea (Gray Dragon), Dragon, White.