Dragon, Plains (Yellow Dragon)
- Armor Class
- 4 [15]
- Hit Dice
- 4–6
- Attacks
- Bite (1d6+1)
- Special
- heat breath, surprise
- Move
- 15/24 (when flying)
- HDE/XP
- 6/400; 7/600; 8/800
Description
Plains dragons are the smallest of the true dragons. They have yellow skin dappled with pale green patches, spots, or thin stripes. Their color dulls and darkens with age until the oldest are almost uniformly tan.
They have long, sinuous bodies and unusually long legs, giving them the fastest land movement of any dragon. They often hunt from the air, surprising on 1–3 on 1d6, or lie hidden in tall grass or small copses. Older plains dragons are better camouflaged and may surprise on 1–4, or even 1–5 for truly ancient specimens.
The breath weapon is a shimmering cone of heat, barely visible by day and glowing faintly at night. A typical adult cone is about 70 feet long and 30 feet wide at the base; younger or older specimens may range from about 50 to 90 feet long.
Use the normal White Box dragon age rule for hit points and breath damage. The breath weapon is usable three times per day, and a successful saving throw halves the damage.
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, Gold, Dragon, Green, Dragon, Red, Dragon, Sea (Gray Dragon), Dragon, White.
Source note: This creature is converted from Basic Fantasy Role-Playing Game, 4th Edition Release 142, © 2006–2025 Chris Gonnerman. The Basic Fantasy textual material is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International; this page adapts that creature to White Box.