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THE STONE DRAGONS

By Kelly Pedersen

I present to you a new group of dragons for your campaign, the stone dragons. Their creator, Kelly Pedersen, was kind enough to allow to post his creation at Mazaron's Castle. These first appeared in the rec.games.frp.dnd newsgroup in October of 1999, and I pleased to provide a home for them.

The five monsters that follow are stone dragons, each species of which identifies with a particular type of rock. Similar to the gem dragons, these are all neutral beings. Also like the gem dragons, and the original metallic and chromatic dragons, these new stone dragons are presented in a group of five species. Only time will tell if new stone dragons are added (as new gem, metallic, and chromatic dragons were added), or if a Tiamat or Bahamut type leader is created.

I think you will find these dragons very well designed, complete with unusual and unique spell-like abilities and breath weapons. Each type has a distinct personality, and should make find additions to any campaign world.

New AD&D Dragons

Sandstone Dragon

Sandstone dragons are often aloof and uncaring. They do not often talk to mortals, or get involved in their affairs, unless it is the only way to insure their privacy. At birth, a sandstone dragons scales are a dull brown, the color of mudstone. As they grow older, the scales become lighter, taking on reddish tinges. By the time the dragon is an adult, its scales are colored like reddish sandstone. The scales of a sandstone dragon are very small, but rough, so that it actually feels like sandstone. At birth, a sandstone dragon can speak their own tongue and the tongue common to all stone dragons, and 11% of hatchlings can communicate with any intelligent species. The chance to possess this ability increases 5% per age category.

Combat: A sandstone dragon tends to run away, if confronted with battle. Because of their sandstone nature, they are rather more fragile than other dragons, and also consider fighting beneath them. However, if they are forced to fight, they will use the desert sand to disguise themselves, ambushing their opponents, and using spells and breath weapon, then trying to hide again in the confusion, so as to be able to repeat the trick. They will only resort to physical combat if no other possible options are open.

Breath Weapon/Special Abilities: A sandstone dragon's breath weapon is a blast of wind and sand that forms a cone 70 feet long, 5 feet wide at the dragon's mouth, and 20 feet wide at its end. Anyone caught within the cone take damage, save vs. breath weapon for half, and make a second saving throw vs. breath weapon or be blinded by the sand for 1d6 rounds. A sandstone dragon casts its spells and uses its magical abilities at 6th level, plus its combat modifier.

At birth, a sandstone dragon is immune to the affects of heat, fire, and dehydration. As they age, they gain the following powers:
YOUNG: detect people three times a day. This allows the dragon to detect any creature with over animal intelligence within a 5 mile radius. The dragon will usually leave if there are ten or more intelligent creatures.
YOUNG ADULT: invisibility three times a day
MATURE ADULT: dust devil at will, control winds once a day. These are usually used in combat to hide the dragon and confuse its enemies.
OLD: repulsion once a day
WYRM: hallucinatory terrain once a day

Habitat/Society: Sandstone dragons are found in dry, sandy areas, preferably where there are sandstone rocks, to perch on. They are solitary animals, and often simply lie on a sandstone rock for long periods of time, becoming covered in sand, and looking like part of the landscape. They do not watch their treasure very closely, as they do not place the importance on it other dragons do. Instead, they bury it deeply in the sand, often in several small caches, and only look at it when they add something to it.
Sandstone dragons are very solitary, and do anything possible to avoid meeting other intelligent creatures, often leaving an area altogether if it gets too crowded (e.g. nine or ten people within twenty miles. Sandstone dragons dislike brown and blue dragons, and will hide if one comes into the area. If it appears to be staking a territory, the sandstone dragon will collect its treasure and quietly leave. Sandstone dragons loathe brass dragons, because the brass always try to engage the sandstone in conversation. If a sandstone so much as smells a brass, it will immediately hide and try to find out where the brass lives. Once it finds the brass, it will try to steal some of its treasure, to annoy it, then leave the area as fast as it can.

Ecology: Sandstone dragons apparently prefer to live off sand, sometimes settling on a rock for years, eating nothing but the occasional bit of sand that drifts into their mouth. However, they apparently enjoy the taste of camels very much, and will go after them with relish if they smell them. If the camels are part of a caravan, the dragon will probably back off, but if it is just one or two humans, the dragon will likely just eat the humans as well.

Age	Body Length (')	Tail Length (')	AC	Breath Weapon	Spells	MR	Treas.	XP
1	1-6	1-5	4	2d4+2	nil/nil	nil	nil	4000
2	6-15	5-13	3	4d4+4	nil/nil	nil	nil	6000
3	15-24	13-19	2	6d4+6	nil/nil	nil	nil	10000
4	24-33	19-25	1	8d4+8	1/nil	nil	1/2A	12000
5	33-43	25-35	0	10d4+10	11/nil	10%	A	15000
6	43-55	35-46	-1	12d4+12	21/nil	15%	A	16000
7	55-65	46-56	-2	14d4+14	22/nil	20%	A	18000
8	65-79	56-66	-3	16d4+16	32/1	25%	Ax2	19000
9	79-94	66-76	-4	18d4+18	33/11	30%	Ax2	20000
10	94-110	76-86	-5	20d4+20	43/21	35%	Ax2	21000
11	110-125	86-96	-6	22d4+22	44/22	40%	Ax3	22000
12	125-142	96-106	-7	24d4+24	54/32	45%	Ax3	23000

Limestone Dragon

Limestone dragons are lovers of nature, especially the beautiful forms that can be found in limestone caves. They are relatively friendly, especially to people who admire the caves, but they do not tolerate people near the caves where their treasure is stored. At birth, a limestone dragon is milky white, but as it grows streaks of other colors form, until, at adult stage, it looks like common limestone. A limestone dragon's scales are very, very small and smooth, so that the dragon almost looks like it was carved by running water from limestone.

At birth, limestone dragons can speak their own tongue, a tongue common to all stone dragons, and 15% of hatchlings can communicate with any intelligent creature. The chance to posses this ability increases by 5% for each age category of the dragon.

Combat: Limestone dragons are superb strategists, and will spend hours studying any intruders to their caves. If the intruders are hostile to the dragon or damage the cave, the dragon will use its abilities to prepare elaborate traps, using the natural features of the cave as much as possible. They will also wait in ambush beneath the surface in underground pools. When opponents are trapped, the dragon will use breath weapon and spells on them. The dragon will only engage adversaries in physical combat if there is no chance of damaging the cave. When a dragon has killed opponents, it will usually relive the bodies of any treasure, then place them where they will be coated in limestone, becoming a beautiful new part of the cave.

Breath Weapon/Special Abilities: A limestone dragon's breath weapon is a stream of lime and water 70' long, 5' wide at the dragon's mouth, and 20' wide at the end. This causes damage, save vs. breath weapon for half. Note that while this has the same effects on regenerating creatures that acid does, it is not acid, and creatures immune to acid are still affected by it. A limestone dragon uses its spells and special abilities at 7th level, plus its combat modifier.

At birth, limestone dragons can breath water, and are not harmed by attacks using water or ice. As they age, they gain the following abilities:
YOUNG: stone shape three times a day
YOUNG ADULT: speak with stone once a day
MATURE ADULT: passwall twice a day
OLD: darkness three times a day, one additional use of all other powers
GREAT WYRM: calcify once a day. This allows the dragon to coat any object with limestone growths. It takes three turns to complete, and the object must remain completely still, so the dragon does not use it in direct combat, but it will use it to seal off an area.

Habitat/Society: Limestone dragons live in limestone caverns near the surface, the larger the cavern system, the better. Their favorite activity is to wander the caves, looking at the beautiful structures and formations. Sometimes a limestone dragon will agree to guide explorers around the cave, provided they promise to do no damage, and give the dragon a substantial fee. The dragon will not simply guide someone through the cave the quickest possible way. Instead, it will take the people past the most beautiful parts of the cave, describing how they were formed, how long they were here, and other facts, and in general acting as a tour guide. The dragon will become offended if suggestions to "hurry it up" are made, and will often leave someone who makes such a suggestion in the cave.

Occasionally, in very large cave systems, the young dragons, instead of finding new lair, will just move to distant areas of the cave system. There are never more than seven limestone dragons in a cave system, however. If the dragons live in such a community, they will each have a personal territory, and the rest of the caverns will be common area. A dragon will not enter the personal territory of another dragon, but they do meet peacefully in the common area. In such a group, the oldest dragon will be considered the leader, and will organize the group to preserve the caves. In some such groups, spell and special abilities are actually used to expand the caves.

Limestone dragons hate black dragons, and dislike copper dragons, because their breath weapons can dissolve the limestone formations. They will try to drive black dragons away, and will ask copper dragons to leave. Limestone dragons are not the particular enemy of any other dragon species, and can usually live in harmony with them. They do not like dwarves, because they damage their caves, but will usually ask them to leave, and only attack if they don't.

Ecology: Limestone dragons usually eat meat, although they can eat anything. However, it is only at the very last resort that they will eat parts of their caverns. They particularly enjoy osquips, and sometimes keep large colonies of them, safely contained in areas they can't burrow through.

Age	Body Length (')	Tail Length (')	AC	Breath Weapon	Spells	MR	Treas.	XP
1	3-8	2-7	3	2d6+2	nil/nil	nil	nil	5000
2	8-17	7-13	2	3d6+4	nil/nil	nil	nil	7000
3	17-27	13-21	1	4d6+6	nil/nil	nil	nil	11000
4	27-40	21-31	0	5d6+8	1/nil	nil	1/4H	14000
5	40-53	31-41	-1	6d6+10	2/nil	10%	1/2H	16000
6	53-61	41-51	-2	7d6+12	3/1	15%	H	18000
7	61-76	51-61	-3	8d6+14	32/1	20%	H	19000
8	76-90	61-71	-4	9d6+16	32/2	25%	H	20000
9	90-110	71-81	-5	10d6+18	331/3	30%	Hx2	21000
10	110-126	81-91	-6	11d6+20	332/32	35%	Hx2	22000
11	126-135	91-101	-7	12d6+22	3321/33	40%	Hx2	23000
12	135-149	101-111	-8	13d6+24	3322/33	45%	Hx3	24000

Stone Dragons page 2 >