Dragon Senses

their share of ghostly dragons, adding a new element of danger for trespassers.

DRACOLICHDOM

Some evil dragons enlist the aid of others to cheat death. The dragon and its servants create an inanimate object, called a phylactery, that will hold the dragon’s life force.

Next, a special brew is prepared for the dragon to consume. The potion is a lethal poison that slays the dragon for which it was prepared without fail.

Upon the death of the dragon, its spirit transfers itself to the phylactery. From the phylactery, the spirit can occupy any dead body that lies close by, including its own former body. If the body it currently inhabits is destroyed, the spirit returns to the phylactery, and from there it can occupy a new body.

See the Dracolich entry, page 146, for details on the results of this process.

“Dragons don’t see very well in the dark. They don’t hear so well, either.”

—The late Aylmer Dapynto, erstwhile sage and dragon hunter

“You want to live a long and profitable life? Then don’t try to sneak past a dragon!”

—Lidda, advising a young rogue Like any predatory creature, a dragon has acute senses. These remarkable senses become even better as a dragon grows and ages, mostly because a dragon’s mind becomes ever more perceptive as the centuries pass. A dragon’s eyes, ears, and nose may not become any more sharper with age, but the dragon’s prodigious intellect can sift increasing amounts of information from its environment.

VISION

Dragons have vision superbly adapted to hunting. They enjoy excellent depth perception, which allows them to judge distances with great accuracy, and they have outstanding peripheral vision as well. Dragons can perceive motion and detail at least twice as well as a human in daylight, and their eyes adapt quickly to harsh light and glare. A dragon can stare at the sun on a clear summer day and suffer no loss of vision. Eagles and other birds of prey can perform similar visual feats. Such creatures often have poor night vision—and it may be this fact that leads some scholars to conclude that dragons don’t see well in the dark.

In fact, dragons see exceedingly well in dim light. In moonlight, dragons see as well as they can in sunlight. In even dimmer light, a dragon sees four times as far as a human can under similar conditions. Dragons can even see with no light at all.

When any illumination is present, a dragon sees in color. Its ability to discern hues is at least as good as a human’s. In the absence of light, a dragon’s vision is black-and-white.

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RULES: DRAGON SIGHT

As noted in the Monster Manual, dragons see extremely well in all lighting conditions.

In normal light, a dragon sees twice as well has a human. In game terms, this means that a dragon can detect the presence of a potential encounter at twice the distance given in the Dungeon Master’s Guide (see Stealth and Detection in a Forest, page 87, and other similar sections). Also, when a dragon makes a Spot check, it takes only half the penalty for distance: a –1 penalty per 20 feet of distance rather than the standard –1 per 10 feet of distance.

In dim light, a dragon sees four times as well as a human. The dragon’s low-light vision is exactly like that of other creatures with the low-light ability, except that the dragon sees four times as far when using artificial illumination. For example, from a dragon’s point of view a light spell produces bright illumination in a 40-foot radius around the affected object and dim light for an additional 40 feet.

In complete darkness, a dragon relies on darkvision and blindsense. Both are exactly like the standard abilities, except for the dragon’s exceptional range: 120 feet for darkvision and 60 feet for blindsense.

In addition to their superior visual apparatus, dragons commonly have ranks in the Spot skill.

RULES: DRAGON SCENT

Despite their excellent sense of smell, dragons do not have the scent special ability and do not gain the game benefits of that ability, except to the extent that this sense contributes to their blindsense.

RULES: DRAGON HEARING

A dragon’s ability to perceive ultrasonic or subsonic frequencies is no better than a human’s. Dragons commonly have ranks in the Listen skill, and given their enormous number of skill points many hear much better than typical humans.

RULES: HOVER AND WINGOVER

Hovering is a move action, which means a dragon also can use its breath weapon, cast a spell, use a spell-like ability, or make a melee attack while hovering (but not with a wing or its tail).

If a dragon does not attack during a round when it hovers, it can instead move at half speed it any direction it likes, including straight up, straight down, or backward, no matter what its maneuverability rating is.

When a dragon stops hovering, it can turn in place and resume ordinary flight in any direction in which it could normally fly. For example, if a dragon were flying north when it stopped to hover, it could turn around and fly south afterward. It still could not fly straight up or down or fly in any other manner that its maneuverability rating does not allow.

A dragon can perform a wingover as a free action while flying. Performing a wingover consumes 10 feet of flying movement. A dragon cannot hover or gain altitude in the same round that it performs a wingover.

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