Advanced Dragons

Table 2–11: The Unholy Ravager of Tiamat

Class Base Fort Ref Will Level Attack Bonus Save Save Save Special Spellcasting

1st +1 +2 +0 +2 Divine conversion, smite — 2nd +2 +3 +0 +3 Breath weapon substitution +1 level of existing class 3rd +3 +3 +1 +3 Aura of despair +1 level of existing class 4th +4 +4 +1 +4 Smite 2/day +1 level of existing class 5th +5 +4 +1 +4 +1 level of existing class 6th +6 +5 +2 +5 +1 level of existing class 7th +7 +5 +2 +5 Profane blast +1 level of existing class 8th +8 +6 +2 +6 Smite 3/day +1 level of existing class 9th +9 +6 +3 +6 +1 level of existing class 10th +10 +7 +3 +7 +1 level of existing class 11th +11 +7 +3 +7 +1 level of existing class 12th +12 +8 +4 +8 Mass profane blast, smite 4/day +1 level of existing class

presence take a –2 penalty on all saving throws. This penalty is applied before creatures roll their saving throws against the frightful presence effect itself.

Profane Blast (Su): At 7th level, an unholy ravager of Tiamat can unleash a narrow blast of raw profane energy from its mouth three times per day. The blast is a ray, requiring a ranged touch attack, with a range of 400 feet + 40 feet per class level. The blast looks and feels like energy of the same type as the dragon’s breath weapon. If it hits a target, it deals the same number of dice worth of damage as the dragon’s breath weapon, but uses d12s. (So, a great wyrm blue dragon would deal 24d12 points of damage with its profane blast.) The damage it deals results directly from divine power and is therefore not subject to being reduced by protection from energy and similar magic. Each use of this ability counts as a use of the dragon’s breath weapon, so it cannot use its breath weapon for 1d4 rounds after issuing a profane blast.

An unholy ravager can target a creature behind a wall of force, prismatic wall, or prismatic sphere with its profane blast. The dragon makes a special dispel check, rolling 1d20 + its age category + its class level against a DC of 11 + the effect’s caster level. If this check is successful, the effect is instantly negated (all layers in a prismatic effect are destroyed) and the ray goes on to strike the intended target (if the ranged touch attack roll is successful). A profane blast is stopped normally by a sacred warder of Bahamut’s sacred shield.

Mass Profane Blast (Su): At 12th level, an unholy ravager of Tiamat’s profane blast occupies the same area as its breath weapon and affects all creatures within that area. The dragon can choose whether to use a ray profane blast or a mass profane blast, and can use both abilities no more than a total of three times per day.

If a wall of force or prismatic effect is within the area of a mass profane blast, the dragon makes a special dispel check as described above for each such effect within the area.

The advancement rules in the Monster Manual allow dragons theoretically infinite progression even beyond the statistics of great wyrm. This book lets dragons improve more than their Hit Dice as they progress to unparalleled heights of power.

Age Category: A standard dragon gains one “virtual age category” for every 3 Hit Dice it gains beyond the great wyrm stage. A 61 HD red dragon, with 21 more Hit Dice than a standard great wyrm, has gained seven virtual age categories, meaning its effective age category is nineteen. Abilities that function once per day per age category or otherwise use the dragon’s age category as part of a calculation use this adjusted number.

Size: One important element of dragon advancement is increasing size. The dragons that don’t reach Colossal size by the great wyrm stage can never reach it according to the standard advancement rules. When advancing a dragon, consider its basic size group: smaller (black, brass, copper, and white dragons), normal (blue, bronze, and green dragons), or larger (gold, red, and silver dragons). A dragon that is Tiny as a wyrmling is in the smaller group, a dragon that is Small as a wyrmling and never reaches Colossal size is in the normal group, and a dragon that is Small to Large as a wyrmling and reaches Colossal by the great wyrm stage is in the larger group.

A smaller-sized dragon becomes Colossal when it gains two age categories (+6 HD) beyond great wyrm. It increases to Colossal+ (see below) when it gains an additional four age categories (+18 HD total). Thus, a white great wyrm reaches Colossal size at 42 HD and Colossal+ at 54 HD, while a brass great wyrm becomes Colossal at 43 HD and Colossal+ at 55 HD.

A normal-sized dragon becomes Colossal when it gains one age category (3 Hit Dice) beyond great wyrm. It increases to Colossal+ when it gains an additional four age categories (+15 HD total). Thus, a green great wyrm reaches Colossal size at 41 HD and Colossal+ size at 53 HD, while a bronze dragon becomes Colossal at 42 HD and Colossal+ at 54 HD.

A larger-sized dragon becomes Colossal+ when it gains four age categories (12 HD) more than it needed to reach the Colossal size. Thus, a silver or red dragon becomes Colossal+ at 52 HD, and a gold dragon becomes Colossal+ at 53 HD.

Colossal+ Size: Although there is no size category larger than Colossal, the largest advanced dragons have a greater reach and deal more damage with their attacks than other Colossal dragons. These dragons are said to be of Colossal+ (“Colossal plus”) size.