Forest Dragon

by Tanya Laubacher

CLIMATE/TERRAIN: Temperate forest
FREQUENCY: Very rare
ORGANIZATION: Solitary or pair
ACTIVITY CYCLE: Any
DIET: Special
INTELLIGENCE: High (13-14)
TREASURE: Special
ALIGNMENT: Neutral
NO. APPEARING: 1 (2)
ARMOR CLASS: 0 (base)
MOVEMENT: 12, Fl 30 (C), Br 6
HIT DICE: 12 (base)
THAC0: 9
NO. OF ATTACKS: 3 + special
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 1d6//1d6/2d8

SPECIAL ATTACKS: Special
SPECIAL DEFENSES: Variable
MAGIC RESISTANCE: Variable
SIZE: G (30' base)
MORALE: Fanatic (17 base)
XP VALUE: Variable

Forest dragons are the druids of dragon kind. They exist as part of nature, never to dominate it. They are secretive, stealthy and obsessed with the preservation of their territory. They don't mind coexisting with another dragons in their area but they are careful not to deplete it of resources and they will either drive the competing dragon away or leave. At birth, a forest dragon looks quite a bit like a scrawny sapling. It's softer scales are olive green with small light green leafy wings, the scales gradually darkening into sienna brown by the juvenile stage and begin to roughen like the bark of a tree. By the time it reaches young adulthood the dragon is covered by thick plates of dark brown "bark" and it's wings have the appearance of huge green leaves. Some dragons even have real vines and fungi growing on their bodies to heighten the appearance of a living tree.

Combat: Forest dragons do not like to engage in combat. They would rather observe potential problems and alert nearby friendly rangers, unicorns, centaurs or humanoid druids of the danger than take on the task themselves. If they must deal with an issue, a forest dragon can be a dangerous foe. Using their unique camouflage ability, a forest dragon will use hit and run tactics and strike with it's breath weapons, then quickly retreat into the trees and disappear again. It will them move to a different position and strike again with spells, then retreat again. Only as a last resort will they physically attack. Held or polymorphed beings are quickly dropped off outside the dragon's territory and warned never to return. The most evil and heinous of beings are killed outright.

Breath weapon abilities: A forest dragon has two breath weapons. Both are clouds of gas 50' long, 40' wide, and 20' high. The first is a powerful cloud of sweet smelling plant-like spores that act as the confusion spell as if cast by a 10th level druid. The second is a cloud of misty vapor that acts as the polymorph other magic-user spell that lasts for 1d4 turns, turning affected creatures into small woodland mammals like rabbits, squirrels or raccoons. A successful save verses dragon breath negates these affects.

At birth forest dragons can speak with animals freely, camouflage at will and speak with any intelligent creature at 10% per age category. Their camouflage ability allows the dragon to control the color of his body, actually blending in with his environment. When a dragon is camoflaged and remaining absolutely still there is only a 15% chance to notice it, even while looking carefully. As they age, they gain the following additional powers: Young: Pass without a trace at will, entangle three times a day. Juvenile: Pass plant once a day. Adult: Wall of thorns once a day. Mature adult: Control temperature three times a day in a 10' radius per age level. Old: Feeblemind once a day. Great wyrm: Reincarnate once a week.

Habit/Society: Forest dragons are mostly found in northern dedacious forests, but are known to exist in sub-tropical and sub-arctic locations. They choose secluded locations to dig their lairs deep underground. They carefully plot their earthen tunnels and caverns, using the strength of rock and tree roots to add support to their lairs. A forest dragon's lair will always have a well concealed main entrance and a hidden emergency escape tunnel. They use their druidic spell casting abilities to make walls of trees and illusions of brush to hide their homes. The walls of their lairs are lined with the treasure that they accumulate. Forest dragons are especially fond of gemstones, but do enjoy the glitter of metal coins and magical objects.

Forest dragons are very social with other creatures of their forest homes. They converse with dryads, unicorns, well known rangers, druids, centaurs, fairie-kin and even fairie dragons.

Ecology: Like other dragons, forest dragons can, and will, eat almost anything if the need arises. They usually enjoy an omnivorous diet of plants, fish, fungi and meat. When making it's lair the forest dragon actually eats much of the earth it excavates, providing itself with vital minerals it needs to create it's bark-like scales.
Age Body Length   Tail Length     AC     Spells (Druid)  MR    Treasure Type    XP Value  
1 2-4' 1-2' 4 Nil Nil Nil 2,000
2 4-10' 2-5' 3 1 5% Q 3,000
3 10-16' 5-8' 2 2 8% Qx2 4,000
4 16-24' 8-12' 1 2/1 10% Qx2, C 5,000
5 24-32' 12-16' 0 3/1/1 12% Qx2, R, C 6,000
6 32-46' 16-23' -1 4/2/1 16% Qx3, Rx2, A 8,000
7 46-58' 23-29' -2 4/3/2/1 20% Qx3, Rx3, A 10,000
8 58-64' 29-31' -3 4/4/3/2/1 24% Qx4, Rx3, H 12,000
9 64-80' 31-40' -4 4/4/4/3/2 28% Qx5, Rx4, H 14,000
10 80-94' 40-46' -5 5/4/4/3/2/1 32% Qx5, Rx4, H 16,000
11 94-100' 46-50' -6 5/5/4/4/3/2 36% Qx5, Rx5, Hx2 18,000
12 100-120' 50-60' -7 5/5/5/5/4/3 40% Qx5, Rx5, Hx2 20,000

Back to Gaming Goodies