The material below is Open Game Content
Dire Dragon
Dragon
Climate/Terrain: Any land
Organization: Wyrmling, very young, juvenile, and young adult: Solitary or clutch (2–5); adult, mature adult, old, very old, ancient, wyrm, or great wyrm: solitary, pair, or family (1 mother and 2–5 wyrmlings)
Challenge Ratings: Wyrmling 2, very young 4, young 6, juvenile 7, young adult 8, adult 10, mature adult 12, old 14, very old 15, ancient 17, wyrm 18, great wyrm 19
Treasure: 1/2 standard
Alignment: Always neutral
Advancement: Wyrmling 11–12 HD (Medium-size); very young 14–15 HD (Large); young 17–18 HD (Large); juvenile 20–21 HD (Huge); young adult 23–24 HD (Huge); adult 26–27 HD (Huge); mature adult 29–30 HD (Gargantuan); old 32–33 HD (Gargantuan); very old 35–36 HD (Gargantuan); ancient 38–39 HD (Colossal); wyrm 41–42 HD (Colossal); great wyrm 44+ HD (Colossal)
Combat
Dire dragons in combat have no strategy beyond raw force—but that’s typically all they need. Almost all dire dragons take Combat Reflexes as their first feat (to allow them to take better advantage of their impaling ability), and follow up with Improved Critical (vorpal bite), Weapon Focus (vorpal bite), Power Attack, Cleave, and Great Cleave.
Impaling (Ex): In addition to the natural attacks common to all dragons, dire dragons may use their various horns, spines, and spikes to make exceptionally vicious attacks of opportunity. Whenever a dire dragon has an attack of opportunity against a creature within 5 ft., it may attempt to impale the creature on its jagged spikes (–5 to the attack bonus), doing damage as per its age category.
Vorpal Bite (Ex): The dire dragon’s teeth are extraordinarily sharp, and its jaw muscles are among the strongest of any living creature. When a very young or older dire dragon scores a successful critical hit, the opponent’s head, if it has one, is severed.
Rage (Ex): At will, a dire dragon may fly into a wild rage during battle. When the dragon does this, it temporarily gains +4 to Strength, +4 to Constitution, and a +2 morale bonus on Will saves but suffers a –2 penalty to AC. This rage lasts for a number of rounds equal to 3 plus its (modified) Con bonus. The bonus to Constitution increases the dragon’s hit points by 2 per HD, but these hit points go away at the end of the rage when its Constitution score drops back to normal.
At the end of this time, the dragon is fatigued (–2 to Strength, –2 to Dexterity, can’t charge or run) for the rest of the encounter. However, given the dire dragon’s high Constitution, its rage is likely to last for the entire combat.
A dire dragon can only enter a rage once per encounter. Entering a rage takes no time itself, but the dragon can only do this during its action, not in response to someone else’s action.
Greater Rage (Ex): An Old or older dire dragon’s rage bonuses become +6 to Strength, +6 to Constitution, and a +3 morale bonus to Will saves. The –2 penalty to the dragon’s AC remains the same. The improved bonus to Constitution now increases the dragon’s hit points by 3 per HD, though these hit points still go away at the end of the rage.
| Age | Size | Hit Dice (hp) | AC | Attack Bonus | Fort Save | Ref Save | Will Save | Impaling Damage | Fear(DC) | SR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | M | 10d12+20 (85) | 20 (+10 natural), touch 10, flat-footed 20 | +14 | +9 | +7 | +8 | 1d6+4 | — | — |
| 2 | L | 13d12+26 (110) | 22 (–1 size, +13 natural), touch 9, flat-footed 22 | +18 | +10 | +8 | +9 | 1d8+5 | — | — |
| 3 | L | 16d12+48 (152) | 25 (–1 size, +16 natural), touch 9, flat-footed 25 | +23 | +13 | +10 | +11 | 1d8+7 | — | — |
| 4 | H | 19d12+76 (199) | 27 (–2 size, +19 natural), touch 8, flat-footed 27 | +27 | +15 | +11 | +12 | 2d6+8 | — | 11 |
| 5 | H | 22d12+110 (253) | 30 (–2 size, +22 natural), touch 8, flat-footed 30 | +32 | +18 | +13 | +15 | 2d6+10 | 21 | 14 |
| 6 | H | 25d12+125 (287) | 33 (–2 size, +25 natural), touch 8, flat-footed 33 | +36 | +19 | +14 | +16 | 2d6+11 | 23 | 15 |
| 7 | G | 28d12+140 (322) | 34 (–4 size, +28 natural), touch 6, flat-footed 34 | +41 | +21 | +16 | +18 | 2d8+13 | 25 | 16 |
| 8 | G | 31d12+217 (418) | 37 (–4 size, +31 natural), touch 6, flat-footed 37 | +45 | +23 | +17 | +19 | 2d8+14 | 27 | 17 |
| 9 | G | 34d12+238 (459) | 40 (–4 size, +34 natural), touch 6, flat-footed 40 | +50 | +26 | +19 | +22 | 2d8+16 | 29 | 18 |
| 10 | C | 37d12+333 (573) | 39 (–8 size, +37 natural), touch 2, flat-footed 39 | +54 | +29 | +20 | +23 | 4d6+17 | 31 | 19 |
| 11 | C | 40d12+360 (620) | 42 (–8 size, +40 natural), touch 2, flat-footed 42 | +59 | +30 | +21 | +24 | 4d6+19 | 33 | 20 |
| 12 | C | 43d12+387 (666) | 45 (–8 size, +43 natural), touch 2, flat-footed 45 | +63 | +32 | +23 | +26 | 4d6+20 | 35 | 21 |
| Age | Speed | Str | Dex | Con | Int | Wis | Cha | Special Abilities |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 50 ft., fly 100 ft. (average) | 18 | 10 | 15 | 4 | 12 | 8 | Rage |
| 2 | 50 ft., fly 100 ft. (average) | 21 | 10 | 15 | 4 | 12 | 8 | Vorpal bite |
| 3 | 50 ft., fly 100 ft. (average) | 24 | 10 | 17 | 4 | 12 | 8 | Damage reduction 5/+1 |
| 4 | 50 ft., fly 150 ft. (poor) | 27 | 10 | 19 | 4 | 12 | 10 | |
| 5 | 50 ft., fly 150 ft. (poor) | 30 | 10 | 21 | 4 | 14 | 10 | Damage reduction 10/+2 |
| 6 | 50 ft., fly 150 ft. (poor) | 33 | 10 | 21 | 4 | 14 | 12 | |
| 7 | 50 ft., fly 200 ft. (poor) | 36 | 10 | 21 | 4 | 14 | 12 | Damage reduction 15/+2 |
| 8 | 50 ft., fly 200 ft. (poor) | 39 | 10 | 25 | 4 | 14 | 14 | Greater rage |
| 9 | 50 ft., fly 200 ft. (poor) | 42 | 10 | 25 | 4 | 16 | 14 | Damage reduction 20/+3 |
| 10 | 50 ft., fly 200 ft. (clumsy) | 45 | 10 | 29 | 4 | 16 | 16 | |
| 11 | 50 ft., fly 200 ft. (clumsy) | 48 | 10 | 29 | 4 | 16 | 16 | Damage reduction 25/+3 |
| 12 | 50 ft., fly 200 ft. (clumsy) | 51 | 10 | 29 | 4 | 16 | 18 | Damage reduction 30/+4 |
The license for this material originates in a 3PP source
