Dragon, Adamantite
| Statistic | Value |
|---|---|
| Climate/Terrain | Any mountains |
| Frequency | Very rare |
| Organization | Solitary or clan |
| Activity Cycle | Any |
| Diet | Special |
| Intelligence | Genius (17-18) |
| Treasure | Special |
| Alignment | Neutral Good |
| No. of Appearing | 1 (2-5) |
| Armor Class | -4 (base) |
| Move | 12, Fl 38 (C), Jp 3 |
| Hit Dice | 16 (base) |
| THAC0 | 5 (base) |
| No. of Attacks | 3 + special |
| Damage/Attack | 2-12/2-12/4-40 (4d10) |
| Special Attacks | Special |
| Special Defenses | Variable |
| Magic Resistance | Variable |
| Size | G (54' base) |
| Moral | Fanatic (17-18) |
| XP Value | Variable |
Description
| Age | Body Length | Tail Length | AC | Breath Weapon | Spells Wizard/Priest | MR | Treasure Type | XP Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2-12 | 3-12 | -1 | 2d12+1 | Nil | Nil | Nil | 3,000 |
| 2 | 12-24 | 12-20 | -2 | 4d12+2 | Nil | Nil | Nil | 4,000 |
| 3 | 24-38 | 20-30 | -3 | 6d12+3 | Nil | Nil | Nil | 6,000 |
| 4 | 38-56 | 30-42 | -4 | 8d12+4 | 2 | Nil | E, Z, T | 8,000 |
| 5 | 56-78 | 42-52 | -5 | 10d12+5 | 2 2 | 40% | H, Z, T | 10,000 |
| 6 | 78-98 | 52-60 | -6 | 12d12+6 | 2 2 2 | 45% | H, Z, T | 13,000 |
| 7 | 98-115 | 60-70 | -7 | 14d12+7 | 2 2 2 2 | 50% | H, Z, T | 14,000 |
| 8 | 115-128 | 70-76 | -8 | 16d12+8 | 2 2 2 2 1 / 1 | 55% | H, Z, Tx2 | 15,000 |
| 9 | 128-140 | 76-82 | -9 | 18d12+9 | 2 2 2 2 2 / 2 | 60% | H, Z, Tx2 | 17,000 |
| 10 | 140-150 | 82-90 | -10 | 20d12+10 | 2 2 2 2 2 1 / 2 2 | 65% | H, Z, Tx2 | 18,000 |
| 11 | 150-160 | 90-96 | -11 | 22d12+11 | 2 2 2 2 2 2 / 2 2 2 | 70% | H, Z, Tx3 | 19,000 |
| 12 | 160-166 | 96-102 | -12 | 24d12+12 | 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 / 2 2 2 2 | 75% | H, Z, Tx3 | 20,000 |
Adamantite dragons are among the most powerful of all good dragons; they are also one of the rarest species. An encounter with an adamantite dragon is at best a once-in-a-lifetime event for all but the most fortunate (or unfortunate) of individuals.
An adamantite dragon's scales change little in color throughout its life; they are dark black from birth to old age. The scales are very small at birth, but as the dragon grows, they become larger and thicker, and are soon harder than steel. Once the mature adult stage is reached, the dragon develops silver flecks throughout its scales; these flecks grow more abundant as the dragon ages.
Adamantite dragons speak their own tongue, a tongue common to all good dragons, and 18% of hatchling adamantite dragons have an ability to communicate with any intelligent creature. The chance to possess this ability increases 5% per age category of the dragon.
An adamantite dragon encountered in human form will usually take the shape of a human wizard or fighter.
Combat
Adamantite dragons will not attack good creatures unless their lives are in danger, and will not fight most neutral individuals unless attacked first. However, they will attack all but the most powerful evil creatures on sight without a second thought; they have little tolerance for evil beings.
An adamantite dragon will not hesitate to immediately close with most opponents and fight with claws and bite. Against extremely powerful foes, spells, breath attacks, and/or special abilities will be used before entering melee. An adamantite dragon has little trouble deciding when an enemy has been sufficiently weakened by these attacks, so these weapons are rarely wasted on senseless attacks.
Breath Weapon: An adamantite dragon has two breath weapons. The first is a cloud of frost with a radius of 50' in all directions. This cloud will remain in effect for three rounds; on the first round, damage is taken as per the table above (save vs. breath weapon for half damage); on the second and third rounds, the area of effect is hit by an ice storm as per the spell (no damage is taken on the above table these two rounds.)
The second breath weapon is a cone of fire 100' long, 5' wide at the dragon's mouth, and 25' wide at the base. Anyone caught inside the area of effect must save vs. breath weapon for half damage. If the dragon breathes its fire-based breath weapon into an ice storm previously created by its frost-based breath weapon, the area of overlap turns into a driving rainstorm for the duration of the frost cloud; anyone inside this rainstorm has a -2 to hit due to poor sight, and missile fire is impossible (this is in addition to the affects of the fire-based breath attack.) An adamantite dragon casts its spells and uses its special abilities at 10th level plus its combat modifier.
At birth, adamantite dragons are immune to fire and cold. They may also polymorph self three times per day. As they age, they gain the following additional powers:
| Age | Special Ability |
|---|---|
| Young | Magic missile (three times per day) |
| Juvenile | Slow (three times per day) |
| Adult | Fireball (twice per day) |
| Mature Adult | Cone of cold (twice per day) |
| Old | Forcecage (once per day) |
| Very Old | Polymorph any object (once per day) |
Habitat
Adamantite dragons live deep within the highest mountain ranges they they can find; they exist in all climates, as long as mountains are present. Their lairs are located in well hidden, spacious caves, and are protected by various magic and mundane traps, as well as faithful guards such as good giants and even ki-rin.
An adamantite dragon's worst enemies include red dragons and evil cloud giants; they will attack these foes on sight, and the insuing combat is usually spectacular and deadly; the adamantite dragon will usually prevail in these contests, but serious injury to the dragon can still result.
Adamantite dragons are on good terms with most good-aligned creatures in their territory, including silver dragons and gold dragons. They also have close ties with electrum dragons [q.v.], when their territories overlap. Their closest allies are mithril dragons [q.v.]; these two species will often work together, as they share common goals and ideals.
Ecology
Adamantite dragons consume a diet of precious metals; gold, silver, platinum, and of course adamantite are all part of their diet. They do not need much to sustain themselves however, and the majority of metals they find are added to their treasure hoard. Adamantite dragons will not hesitate to help good-aligned creatures in times of need.