Dragon, Prismatic
| Statistic | Value |
|---|---|
| Climate/Terrain | Any plains or hills |
| Frequency | Very rare |
| Organization | Solitary or clan |
| Activity Cycle | Any |
| Diet | Special |
| Intelligence | Genius (17-18) |
| Treasure | Special |
| Alignment | Neutral Evil |
| No. of Appearing | 1 (2-5) |
| Armor Class | -4 (base) |
| Move | 12, Fl 36 (C), Jp 3 |
| Hit Dice | 16 (base) |
| THAC0 | 5 (base) |
| No. of Attacks | 3 + special |
| Damage/Attack | 2-12/1-12/3-36 (3d12) |
| Special Attacks | Special |
| Special Defenses | Variable |
| Magic Resistance | Variable |
| Size | G (52' base) |
| Moral | Fanatic (17-18) |
| XP Value | Variable |
Description
| Age | Body Length | Tail Length | AC | Breath Weapon | Spells Wizard/Priest |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4-14 | 3-10 | -1 | red | Nil |
| 2 | 14-26 | 10-20 | -2 | red | Nil |
| 3 | 26-46 | 20-32 | -3 | orange | Nil |
| 4 | 46-64 | 32-50 | -4 | orange | 1 |
| 5 | 64-84 | 50-70 | -5 | yellow | 2 |
| 6 | 84-106 | 70-90 | -6 | yellow | 2 2 |
| 7 | 106-120 | 90-108 | -7 | green | 2 2 2 |
| 8 | 120-142 | 108-125 | -8 | green | 2 2 2 2 |
| 9 | 142-160 | 125-145 | -9 | blue | 2 2 2 2 1 / 2 |
| 10 | 160-170 | 145-152 | -10 | indigo | 2 2 2 2 2 1 / 2 2 |
| 11 | 170-180 | 152-160 | -11 | violet | 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 / 2 2 2 |
| 12 | 180-190 | 160-168 | -12 | violet | 3 2 2 2 2 2 2 / 2 2 2 1 |
| Age | Magic Resistance | Treasure Type | XP Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nil | Nil | 3,000 |
| 2 | Nil | Nil | 4,000 |
| 3 | Nil | Nil | 6,000 |
| 4 | Nil | H, R, T | 9,000 |
| 5 | 35% | H, R, T | 10,000 |
| 6 | 40% | H, R, T | 12,000 |
| 7 | 45% | H, R, Tx2 | 13,000 |
| 8 | 50% | H, R, Tx2 | 15,000 |
| 9 | 55% | H, R, Tx3 | 17,000 |
| 10 | 60% | H, R, Tx3 | 18,000 |
| 11 | 65% | H, R, V, Tx3 | 19,000 |
| 12 | 70% | H, R, V, Tx3 | 20,000 |
Prismatic dragons are a very rare, powerful species of evil dragon; they hate anything good and will attack most good-aligned creatures on sight. They love to subjugate weaker creatures, and will often have several slaves within their lairs.
At birth, a prismatic dragon is white with thin red stripes running the length of its body from nose to tail; as they age, they slowly gain stripes of different colors until the wyrm stage, when they are striped with all colors of the spectrum. The categories at which a prismatic dragon gains a new color stripe is listed under the breath weapon category in the table above. For example, a very old prismatic dragon is white with red, orange, yellow, green, and blue stripes. This unique coloration gives a clue as to the age of a prismatic dragon; however, illusion magic is often used to alter the pattern of colors (prismatic dragons have developed spells for this sole application.)
Prismatic dragons speak their own tongue, a tongue common to all evil dragons, and 18% of hatchling prismatic dragons have an ability to communicate with any intelligent creature. The chance to possess this ability increases 5%n per age category of the dragon.
Combat
Since prismatic dragons are highly intelligent, they are quite adept at choosing the most appropriate attack mode in combat; they will nearly always use one or more breath attacks against dangerous opponents, such as other dragons. Spells and special abilities may also be used in these cases, if the dragon perceives the threat as great enough. When closing to fight with other flying creatures, prismatics will usually employ a grapple attack on their opponent (see the Forgotten Realms Draconomicon (TM) for more details.)
When confronted with weaker foes, prismatic dragons will often toy with their enemies before dispatching them, as they seem to enjoy watching their opponents die a slow and agonizing death. When faced with foes of moderate power, prismatics prefer to employ plummet and snatch attacks; snatched creatures will be clawed and bitten nearly to the point of death at which time they will be dropped to their doom.
Breath Weapon: The breath weapon of a prismatic dragon is a prismatic spray which is in the shape of a cone 90' long, 5' wide at the dragon's mouth, and 25' wide at the base. The effects of the breath weapon are as per the spell of the same name, except all saves are vs. breath weapon. In addition, younger prismatics are not capable of employing all colors of the spray. At birth, the breath weapon is only composed of red rays; as the dragon ages, new color rays are added at the same rate as scale stripes, as listed under the breath weapon category in the table above (i.e. an old prismatic dragon has a breath weapon composed of red, orange, yellow, and green rays.) Thus, it is possible to determine the potency of a prismatic dragon's breath weapon by the stripes on the scales (unless, of course, the dragon has altered the pattern with illusion magic.) Prismatic dragons cast spells and use their special abilities at 11th level, plus the combat modifier.
At birth, prismatic dragons are immune to poison, petrification, and all forms of insanity. They may also polymorph self three times per day (a change to their normal form does not count towards this total.) As they age, the gain the following powers:
| Age | Special Ability |
|---|---|
| Young | Color spray (three times per day) |
| Juvenile | Chromatic orb (three times per day) + |
| Adult | Rainbow pattern (twice per day) |
| Old | Otiluke's radiant screen (once per day) ++ |
| Very old | Nystul's radiant arch (once per day) ++ |
| Wyrm | Prismatic wall (three times per week) |
| Great Wyrm | Prismatic sphere (twice per week) |
+ see The Complete Wizard's Handbook (TM)
++ see The Greyhawk Adventures Sourcebook (TM)
Habitat
Prismatic dragons are by nature solitary creatures; on rare occasions, they have been known to band together with other evil creatures in order to further their own goals; once this is accomplished, they will more than likely turn on their former allies.
Under normal circumstances, prismatics will attack most good creatures on sight and those of other alignments with the slightest provocation - this includes other evil dragons, whom they consider inferior. They usually do not attack their own kind (unless they feel they have something to prove) but do not enjoy their company either. In most cases, if more than one prismatic dragon is encountered, it will be a mated pair with offspring.
Prismatic dragons have adapted to life in any climate, from the frozen arctic wastes, to the tropics. They prefer to live in the plains or gently rolling hills. The lairs of prismatics are usually located in large, underground caverns, that are sometimes excavated with magic. The entrances are well hidden with illusions, and protected with assorted traps and hazards. Slaves often abound in these lairs, acting as guards and servants.
Ecology
Prismatic dragons are able to eat nearly anthing, but they appear to sustain themselves almost exclusively from the sun's energy.