Dragon, Skunk
| Statistic | Value |
|---|---|
| Climate/Terrain | Valleys and subterranean |
| Frequency | Very rare |
| Organization | Solitary or clan |
| Activity Cycle | Any |
| Diet | Special |
| Intelligence | Average (8-10) |
| Treasure | Special |
| Alignment | Chaotic Evil |
| No. of Appearing | 1 (2-5) |
| Armor Class | 1 (base) |
| Move | 12, Fl 35 (C), Sw 12 |
| Hit Dice | 12 (base) |
| THAC0 | 9 (base) |
| No. of Attacks | 3 + special |
| Damage/Attack | 2-12/2-12/2-16+1 |
| Special Attacks | Special |
| Special Defenses | Variable |
| Magic Resistance | Variable |
| Size | G (28' 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 | 2-5 | 1-5 | 4 | 2d6+1 | Nil | Nil | Nil | 2,000 |
| 2 | 5-14 | 5-12 | 3 | 4d6+2 | Nil | Nil | Nil | 3,000 |
| 3 | 14-24 | 12-19 | 2 | 6d6+3 | Nil | Nil | Nil | 4,000 |
| 4 | 24-32 | 19-28 | 1 | 8d6+4 | Nil | 5% | Gx1/2, O | 6,000 |
| 5 | 32-41 | 28-36 | 0 | 10d6+5 | 1 | 10% | G, Ox2, X | 8,000 |
| 6 | 41-51 | 36-44 | -1 | 12d6+6 | 2 | 15% | G, Ox3, Xx2 | 9,000 |
| 7 | 51-60 | 44-52 | -2 | 14d6+7 | 3 | 20% | G, Ox3, Xx2 | 11,000 |
| 8 | 60-68 | 52-60 | -3 | 16d6+8 | 4 | 25% | Gx2, Ox3, Xx3 | 12,000 |
| 9 | 68-78 | 60-68 | -4 | 18d6+9 | 5 | 30% | Gx2, Ox3, Xx3 | 14,000 |
| 10 | 78-86 | 68-75 | -5 | 20d6+10 | 6 | 35% | Gx3, Ox4, Xx3 | 15,000 |
| 11 | 86-96 | 75-82 | -6 | 22d6+11 | 7 | 40% | Gx3, Ox4, Xx4 | 17,000 |
| 12 | 96-105 | 82-90 | -7 | 24d6+12 | 8 | 45% | Gx3, Ox4, Xx4 | 18,000 |
Skunk dragons are a cross between black and white dragons, and combine the features and abilities of each type. They have the head and wings of a white dragon and the body of a black. Throughout the first two stages of a skunk dragon's life, its scales are light to dark gray in color; however, as it reaches the young stage, a skunk dragon obtains the distinctive coloration that gives it its name: white head with a black stripe on top, white wings with black ribbing, and a black body with a white stripe along the belly from the throat to the tip of the tail.
Skunk dragons speak their own language, a tongue common to all evil dragons, and 10% of hatchling skunk dragons have an ability to communicate with any intelligent creature. The chance to possess this ability increases 5% per age category of the dragon.
Combat
Against small or clearly inferior foes, a skunk dragon's favorite tactic is the snatch attack; the prey will be clawed, bitten, or dropped to its death. When fighting more numerous or stronger foes, a skunk dragon will close and melee with the opponent(s) using all of its available combat techniques. Against truly dangerous enemies, the skunk dragon will use its breath weapons and special abilities at a distance before closing to fight in melee. An opponent that clearly out-classes a skunk dragon will cause it to flee; its flying speed allows it to escape from most larger and superior foes.
Breath Weapon: A skunk dragon has two different breath weapons; only one breath attack (of either type) may be employed every three rounds, and the same one cannot be used more than three times in a 10-round period. The first breath weapon is a cone of acidic frost 80' long, 5' wide at the dragon's mouth, and 30' wide at the base; the second is a stream of near-frozen acid 70' long, and 10' wide. Two saving throws are necessary for these attacks: the first is against cold for 3/4 damage, and the second is against acid for 1/2 damage; full damage is suffered if both are failed. If a target has immunity to one component, damage is automatically halved, save against the other component for 1/4 damage.
From birth, skunk dragons are immune to acid and cold; they cannot breath under water as black dragons can, but they may hold their breath for an extended period of time (5 minutes per age category of the dragon.) As they age, they gain the following additional powers:
| Age | Special Ability |
|---|---|
| Juvenile | Darkness (three times per day, 10' radius per age category) |
| Adult | Corrupt water (as per black dragons) |
| Mature adult | True seeing (priest version, permanent duration) |
| Very old | Acid rain (once per day, see below) |
| Wyrm | Ice storm (once per day) |
A skunk dragon casts its spells and uses its special abilities at 5th level, plus its combat modifier.
** Acid rain ** falls for 2 rounds per age category of the dragon. It has a radius of 10' per age category and victims caught in it will suffer 1d10 points of damage per round (save vs. spells for 1/2 damage.) In addition, every 5 rounds items are exposed to acid rain they must make a saving throw vs. acid or be destroyed.
Habitat
Skunk dragons live in deep mountain valleys in temperate climates far from civilization. They lair in large caves or subterranean caverns, preferrably near lakes and light woods. Sometimes, these lairs are reachable only from the water, but they are always dry. Skunk dragons are excellent swimmers and can often be found swimming about in lakes, either for fun or while hunting fish or other aquatic animals. Skunk dragons are good parents and will fight to protect their offspring unless their own lives are threatened. Both parents rear the young until they strike out on their own at about 15 years of age.
Skunk dragon lairs can sometimes be found in the vicinity of copper, and to a lesser extent, bronze dragons. Skunk dragons usually avoid the bronze, using their superior speed to escape; they have been known to attack copper dragons, however, using their cold-based breath weapon and acid immunity to weaken the copper before entering melee (if the copper is not sufficiently softened up by breath attacks, the skunk dragon will usually flee, due to the superior bite of the copper dragon.)
Skunk dragons like any kind of treasure, but prefer coins and gems, especially diamonds and black onyx.
Ecology
Skunk dragons can eat nearly anything, but prefer fish, aquatic animals, and other medium-sized creatures that can be found in their territory.