Dragon, Yellow
| Statistic | Value |
|---|---|
| Climate/Terrain | Temperate and subtropical plains and subterranean |
| Frequency | Very rare |
| Organization | Solitary or clan |
| Activity Cycle | Any |
| Diet | Special |
| Intelligence | High (13-15) |
| Treasure | Special |
| Alignment | Neutral evil |
| No. of Appearing | 1 (2-5) |
| Armor Class | -1 (base) |
| Move | 12, Fl 38 (C), Br 6 |
| Hit Dice | 13 (base) |
| THAC0 | 7 (base) |
| No. of Attacks | 3 + special |
| Damage/Attack | 1-6/1-6/5-50 (5d10) |
| Special Attacks | Special |
| Special Defenses | Variable |
| Magic Resistance | Variable |
| Size | G (42' base) |
| Moral | Champion (15-16) |
| XP Value | Variable |
Description
| Age | Body Length | Tail Length | AC | Breath Weapon | Spells Wizard/Priest | MR | Treasure Type | XP Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2-8 | 2-6 | 2 | 1d10+1d8+1 | Nil | Nil | Nil | 1,400 |
| 2 | 8-20 | 6-16 | 1 | 2d10+2d8+2 | Nil | Nil | Nil | 2,000 |
| 3 | 20-38 | 16-34 | 0 | 3d10+3d8+3 | Nil | Nil | Nil | 3,000 |
| 4 | 38-48 | 34-42 | -1 | 4d10+4d8+4 | 1 | Nil | Hx1/2 | 5,000 |
| 5 | 48-60 | 42-50 | -2 | 5d10+5d8+5 | 2 | 25% | H | 8,000 |
| 6 | 60-72 | 50-58 | -3 | 6d10+6d8+6 | 3 | 30% | H, T | 10,000 |
| 7 | 72-80 | 58-68 | -4 | 7d10+7d8+7 | 3 1 | 35% | H, T, U | 11,000 |
| 8 | 80-89 | 68-76 | -5 | 8d10+8d8+8 | 3 2 | 40% | H, T, U | 12,000 |
| 9 | 89-100 | 76-84 | -6 | 9d10+9d8+9 | 3 2 1 | 45% | H, Tx2, U | 13,000 |
| 10 | 100-110 | 84-88 | -7 | 10d10+10d8+10 | 3 2 2 1 / 1 | 50% | H, Tx2, U, X | 15,000 |
| 11 | 110-120 | 88-96 | -8 | 11d10+11d8+11 | 3 2 2 2 / 2 | 55% | H, Tx2, U, Xx2 | 17,000 |
| 12 | 120-128 | 96-106 | -9 | 12d10+12d8+12 | 3 3 2 2 / 2 | 60% | H, Tx2, U, Xx2 | 18,000 |
Yellow dragons are by nature timid and reclusive; they shun all other creatures including their own kind. When two or more yellow dragons are encountered together, it is almost always a mated pair with offspring.
At birth, a yellow dragon's scales are ivory or even white in color; as they age, the scales gain streaks and splotches of yellow. Once the adult stage is reached, the scales are a dull yellow, and a black stripe develops along the back of the dragon. The scales become a bright yellow once the old stage is reached. The most distinguishing feature of a yellow dragon is its huge head, which appears well out of proportion with the rest of its body.
Yellow dragons speak their own language, a tongue common to all evil dragons, and 14% of hatchling yellow 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
Due to their timid nature, yellow dragons avoid combat whenever possible; they are not above fleeing, even from equal or slightly inferior foes. However, if forced to fight, yellow dragons can be viscious opponents - they will use all available attack modes, including spells and breath weapon attacks. Because of this, yellow dragons will usually retreat to their lairs for an extended period of time after a major battle, in order to rest and recover used spells and breath attacks.
The yellow dragon's most used attack form is its bite; due to its oversized head and mouth, a yellow dragon is able to deliver one of the most ferrocious bites of any dragon species. Opponents are often snatched or pinned with claws in order to make the bite more effective.
Breath Weapon: A yellow dragon's breath weapon is a sonic blast in the shape of a cone 80' long, 5' wide at the dragon's mouth, and 25' wide at the base. Creatures caught in the area of effect suffer the indicated damage and are deafened for a number of turns equal to the age category of the dragon. A successful saving throw vs. breath weapon negates the deafness and halves the damage. If a target is already deaf, a +2 bonus is added to the save, but if this save fails, the target is deafened permanently (until healed.) Exposed glass and crystal items are shattered, and brittle items will break unless they make a successful save (at -2) vs. crushing blow. Creatures who are deafened by this blast suffer a -1 penalty to surprise rolls, and spells with a verbal component have a 20% chance of misfiring. A yellow dragon casts its spells and uses its magical abilities at 7th level, plus its combat modifier.
At birth, yellow dragons are immune to any attack that directly affects the senses such as those that cause blindness or deafness (this does not include spells such as invisibility, blur, and the like.) As they age, they gain the following additional powers:
| Age | Special Ability |
|---|---|
| Young | Blindness (three times per day) |
| Juvenile | Hypnotic pattern (three times per day) |
| Adult | Shout (twice per day) |
| Old | Eyebite (once per day) |
| Wyrm | Forcecage (three times per week) |
Habitat
Yellow dragons live in regions of open plains in temperate and subtropical climates. They lair in large underground caverns or caves; some yellow dragons spend much of their lives in old dungeons and will come out in the open only to hunt or to gather more treasure.
Yellow dragons dislike and distrust most other creatures; they prefer to spend the majority of their time in solitude. They rarely associate with other dragons and almost never form alliances; this behavior has earned them the hatred of nearly all dragonkind, both good and evil; of course this only serves to reinforce their policy of isolationism.
Ecology
Yellow dragons may eat nearly anything but prefer to consume meat. They will usually hunt for creatures that are easy to find and kill; this allows them to spend as little time as possible out in the open.