Emerald Dragon [Gem]
Watchful, paranoid gem dragons that lair in sleeping volcanoes, spy on intruders from hiding, and unleash a shrieking sonic wail that leaves victims stunned and helpless.
Appearance
Clear green at hatching, an emerald's scales toughen into a mosaic of greens that shimmer so that the whole hide seems to ripple. Besides their own language they know the shared gem-dragon tongue, and 14% of hatchlings can talk with any thinking creature, plus 5% per age category.
Combat
Emeralds love learning a region's history and customs but prefer to watch from a distance, and they are the most paranoid gem dragons, hating anyone who gets near their hoard. Their lairs bristle with traps and alarms. Visitors are spied on from hiding and seldom addressed. Anyone who attacks or nears the treasure gets a surprise from below as the dragon burrows up under them, then breathes and claws to disable as many as possible quickly. Outmatched, it slips away and may nurse its grudge for years.
Its breath is a high, keening wail; the vibration hurts every creature within 120 feet (save vs. breath weapon for half). A second save vs. breath weapon avoids being stunned, unable to fight back or defend, for 1d4 rounds plus 3 per age level. Those who resist are left deafened and disoriented for that long instead, with -1 to hit. Deaf creatures still take vibration damage but cannot be stunned or deafened again. It casts and uses powers at 6th level plus combat modifier.
Hatchlings can flame walk and ignore sound-based attacks. Later, three times daily each: audible glamer (young), hypnotism (juvenile), minute meteors (adult), hold person (mature adult); once daily: animate rock (venerable), geas (great wyrm). Hypnotism and geas are worked through a practiced rippling of its scales.
Psionics: telepathy is the favorite (probe, ejection, mind link; devotions ESP, life detection, contact, sound link, sight link), with clairsentience also available (precognition, object reading, aura sight; devotions danger sense, all-round vision, combat mind).
Habitat and Society
Reclusive emeralds make their homes inside the cones of dead or dormant volcanoes. They guard their young closely and like them to stay as long as possible for safety. Sapphire dragons are sometimes neighbors; red dragons, with their voracious greed, are feared.
Ecology
They will eat anything, lizards and giants above all, and are actively hostile to fire giants.
More: Monsters starting with E · Core Rules monsters · All monsters A-Z
Related: Adamantite Dragon · Air Dragon · Amber Dragon [Neutral] · Amethyst Dragon [Gem] · Amphi Dragon · Astral Dragon · Black Dragon [Chromatic] · Blue Dragon [Chromatic] · Brass Dragon [Metallic] · Brine Dragon · Bronze Dragon [Metallic] · Brown Dragon
Statistics
| Climate/Terrain | Tropical, subtropical/Extinct volcanoes |
|---|---|
| Frequency | Very rare |
| Organization | Solitary or clan |
| Activity Cycle | Any |
| Diet | Special |
| Intelligence | Exceptional (15-16) |
| Treasure | Special |
| Alignment | Lawful neutral |
| No. Appearing | 1 (2-5) |
| Armor Class | -2 (base) |
| Movement | 9, Fl 30 (C), Br 3 |
| Hit Dice | 12 (base) |
| THAC0 | 9 (base) |
| No. of Attacks | 3 |
| Damage/Attack | 1-8/1-8/3-18 |
| Special Attacks | Varies |
| Special Defenses | Varies |
| Magic Resistance | Varies |
| Size | H (20' base) |
| Morale | Fanatic (17-18) |
| XP Value | Varies |
| Age | Body Lgt. (') | Tail Lgt. (') | AC | Breath Weapon | Spells W/P | MR | Treas. Type | XP Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Hatchling | 3-9 | 2-7 | 1 | 2d4+1 | Nil | Nil | Nil | 2,000 |
| 2 Very young | 9-18 | 7-14 | 0 | 4d4+2 | Nil | Nil | Nil | 3,000 |
| 3 Young | 18-27 | 14-21 | -1 | 6d4+3 | Nil | Nil | Nil | 5,000 |
| 4 Juvenile | 27-36 | 21-28 | -2 | 8d4+4 | 1 | Nil | ½H,Q×2 | 7,000 |
| 5 Young adult | 36-45 | 28-35 | -3 | 10d4+5 | 1/1 | 15% | H,Q×4,T | 8,000 |
| 6 Adult | 45-54 | 35-42 | -4 | 12d4+6 | 1 1/1 | 20% | H,Q×6,T | 10,000 |
| 7 Mature adult | 54-63 | 42-49 | -5 | 14d4+7 | 1 1/1 1 | 25% | H,Q×8,T×2 | 12,000 |
| 8 Old | 63-72 | 49-56 | -6 | 16d4+8 | 1 1 1/2 1 | 30% | H,Q×10,T×2 | 13,000 |
| 9 Very old | 72-81 | 56-63 | -7 | 18d4+9 | 2 1 1/2 1 1 | 35% | H×2,Q×12,T×2 | 14,000 |
| 10 Venerable | 81-90 | 63-70 | -8 | 20d4+10 | 2 2 1/2 2 1 | 40% | H×2,Q×14,T×3 | 16,000 |
| 11 Wyrm | 90-99 | 70-77 | -9 | 22d4+11 | 2 2 1 1/2 2 1 1 | 45% | H×2,Q×16,T×3 | 17,000 |
| 12 Great Wyrm | 99-108 | 77-84 | -10 | 24d4+12 | 2 2 1 1 1/2 2 2 1 | 50% | H×2,Q×18,T×3 | 19,000 |
Psionics
| Level | Dis/Sci/Dev | Attack/Defense | Score | PSPs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| = HD | 2/2/3 | PB,II/M-,TW | = Int | 180 |
Clairsentience - Sciences: aura sight, object reading, precognition; Devotions: all-round vision, combat mind, danger sense.
Telepathy - Sciences: ejection, mind link, probe; Devotions: contact, ESP, life detection, sight link, sound link.
Most emerald dragons prefer telepathic powers.