Rain Linnorm [Dragon]
A storm-loving northern wyrm that scalds foes with boiling water, dines on lightning, and insists on taking credit for every atrocity it commits.
Appearance
Hatchlings wear glossy white, teardrop-shaped scales. These grow broader and heavier with age, and the dragon learns to tint them gray, blue, green or white as it pleases.
Combat
Young and juvenile linnorms charge in greedily with breath and magic (juveniles love call lightning), but switch to claw and bite against harmless-looking targets so the loot stays intact. Adults and older find melee beneath them: spells first, then breath. The breath is a 90-foot jet of boiling water, 3 feet across, with a save for half. Spellcasting level is 8 plus its combat modifier, and electricity never harms it.
Powers accrue with age: create food and water 2/day (very young); plant growth plus entangle, 3/day apiece (young); call lightning 2/day (juvenile); lightning bolt 2/day with unlimited water breathing (young adult); control winds 2/day (adult); rainbow plus moonbeam, 3/day apiece (mature adult); transmute dust to water 3/day and immunity to missiles (old); weather summoning 2/day and immunity to nonmagical blunt weapons (very old); conjure water elemental and immunity to nonmagical edged weapons (venerable); control weather 1/day and regeneration of 10 hp per round (wyrm); wind walk 1/day and regeneration of 20 hp per round (great wyrm).
Habitat and Society
Rain linnorms den in windswept hills, in many-chambered lairs with treasure scattered through the rooms, and stay home only in fair weather. When a region goes too long without storms, the eldest have been known to summon one. Vain and endlessly acquisitive, a linnorm feels mightier the fouler its deeds and considers all others unfit company; two appear together only as mates, who split once the eggs hatch and abandon the young. Intelligent trespassers near the lair are hunted down, and a linnorm that fears its home is known will drag its whole hoard elsewhere.
They have a private tongue and could converse with other northern dragons, though they rarely bother. Any hatchling stands a 5% chance of talking with all animals, and the odds climb 5% each age category.
Ecology
Almost anything will feed a rain linnorm, but lightning bolts are its favorite meal. Only adventurers prey on it.
More: Monsters starting with R · 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 | Any/Home |
|---|---|
| Frequency | Very rare |
| Organization | Solitary |
| Activity Cycle | Any |
| Diet | Special |
| Intelligence | Average (8-10) |
| Treasure | See below |
| Alignment | Chaotic evil |
| No. Appearing | 1 |
| Armor Class | 3 (base) |
| Movement | 18, Fl 39 (B), Sw 9 |
| Hit Dice | 10 (base) |
| THAC0 | 11 (base) |
| No. of Attacks | 3 + special |
| Damage/Attack | 1d12(×2)/3d10/see below |
| Special Attacks | Spells, breath weapon |
| Special Defenses | See below |
| Magic Resistance | See below |
| Size | H-G (20' base length) |
| Morale | Fanatic (17-18) |
| XP Value | See below |
| Age | Body Lgt. (') | Tail Lgt. (') | AC | Breath Weapon | Spells W | MR | Treas. Type | XP Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Hatchling | 1-4 | 1-8 | 6 | 3d6+1 | Nil | Nil | ½B | 2,000 |
| 2 Very young | 5-10 | 9-20 | 5 | 5d6+2 | Nil | Nil | B | 7,000 |
| 3 Young | 11-17 | 21-34 | 4 | 7d6+3 | Nil | Nil | B | 10,000 |
| 4 Juvenile | 18-24 | 35-48 | 3 | 9d6+4 | Nil | Nil | B×2 | 11,000 |
| 5 Young adult | 25-32 | 49-64 | 2 | 11d6+5 | Nil | Nil | B×2 | 12,000 |
| 6 Adult | 33-41 | 65-82 | 1 | 13d6+6 | Nil | Nil | B,Z×2 | 13,000 |
| 7 Mature adult | 42-51 | 83-102 | 0 | 15d6+7 | Nil | Nil | C,Z×3 | 14,000 |
| 8 Old | 52-62 | 103-106 | -1 | 17d6+8 | 1 | 25% | C,Z×3 | 18,000 |
| 9 Very old | 63-75 | 107-109 | -2 | 19d6+9 | 2 1 | 35% | C,Z×4 | 20,000 |
| 10 Venerable | 76-91 | 110-112 | -3 | 21d6+10 | 3 2 | 45% | D,Z×4 | 22,000 |
| 11 Wyrm | 92-108 | 113-115 | -4 | 23d6+11 | 4 3 | 55% | D,Z×5 | 24,000 |
| 12 Great Wyrm | 109-130 | 116-118 | -5 | 25d6+12 | 5 4 | 65% | E,Z×5 | 25,000 |