The Great Dragon [Dark Sun]
The only true dragon known in the region, a gaunt, half-humanoid horror that fights with claws, psionics and defiler magic all at once and breathes a cone of superheated sand.
Appearance
Thankfully, the region holds only one dragon, possibly the only one on the desert world (see Dragon [Dark Sun]). It is tall and thin, with knotted bones and bulging joints. The serpentine neck, whiplike tail and scales are reptilian, but it walks on two legs, has long fingers and thumbs, a vaguely humanoid frame, and a narrow head with an oddly mammalian look.
Combat
Each round it can rake with claws (2d10+15), bite (4d12) and lash its tail (5d10) while also using one psionic power and casting one spell, as a 20th-level psionicist and defiler. All its saving throws succeed on a 2.
In place of its psionic power and spell for the round, it can breathe superheated sand three times daily: a cone 5 feet wide at the mouth, 50 feet long and 100 feet wide at the end, dealing 25d12 heat and abrasion damage. It breathes only as a last resort, since the blast tends to leave no prey worth eating.
Only +2 or better magical weapons can harm it, and non-metal ones do half damage. It regenerates 10 hit points per round and has 80% magic resistance.
It hunts its foes, stalking and then chasing them down. A large group faces death field; a handful of opponents are drained one at a time with life draining.
Psionics and Spells
Psionic sciences: precognition, clairvoyance, telekinesis, disintegrate, detonate, life draining, death field, teleport, tower of iron will, psionic crush and ultrablast. Devotions: poison sense, danger sense, combat mind, soften, molecular agitation, animate shadow, ballistic attack, suspend animation, reduction, heightened senses, ectoplasmic form, chameleon power, cause decay, body equilibrium, time shift, teleport trigger, dimension walk, dimensional door, thought shield, psionic blast, mind link, mind thrust, mind blank, mental barrier, intellect fortress, id insinuation, ego whip and contact.
Defiler spells by level: 1st, sleep, hypnotism, chill touch, charm person, friends; 2nd, spectral hand, scare, forget, bind, ray of enfeeblement; 3rd, vampiric touch, suggestion, hold undead, feign death, hold person; 4th, fumble, enervation, emotion, contagion, confusion; 5th, magic jar, feeblemind, domination, chaos, animate dead; 6th, reincarnation, mass suggestion, eyebite, death spell; 7th, finger of death, shadow walk, control undead; 8th, sink, binding, mass charm; 9th, energy drain and disjunction.
Habitat and Society
It wanders the whole desert world, usually alone, and its occasional visits to the sorcerer tyrants leave havoc behind.
More: Monsters starting with T · Dark Sun monsters · All monsters A-Z
Statistics
| Climate/Terrain | Any |
|---|---|
| Frequency | Unique |
| Organization | Solitary |
| Activity Cycle | Any |
| Diet | Omnivore |
| Intelligence | Supra-genius (20) |
| Treasure | (H) |
| Alignment | Lawful evil |
| No. Appearing | 1 |
| Armor Class | -10 |
| Movement | 15, Fl 45 (A), Jp 5, Br 6 |
| Hit Dice | 32 (250 hit points) |
| THAC0 | -3 |
| No. of Attacks | 4 + breath weapon or spell & psionic |
| Damage/Attack | 2d10+15/2d10+15/4d12/5d10 |
| Special Attacks | Breath weapon (25d12) |
| Special Defenses | See below |
| Magic Resistance | 80% |
| Size | G (40' tall) |
| Morale | Fearless (20) |
| XP Value | 42,000 |
Psionics
| Level | Dis/Sci/Dev | Attack/Defense | Score | PSPs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25 | 6/12/28 | EW,II,MT,PB,PsC/IF,MB,M-,TS,TW | 19 | Varies (usually 200+) |
Clairsentience - Sciences: clairvoyance, precognition; Devotions: combat mind, danger sense, poison sense.
Psychokinesis - Sciences: detonate, disintegrate, telekinesis; Devotions: animate shadow, ballistic attack, molecular agitation, soften.
Psychometabolism - Sciences: death field, life draining; Devotions: body equilibrium, cause decay, chameleon power, ectoplasmatic form, heightened senses, reduction, suspend animation.
Psychoportation - Science: teleport; Devotions: dimensional door, dimension walk, teleport trigger, time shift.
Telepathy - Sciences: psionic crush, tower of iron will; Devotions: contact, ego whip, id insinuation, intellect fortress, mental barrier, mind blank, mind thrust, mind link, psionic blast, thought shield.
Metapsionics - Science: ultrablast; Devotions: nil.
Defiler Spells: 1) charm person, friends, hypnotism, sleep, chill touch; 2) bind, forget, ray of enfeeblement, scare, spectral hand; 3) hold person, suggestion, feign death, hold undead, vampiric touch; 4) confusion, emotion, fumble, contagion, enervation; 5) chaos, domination, feeblemind, animate dead, magic jar; 6) eyebite, mass suggestion, death spell, reincarnation; 7) shadow walk, control undead, finger of death; 8) binding, mass charm, sink; 9) disjunction, energy drain.