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Stycotl
2009-09-20, 10:57 PM
Oreichalkos Dragon

Visual Inspiration by Vinod Rams (http://www.vinodrams.com/image_files/sotw_079.jpg)

my entry in GITP Monster Competition XXXVII

Dragon (Epic, Extraplanar, Force, Light)
Environment: Any land and underground
Organization: Generally solitary; no dragons younger than great wyrm known to exist
Challenge Rating: Wyrmling 9; very young 12; young 15; juvenile 18; young adult 21; adult 24; mature adult 27; old 30; very old 33; ancient 36; wyrm 39; great wyrm 41
Treasure: Double standard
Alignment: Usually any neutral
Advancement: Wyrmling 11-13 HD (Large); very young 15-17 HD (Huge); young 19-21 HD (Huge); juvenile 23-25 HD (Huge); young adult 27-29 HD (Gargantuan); adult 31-33 HD (Gargantuan); mature adult 35-37 HD (Gargantuan); old 39-41 HD (Colossal); very old 43-45 HD (Colossal); ancient 47-49 HD (Colossal); wyrm 51-53 HD (Colossal+); great wyrm 55+ HD (Collosal+)
Level Adjustment: Very young +6; young +7; others –

It has been posited for millennia that there is a common ancestry between the true dragons–the chromatics, gems, and metallic dragons–but the imagined ancestor dragon has always been regarded as simply a myth for the curious, or an intellectual exercise for those with too much lore in their heads and time on their hands.

In reality though, there is a common ancestor, and it is called the oreichalkos dragon.

Oreichalkos dragons are reclusive dragons of immense power and great age. An oreichalkos dragon has lustrous scales of a metallic white that seem to radiate light of their own accord. These scales do not change color as the dragon age, though they are rougher in a younger dragon, and glossier and shinier in an ancient wyrm. An oreichalkos dragon's molten silver eyes simmer with ageless wisdom and ancient wrath. Two horns point backward from its brow, flanking a spined crest that runs from the head to the tail, and multiple horns of smaller size stud the creature's body in various patterns.

As the progenitors of most true dragon species, oreichalkos dragons share traits with all of them, but do not adhere to the standards of any one group more than another. Their psionic talent and planar shifting seem to have been inherited by the gem dragons, and their multiple breath weapons and nobility were in part passed on to the metallic dragons. Oreichalkos dragons say that anciently, the chromatics were the heirs of their legendary wisdom and sovereignty, and were the greatest of their descendants, but that they eventually lost it when they chose to follow the vile goddess, Tiamat.

Oreichalkos dragons are very rare, even more so than the other epic dragons. The few of them that still remain speak of their birth at the earliest hours of creation, when the great Ninefold Dragon, Io breathed them into being. They claim to be among the oldest of dragonkind, older than some of the worlds within which they have taken refuge and the gods that rule them. According to the oreichalkos dragons, they were the first of Io's children. It is a fact that most of these dragons are thousands upon thousands of years old; no wyrmlings have been documented for multiple millennia even by others of their kind. They claim that once their kind ruled great kingdoms of mortals and developed magnificent arts and sciences, but that their civilization was cast down when they became too proud of the great magic and technology that they had created.

The great wyrms that remain show all personality types–they do not belong to any one group of the true dragons, and do not share the others' instincts to gravitate to law or chaos and good or evil–but all are aloof and distracted. They speak in haunted terms of ancient earthquakes and tempests, and a great flood that inundated their capitol, the isle that they call Atlas.

This island is known to other cultures throughout the multiverse as Atlantis.

Oreichalkos dragons speak Atlantean, Common, Draconic, and many other tongues. Further, they can communicate telepathically with any creature that has a language within 500 feet.

Combat

Oreichalkos Dragons by Age
{table=head]Age|Size|Hit Dice (hp)|Str|Dex|Con|Int|Wis|Cha|Base Attack/Grapple|Attack|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Breath Weapon (DC)|Frightful Presence DC

Wyrmling|L|10d12+50 (115)|25|12|21|18|20|18|+10/+21|+16|+12|+8|+12|4d10 (20)|17

Very young|H|14d12+84 (175)|29|12|23|20|22|20|+14/+31|+21|+15|+10|+15|8d10 (23)|20

Young|H|18d12+126 (243)|33|13|25|24|26|24|+18/+37|+27|+18|+12|+19|12d10 (26)|23

Juvenile|H|22d12+176 (319)|37|14|27|26|28|26|+22/+43|+32|+21|+15|+22|16d10 (29)|27

Young adult|G|26d12+234 (403)|41|14|29|28|30|28|+26/+53|+37|+24|+17|+25|20d10 (32)|30

Adult|G|30d12+300 (495)|45|15|31|32|34|32|+30/+59|+43|+27|+19|+28|24d10 (35)|33

Mature adult|G|34d12+374 (594)|49|16|33|34|36|34|+34/+65|+49|+30|+22|+32|28d10 (38)|36

Old|C|38d12+456 (703)|53|16|35|36|38|36|+38/+75|+51|+33|+24|+35|32d10 (41)|39

Very old|C|42d12+546 (819)|57|17|37|40|42|40|+42/+81|+57|+36|+26|+39|36d10 (44)|42

Ancient|C|46d12+644 (943)|61|18|39|42|44|42|+46/+87|+63|+39|+29|+42|40d10 (47)|45

Wyrm|C+|50d12+750 (1,075)|65|18|41|44|46|44|+50/+97|+69|+42|+31|+45|44d10 (50)|48

Great wyrm|C+|54d12+864 (1,215)|69|19|43|48|50|48|+54/+103|+75|+46|+35|+49|48d10 (53)|51[/table]

Oreichalkos Dragons by Age
{table=head]Age|Speed|Initiative|AC|Special abilities|Manifester level|PR

Wyrmling|60 ft, fly 200 ft (average), swim 60 ft|+3|33 (-1 size, +1 Dex, +4 deflection, +19 natural) touch 14, flat-footed 32|Deflecting force, DR 5/magic, immune to light and force effects|1st|18

Very young|80 ft, fly 250 ft (average), swim 60 ft|+3|38 (-2 size, +1 Dex, +5 deflection, +24 natural) touch 37, flat-footed 19|energy adaptation|4th|21

Young|80 ft, fly 250 ft (average), swim 60 ft|+3|23 (-2 size, +1 Dex, +7 deflection, +29 natural) touch 12, flat-footed 20|DR 10/magic, telekinetic force, telekinetic thrust|7th|24

Juvenile|80 ft, fly 250 ft (average), swim 60ft|+3|27 (-2 size, +2 Dex, +8 deflection, +34 natural) touch 12, flat-footed 23|Soul of the Sun|10th|27

Young adult|100 ft, fly 300 ft (poor), swim 60 ft|+3|28 (-4 size, +2 Dex, +9 deflection, +39 natural) touch 11, flat-footed 25|DR 15/magic|13th|30

Adult|100 ft, fly 300 ft (poor), swim 60 ft|+3|31 (-4 size, +2 Dex, +11 deflection, +44 natural) touch 11, flat-footed 28|fiery discorporation|16th|33

Mature adult|100 ft, fly 300 ft (poor), swim 60 ft|+3|34 (-4 size, +3 Dex, +12 deflection, +49 natural) touch 11, flat-footed 31|DR 15/epic, psionic greater teleport|19th|36

Old|120 ft, fly 350 ft (clumsy), swim 60 ft|+3|35 (-8 size, +3 Dex, +13 deflection, +54 natural) touch 9, flat-footed 32|Lightning Field|21st|39

Very old|120 ft, fly 350 ft (clumsy), swim 60 ft|+3|38 (-8 size, +3 Dex, +15 deflection, +59 natural) touch 9, flat-footed 35|DR 20/epic|24th|42

Ancient|120 ft, fly 350 ft (clumsy), swim 60 ft|+3|86 (-8 size, +4 Dex, +16 deflection, +64 natural) touch 12, flat-footed 82|temporal acceleration|27th|45

Wyrm|140 ft, fly 400 ft (clumsy), swim 60 ft|+3|92 (-8 size, +4 Dex, +17 deflection, +69 natural) touch 13, flat-footed 88|DR 25/epic, magnetic blast|30th|48

Great wyrm|140 ft, fly 400 ft (clumsy), swim 60 ft|+3|99 (-8 size, +4 Dex, +19 deflection, +74 natural) touch 15, flat-footed 95|Force Reflectivity|33rd|51[/table]

Oreichalkos dragons are generally fairly reclusive and unaggressive–there are so few left that they fear for the survival of the race. Further, they are almost all old enough to have directly witnessed the destruction of their ancient society, and they are aware of the price to be paid for arrogance and rash action. However, as some of Io's oldest children, they are fierce warriors and have no qualms about entering a battle that they see as justified or inevitable.

Oreichalkos dragons are powerful fighters, with the size and strength to go toe to toe with almost any opponent. Further, they are swift and nimble foes, not at all ponderous or slow as would be expected of a creature the size of a small fortress. The dragons theorize that it is the elemental oreichalkos from which they were fashioned that gives them their agility.

Tactics are as individual and varied as are the dragons themselves, but they are all very intelligent creatures, and make good use of their powerful breath weapons and psionics before closing to maul foes with fang and talon.

Breath Weapon (Su): Oreichalkos dragons have three types of breath weapon, a line of electricity, a cone of light, and a ray of force. After using any of these breath weapons, the dragon must wait 1d4 rounds before it can breathe again.
Electricity: A living creature struck by this breath weapon that fails its Reflex save is stunned for 1d4 rounds.
Force: This breath weapon takes the form of a ray, with a range of 100 feet per age class. A foe struck by this ranged touch attack has its movement checked for the rest of the round. There is no save against the damage or the condition.
Light: An undead or construct that is struck by this breath weapon and fails its Reflex save is paralyzed for 1d4 rounds as its animating force is snuffed out temporarily. The only exceptions are any undead or construct that specifically gain their animating force from the sun.

Psionics: An oreichalkos dragon manifests psionic powers as a psion of the level indicated in its variety description, gaining bonus power points for a high Intelligence score. Each individual dragon chooses what psionic discipline it specializes in as a psion, when it gains its first manifester level as a wyrmling.

Psi-like Abilities: Constant–energy adaptation; At will–telekinetc force, and telekinetic thrust; 3/day–tornado blast (electromagnetic instead of wind), psionic greater teleport, and temporal acceleration; 1/day–fiery discorporation (no flame needed; reappears in a lightning bolt 24 hours later in the same area); The DCs are Charisma-based.

Force Reflectivity (Su): Oreichalkos dragons are highly resistant to force effects, and have learned to do more than merely shrug off a force attack. As an immediate act, any time an oreichalkos dragon is targeted by a single-target force effect, it can reflect it back upon a target of its choice within 100 feet as if it were affected by the Twin Power metapsionic feat, meaning that the effect strikes the target two times separate times simultaneously.

Lightning Field (Su): Oreichalkos dragons have an affinity to electricity, partially due to the superconductive nature of the element from which they are created. When exposed to an effect that does electricity damage, they heal 1 hit point for every 3 points of damage that they would have taken, and are affected as if by the greater haste spell for 1 round.

Planar Travel (Su): Oreichalkos dragons have the innate ability to pass instantly between the Material Planes and the Inner Planes, where they often make their homes.

Soul of the Sun (Ex): An oreichalkos dragon's scales perfectly reflect light. Any time that the dragon is targeted by an effect with the light descriptor, it is reflected out in a 30-foot radius spread, affecting any creatures within the area as if they were the original targets of the effect. If the original effect was an area effect that already targeted some of those creatures within the radius, the dragon's reflective ability subjects them to it a second time.

Skills: Oreichalkos dragons have the Knowledge (history) skill for free at 1 rank per Hit Dice.

Lore

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (history), Knowledge (nature), Knowledge (psionics) can learn more about the oreichalkos dragons. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including information from lower DCs.

45–Oreichalkos dragons are ancient creations of Io, and are rumored to be the direct ancestors of all true dragons.
50–Oreichalkos dragons are almost extinct now, and only advanced great wyrms have been documented to exist for many thousands of years. They are gifted with electricity, force, and light effects, and have potent abilities that harness these powers.
55–Oreichalkos dragons were pivotal in the development of an ancient civilization called Atlantis. Though they ruled benevolently, the pride and aggression of the dragons and their mortal subjects caused the downfall of the entire civilization. This result also reveals all of the dragons' combat abilities.

Sample Encounters

Individual (EL 41): Investigating an island for evidence of the ancient Atlantean civilization, a team of famous, interplanar explorers were nearly all destroyed by what they refer to as an enraged dragon god that had a furious silver-white countenance. Before the few survivors managed to escape through a portal, they glimpsed mountains of treasure amid a hall of records full of ancient tablets and scrolls that would surely contain secrets about the lost city of Atlantis.

Stycotl
2009-09-22, 05:16 PM
in the contest chat thread, i mentioned that i am not changing the lore DCs at all. i should clarify; the DCs are still mutable, especially when i finish my write-ups of atlantis and of the material, oreichalkos. when i finish those, i will assign final DC values to all lore checks involving the whole system. i just want to finish the whole thing first so that i can zero in accurately on my target level.

the part that i am not changing is the way i am coming up with lore DCs. i am not going to use the by-HD system that wizards uses, cuz i think it sucks. but whatever. update complete.