Fearsome Dragon of Baator (Planar Dragon, 3.5)

[Zaydos]

Here's a dragon I made a ~ two years ago because there were no official planar dragons I knew of associated with Baator or Arcadia. I made on for the latter as well and will post it when I feel like dealing with the formatting.

There is some campaign world specific fluff associated with the dragon, feel free to ignore it. I've never ran one of these but I think I might run a multi-headed dragon that is part purple, part cobalt, and part hellfire dragon.

Hellfire Dragon:
Fluff:
A race of planar dragons native to the Plane of Baator (although no necessarily the only ones). Descended from Korkalash, the now deceased draconic god of war and son of Enyalius and Tiamat, the hellfire dragons are a powerful and destructive race able to breathe forth blasts of pure hellfire to reduce their enemies to cinders. They are a powerful and dangerous race of dragons and often work closely with the Baatezu although neither race truly trusts the other.

Due to their similarities to Baatezu they are also called Baatezu Dragons and Pit Dragons. When born they have scales like fresh blood but by adulthood they darken to the color of dried blood. Their eyes begin as a pale green but with age they become deep viridian which shines with an inner glow. They have two large bony forward pointing horns and the fleshy membranes of their wings are a deep purple. They are imperial creatures with a tendency towards conquest and empire building.

One massive example, the dragon Alla’kadar, rules a large region on Baator’s top layer and is served by several pit fiends and other devils. He has twice fought in the Blood War when it has reach Gehenna and has been known to plot against the Prime. He meets his death when he invades Ralxia in the year 29 A. R. where he is opposed not only by two of the Four Heroes, but also many of their old companions, the children Zeya and Zardan (now in their early thirties) and others. Young Zabodil (27 at the time) also fights, although he does not directly oppose the great wyrm instead leading warrior bands.

Dragon (Extraplanar, Evil, Lawful)
Environment: The Nine Hells of Baator
Organization: Wyrmling, very young, young, juvenile, and young adult: solitary or clutch (2–5); adult, mature adult, old, very old, ancient, wyrm, or great wyrm: solitary, pair, or family (1–2 and 2–5 offspring)
Challenge Ratings: Wyrmling 5; very young 6; young 8; juvenile 11; young adult 13; adult 15; mature adult 18; old 20; very old 21; ancient 22; wyrm 23; great wyrm 25
Treasure: Triple standard
Alignment: Always lawful evil
Advancement: Wyrmling 8–9 HD; very young 11–12 HD; young 14–15 HD; juvenile 17–18 HD; young adult 20–21 HD; adult 23–24 HD; mature adult 26–27 HD; old 29–30 HD; very old 32–33 HD; ancient 35–36 HD; wyrm 38–39 HD; great wyrm 41+ HD

Hellfire Dragons by Age
{table=head]Age|Size|Hit Die (hp)|Str|Dex |Con|Int|Wis |Cha|BAB/Grapple |Attack|Fort |Ref |Will |Breath Weapon|Frightful Presence

Wyrmling|M|7d12+14 (59)|17|10 |15|10|11|12|+7/+10 |+10|+7 |+5 |+5 |2d6 (15)|-

Very young|L|10d12+30 (95)|21|10 |17|12|13|14|+10/+19 |+14|+10 |+7 |+8 |4d6 (18)|-

Young|L|13d12+39 (123)|25|10 |17|12|13|14|+13/+24 |+19|+11 |+8 |+9 |6d6 (19)|18

Juvenile|L|16d12+64 (168)|29|10 |19|14|15|16|+16/+29 |+24|+14|+10|+12|8d6 (22)|21

Young Adult|H|19d12+95 (218)|31|10 |21|14|15|18|+19/+37 |+27|+16|+11|+13|10d6 (24)|23

Adult|H|22d12+110 (253)|33|10 |21|16|19|20|+22/+41 |+31|+18|+13|+17|12d6 (26)|26

Mature Adult|H|25d12+150 (312)|33|10 |23|18|19|20|+25/+44 |+34|+20|+14|+18|14d6 (28)|27

Old|G|28d12+196 (378)|35|10 |25|20|21|22|+28/+52 |+36|+23|+16|+21|16d6 (31)|30

Very Old|G|31d12+248 (449)|37|10 |27|22|23|24|+31/+56 |+40|+25|+17|+23|18d6 (33)|32

Ancient|G|34d12+306 (527)|39|10 |29|24|25|26|+34/+60 |+44|+28|+19|+26|20d6 (36)|35

Wyrm|G|37d12+370 (610)|41|10 |31|24|25|28|+37/+64 |+48|+30|+20|+27|22d6 (38)|37

Great Wyrm|C|40d12+400 (660)|45|10 |31|26|27|30|+40/+73 |+49|+32|+22|+30|24d6 (40)|40[/table]

Hellfire Dragon Abilities by Age
{table=head]Age|Speed|Initiative|AC|Special Abilities|SR

Wyrmling|60-ft, fly 100-ft (poor)|+0|16 (+6 natural)|Immunity to fire and hellfire, cold and acid resistance 10|17

Very Young|60-ft, fly 100-ft (poor)|+0|18 (+8 natural)|Charm Person, Deeper Darkvision|18

Young|60-ft, fly 100-ft (poor)|+0|21 (-1 size, +12 natural)|DR 5/magic|20

Juvenile|60-ft, fly 100-ft (poor)|+0|24 (-1 size, +15 natural)|See Invisibility, Darkness|23

Young Adult|60-ft, fly 100-ft (poor)|+0|26 (-2 size, +18 natural)|DR 10/magic|25

Adult|60-ft, fly 100-ft (poor)|+0|29 (-2 size, +21 natural)|Charm Monster, Stunning Breath|27

Mature Adult|60-ft, fly 100-ft (poor)|+0|32 (-2 size, +24 natural)|DR 15/magic|30

Old|60-ft, fly 150-ft (clumsy)|+0|33 (-4 size, +27 natural)|Wall of Evil, Greater Teleport|31

Very Old|60-ft, fly 150-ft (clumsy)|+0|36 (-4 size, +30 natural)|DR 20/magic and 5/good|33

Ancient|60-ft, fly 150-ft (clumsy)|+0|39 (-4 size, +33 natural)|Blasphemy, Power Word Stun|34

Wyrm|60-ft, fly 150-ft (clumsy)|+0|42 (-4 size, +35 natural)|DR 20/magic and 10/good|35

Great Wyrm|60-ft, fly 150-ft (clumsy)|+0|41 (-8 size, +39 natural)|Lash of Force|37 [/table]

Breath Weapon (Su): A hellfire dragon’s breath weapon is a cone of hellfire which deals, obviously, the listed amount of hellfire damage. A Reflex save halves this damage.

Deeper Darkvision (Ex): A very young or older hellfire dragon’s darkvision functions in magical darkness just as well as in natural darkness.

Spell-like Abilities: Caster level equals age category. 3/day: Charm Person (very young), Darkness (juvenile), Greater Teleport (old), See Invisibility (juvenile), Wall of Evil (old). 1/day: Blasphemy (ancient), Charm Monster (adult), Lash of Force (Great Wyrm), Power Word Stun (Ancient), Stunning Breath (Adult).

[The Tygre]

Thank you so much for this. Monster Manual II had the Hellfire Wyrm, but I really didn't think it was appropriate for a Hell dragon. Yours is much better.

[Calmar]

This really looks good. :smallsmile:

I never trusted dragons that only appear in a Huge CR 26 version, anyway. :smallwink:

[Debihuman]

Very nice indeed. It's always a pleasure to see a new dragon, especially one this well written.

Debby

[hamishspence]

Agreed- the Nine Hells needed a proper dragon.

Elminster in Hell, while not all that good, had ginormous red-scaled dragons all over the skies of Hell- some rather bigger than the red dragons of the Material Plane (could be Advanced to Colossal+ size)

I like the idea of a dragon that actually makes sense as a represention of those (Fiendish Red Dragon seems a bit silly given the Red Dragons are CE).

[DracoDei]

Just a few typographical mistakes: For wyrm the breathweapon field is missing a "d" and reads "226 (38)" instead of "22d6 (38)", and secondly you have an extra "Cas" and the very end of the whole post.

If anything is missing it is a UNIQUE special ability or two...
Also, because of the spell's huge reliance on caster level, Blasphemy is going to prove useless, not only against PCs of anywhere near appropriate levels, but also against almost anything that wouldn't be easier to just melee to death than to use a spell on.

[Zaydos]

Well since I have it made, and for completeness sake, I'll go ahead an post my Custodian Dragon from Arcadia (the only other Outer Plane that lacked a true dragon). I don't really think they are as well made as the above, and lack lots of things but they do complete the Outer Planar dragons. I think the CR needs some touch up, I tinkered with it a little after I realized I hadn't assigned it, but I forgot the dragon I originally based their progression on so :smallredface:. I also think I might should up the breath weapon damage a bit. They also need more flavor but here they are:

Custodian Dragon: Yet another race of planar dragons, the custodian dragons dwell on Arcadia. These creatures enforce the laws and peace of Arcadia, and bring down those who would disrupt these. This sometimes brings them into conflict with even good aligned adventurers, especially those that are also chaotic. More often they deal with those evil creatures which enter Arcadia and those other beings which intentionally disrupt the order of the plane.
They are physically powerful with the ability to loose blasts of frigid air or cones of pacification gas. They also have several other abilities with which to strike down the forces of chaos. These powers make them feared by the baatezu servants of Enyalius which insist on invading Arcadia on their way to Mount Celestia and the tanar’ri which seek continuously to destroy Arcadia. They are revered by the natives of Arcadia who respect them for their role as guardians and enforcers of the law.
They are born with pale silver and blue scales with age turning them to a metallic grey near white with deep azure blue. Their eyes are a bright shining yellow at birth but dull to a smoldering gold as they age. They have backward pointing horns, and a long frill that goes down their neck and down to the base of their tail.

Dragon (Lawful, Extraplanar)
Environment: Arcadia
Organization: Wyrmling, very young, young, juvenile, and young adult: solitary or clutch (2–5); adult, mature adult, old, very old, ancient, wyrm, or great wyrm: solitary, pair, or family (1–2 and 2–5 offspring)
Challenge Ratings: Wyrmling 3; very young 5; young 6; juvenile 8; young adult 11; adult 13; mature adult 15; old 18; very old 20; ancient 21; wyrm 22; great wyrm 23
Treasure: Triple standard
Alignment: Always lawful good or lawful neutral.
Advancement: Wyrmling 5–6 HD; very young 8–9 HD; young 11–12 HD; juvenile 14–15 HD; young adult 17–18 HD; adult 20–21 HD; mature adult 23–24 HD; old 26–27 HD; very old 29–30 HD; ancient 32–33 HD; wyrm 35–36 HD; great wyrm 38+ HD

Custodian Dragons by Age
{table=head]Age|Size|Hit Die (hp)|Str|Dex |Con|Int|Wis |Cha|BAB/Grapple |Attack|Fort |Ref |Will |Breath Weapon|Frightful Presence

Wyrmling|T|4d12+4 (30)|13|10 |13|10|13|10|+4/-3 |+7|+5 |+4 |+4 |2d4 (13)|12

Very young|S|7d12+7 (52)|15|10 |13|10|13|10|+7/+5 |+10|+6 |+5 |+5 |4d4 (14)|13

Young|M|10d12+20 (85)|17|10 |15|12|15|12|+10/+13 |+13|+9 |+7 |+8 |6d4 (17)|16

Juvenile|M|13d12+26 (110)|19|10 |15|12|15|12|+13/+17 |+17|+10|+8|+9|8d4 (18)|17

Young Adult|L|16d12+48 (152)|21|10 |17|14|17|14|+16/+25 |+20|+13|+10|+12|10d4 (21)|20

Adult|L|19d12+76 (199)|25|10 |19|14|17|14|+19/+30 |+25|+15|+11|+13|12d4 (22)|21

Mature Adult|H|22d12+110 (253)|29|10 |21|16|19|16|+22/+39 |+29|+18|+13|+16|14d4 (26)|24

Old|H|25d12+125 (287)|31|10 |21|16|19|16|+25/+43 |+33|+19|+14|+17|16d4 (27)|25

Very Old|H|28d12+168 (350)|33|10 |23|18|21|18|+28/+47 |+37|+22|+16|+20|18d4 (30)|28

Ancient|H|31d12+186 (387)|35|10 |23|18|21|18|+31/+53 |+41|+23|+17|+21|20d4 (31)|29

Wyrm|G|34d12+238 (459)|37|10 |25|20|23|20|+34/+59 |+43|+26|+19|+24|22d4 (34)|32

Great Wyrm|G|37d12+296 (536)|39|10 |27|20|23|20|+37/+63 |+47|+28|+20|+25|24d4 (36)|33[/table]

Custodian Dragon Abilities by Age
{table=head]Age|Speed|Initiative|AC|Special Abilities|SR

Wyrmling|60-ft, fly 100-ft (average)|+0|16 (+2 size, +4 natural)|Immunity to cold, Discern Lies|12

Very Young|60-ft, fly 100-ft (average)|+0|18 (+1 size, +7 natural)|Tongues|14

Young|60-ft, fly 150-ft (poor)|+0|20 (+10 natural)|DR 5/magic|16

Juvenile|60-ft, fly 150-ft (poor)|+0|23 (+13 natural)|Smite Chaos|18

Young Adult|60-ft, fly 150-ft (poor)|+0|25 (-1 size, +16 natural)|DR 10/magic|20

Adult|60-ft, fly 150-ft (poor)|+0|28 (-1 size, +19 natural)|Order's Wrath, Wall of Ice|22

Mature Adult|60-ft, fly 150-ft (poor)|+0|30 (-2 size, +22 natural)|DR 15/magic|24

Old|60-ft, fly 150-ft (poor)|+0|33 (-2 size, +25 natural)|Wall of Gear|26

Very Old|60-ft, fly 150-ft (poor)|+0|36 (-2 size, +28 natural)|DR 20/magic and 5/chaos|28

Ancient|60-ft, fly 150-ft (poor)|+0|39 (-2 size, +31 natural)|True Seeing|30

Wyrm|60-ft, fly 200-ft (clumsy)|+0|40 (-4 size, +34 natural)|DR 20/magic and 10/chaos|32

Great Wyrm|60-ft, fly 200-ft (clumsy)|+0|43 (-8 size, +37 natural)|Mass Hold Monster|34 [/table]

Breath Weapon: A custodian dragon has two breath weapons. One is a line of super cold air which deals the listed amount of cold damage (Ref halves), the other is a cone of pacification gas. Any creature caught in the cone must make a Will save or be held (as per hold monster but no round by round saves) for 1d4 rounds +1 round per age category.

Discern Lies (Sp): A custodian dragon has a continuously active discern lies spell. This may be dispelled but the dragon may resume it as a standard action.

Tongues (Sp): A very young or older custodian dragon has a continuously active tongues spell. This may be dispelled but the dragon may resume it as a standard action.

Smite Chaos (Su): Once per day a juvenile or older custodian dragon can make a normal attack to deal extra damage equal to its hit dice to a chaotic creature.

True Seeing (Sp): An ancient or older custodian dragon has a continuously active true seeing spell. This may be dispelled but the dragon may resume it as a standard action.

Spell-like Abilities: 3/day: Wall of Ice (Adult); 1/day: Mass Hold Monster (Great Wyrm), Order’s Wrath (Adult), Wall of Gears (Old).

[Zaydos]

Just a few typographical mistakes: For wyrm the breathweapon field is missing a "d" and reads "226 (38)" instead of "22d6 (38)", and secondly you have an extra "Cas" and the very end of the whole post.

If anything is missing it is a UNIQUE special ability or two...
Also, because of the spell's huge reliance on caster level, Blasphemy is going to prove useless, not only against PCs of anywhere near appropriate levels, but also against almost anything that wouldn't be easier to just melee to death than to use a spell on.

Thanks, fixed those two (I keep finding problems like that in the post). Blasphemy is fairly useless for them, but it fits and they also get Power Word Stun at the same time so they do get some nice little trick at that age category, but know any similarly flavorful power they could get instead?

As for the unique ability, the Custodian Dragon is probably even worse there but it was something I made simply because if every other plane had one then why doesn't Arcadia get similar love?

[DracoDei]

For Blasphemy, the "brute force" solution might be to keep it, but for that one ability say that their caster level is equal to their CR (or maybe CR-1 or CR-2).

[Zaydos]

For Blasphemy, the "brute force" solution is to keep it, but for that one ability say that their caster level is equal to their CR (or maybe CR-1 or CR-2).

I might do that, or look through Fiendish Codex II for something. Maybe make an ability unique to them that has to do with evil and/or law.

Edit: How does this sound instead of Blasphemy they gain an ability called Hellfire Retribution usable 3 times per day?

Hellfire Retribution: 3/day When an ancient or older hellfire dragon takes damage from an attack or spell it may as an immediate action create a blast of hellfire that fills the space of whatever creature triggered this ability and all adjacent spaces. All creatures within the area take 3d8+Constitution modifier hellfire damage and any non-evil creature within the area must make a Fort save (DC is Con based so it is normally the same as for the hellfire dragon's breath weapon) or be nauseated for 1 round, good creatures within the area are instead nauseated for 2 rounds on a failed save.

Not sure on the balance, but it gives it a unique ability and replaces Blasphemy with something useful (especially due to action economy). Maybe make damage and save DC charisma based instead of Con based?

[DracoDei]

Regarding the second dragon: Actually Discern Lies used in that way somehow strikes me as reasonably novel. Not sure why, but I am not going to argue with success... unless it is just me.


As for the retribution ability, it sounds reasonable.