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weenie
2010-07-10, 12:05 PM
For a campaign I'm coming up with, I decided not to use the standard metallic/chromatic dragons, but instead make dragons really different from one another. There won't be many monsters in the campaign, it would be a excessively humanoid campaign, therefore relabeling monsters as dragons is completely acceptable. What I would like is such a division of dragons:

earth dragons
sea dragons
sky dragons
forest dragons
some other species would be very welcome too

So far I'm only sure that I'll use the bulette (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/bulette.htm) to represent a typical earth dragon. It fits perfectly, both in fluff and mechanics, as it's going to be a relatively low-level world. For the others though, I'm not really sure what to use, and some advice would be great. I want my dragons to be no smarter than a typical animal, incapable of casting and none of them should be impossible to kill for an organized group of about 20 lvl3 warriors. Suggestions?

Jack_Simth
2010-07-10, 12:11 PM
A Wyrvern (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/wyvern.htm) should do well for a Sky Dragon.

You might try a Kraken (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/kraken.htm) or a Dragon Turtle (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/dragonTurtle.htm) for a Sea Dragon, although a Dire Shark (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/direShark.htm) could work as well.

Possibly a Digester (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/digester.htm) for the Forest Dragon?

weenie
2010-07-10, 12:39 PM
Oooh, Wyverns would make excellent sky dragons! I might take the poison sting away though. For sea dragons I'd rather have something more snake-like, because that's what I see when I think of a sea dragon. Like in the picture:
http://www.hauntedamericatours.com/museum/images/sea-monsters.jpg

And for forest dragons I was thinking about taking the stats of a deinonychus (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/dinosaur.htm#deinonychus), though on a second thought they may be better suited for some form of plains dragon.

Scorpina
2010-07-10, 12:41 PM
I'd think a Purple Worm would be good for something.

Also, I statted out some dragons once: a bestial hunting dragon and a swamp dragon, if either would be of interest they're both posted in the Playground.

Jack_Simth
2010-07-10, 12:44 PM
Oooh, Wyverns would make excellent sky dragons! I might take the poison sting away though. For sea dragons I'd rather have something more snake-like, because that's what I see when I think of a sea dragon. Like in the picture:
http://www.hauntedamericatours.com/museum/images/sea-monsters.jpg

And for forest dragons I was thinking about taking the stats of a deinonychus (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/dinosaur.htm#deinonychus), though on a second thought they may be better suited for some form of plains dragon.

Well, the Snakes (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/snake.htm) have Swim speeds, and a Giant Constrictor would work fairly well as a sea-serpent. Just a little terrain re-fluffing, give it water breathing, and you're... pretty much set, really.

weenie
2010-07-10, 01:04 PM
Well, the Snakes (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/snake.htm) have Swim speeds, and a Giant Constrictor would work fairly well as a sea-serpent. Just a little terrain re-fluffing, give it water breathing, and you're... pretty much set, really.

That's.. perfect. Now I feel stupid :)

@ Scorpiona: Old purple is a tad too strong actually, but I'll check out the other two.

nedz
2010-07-10, 01:13 PM
You might want to consider using the Chinese Dragons, they seem to fit your requirements.

Anyone know which book they are in ?

Scorpina
2010-07-10, 01:14 PM
Uh, Oriental Adventures, surely?

Kaiyanwang
2010-07-10, 01:32 PM
Uh, Oriental Adventures, surely?

If you are referring to Lung Dragons, yes, they are.

They don't cast as sorcerers, but have interesting powers linked to their portfolio of weather spirits (hurricanes, tsunami...).

What about the dreaded linnorms? They can be found in MMII and in the Pathfinder PRD.

For the MMII ones, think twice for the CR :smallwink:

Edit: missed the lv3 thing. Sorry.

What about the Dragon Eel, from MMIII?

Elfin
2010-07-10, 01:38 PM
Landwyrms, from the Draconomicon, are mostly low-to-mid level, and you could probably fit at least a few of those in - especially since they're tied to different types of terrain.

awa
2010-07-10, 01:49 PM
A half dragon dire snake (mm2) would work pretty well it has poison and constrict (its cr is a bit low only 5 hence the half dragon template)

vampire2948
2010-07-10, 02:11 PM
These exist. Draconomicon.

ScionoftheVoid
2010-07-10, 03:38 PM
If you can't use the Purple Worm how about the Ashworm (CR 4, Sandstorm)? Looks about the same but is far weaker. Might make a nice Sand or Desert dragon.

The Malasynep (CR 7, Frostburn) is a bit strong, but would be a reasonable Snow or Ice dragon.

Stone Drakes (CR 4, Races of Stone) are excellent Cave dragons. (Note: This and the previous option both have above animal intelligence).

An Ankheg might fit somewhere.

Basilisk would work in similar areas.

The Manticore is too smart again, but worth considering.

Remorhazes have the same issue.

A Rust Monster might be useful.

A Sea Cat could be moved to a swamp or something with few problems, or added to the Sea dragons.

If you don't want to do that then Shocker Lizards roaming about is another option for the marshes.

How about the Tendriculous for a forest "dragon"?

A Thoqqua moved down a few notches in Int is a fire dragon of sorts.

An Yrthak is both strong and smart but would make a decent Sky dragon in addition to the Wyvern.

The beasts not labeled with a source are in the Monster Manual.

Khellendross
2010-07-10, 04:26 PM
The Dracanomicon or however you spell it has earth drakes and sea drakes I believe.

Prime32
2010-07-10, 04:32 PM
Were you going to change their types to Dragon?

AslanCross
2010-07-10, 06:06 PM
Linnorms (mm2) for high-CR types.
The landwyrms from Draconomicon also work, as do the elemental drakes from the same book.
Draconomicon also has the planar dragons, which are awesome. The radiant dragon and pyroclastic dragon are rough analogues to the gold and red dragons, except stronger. (the pyro, for example, has a line of disintegration or a cone of fire and sonic damage as it's breath weapons)
The LUng dragons from OA also work well. The Lung Wang there isn't even shaped like a dragon.
Finally, the Dragonlance Bestiary of Kryn. Has an actual serpentine aquatic dragon, as well as one that looks like a winged frog.

awa
2010-07-10, 09:36 PM
Ignore monster manual 2 linworms even the weakest has dr 15 over a hundred hitpoints, ac of 27 and is a level 17 cleric and the others are substantialy stronger. 20 3rd levels warriors would be lucky not to wiped out in a single round. be

Lhurgyof
2010-07-10, 09:42 PM
http://www.athas.org/products/ToA

The monster manual there has elemental drakes and sand eels and stuff.
Plus, the party can't really meta-game what their weaknesses are since they're from Dark Sun. :D

(Plus, the para-elemental drakes are cool; Sun, Rain, Silt, and Magma)

ShadowsGrnEyes
2010-07-10, 09:55 PM
well. . . I can think of a few. . .


Things that would work well with Re-Flavor

ELEMENTAL Forces:
Air: Elder Arrowhawk
Earth: Basilisk
Fire: Remorhaz
Water: Dragon Turtle

TERRAIN Types:
Forest: Grey Render
Plains:Dragonne
Desert: Advanced Rust monster
Mountain: Couatle
Tundra: Frost worm

AslanCross
2010-07-11, 05:43 AM
Ignore monster manual 2 linworms even the weakest has dr 15 over a hundred hitpoints, ac of 27 and is a level 17 cleric and the others are substantialy stronger. 20 3rd levels warriors would be lucky not to wiped out in a single round. be

That is true. I had failed to read that he didn't want them to cast. The planar dragons can be ignored as well, in that case.

(The Linnorms are actually awfully-written monsters. A hundred+ HP at its CR isn't so bad, actually, but 9th level spells at that CR most definitely is.)

Runestar
2010-07-11, 06:10 AM
That is true. I had failed to read that he didn't want them to cast. The planar dragons can be ignored as well, in that case.

(The Linnorms are actually awfully-written monsters. A hundred+ HP at its CR isn't so bad, actually, but 9th level spells at that CR most definitely is.)

As with a lot of monsters in MM2, I think the linnorns are actually way over-cr'ed. Their true challenge should be at least 4-8 crs lower than what is currently printed in the book. :smalleek:

Planar dragons don't have spellcasting, and their SLAs can be easily ignored. Alternatively, you can consider the xorvintaal template in MM5, which lets a dragon trade their spellcasting for additional combat-related abilities.

awa
2010-07-11, 11:03 AM
mm2 monsters have bizare cr some to high some way to low. Giant crocodile with half dragon template for breath weapon would make a good swamp dragon lurking underwater.