There are spells or magic items that can temporarily stall a dragon's growth?

[Samael Morgenst]

Aussirachthend ("icecream", in Draconic) is a wyrmling white dragon of Tiny size but colossal+ ambitions. Unusually smart for his breed (he has elite - player character - ability scores) he was raised in captivity among the frost giants and sold to a fairly powerful Wizard to serve as familiar.
More cunning and patient than the average white, he managed to cajole some favour toward his master, to the point of being taken as apprentice and cohort rather than mere pet familiar. He risked his life adventuring and trained relentlessly, quickly gaining several class levels.

Yet now he's approaching the fifth year of life and he realizes that if allowed to grow normally, his innate powers will hamper his possibilities of advancement through training ( in game terms, the increased LA will forbid him from gaining those last class levels before hitting the ECL 20 cap ).

Icecream is not against growing at all - he already envisions himself as an advanced Great Wyrm - but he needs just a few more years of adventuring to complete his formative stage.

So, there's any spell / item that could do the trick?


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Aussirachthend
Male wyrmling white dragon
Sorcerer 1/ Mystic 4/ Geomancer 5
Effective Character Level: 15 (3 hit-dice, LA+2)
Tiny dragon (cold)
Hit Dice 3d12+1d4+4d8+5d6+13 (69 hp)
Initiative +4
Speed 65 ft., burrow 30 ft., swim 60 ft., fly 150 ft. (average)
Armor Class 14, touch 12, flat-footed 14
Base Attack +9; Grapple +2
Attack +12 melee (1d4+1, bite)
Full Attack +12 melee (1d4+1, bite), +7 melee (1d3+1, 2 claws);
Space/Reach 2-1/2 ft./0 ft. (5 ft. with bite)
Special Attacks: breath weapon (Su): 15-ft. cone, 1d6 cold, Reflex DC 12 half
Special Qualities: blindsense 60 ft., darkvision 120 ft., icewalking, immunity to cold, magic sleep effects,and paralysis, low-light vision, vulnerability to fire
Alignment: Neutral Evil
Saves: Fort +12, Ref +5, Will +15
Str 12, Dex 10, Con 12, Int 10, Wis 16, Cha 14.
Skills: Hide +26, Listen +6, Search +4, Sense Motive +6, Spot +6, Swim +20, Spellcraft +4, Knowledge (arcana) +4, Knowledge (religion) +4, Knowledge (nature) +4, Concentration +5
Feats: Improved Initiative, Iron Will, Alternative Source Spell, Craft Wondrous Item, Theurgic Creationist
Class Features: Spellshield (replaces Summon Familiar), Domain (Pride), spell versatility 4, ley lines +1 (aquatic), drifts (spots and stripes, adaptive skin, swift as an elk, fish gills)

[Crake]

This is a very metagamey approach, but the easiest solution is to just gain a negative level and then recover it with restoration, as this will bring you up to the minimum xp required for your ECL.

There is also no ECL20 limit for NPCs, a great wyrm can take class levels as much as he’d like. NPCs also do not need to follow the same XP rules as players, and can just be given class levels as you desire.

[Samael Morgenst]

But Icecream is a pc

[Crake]

But Icecream is a pc

Then just ask the DM to reduce the time scope of the campaign to be less than 5 years

Also you dont qualify for power attack with your 12 strength

[Samael Morgenst]

Thanks for the correction.
Anyhow, consider it a solo session / thought experiment.

I think there are age-stalling, or time-frozing spells and device around the supplement books.

[Silva Stormrage]

There is a listed bestow curse that automatically ages a creature to the next age category.

I could see a bestow curse or perhaps greater bestow curse preventing a creature from growing/aging (Obviously not extending a creature's lifespan). Might have some other drawbacks like it still accumulates physical ability damage from aging and their form getting a bit more withered to prevent humans from using it on themselves while in their prime.

But for a wyrmling using it for a couple years shouldn't have any problems.

[Inevitability]

A very hackneyed solution: Sepia Snake Sigil is a 3rd-level spell that puts a creature in suspended animation that explicitly prevents aging. Get it as a SLA (Mark of Shadow elf with Shadow Conjuration?) or magic item to bypass the material component and use it to 'freeze' your growth whenever you're not actively adventuring. The caster can free you 'at their command', which sounds to me like a free action, so it's effortless to have you rejoin the party when needed.

This lets you cut out sleeping time, waiting time, and all that unproductive overland travel if you find a good wagon (or buy a talisman of the disk for a slightly more reliable solution). You should easily be able to cut down a day to an hour, or perhaps as little as a handful of minutes.

[Inevitability]

Just to math it out, an item of 5/day Sepia Snake Sigil would cost... 3x5x2000x0.5 + 25000 = 40000 GP. If you craft it yourself with Craft Wondrous Item, that's 20000 GP and 1600 XP. So, definitely rough, but affordable at ECL 15, and you could plausibly reduce that price by 40% if you get skill and alignment restrictions worked in there, and your DM might give you an extra discount if you make the item too big to use in combat.

[spectralphoenix]

If you have a smaller number of longer periods of downtime, it would probably be more efficient to die, get preserved with Gentle Repose, and get Revivified when it's time to earn xp again.

[ShurikVch]

Arguably, Kissed by the Ages (Dragon #354) may do it; but it's 9th-level spell with 5,000 XP cost...

[tyckspoon]

Consider finding a slow-time or timeless plane to do your adventuring in. In the default D&D cosmology the Astral plane is pretty readily accessible and a suitable place for mid-high level characters to go marauding around in.

[Maat Mons]

Book of Vile Darkness has the Steal Life spell.

[Crake]

Consider finding a slow-time or timeless plane to do your adventuring in. In the default D&D cosmology the Astral plane is pretty readily accessible and a suitable place for mid-high level characters to go marauding around in.

Dangerous, because you speed age to catch up as soon as you leave a timeless plane

[Inevitability]

Dangerous, because you speed age to catch up as soon as you leave a timeless plane

That'd be a fun adventure idea. PCs get paid to extract some red dragon wyrmling from the astral (captured by githyanki, doubtless), then the moment they're through the portal that tiny little lizard balloons into an adult or even wyrm. Lots of ways to play that one, whether as a surprise twist and bossfight or as a way to save them from pursuers.

[Crake]

That'd be a fun adventure idea. PCs get paid to extract some red dragon wyrmling from the astral (captured by githyanki, doubtless), then the moment they're through the portal that tiny little lizard balloons into an adult or even wyrm. Lots of ways to play that one, whether as a surprise twist and bossfight or as a way to save them from pursuers.

I've used it as a plot device before, in a horror adventure, they players stumbled into a timeless plane where a troubled, but powerful psychic child was keeping her caretakers, and psychologically tormenting them. Eventually the players put the child to rest, and it caused the demiplane to begin collapsing, but once the caretakers were removed from the plane, they began rapidly aging, and eventually crumbled to dust, as they had been in there for centuries, managing a final thank you to the party for freeing them from the endless torment.

But for a dragon, could be qutie an interesting take, might have to steal that.

[St Fan]

Any effect that stop or slow time during non-adventuring periods should work. Sepia snake sigil has been mentioned already. There are others, although they tend to be high-level.

The suspend life psionic power comes to mind.

Also the smoky confinement spell from Complete Mage. Although you need someone trustworthy to handle the receptacle if you don't want to wake up a century in the future...