Titanium Dragons - Ancient Scholars
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quietly contemplating many things. art by Gunship Revolution
It's in the name of the game, so it must be a key part of it all, right? Yes. Dragons are a very important part of Dungeons and Dragons. Everyone knows about the evil chromatics and the benevolent dragons with metallic scales. That's a great selection for some, but that's a great start for me.
This is the first part of a series where I'll be outlining new breeds of dragons. Some of them will be inspired by The Draconomicon from that old edition nobody talks about. Some of them, like the one here will be a figure of my own making. So, without further ado...
Titanium Dragons
Considered one of the oldest and rarest species, titanium dragons are linked to the flows of magic within the world. Often called Mage Dragons, the titanium dragons are attributed to the first practices of wizardry and the art of bringing magic down to a form that can be practised like art or studied like science.
A titanium dragon is known for its short snout and wide jawline, with a circle of four sharpened horns which grow in different directions for each dragon. When young, their scales appear a gleaming silver, like polished metal, but as age takes them, their scales grow dimmer and more grey. Truly ancient titanium dragons have blue flecks in their scales, as their forms have been subject to their magical experiments.
Ancient titanium dragon stat block generated on Homebrewery.naturalcrit.com
Adult Titanium Stat Block
Titanium dragons horde knowledge of whatever kind it can gather. Books, scrolls, tapestries of historic events, and often keeps historians and storytellers in its circle of influence.
A unique ability of titanium dragons is its mastery of conjuration. Over the millennia of their existence, their breath has become charged more and more with arcane energy. The energy is so potent with the eldest titanium dragons, that they can breathe creatures made of raw magical energy into existence. These serpents have a lifespan of one hour, obey the titanium dragon that created it, and die if the dragon dies. They often perform simple tasks to assist the dragon or fight to the death to defend it.
Titanium Dragon Lairs
Titanium dragons dwell in ruins. Castles and cityscapes lost to time and broken down by wind or water erosion. Despite the gloomy appearance, the lair and area around it swells with positive magical energy.
Lair Actions:
The dragon enchants the air filling its lair with energy that nullifies or weakens any harmful magic cast in the lair. The next time a spell would deal damage to a creature other than the dragon, the caster of that spell must make a Wisdom saving throw against their own Spell Save DC. On a failure, they take damage of the type their spell created equal to half the total damage that spell dealt. For example, if a wizard cast Magic Missile at first level, and their three bolts dealt 2, 3, and 4 force damage respectively, that wizard would take 4 force damage.
Young Titanium Dragon
The dragon absorbs the energy of the next negative spell cast in their lair. If the dragon is hit with a spell attack or takes damage from a spell that required it to make a saving throw, the dragon can use one of its legendary actions to have the spell rebound. A spell rebounded this way causes a 10-foot-square within 120 feet of it to become difficult terrain until the next initiative count 20.
Region Effects:
Creatures within 6 miles of the dragon's lair make intelligence checks with advantage. Creatures proficient in intelligence skills roll with their proficiency bonus doubled if their proficiency bonus is not doubled by another effect, such as Expertise.
Fruit bearing trees and plants within 1 mile of the dragon's lair bear fruit that once eaten have the same effect of a random common or uncommon potion.
Tiny beasts such as rodents and birds that are normally unable to speak gain the magical ability to speak and understand Draconic within 1 mile of the dragon's lair. These creatures speak well of the dragon and can offer information about the dragon's whereabouts and intentions if it can answer a riddle. The dragon is aware of everything these beasts say and hear.
The vaporous serpent coiled to strike - art by alan pollack
Wrapping Up
This is the first of many posts coming to Apotheosis Studios about dragons. Keep your eyes close to our site for the calculating grey dragons, the elusive purple dragons, the noble steel dragons, and insidious cobalt dragons.
Adam Ray contributes much for adventurers here on Apotheosis Studios. As co-founder of fantasticuniverses.com, he writes about card gaming and PC gaming to a corner of the internet he carved out himself. On Youtube, he can be found game mastering for No Ordinary Heroes, or editing the antics on The Hostile Atmosphere. Follow his Twitter @IzzetTinkerer.
