Multiattack. The dragon makes three attacks: one with its bite and two with its claws.
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +10 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 17 (2d10 + 6) piercing damage plus 3 (1d6) fire damage.
Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +10 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 13 (2d6 + 6) slashing damage.
Breath Weapons (Recharge 5–6). The dragon uses one of the following breath weapons.
Fire Breath. The dragon exhales fire in a 30-foot cone. Each creature in that area must make a DC 17 Dexterity saving throw, taking 56 (16d6) fire damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.
Weakening Breath. The dragon exhales gas in a 30-foot cone. Each creature in that area must succeed on a DC 17 Strength saving throw or have disadvantage on Strength-based attack rolls, Strength checks, and Strength saving throws for 1 minute. A creature can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success.
Description
The most powerful, majestic and covetous of all dragons, blood gold dragons tirelessly seek to increase their treasure hoards - some by conquest, others by brokered alliances.
The odor of sulfur and pumice surrounds a blood gold dragon, whose swept-back horns and spinal frill define its silhouette. Its beaked snout vents smoke at all times, and its eyes dance with flame when it is angry. Its wings are the longest of any dragon, and have a blue-black tint along the trailing edge that resembles metal burned blue by fire.
The scales of a blood gold dragon wyrmling are a bright glossy scarlet, turning a dull, deeper red and becoming as thick and strong as metal as the dragon ages. Its underbelly begins as brightly polished gold, and dulls with tarnish as it ages. Its pupils also fade as it ages, and the oldest blood gold dragons have eyes that resemble molten lava orbs.
Lair and Lair Actions
A Blood Gold Dragon’s Lair
Blood gold dragons make their homes in out-of-the-way places high in the mountains or hills, where they can do as they please without arousing suspicion or fear. Most dwell near idyllic lakes and rivers, caverns under snow-capped peaks, mist-shrouded islands, cave complexes hidden behind sparkling waterfalls, in ancient ruins or within the deep halls of abandoned mines and dwarven strongholds. Caves with volcanic or geothermal activity are the most highly prized red dragon lairs, creating hazards that hinder intruders and letting searing heat and volcanic gases wash over a dragon as it sleeps.
With its hoard well protected deep within the lair, a blood gold dragon spends as much of its time outside the mountain as in it. For a blood gold dragon, the great heights of the world are the throne from which it can look out to survey all it controls—and the wider world it seeks to control.
Throughout the lair complex, servants erect monuments to the dragon’s power, telling the story of its life, the enemies it has slain, and the nations it has conquered.
Lair Actions
On initiative count 20 (losing initiative ties), the dragon takes a lair action to cause one of the following effects; the dragon can’t use the same effect two rounds in a row:
- The dragon glimpses the future, so it has advantage on attack rolls, ability checks, and saving throws until initiative count 20 on the next round.
- One creature the dragon can see within 120 feet of it must succeed on a DC 15 Charisma saving throw or be banished to a dream plane, a different plane of existence the dragon has imagined into being. To escape, the creature must use its action to make a Charisma check contested by the dragon’s. If the creature wins, it escapes the dream plane. Otherwise, the effect ends on initiative count 20 on the next round. When the effect ends, the creature reappears in the space it left or in the nearest unoccupied space if that one is occupied.
- Magma erupts from a point on the ground the dragon can see within 120 feet of it, creating a 20-foot-high, 5-foot-radius geyser. Each creature in the geyser’s area must make a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw, taking 21 (6d6) fire damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.
- A tremor shakes the lair in a 60-foot radius around the dragon. Each creature other than the dragon on the ground in that area must succeed on a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw or be knocked prone.
- Volcanic gases form a cloud in a 20-foot-radius sphere centered on a point the dragon can see within 120 feet of it. The sphere spreads around corners, and its area is lightly obscured. It lasts until initiative count 20 on the next round. Each creature that starts its turn in the cloud must succeed on a DC 13 Constitution saving throw or be poisoned until the end of its turn. While poisoned in this way, a creature is incapacitated.
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