The most domineering of chromatic dragons, orange dragons are exceedingly vain and arrogant. They seek to dominate all creatures foolish enough to enter their demesnes, though they find gnomes and halflings ugly, and eat them on sight.
An orange dragon has a very long neck, and its lithe body is covered in overlapping arrowhead-shaped scales. Two long spikes emerge from either side of its jaw, which is very wide compared to most other dragons, while a single whitish horn that resembles a tree stump emerges from the back of its head. A young orange dragon has pale amber scales that gradually thicken and turn to an almost red orange as it ages.

Toxic Dragons. Orange dragons are poisonous and evil, and they think themselves as gods from deep in the rainforest.
An orange dragon's breath courses with foul-smelling poison that causes terrible pain in those that breathe it. It is driven by its vile nature to keep those it defeats alive as long as possible so that it can watch the pained writhing of its victims. When its victims expire, it devours them, though it prefers not to eat the head, placing it at the edge of its territory impaled on a sharpened pole to ward off interlopers.

Jungle Treasures. An orange dragon craves gems and precious metals, particularly those orange in coloration. Above all other treasures, however, an orange dragon sees items crafted from humanoid bones to be the most valuable, sending its minions to slay humanoids far and wide. As it prefers to have humanoid minions, an orange dragon also uses the threat of becoming a part of its hoard to keep its underlings in line.

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:

• Grasping roots and vines erupt in a 20-foot radius centered on a point on the ground that the dragon can see within 120 feet of it. That area becomes difficult terrain, and each creature there must succeed on a DC 15 Strength saving throw or be restrained by the roots and vines. A creature can be freed if it or another creature takes an action to make a DC 15 Strength check and succeeds. The roots and vines wilt away when the dragon uses this lair action again or when the dragon dies.
• A cloud of swarming insects fills a 20-foot-radius sphere centered on a point the dragon chooses within 120 feet of it. The cloud spreads around corners and remains until the dragon dismisses it as an action, uses this lair action again, or dies. The cloud is lightly obscured. Any creature in the cloud when it appears must make on a DC 15 Constitution saving throw, taking 10 (3d6) piercing damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. A creature that ends its turn in the cloud takes 10 (3d6) piercing damage.
• A cloud of poison billows around a point the dragon can see within 120 feet of it. Each creature within a 20-foot radius centered on that point must make a DC 15 Constitution saving throw or take 10 (3d6) poison damage.

Regional Effects

The region containing a legendary orange dragon's lair is warped by the dragon's magic, which creates one or more of the following effects:

• Rainstorms rage within 6 miles of the lair.
• Water sources within 1 mile of the lair are supernaturally fouled. Enemies of the dragon that drink such water regurgitate it in minutes.
• There's a noticeable increase in the populations of venomous animals, particularly snakes, spiders, and wasps.

If the dragon dies, these effects fade over the course of 1d10 days.