Legendary Resistance (3/Day) If the dragon fails a saving throw, it can choose to succeed instead.
Metal Resistance. The dragon has resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage from metal weapons.
Magic Weapons. The dragon’s weapon attacks are magical.
Metal Scent. The dragon can pinpoint, by scent, the location of any metal within 30 feet of it and knows what kind of metal it is.
Innate Spellcasting. The dragon’s innate spellcasting ability is Charisma (spell save DC 14). It can innately cast the following spells, requiring no components:
3/day: wall of stone (except is iron instead of stone, making the AC of each panel 17 instead of 15)
Multiattack. The dragon can use its Frightful Presence. It then 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: 19 (2d10 + 8) piercing damage. If the target is wearing or carrying either metal armor or a metal shield, it takes a permanent and cumulative −1 penalty to the AC it offers. Armor reduced to an AC of 10 or a shield that drops to a +0 bonus is destroyed.
Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +10 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 15 (2d6 + 8) slashing damage.
Tail. Melee Weapon Attack: +10 to hit, reach 15 ft., one target. Hit: 15 (2d8 + 8) bludgeoning damage.
Frightful Presence. Each creature of the dragon's choice that is within 120 feet of the dragon and aware of it must succeed on a DC 15 Wisdom saving throw or become frightened 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. If a creature's saving throw is successful or the effect ends for it, the creature is immune to the dragon's Frightful Presence for the next 24 hours.
Breath Weapons (Recharge 5–6). The dragon uses one of the following breath weapons.
Acid Breath. The dragon exhales acid in an 60-foot line that is 5 feet wide. Each creature in that line must make a DC 19 Dexterity saving throw, taking 27 (6d8) acid damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.
Rust Breath. The dragon exhales extremely corrosive reddish-brown liquid in a 60-foot cone. Each creature in that area must succeed on a DC 19 Dexterity saving throw. On a failed save, any metal items, including those being worn or carried, in the cone are destroyed. Magical items made of metal take a permanent and cumulative −1 penalty to, if they are weapons, damage rolls, if armor or other magical item that offers a boost to AC, to the AC it offers, and the dragon gains a +1 bonus to AC until the start of its next turn. If a weapon's penalty drops to −5, it is destroyed, Armor reduced to an AC of 10 or a shield or magic item that drops to a 0 AC increase is destroyed.
The dragon can take 3 legendary actions, choosing from the options below. Only one legendary action option can be used at a time and only at the end of another creature's turn. The dragon regains spent legendary actions at the start of its turn.
Detect. The dragon makes a Wisdom (Perception) check.
Tail Attack. The dragon makes a tail attack.
Wing Attack (Costs 2 Actions). The dragon beats its wings. Each creature within 10 feet of the dragon must succeed on a DC 19 Dexterity saving throw or take 15 (2d6 + 8) bludgeoning damage and be knocked prone. The dragon can then fly up to half its flying speed.
Description
Rust dragons. Rust dragons were planar dragons native to Acheron that had an insatiable hunger for metal. Physically, rust dragons resembled different metallic dragons from the Prime Material plane, such as silver, copper, and brass, except that their scales seemed to be covered by different forms of oxidation and their wings were thin with an iridescent character. Those differences were only in their appearance, as all rust dragons usually possessed a similar set of strengths and abilities. Moreover, rust dragons had somewhat insectoid traits. Rust dragons' teeth were also unusual in the sense that they protruded from the creature's exoskeleton, instead of its skull.
Metal Eaters. The main sources of sustenance for rust dragons were ores and metals. They had a particular liking for adamantine, gold, mithral, iron, silver, and steel, but did not turn down other metals. They also enjoyed eating meat, particularly vermin, as palate cleansers between servings of different metals, in order to better appreciate their subtle differences in taste.
Personality. Unlike pyroclastic dragons or howling dragons, rust dragons were not exceedingly aggressive or violent. They mainly attacked out of hunger, and even so only to the point where they could secure sustenance. Despite being very focused on the task at hand and not tolerant of much meddling in their affairs, they were not above withdrawing from a hostile situation in which they had the disadvantage. Another trait that set rust dragons aside from other dragons was that they did not have the habit of hoarding treasure, save for a handful of gems that some of the oldest rust dragons might want to carry. Most Rust dragons were either of Lawful Evil or Lawful Neutral alignment.
Heavy Metal Combatants. Any metal object that came in touch with a rust dragon's skin or its bite immediately rusted away into uselessness. They were also incredibly resilient against damage from weapons made of metal. Only extremely powerful magic weapons had a better chance of withstanding this rusting effect, but no weapon was completely immune.
Rust dragons possessed two breath weapons: a line of acid and a cone of extremely corrosive reddish-brown liquid that immediately destroyed any metal items that it touched. Only objects with some sort of magical enhancement could stand a chance of surviving it. They could also create effects similar to the acid fog, repel metal or stone, and wall of iron spells, depending on their age and thus power.
Ecology. A minority of sages speculated that rust dragons might be related to rust monsters, but those claims were generally discredited. The extremely few rust monsters who survived to reach old age somehow transported themselves to Acheron, where they ravenously consumed the abundant metal from the cubes of the plane for about one year. Afterwards, they encased themselves in cocoons made of spun metal, where they stayed for three years. Following this period, they emerged from their cocoons as rust dragon wyrmlings. It was not known, however, whether rust monsters were native to Acheron and only traveled to the Prime Material plane as a part of their larval cycle to become rust dragons, or if rust monsters were in fact native to the Prime and were altered by the magic of Acheron once transported there. In any case, it was speculated that rust dragons were largely responsible for the ongoing degradation of the oldest cubes of Acheron. The Doomguard in particular maintained that, if left unchecked, rust dragons were capable of destroying the entire plane within one millennium.
Society. Besides their home plane of Acheron, rust dragons could also be found in Banehold, Clangor, Dragon Eyrie, Hammergrim, and Nishrek. If found in the Material plane, they tended to build their lair in underground caverns near veins of metal, to the usual dismay of miners. They were usually found alone, but could also form families as they raised their young. Clutches of young rust dragons were also commonly found.
Sometimes the achaierai collected rust dragon cocoons and raised them as pets. Domesticated rust dragons were considerably more docile and tolerant of others than their wild counterparts.
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