Shocking Scales. Anyone who touches the dragon, either directly or with a metal weapon, or moves through the space it occupies must make a DC 15 Dexterity saving through or else be paralyzed for 1 turn and take 11 (3d6) lightning damage.
Electric Affinity. The dragon has +3 to hit against any target that is wearing metal armor or a metal shield.
Darkvision. The dragon is capable of discerning colors with its Darkvision sense. Its eyes are now developed enough to be able to discern colors even in the darkest of areas. It's very useful for navigating the desert at night.
Multiattack. The dragon can make both a Bite and Claw Slash attack, and also one Breath Weapon attack if possible.
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 23 (5d8 + 3) piercing damage + 13 (1d20 + 2) lightning damage.
Claw Slash. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 15 ft., one target. Hit: 26 (4d10 + 5) piercing damage. The dragon can take a bonus action to slash with its other claw, but has disadvantage on the attack roll when attacking with both claws this turn if it does so.
Breath Weapons (Recharge 5–6). The dragon uses one of the following breath weapons.
Lightning Breath. The dragon exhales lightning in a 70-foot line that is 5 feet wide. Each creature in that line must make a DC 12 Dexterity saving throw, taking 62 (6d20) lightning damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.
The DC for this saving throw increases by 1 for every 10 feet closer to the dragon the target is from the maximum range. Thus, a target 51-60 feet away would have a DC 13 Dexterity saving throw to make, and a target 1-10 feet away would have a DC 18 Dexterity saving throw to make. Creatures on the same space as the dragon cannot be targeted by this attack.
Sneeze. The dragon sneezes. It loses 5 (1d10) hit points (cannot be reduced below 15 by this and cannot sneeze if at 15 or under hit points), but all sentient creatures who saw or heard the dragon sneeze laugh uncontrollably and have disadvantage on Strength, Dexterity, and Intelligence checks. for their next turn. This disadvantage trumps advantages - ignore them. If a character has a trend of not laughing, they don't need to worry about gaining the disadvantages. The dragon also decreases its breath weapon recharge counter by 4.
Claw Slash. This is used when the dragon decides to attack with both claws. Both claw attacks (this one and the normal one) have disadvantage on the hit rolls.
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.
Sneeze. The dragon makes a Sneeze attack. It does not take damage when doing this.
Tail Spin. The dragon whips its tail around in a circle. Each creature within 15 feet of the dragon must succeed on a DC 19 Dexterity saving throw or take 21 (4d6 + 7) bludgeoning damage and be knocked prone, or half as much damage on a successful save. The dragon can only use this if it is on the ground, and only if it Sneezed on its previous turn.
Description
The Desert Dragon is a medium-sized dragon with long, spiny wings and a very long tail. Over time, it is developing to lose its hind legs, and eventually its front claws will lose their purpose of movement as well; the Desert Dragon already often slithers across the ground with its powerful belly muscles.
Most of these dragons' bodies are a dusty tan, with some spots (such as horns or bonier places) being a more orange, sandstone-like color. However, some areas of pure black are found on the dragons in completely random places; more are found on older dragons and none on newborns. The dragons have piercing green eyes that are adapted to the desert nights and darkness.
They are rather spiny, although spines greatly vary among dragons, with some having spines each reaching out nearly three feet and others having spines that don't even protrude by three inches.
Lair and Lair Actions
Desert dragons burrow beneath the ground to make the basement of their lairs, but also digs up rock and meticulously builds a tall, but remarkably sturdy, structure like a tower. If this structure is destroyed, the Desert dragon will burrow beneath the ground and become extremely angry. It will focus on targeting solely the one creature who destroyed its lair and relentlessly attack it.
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 is immune to its own lair actions):
- Ground Spikes. Large, 8-foot tall spikes protrude from any floor of the tower (each floor is 10 feet tall.) All targets on the affected floor must take a DC 16 Dexterity saving throw or else take 9 (2d8) piercing damage as the are poked up to the ceiling. They take another 6 (1d10) bludgeoning damage if they are Large or bigger, as they crash into the ceiling. Targets who do not take damage must make another Dexterity saving throw of DC 14 or else be trapped between the spikes, becoming restrained. A creature can take an action to make a DC 10 Strength check, breaking out of the spikes restraining them. A creature can choose to botch the first saving throw without making it and take the damage instead of risking being restrained.
- Skystrike. Lightning from above strikes the tower, sending a surge of power throughout the entire tower. Concentration for spells is immediately broken, and all creatures in the tower must succeed on a DC 12 Intelligence check to avoid becoming blinded for one turn. In addition, some creatures are vulnerable to taking damage as well. Anyone on the top floor must take a DC 22 Strength check, and everyone holding (besides in a backpack) anything metal must take a DC 19 Strength check. All who fail take 21 (5d8) lightning damage.
Regional Effects
The region containing a legendary adult desert dragon’s lair is warped by the dragon’s magic, which creates one or more of the following effects:
- Thunderstorms of varying intensity rage within 6 miles of the lair; however, the one right above the lair is the most dangerous. It obscures sunlight and instead, the lightning provides light.
- There are an increased amount of cacti and Saguards within 3 miles, and the number of these increase further the closer you are to the lair. All cacti within 1 mile of the lair are converted into Saguards by an ancient magic.
- There are oases located within 6 miles of the lair; these are all real (although the characters may hallucinate and imagine one of their own!). They are normally a full day's walk from each other, but no less than that. The oases become more infrequent the closer to the lair you are, and there are none within 1 mile of the lair.
If the dragon dies, all the oases remain, and the thunderstorms subside in 1d8 days. However, the large central thunderstorm over the lair dissipates almost immediately and is fully gone within a few hours. The magic that converts cacti into Saguards within one mile of the lair remains for 3d4 centuries.
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