Molten Body.
A creature that touches the Ashmaw or hits it with a melee attack while within 5 feet of it takes 5 (1d10) fire damage.
Volcanic Presence.
The area within 20 feet of the Ashmaw is lightly obscured by smoke and ash. This area is considered difficult terrain for non-fire-resistant creatures. Ranged attacks through this area are made at disadvantage.
Lava Burrower.
Ashmaw can move through solid rock or earth as if it were difficult terrain. It leaves behind a smoldering tunnel that collapses after 1 minute.
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: +14 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 19 (2d10 + 8) piercing damage plus 7 (2d6) fire damage.
Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +14 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 15 (2d6 + 8) slashing damage.
Tail. Melee Weapon Attack: +14 to hit, reach 15 ft., one target. Hit: 17 (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 19 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.
Fire Breath (Recharge 5–6). The dragon exhales fire in a 60-foot cone. Each creature in that area must make a DC 21 Dexterity saving throw, taking 63 (18d6) fire damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.
Reactions
Flareburst Counter (1/turn)
Trigger: A creature within 10 feet of Ashmaw hits it with a melee attack.
Effect: Ashmaw erupts in a sudden burst of superheated embers. The attacker must make a DC 16 Dexterity saving throw or take 10 (3d6) fire damage and be blinded until the end of their next turn as cinders sear their eyes. On a success, they take half damage and are not blinded.
Tactical Notes:
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Purpose: This reaction punishes melee attackers and encourages tactical positioning.
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Blinding adds control to Ashmaw's kit, reinforcing its role as a high-threat area denial monster.
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It fits thematically with its body constantly smoldering and exhaling fire.
Ashmaw can take 2 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.
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Smoldering Step. Ashmaw moves up to half its speed without provoking opportunity attacks. The ground it leaves smolders; any creature that enters that space must make a DC 13 Con save or take 5 (1d10) fire damage.
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Tail Swipe. Ashmaw makes a tail attack.
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Ignite (Costs 2 Actions). Ashmaw targets a creature it can see within 60 feet. The target must succeed on a DC 15 Constitution saving throw or catch fire, taking 7 (2d6) fire damage at the start of each of its turns for 1 minute. The target or another creature can use an action to extinguish the flames.
Description
Ashmaw, the Ember Wyrm
In the heart of scorched mountains or beneath volcanic plains, the ground trembles not from tectonic unrest—but from the stirring of Ashmaw, the Ember Wyrm. With scales like cracked obsidian glowing with magma-light from within, this draconic elemental exudes an ancient, seething fury. Smoke constantly seeps from its nostrils, and the ground wilts beneath its clawed feet, leaving behind trails of smoldering ruin.
Ashmaw is not a creature of cold calculation, nor one of mad rage. Instead, it is a primal force of destruction and renewal—both guardian and destroyer of flame-touched realms. Its mind is sharp enough to understand deals and territory, but its patience is thin. To speak with Ashmaw is to risk being seen as a challenger or, worse, as fuel.
Though not truly a dragon in the traditional sense, Ashmaw bears many draconic features: wings that fan flame with every beat, a voice like grinding stone, and a presence that dominates the battlefield. However, it is born not of lineage, but of elemental upheaval—formed in the ancient belly of the world when the boundary between fire and flesh thinned.
Legends say Ashmaw slumbers until the earth cries out—when mortals dig too deep or when old magic threatens to erupt. Then it awakens, rising like a volcano given wings, to reclaim balance in a world grown too comfortable.
Lair and Lair Actions
A Red Dragon’s Lair
Red dragons lair in high mountains or hills, dwelling in caverns under snow-capped peaks, 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 red dragon spends as much of its time outside the mountain as in it. For a red 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 grim 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:
- 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.
Regional Effects
The region containing a legendary red dragon’s lair is warped by the dragon’s magic, which creates one or more of the following effects:
- Small earthquakes are common within 6 miles of the dragon’s lair.
- Water sources within 1 mile of the lair are supernaturally warm and tainted by sulfur.
- Rocky fissures within 1 mile of the dragon’s lair form portals to the Elemental Plane of Fire, allowing creatures of elemental fire into the world to dwell nearby.
If the dragon dies, these effects fade over the course of 1d10 days.
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