Andra

Description. The most powerful and majestic of the metallic dragons, gold dragons are dedicated foes of evil. A gold dragon has a sagacious face anointed with flexible spines that resemble whiskers. Its horns sweep back from its nose and brow, echoing twin frills that adorn its long neck. A gold dragon's sail-like wings start at its shoulders and trace down to the tip of its tail, letting it fly with a distinctive rippling motion as if swimming through the air. This elegant flying motion is considered by many scholars, as well as by the gold dragons themselves, to be the most graceful among true dragons. A gold dragon wyrmling has scales of dark yellow with metallic flecks. Those flecks grow larger as the dragon matures. As a gold dragon ages, its pupils fade until its eyes resemble pools of molten gold.

Other facial features include a pointed tongue and small cheek horns that grow sideways.

Gold dragons have broad sail-like wings that start from their shoulders and extend all the way to the end of their extremely long tails. When on the ground, the wings are kept closed upright over its back if the dragon is at rest, or folded facing back if the dragon is walking or running.

Despite being capable of eating almost anything, gold dragons tend to hunt large and dangerous monsters and are particularly fond of including pearls and gems in their diet. Older dragons even have the ability to supernaturally locate gems in their vicinity.

Gold dragons give off scents of saffron and incense, and sometimes a faint smell of molten metal.

Height. 1ft.

Length. 5ft.

Weight. 60lbs.

Carrying capacity. 225lbs.

Push, Drag, or Lift. 450lbs. 

Personality. It is common for gold dragons to appoint themselves with quests to promote good. Those that earn a gold dragon's fury find a relentless enemy who will not rest until the utter and complete subjugation of the evildoers, either by slaying or by bringing villains to justice, a gold dragon's only acceptable outcome is complete victory over evil.

When looking for a lair, gold dragons usually seek secluded and remote locations. They have a preference for idyllic or picturesque locations, such as rivers or the bottom of lakes, cave complexes, ancient ruins, deep gorges, high plateaus, or mist-covered islands. They also have a preference for rolling hills, open plains, and in some rare cases even within humanoid communities which they have chosen to protect. They are very private creatures, mostly keeping to themselves and their families and rarely fraternizing with other dragons.

Older gold dragons are capable of shapeshifting into humanoid or beast forms. They usually spend most of the time in this form, even within their lairs. When traveling, it is common for a gold dragon to assume a particularly non-threatening form in order to put adventurers at ease, as well as to observe local communities and to catch up on gossip and news of the outside world. In many cases, the dragon will use its disguise to provide help, company and comfort to those in need, or to set up traps for evildoers by using itself as bait.

Strong believers in the greater good and in the rule of order, gold dragons are sometimes viewed as arrogant and dismissive. They tend to avoid philosophical or ethical discussions with beings they deem inferior, although they enjoy arguing in favor of law. Due to their vast superiority with respect to the average humanoid, they often have difficulty in understanding the everyday troubles and needs of communities and in some rare instances might even end up becoming tyrants.

A Gold Dragon’s Lair

Gold dragons make their homes in out-of-the-way places, where they can do as they please without arousing suspicion or fear. Most dwell near idyllic lakes and rivers, mist-shrouded islands, cave complexes hidden behind sparkling waterfalls, or ancient ruins.

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.

Regional Effects

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

• Whenever a creature that can understand a language sleeps or enters a state of trance or reverie within 6 miles of the dragon’s lair, the dragon can establish telepathic contact with that creature and converse with it in its dreams. The creature remembers its conversation with the dragon upon waking.
• Banks of beautiful, opalescent mist manifest within 6 miles of the dragon’s lair. The mist doesn’t obscure anything. It assumes haunting forms when evil creatures are near the dragon or other non-evil creatures in the mist, warning such creatures of the danger.
• Gems and pearls within 1 mile of the dragon’s lair sparkle and gleam, shedding dim light in a 5-foot radius.

If the dragon dies, these effects end immediately.