Yellow Dragon

CLIMATE/TERRAIN:	Desert
FREQUENCY:	Very rare
ORGANIZATION:	Solitary
ACTIVITY CYCLE:	Any
DIET:	Omnivore
INTELLIGENCE:	Very (11-12)
TREASURE:	See below
ALIGNMENT:	Chaotic evil
NO. APPEARING:	1 (1-4)
ARMOR CLASS:	0 (base)
MOVEMENT:	12, Fl 30 (C)
HIT DICE:	13 (base)
THAC0:	7 (base)
NO. OF ATTACKS:	3+special
DAMAGE/ATTACK:	1-8/1-8/2-16
SPECIAL ATTACKS:	See below
SPECIAL DEFENSES:	Variable
MAGIC RESISTANCE:	See below
SIZE:	G (36' base)
MORALE:	Champion (15-16)
XP VALUE:	Variable

Although the existence of yellow dragons has long been predicted by sages (based on theories of primary colors), the first specimen was spotted only five or so years ago. The creatures are solitary and secretive, preferring to lay in wait for prey to stumble into carefully-prepared traps instead of hunting actively.

At birth, yellows have soft, tan scales. As they grow older, the scales harden and become lighter in color, eventually reaching the grayish yellow of desert sands. Their scales always have a dusty texture to them, giving them a finish that does not reflect light well. Even their teeth and claws have a similar finish. No part of the yellow dragon will glint in the sunlight, thereby giving away its position.

Yellow dragons speak their own tongue, which is quite different than that spoken by other evil dragons. Yellows have no interest in speaking with other races, and so they learn no other languages.

Combat: Although preferring guile to combat and ambush to attack, yellows are fierce and cunning fighters. Even if forced into a situation where direct combat is inevitable, they'll still use their spells and innate abilities so as to mislead, misdirect, and distract their opponents.

A favorite hunting tactic for a yellow is to dig a steep-walled, cone-shaped depression in the sand, and then bury itself at the bottom of this crater with just its eyes and nostrils showing. When a creature stumbles into the depression, the dragon moves its wings in the sand, causing the steep walls of the cone to collapse and drawing the prey straight to the dragon's mouth. A yellow dragon casts spells and uses magical abilities at 8th level, plus its combat modifier.

A yellow dragon's breath weapon is a high-velocity blast of scorching air mixed with sand. This affects an area 50 feet long, 40 feet wide, and 20 feet high. Creatures caught within this blast must roll successful saving throws vs. breath weapon for half damage. Regardless of the outcome of this roll, they must make another saving throw vs. breath weapon. Failure means that the abrasive sand in the breath blast has damaged their eyes, blinding them for 1d4+1 rounds.

Yellow dragons are immune to fire and heat and can cast silence, 10' radius at will. As they age, they gain the following additional powers:

Age	Abilities
Young	create or destroy water three times per day
Juvenile	dust devil three times per day
Adult	improved invisibility twice per day
Old	wind wall three times per day
Wyrm	enervation three times per day

Habitat/Society: Yellow dragons love deserts, preferring areas of sandy, windswept desolation. They are most comfortable in daytime temperatures of 105 degrees and up, although they can easily survive subfreezing temperatures at night. They share much the same territory as brasses; thus the species occasionally come into conflict.

Yellows are solitary, selfish creatures that form no close bonds with any other creature, including other yellows. They are highly territorial; the only time they'll let another yellow into their territory is to mate, which is actually quite rare. Immediately afterward, the dragons separate. The mother raises the offspring, but won't go out of her way to protect them from attackers. The young dragons usually leave home before they reach the juvenile age category. The main enemies of yellow dragons are brasses, which actively hunt the smaller creatures.

Ecology: Although able to eat anything, yellows favor fresh meat. (Demi)humans are considered a delicacy, as are the unhatched eggs of brass dragons. (Yellows rarely get to enjoy this latter feast.)

	Body	Tail		Breath	Spells		Treas.	XP
Age	Lgt. (')	Lgt. (')	AC	Weapon	Wizard/Priest	MR	Type	Value
1 Hatchling	2-7	1-4	3	2d4+1	Nil	Nil	Nil	2,000
2 Very Young	7-16	4-12	2	4d4+2	Nil	Nil	Nil	3,000
3 Young	16-35	12-21	1	6d4+3	Nil	Nil	Nil	5,000
4 Juvenile	35-44	21-28	0	8d4+4	Nil	Nil	E	7,000
5 Young Adult	44-53	28-36	-1	10d4+5	1	Nil	E, O, S	9,000
6 Adult	53-62	36-45	-2	12d4+6	1 1	5%	E, O, S	11,000
7 Mature Adult	62-71	45-54	-3	14d4+7	2 1	10%	E, O, S	12,000
8 Old	71-80	54-62	-4	16d4+8	2 2 1	15%	E, O, Sx2	13,000
9 Very Old	80-89	62-70	-5	18d4+9	2 2 2	20%	E, O, Sx2	14,000
10 Venerable	89-98	70-78	-6	20d4+10	2 2 2 1	25%	E, O, Sx2	15,000
11 Wyrm	98-107	78-85	-7	22d4+11	2 2 2 2	30%	E, O, Sx3	16,000
12 Great wyrm	107-116	85-94	-8	24d4+12	2 2 2 2 1	35%	E, O, Sx4	17,000

Index