Blue Dragon

Dragon (Earth)

Environment: Temperate deserts

Organization: Wyrmling, very young, young, juvenile, and young adult: solitary or clutch (2-5); adult, mature adult, old, very old, ancient, wyrm, or great wyrm: solitary, pair, or family (1-2 and 2-5 offspring)

Challenge Ratings:  Wyrmling 3; very young 4; young 6; juvenile 8; young adult 11; adult 14; mature adult 16; old 18; very old 19; ancient 21; wyrm 23; great wyrm 25

Treasure: Triple standard

Alignment: Always lawful evil

Advancement: Wyrmling 7-8 HD; very young 10-11 HD; young 13-14 HD; juvenile 16-17 HD; young adult 19-20 HD, adult 22-23 HD; mature adult 25-26 HD; old 28-29 HD; very old 31-32 HD; ancient 34-35 HD; wyrm 37-38 HD; great wyrm 40+ HD

Level Adjustment: Wyrmling +4; very young +4; young +5; others —

The dragon has dramatic frilled ears and a single massive horn emerging from its snout. The smell of ozone lingers in the air near the dragon, whose azure-tinged scales glitter in the sun.

Blue dragons are vain and territorial. They are one of the dragon varieties best adapted to digging into sand.

            A blue dragon’s scales vary in color from an iridescent azure to a deep indigo, polished to a glossy finish by blowing desert sands. The size of its scales increases little as the dragon ages, although they do become thicker and harder. Its hide tends to hum and crackle faintly with built-up static electricity. These effects intensify when the dragon is angry or about to attack, giving off an odor of ozone and sand.

            Their vibrant color makes blue dragons easy to spot in barren desert surroundings. However, they often burrow into the sand so only part of their heads are exposed. Blue dragons love to soar in the hot desert air, usually flying in the daytime when the temperatures are highest. Some nearly match the color of the desert sky and use this coloration to their advantage.

            Blue dragons lair in vast underground caverns, where they also store their treasure. Although they collect anything that looks valuable, they are most fond of gems—especially sapphires. They are sometimes forced to eat snakes, lizards, and desert plants to sate their great hunger but especially prefer herd animals such as camels. When they get the chance, they gorge themselves on these creatures.

Combat

Typically, blue dragons attack from above or burrow beneath the sands until opponents come within 100 feet. Older dragons use their special abilities, such as hallucinatory terrain, in concert with these tactics to mask the land and improve their chances to surprise the target. Blue dragons run from a fight only if they are severely damaged, sine they view retreat as cowardly.

            Breath Weapon (Su): A blue dragon has one type of breath weapon, a line of lightning.

            Create/Destroy Water (Sp): A blue dragon of any age can use this ability three times per day. It works like the create water spell, except that the dragon can decide to destroy water instead of creating it, which automatically spoils unattended liquids containing water. Magic items (such as potions) and items in a creature’s possession must succeed on a Will save (DC equal to that of the dragon’s frightful presence) or be ruined. This ability is the equivalent of a 1^st-level spell.

            Sound Imitation (Ex): A juvenile or older blue dragon can mimic any voice or sound it has heard, anytime it likes. Listeners must succeed on a Will save (DC equal to that of a dragon’s frightful presence) to detect the ruse.

            Other Spell-Like Abilities: 3/day—ventriloquism (adult or older); 1/day—hallucinatory terrain (old or older), veil (ancient or older), mirage arcana (great wyrm)

            Skills: Bluff, Hide, and Spellcraft are considered class skills for blue dragons.