Purple Dragon

Dragon

Environment: Temperate plains

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 Rating: Wyrmling 4; very young 5; young 7; juvenile 10; young adult 13; adult 15; mature adult 18; old 20; very old 21; ancient 24; wyrm 25; great wyrm 27

Treasure: Triple standard

Alignment: Always lawful evil

Advancement: See table

Level Adjustment: Wyrmling +4; very young +5; young +6; others —

The dragon’s long, lean body sweeps through the air with a dreadful grace. Its scales run from deep purple to midnight black. Two long, white horns sprout above its hateful red eyes, while long, black, curved spikes run from the base of its skull down to the tip of its tail.

The sages who believe that the three forgotten dragons arose from a long-dead sister of Tiamat point to the few scraps of information gathered concerning purple dragons. Purple dragons fancy themselves the lords of all dragonkind. Arrogant, haughty, and domineering, they actively seek out other dragons, both metallic and chromatic, to defeat in battle. The purple dragon's arrogance is well earned. Among the chromatic dragons, only the reds rival their strength and size.

More importantly, purple dragons are among the most intelligent of all dragons. Their overwhelming personalities and keen intellects drive them to conquer those unfortunate enough to cross their paths. Purple dragons frequently come to rule small kingdoms of men and dwarves. They defeat their enemies in battle, and then use their great charisma and skill at handling others to forge a new state from the ashes of the old. The canny purple dragons use their understanding of humanoid nature, grasp of economics, and political acumen to turn all but the most fanatical of their enemies into at least grudging followers. When forced to choose between utter annihilation and a prosperous, if perhaps iron fisted rule under a dragon, most folk choose the dragon's rule.

Combat

Purple dragons prefer to strike at night, as they can use their natural coloration to sweep down upon an opponent with a surprise attack. Purple dragons bring the full weight of their intellects to bear against their enemies. Like a master chest player, a purple dragon waits for the perfect time to strike. It never fights unless it does so from an advantageous position, and a purple dragon is typically patient and smart enough to abandon an attack that proves fruitless or unexpectedly difficult. Many of these beasts favor magic items and spells that allow them to spy on potential targets, the better to prepare a cunning plan.

            Breath Weapon (Su): A purple dragon's breath weapon can take on three different form. It can manifest as a cone of searing energy, a burst of blinding power, or a deadly blade of pure energy.

In its cone form, the purple dragon's breath weapon deals the listed damage as normal. Creatures must make Reflex saves for half damage.

In its burst form, the dragon's energy manifests as a blinding flash. All creatures within the ability's radius must make Fortitude saves or be permanently blinded.

Purple Dragon Size	Burst Radius
Medium	30 ft.
Large	40 ft.
Huge	60 ft.
Gargantuan	80 ft.
Colossal	100 ft.

In the breath weapon's final form, the dragon forms a blade of energy that it uses to slash through its enemies. The dragon uses the blade as a weapon within its normal melee reach. It gains iterative attacks with this weapon as per its base attack bonus, but never more than four such attacks. The blade ignores all physical barriers, allowing the dragon to make touch attacks to strike its foes. It deals half the damage listed for the dragon's breath weapon. Because of the energy nature of the blade, the dragon does not add its Strength modifier to the damage. The dragon makes this attack in addition to its other physical attacks, although it cannot use a bite attack in the same round it attacks with its blade. The blade dissipates at the end of the dragon's action.

            Night Flier (Ex): The purple dragon's dark scales allow it to blend in with the night sky. While flying at night, it gains a +10 racial bonus on all Hide checks and ignores the standard size penalty on Hide checks.

            Spell-Like Abilities: 3/day--gust of wind (young or older), pyrotechnics (juvenile or older); heat metal (adult or older); 1/day--fire shield (mature adult or older); suggestion (ancient or older), wall of force (great wyrm or older).