Electrum Dragons CLIMATE/TERRAIN: Temperate and subtropical forest FREQUENCY: Very rare ORGANIZATION: Solitary or clan ACTIVITY CYCLE: Any DIET: Special INTELLIGENCE: High (13-14) TREASURE: Special ALIGNMENT: Neutral Good ARMOR CLASS: -1 (base) SIZE: G (32' base)Electrum dragons are distant relatives of both gold and silver dragons; some sources report they are a crossbreed of the two types, but this rumor is unfounded. Electrum dragons are basically unagressive and are usually quite friendly towards any good-aligned creatures; on the other hand, they have little tolerance for anyone or anything evil.
At birth, an electrum dragon's scales are silver in color; throughout the young stage, the scales turn yellow and then gold. Once the adult stage is reached, the scales obtain a bright amber hue.
Electrum dragons speak their own language, a tongue common to all good dragons, and 16% of all hatchling electrum dragons have an ability to communicate with any intelligent creature. The chance to possess this ability increases 5% per age category of the dragon.
COMBAT: Electrum dragons will not normally fight unless provoked; however, if they witness acts of evil, they may initiate combat, if they feel the need is great enough. If possible, an electrum dragon will attempt to disable or confuse opponents with spells or special abilities in order to gain an advantage before entering melee, or to convince the foe to break off the fight. If this tactic does not work, breath weapon attacks, more powerful spells, and all-out attacks with special abilities will all be employed before resorting to claw and bite attacks. Two or more electrum dragons will often work together to defeat a common foe, if the need arises.
BREATH WEAPON: An electrum dragon's breath weapon is a swarm of lightning when the dragon breathes, a cloud billows forth from the dragon's mouth; this cloud has a radius of 5' per age category of the dragon. Within this cloud, dozens of lightning bolts strike in all directions. Anyone caught inside the area of effect suffers the listed damage; a successful save vs. breath weapon reduces the damage by half. Electrum dragons cast their spells and use their special abilities at 7th level plus their combat modifier. Electrum dragons are born immune to electricity. As they age they gain the following abilities:
AGE SPECIAL ABILITY Young ** Shocking grasp ** (three times per day) Young Adult ** Lightning bolt ** (twice per day) Mature adult ** Call lightning ** (twice per day) Very Old ** Thunderlance ** (once per day) Wrym ** Chain lightning ** (twice per week)HABITAT: Electrum dragons inhabit wooded areas in temperate and subtropical climates. They spend the majority of their time deep within the forests, and venture into the open only rarely. Electrum dragons live in large underground caverns; the enterances to their lairs are usually well hidden with natural vegetation, and are quite difficult to find.
Electrum dragons have good relations with most good-aligned inhabitants of the forests, as well as with most other good dragons. Their closest allies are mithril and adamantite dragons [q.v.], probably due to their identical alignments. These three types of dragons often form alliances in times of need.
In the past, electrum dragons were far more common than they presently are; hundreds of years ago, their numbers began to fade, due to numerous wars with evil humanoids and dragons. Today, they are one of the rarest of all dragon species.
ECOLOGY: Although they are capable of eating nearly anything, electrum dragons prefer a diet of fruits and shrubs; they appear to require very little nourishment. Electrum dragons are normally very friendly towards good forest creatures, and will protect or help them in any way they can; they are especially fond of elves, and will often form close friendships with them.
BODY TAIL
AGE LENGTH LENGTH AC
1 2-6 1-5 2
2 6-15 5-10 1
3 15-26 10-22 0
4 26-38 22-32 -1
5 38-48 32-40 -2
6 38-58 40-50 -3
7 58-67 50-58 -4
8 67-75 58-66 -5
9 75-86 66-72 -6
10 86-94 72-78 -7
11 94-100 78-84 -8
12 100-108 84-88 -9