DRAGON, Yellow

Dragon (Earth)

Climate/Terrain: Temperate and warm desert and underground

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 2; very young 3; young 4; juvenile 7; young adult 10; adult 12; mature adult 15; old 17; very old 18; ancient 20; wyrm 21; great wyrm 23

Treasure: Double standard

Alignment: Always chaotic evil

Advancement: Wyrmling 6-7 HD (Small); very young 9-10 HD (Medium-size); young 12-13 HD (Medium-size); juvenile 15-16 HD (Large); young adult 18-19 HD (Large); adult 21-22 HD (Huge); mature adult 24-25 HD (Huge); old 27-28 HD (Huge); very old 30-31 HD (Huge); ancient 33-34 HD (Gargantuan); wyrm 36-37 HD (Gargantuan); great wyrm 39+ HD (Gargantuan)

 

   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.    A yellow dragon’s scales at birth are tan in color, but slowly, as the dragon ages, change to a desert sand color. Their scales are dull and lackluster, but this is to their advantage for they do not reflect light very well. Their teeth and claws are of similar color.

   Yellow dragons 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 brass dragons, which actively hunt the smaller creatures.

 

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.

   Breath Weapon (Su): A yellow dragon has one type of breath weapon, a cone of scorching air and earth.

   Silence (Sp): The dragon can use this ability as the spell of the same name, a number of times per day equal to its age category.

   Other Spell-Like Abilities: 3/day—create/destroy water, improved invisibility, and wind wall; 1/day—wall of stone and enervation.

 

YELLOW DRAGONS BY AGE

                                                                                                                            Attack    FortRef          Will     Breath                   Fear

Age                     Size    Hit Dice (hp)             AC                                           Bonus    Save   Save   Save   Weapon (DC)       DC           SR

Wyrmling           S         5d12+5 (37)              15 (+1 size, +4 natural)      +7           +5       +4       +4       1d6 (13)                 -               -

Very young        M         8d12+16 (68)           17 (+7 natural)                     +10         +8       +6       +6       2d6 (16)                 -               -

Young                M         11d12+22 (93)         20 (+10 natural)                   +14         +9       +7       +8       3d6 (17)                 -               -

Juvenile             L          14d12+42 (133)       22 (-1 size, +13 natural)     +17         +12     +9       +11     4d6 (20)                 -               -

Young adult      L          17d12+68 (178)       25 (-1 size, +16 natural)     +22         +14     +10     +12     5d6 (22)                 20           19

Adult                   H         20d12+100 (230)    27 (-2 size, +19 natural)     +26         +17     +12     +15     6d6 (25)                 23           21

Mature Adult      H         23d12+115 (264)    30 (-2 size, +22 natural)     +30         +18     +13     +16     7d6 (26)                 24           22

Old                      H         26d12+156 (325)    33 (-2 size, +25 natural)     +34         +21     +15     +19     8d6 (29)                 27           24

Very old              H         29d12+174 (362)    36 (-2 size, +28 natural)     +38         +22     +16     +20     9d6 (30)                 28           25

Ancient               G         32d12+224 (432)    37 (-4 size, +31 natural)     +40         +25     +18     +23     10d6 (33)              31           27

Wyrm                  G         35d12+280 (507)    40 (-4 size, +34 natural)     +44         +27     +19     +24     11d6 (35)              32           28

Great wyrm       G         38d12+304 (551)    43 (-4 size, +37 natural)     +48         +29     +21     +27     12d6 (37)              33           30

 

YELLOW DRAGON ABILITIES BY AGE

Age                     Speed                                        Str      Dex     Con     Int       Wis     Cha         Special Abilities                      Caster Level

Wyrmling           40 ft., fly 100 ft. (average)       13       10       13       10       11       10           Create/destroy water                      -

                            burrow 20 ft.

Very young        40 ft., fly 150 ft. (poor)              15       10       15       10       11       10                                                                       -

                            burrow 20 ft.

Young                40 ft., fly 150 ft. (poor)              17       10       15       12       13       12                                                                       -

                            burrow 20 ft.

Juvenile             40 ft., fly 150 ft. (poor)              19       10       17       14       15       14                                                                       1st

                            burrow 20 ft.

Young adult      40 ft., fly 150 ft. (poor)              23       10       19       14       15       14           Damage reduction 5/+1                 3rd

                            burrow 20 ft.

Adult                   40 ft., fly 150 ft. (poor)              27       10       21       16       17       16           Improved invisibility                         5th

                            burrow 20 ft.

Mature Adult      40 ft., fly 150 ft. (poor)              29       10       21       16       17       16           Damage reduction 10/+1               7th

                            burrow 20 ft.

Old                      40 ft., fly 150 ft. (poor)              31       10       23       18       19       18           Wind wall                                          9th

                            burrow 20 ft.

Very old              40 ft., fly 150 ft. (poor)              33       10       23       18       19       18           Damage reduction 15/+2               11th

                            burrow 20 ft.

Ancient               40 ft., fly 200 ft. (clumsy)         35       10       25       20       21       20           Wall of stone                                    13th

                            burrow 20 ft.

Wyrm                  40 ft., fly 200 ft. (clumsy)         37       10       27       20       21       20           Damage reduction 20/+2               15th

                            burrow 20 ft.

Great wyrm       40 ft., fly 200 ft. (clumsy)         39       10       27       22       23       22           Enervation                                         17th

                            burrow 20 ft.