General Rules: Monsters - Dragon, Sand

Dragon, Sand (adapted from Sandstorm)
Dragon (Earth)

Special Attacks: Breath Weapon, Crush, Frightful Presence, Spells, Spell-Like Abilities, Tail-Sweep

Special Qualities: Immunities, SR, Blindsight, Keen Senses, Tremorsense

Skills: Sand dragons have 6 skill points per Hit Die, plus bonus points equal to their Intelligence modifier x Hit Dice and purchase the following skills at 1 rank per skill point: Concentration, Hide, Intimidate, Listen, Move Silently, Sense Motive, Spot, and Survival. The remaining skill points are generally spent on Bluff, Diplomacy, Escape Artist, Knowledge (any)(all skills taken individually), and Search at a cost of 1 skill point per rank. Dragons cannot purchase skills that are exclusive to a class.

Feats: Sand dragons have one feat plus an additional feat per 4 hit dice. Dragons favor Cleave, Improved Initiative, Improved Sunder, Power Attack, Skill Augmentation (Listen and Spot), Weapon Focus, and any metamagic feat that is available and useful to sorcerers. They can also choose from the following feats: Flyby Attack, Hover, Quicken Spell-Like Ability, Snatch, and Wingover.

Environment: Warm deserts

Organization: Wyrmling, very young, young, juvenile, and young adult solitary or clutch (3 - 6); adult mature adult, old, very old, ancient, wyrm, or great wyrm solitary, pair, or family (1 - 2 and 3 - 6 offspring)

Challenge Rating: Wrymling 2; very young 3; young 5; juvenile 7; young adult 9; adult 12; mature adult 14; old 16; very old 18; ancient 21; wyrm 24; great wyrm 27

Treasure: Double standard
Alignment: Always chaotic neutral

Advancement: Wyrmling 4 - 5 HD (Tiny); very young 7 - 8 HD (Small); young 10 - 11 HD (Medium); juvenile 13 - 14 HD (Medium); young adult 16 - 17 HD (Large); adult 19 - 20 HD (Large); mature adult 22 - 23 HD (Huge); old 25 - 26 HD (Huge); very old 28 - 29 HD (Huge); ancient 31 - 32 HD (Huge); wyrm 35 - 36 HD (Gargantuan); great wyrm 37+ HD (Gargantuan)

Sand dragons are the violent, irritable, and cunning descendants of Gréaþexe, given to raiding human communities for livestock and treasure but leaving the inhabitants alive as a sign of "mercy". Not exactly evil, but definitely not good, sand dragons are motivated only by what is good for their own survival. In fact, they have a difficult time understanding why any living creature would think in any other way.

Sand dragons lay their eggs deep within the sand of the desert, which is partly responsible for their name. As their eggs hatch, the hatchling dragons claw their way to the surface, giving the impression that the dragons spring spontaneously from the sand. Even at that age, sand dragons have fully developed horns and claws, enabling them to burrow just as easily as their parents. Sand dragon wings are actually not wings at all, but thin membranes of a similar consistency and material to regular dragon wings. These membranes stretch between a double row of spikes that run the length of a sand dragon;s back, from the base of its skull to the tip of its tail. These spines can collapse flat along a sand dragon's back as it burrows, protecting the fragile membranes from damage. A sand dragon can also lie flat on a sandy surface and flutter its wings to cover itself with sand, much as a stingray flutters its "wings" to conceal itself on the ocean floor.

Sand dragons make their homes under the sands. As a result, sand dragons smell of freshly ruend dirt and dust - not a particularly unpleasant smell, but a distinctive one. Due to their burrowing ability, sand dragons have little difficulty disguising their lairs, with only their nostrils exposed.

Combat
A dragon attacks with its powerful claws and bite, and can also use a breath weapon and special physical attacks, depending on its size. It prefers to fight on the wing, staying out of reach until it has worn down the enemy with ranged attacks. Older, more intelligent dragons are adept at sizing up the opposition and eliminating the most dangerous foes first (or avoiding them while picking off weaker enemies).

Sand dragons hunt by flying high above the ground, looking for potential victims, then wait for nightfall to land and burrow up underneath their target. Using their tremorsense to determine when an animal is in position, the sand dragon then bursts forth, snatches up the startled prey in their mouth and then flies off to kill it at its leisure. Alternatively, a sand dragon might locate a trade route and bury itself in the sand along the side of the road, waiting for a caravan to pass. Sand dragons rarely attack from the sky - there are simply too few clouds to provide the kind of concealment a sand dragon prefers.

Sand Dragons by Age

Age	Size	Hit Dice (hp)	Initiative	Speed	Armor Class	Touch	Flat-Footed
Wyrmling	T	3d12 (19)	+0	30 feet; burrow 20 feet; fly 80 feet (average)	16 (+2 size, +4 natural)	12	16
Very Young	S	6d12+6 (45)	+0	30 feet; burrow 20 feet; fly 120 feet (poor)	18 (+1 size, +7 natural)	11	18
Young	M	9d12+9 (67)	+0	30 feet; burrow 20 feet; fly 120 feet (poor)	20 (+10 natural)	10	20
Juvenile	M	12d12+24 (102)	+0	30 feet; burrow 20 feet; fly 120 feet (poor)	23 (+13 natural)	10	23
Young Adult	L	15d12+45 (142)	+0	30 feet; burrow 20 feet; fly 120 feet (poor)	25 (-1 size, +16 natural)	9	25
Adult	L	18d12+72 (189)	+0	30 feet; burrow 20 feet; fly 120 feet (poor)	28 (-1 size, +19 natural)	9	28
Mature Adult	H	21d12+84 (220)	+0	30 feet; burrow 20 feet; fly 120 feet (poor)	30 (-2 size, +22 natural)	8	30
Old	H	24d12+120 (276)	+0	30 feet; burrow 20 feet; fly 120 feet (poor)	33 (-2 size, +25 natural)	8	33
Very Old	H	27d12+135 (310)	+0	30 feet; burrow 20 feet; fly 120 feet (clumsy)	36 (-2 size, +28 natural)	8	36
Ancient	H	30d12+180 (375)	+0	30 feet; burrow 20 feet; fly 150 feet (clumsy)	38 (-2 size, +31 natural)	8	38
Wyrm	G	33d12+231 (445)	+0	30 feet; burrow 20 feet; fly 150 feet (clumsy)	40 (-4 size, +34 natural)	6	40
Great Wyrm	G	36d12+252 (486)	+0	30 feet; burrow 20 feet; fly 150 feet (clumsy)	43 (-4 size, +37 natural)	6	43

Age	BAB/Grapple	Bite	2 Claws	2 Wings	Tail Slap	Crush	Tail Sweep
Wyrmling	+3/-5	+5 (1d4)	+0 (1d3)	-	-	-	-
Very Young	+6/+3	+8 (1d6+1)	+3 (1d4)	-	-	-	-
Young	+9/+11	+11 (1d8+2)	+6 (1d6+1)	+6 (1d4+1)	-	-	-
Juvenile	+12/+15	+15 (1d8+3)	+10 (1d6+1)	+10 (1d4+1)	-	-	-
Young Adult	+15/+24	+19 (2d6+5)	+14 (1d8+2)	+14 (1d6+1)	+14 (1d8+7)	-	-
Adult	+18/+29	+24 (2d6+7)	+19 (1d8+3)	+19 (1d6+3)	+19 (1d8+10)	-	-
Mature Adult	+21/+38	+28 (2d8+9)	+23 (2d6+4)	+23 (1d8+4)	+23 (2d6+13)	DC 24 (2d8+13)	-
Old	+24/+42	+32 (2d8+10)	+27 (2d6+5)	+27 (1d8+5)	+27 (2d6+15)	DC 27 (2d8+15)	-
Very Old	+27/+46	+36 (2d8+11)	+31 (2d6+5)	+31 (1d8+5)	+35 (2d6+16)	DC 28 (2d8+16)	-
Ancient	+30/+50	+40 (2d8+12)	+35 (2d6+6)	+35 (1d8+6)	+35 (2d6+18)	DC 31 (2d8+18)	-
Wyrm	+33/+58	+42 (4d6+13)	+37 (2d8+6)	+37 (2d6+6)	+37 (2d8+19)	DC 33 (4d6+19)	DC 33 (2d6+19)
Great Wyrm	+36/+62	+46 (4d6+14)	+41 (2d8+7)	+41 (2d6+7)	+41 (2d8+21)	DC 36 (4d6+21)	DC 36 (2d6+21)

Age	Space/Reach	Fortitude	Reflex	Will	Breath Weapon (DC)	Fear DC	SR	Caster Level
Wyrmling	2½ feet by 2½ feet/5 feet	+3	+3	+3	1d4, 15-foot cone (11)	-	-	-
Very Young	5 feet by 5 feet/5 feet	+6	+5	+6	2d4, 20-foot cone (14)	-	-	-
Young	5 feet by 5 feet/5 feet	+7	+6	+8	4d4, 30-foot cone (15)	-	-	-
Juvenile	5 feet by 5 feet/5 feet	+10	+8	+11	6d4, 30-foot cone (18)	-	-	-
Young Adult	5 feet by 10 feet/10 feet	+12	+9	+12	8d4, 40-foot cone (23)	19	18	1st
Adult	5 feet by 10 feet/10 feet	+15	+11	+15	10d4, 40-foot cone (23)	22	20	3rd
Mature Adult	10 feet by 20 feet/10 feet	+16	+12	+16	12d4, 50-foot cone (24)	23	21	5th
Old	10 feet by 20 feet/10 feet	+19	+14	+19	14d4, 50-foot cone (27)	26	23	7th
Very Old	10 feet by 20 feet/10 feet	+20	+15	+20	16d4, 50-foot cone (28)	27	24	9th
Ancient	10 feet by 20 feet/10 feet	+23	+17	+24	18d4, 50-foot cone (31)	30	26	11th
Wyrm	20 feet by 40 feet/15 feet	+25	+18	+15	20d4, 60-foot cone (33)	31	27	13th
Great Wyrm	20 feet by 40 feet/15 feet	+27	+20	+28	22d4, 60-foot cone (36)	34	29	15th

Age	Strength	Intelligence	Wisdom	Dexterity	Constitution	Charisma	Special Abilities
Wrymling	10	10	10	11	11	10	Fire Immunity, Tremorsense
Very Young	12	10	12	11	13	10	-
Young	14	12	14	11	13	12	-
Juvenile	16	12	16	11	15	14	Haboob
Young Adult	20	14	16	11	17	14	Damage Reduction 5/+1
Adult	24	14	18	11	19	16	Dispel Water
Mature Adult	28	16	18	11	19	16	Damage Reduction 10/+1
Old	30	16	21	11	21	18	Wall of Sand
Very Old	32	18	21	11	21	18	Damage Reduction 15/+2
Ancient	34	18	24	11	23	20	Choking Sands
Wyrm	36	20	24	11	25	20	Damage Reduction 20/+3
Great Wyrm	38	22	26	11	25	22	Sandstorm

Blindsight (Ex): A sand dragon can ascertain creatures by nonvisual means (mostly hearing and scent, but also by noticing vibration and other environmental clues) with a range of 30 feet x the dragon's age category.

Breath Weapon (Su): The sand dragon's breath weapon is a cone of flaywind. Any creature or object with a hardness of less than 5 in the area of the dragon's breath weapon takes the listed damage. Using a breath weapon is a standard action. Once a dragon breathes, it can't breathe again until 1d4 rounds later. A blast from a breath weapon always starts at the dragon's mouth and extends in a direction of the dragon's choice. Creatures caught in the area can attempt Reflex saves to take half damage, the DC is listed on the tables above.

Crush: A flying or jumping sand dragon of at least Huge size can land on opponents as a standard action, using its whole body to crush them. Crush attacks are only effective against opponents three or more size categories smaller than the dragon (though it can attempt normal overrun or grapple attacks against larger opponents). A crush attack affects as many creatures as can fit under the dragon's body. Creatures in the affected area must attempt a Reflex save or be pinned, automatically taking bludgeoning damage during the next round unless the dragon moves off them. If the dragon chooses to maintain the pin, treat it as a normal grapple attacks. Pinned opponents take crush damage each round if they don't escape.

Frightful Presence (Ex): A young adult or older dragon can unsettle foes with its mere presence. The ability takes effect automatically whenever the dragon attacks or charges. Creatures within a radius of 30 feet x the dragon's age category are subject to the effect if they have fewer Hit Dice than the dragon. A potentially affected creature that succeeds at a Will save remain immune to the dragon's frightful presence for one day. On a failure, creatures with 4 or fewer Hit Dice become panicked for 4d6 rounds and those with 5 or more Hit Dice become shaken for 4d6 rounds. Dragons ignore the frightful presence of other dragons.

Immunities (Ex): Sand dragons are immune to sleep and paralysis effects. Sand dragons are also immune to fire.

Keen Senses (Ex): A dragon sees four times as well as a human in low-light conditions, and twice as well in normal light. It also has darkvision with a range of 100 feet x the dragon's age category.

Spell Resistance (Ex): As dragons age, they become more resistant to spells and spell-like abilities as listed on the table above.

Spell-Like Abilities (Sp): At will - haboob; three times per day - dispel water, wall of sand; once per day - choking sands, sandstorm.

Spells: A sand dragon knows and casts arcane spells as a sorcerer of the level indicated on the table above, gaining bonus spells for a high Charisma score.

Tail Sweep: A dragon of at least Gargantuan size can sweep with its tail as a standard action. The sweep affects a half-circle with a diameter of 30 feet, centered on the dragon's rear. Creatures within the swept area are affected if they are four or more sizes smaller than the dragon. The sweep automatically deals the listed damage. Affected creatures can attempt Reflex saves to take half damage.

Tremorsense (Ex): Sand dragons can automatically sense the location of anything within 60 feet that is in contact with the ground.

Skills: Sand dragons that can cast spells have the Spellcraft skill for free at 1 rank per Hit Die.

Notes: In the original version presented in Sandstorm, this dragon's save bonuses were calculated incorrectly. Wildly so. I have fixed the save bonuses, and this version has them calculated correctly.

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