Copyright 2009 Wizards of the Coast

This is part of a series! Go here to see the other entries.

Copper dragons are part of the classic set and have been in the game at least since the AD&D 1st Edition Monster Manual. Here, they are the only remaining members of the “sorta orange-ish metal trio”, which used to feature bronze and brass dragons as well.

The Lore

Copper dragons are highly sociable creatures, but they’re also among the greediest metallic dragons. They’re not likely to resort to outright robbery like your typical red dragon, but they’re almost always looking for a way to profit from their interactions with others. PCs can usually walk up to a copper dragon and ask it for information or instruction. The dragon will be most happy to give it to them… for a price.

Copper dragons are quite protective of their hoards. They like to make their lairs in rocky terrain like hilly badlands or mountains, which they can easily patrol from the air but which restrict the mobility of land-bound intruders. If they see the need to fight, they’ll do so by harassing their enemies with highly mobile aerial attacks over an extended period of time. They breathe acid, and prefer to recruit allies that can keep up with their high mobility.

I really like it that the illustrations for copper dragons give then verdigris streaks.

The Numbers

Copper dragons are Unaligned, Natural Magical Beasts with the Dragon Keyword. We get stat blocks for the usual four age categories.

Their size starts at Large when young, and increases to Huge at Elder. They never reach Gargantuan size, which I guess means they’re a bit smaller than the others in general. They have trained Perception, Darkvision, and Acid Resistance that starts at 15 when Young and increases by 5 per age category. Their speed is quite high, starting at 8 (fly 12) and reaching 10 (fly 14) at Elder and older. They also have Overland Flight 15.

Young Copper Dragon

Young copper dragons are Level 6 Solo Skirmishers with 296 HP. Their bite allows them to shift 2 squares both before and after the attack, and deals a mix of physical and acid damage. Their claws are a simple basic attack, but Double Attack allows them to claw twice and then shift 2 squares. Looks like choosing between a bite and a double attack is a meaningful tactical decision!

The dragon’s most frequent attack is likely to be a Flyby Attack, where it flies its speed and makes a melee basic attack at any point during the movement. This does not provoke opportunity attacks from the target of the attack. The bite is the clear best choice here, since it’s stronger and has built-in shifts which I think would happen even in the midst of the Flyby Attack.

The Breath Weapon (close blast 5 vs. Reflex; recharge 5-6) does acid damage and slows (save ends). Bloodied Breath and Frightful Presence are also here and work as described in earlier posts.

And finally, Cutwing Step is a reaction that triggers when someone moves to a position that flanks the dragon. It’s an attack vs. AC that does light physical damage and allows the dragon to shift 2 squares.

Adult Copper Dragon

Adult Copper Dragons are Level 13 Solo Skirmishers with 528 HP. They have all the abilities of a young specimen with correspondingly bigger numbers. All attacks that allowed shifts other than the bite have the shift amount increased to 3.

They also add a new passive trait: Unfettered Wings allows them to roll saves against the Immobilized, Slowrd and Restrained conditions at the start of their turns in addition to the normal end-of-turn rolls.

Elder and Ancient Copper Dragons

The Elder grows to size Huge as previously mentioned, and is a Level 20 Solo Skirmisher with 760 HP. It has bigger numbers than the Adult due to its higher level, but its suite of abilities is otherwise identical.

The Ancient is a Level 27 Solo Skirmisher with an even 1000 HP. It has all of the Elder’s abilities, and its Flyby Attack upgrades to a Double Flyby Attack, which allows it to attack two different targets during its strafing run.

Sample Encounters and Final Impressions

The sample encounters are against all-skimmisher teams. There’s a Level 8 one with a young copper dragon and 3 hippogriffs, and a level 14 one with an adult and 2 dragonborn raiders.

Copper dragons are really flexible in the dramatic roles they can occupy even when you stick to their written description. It all depends on which part of the “sociable but greedy” stereotype you want to emphasize. I also like that most of their illustrations in this book have their coppery hides shot through with veins of verdigris.