Copyright 2009 Wizards of the Coast

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

Gold dragons are the original metallics and have been around since the beginning of D&D.

The Lore

Gold dragons are among the most powerful children of Io, with the oldest being among the most dangerous creatures in existence. And yet they’re among the dragons who most enjoy the company of mortals. I guess a lot of the “scholarly metallic dragon” stereotype comes from them.

Their preferred terrain are plains or rolling hills, but that’s a secondary concern. Proximity to a sapient society, or to some great source of magic, are much more important. Gold dragons like to rule, but it seems they don’t need to make much of a fuss about it like the other dragons. It just happens! Any community or society located in gold dragon territory will soon find itself being heavily influenced or ruled outright by that dragon.

Gold dragons are usually honest and fortright in their dealings, but the more selfish ones don’t really care about the concerns of “lesser beings”. These individuals tend to shape the societies under their influence to suit their own long-term plans regardless of what the actual people who live there might want. And of course, you can still find more traditionally “Good” gold dragons out there as well.

Gold dragons breathe fire, and as they age they gain more affinity with radiant energy as well.

The Numbers

As usual, we get a stat block for each significant age category of gold dragon. They’re all Solo Controllers, and have Darkvision.

Young dragons start at size Large, with 15 fire resistance, a ground speed of 8, and a flight speed of 10 with Hover. They gain another 5 fire resistance with each subsequent age category, and their flight speed increases to 12 at Elder. They grow to size Huge at Elder, and Gargantuan at Ancient.

Young Gold Dragon

Young Golds are Level 9 Solo Controllers with 380 HP. Their melee reach is 2, and their basic attacks are a bite that does a mix of physical and fire damage, and a weaker claw. Double Attack allows them to claw twice in a single action, bringing claw damage almost to parity with the bite. I guess it’s good if they want to spread damage around rather than concentrate it.

If an adjacent creature hits the dragon, it can hit back with a Fiery Wing Riposte (melee 1 vs. Fortitude), which pushes the impudent mortal 5 squares and inflicts 5 ongoing fire damage (save ends).

Their Breath Weapon (close blast 5 vs. Reflex; recharge 5-6) does fire damage and weakens (save ends), or half damage on a miss. Bloodied Breath and Frightful Presence work as usual.

Adult Gold Dragon

Adults are Level 17 with 652 HP. As usual they have all the attacks of a youngster with bigger numbers. This includes the ongoing damage from the Riposte, which is now 10.

They also gain a new ability: Burning Tomb (area burst 1 within 20 vs. Reflex; recharge 6) is a spell that does the same fire damage as the breath weapon, immobilizes (save ends), and creates a zone that does 15 fire damage to anyone who starts their turn inside and can be sustained with minor actions.

Elder Gold Dragon

Elders are Level 24 with a cool 888 HP. They have all the abilities of adults with bigger numbers. Their Melee Reach increases to 3 due to their Huge size.

This is at the age where their radiance begins to have a game effect, giving them a new ability: Beguiling Glow (close burst 8 vs. Will; enemies only; recharge 5-6) is a minor-action attack that does no damage and pulls targets 5 squares on a hit, nicely setting them up for Burning Tomb or the breath weapon.

They also project an aura (2) of Weakening Flames, which forces enemies caught inside to choose between taking 15 fire damage or being weakened for a turn.

Ancient Gold Dragon

Ancient Gold Dragons are Gargantuan Level 30 Solo Controllers with 1088 HP. This puts them on par with the friggin’ Tarrasque both in size and danger level. The Tarrasque has more HP, but that’s before you apply the MM2 Solo HP fixes. And the dragon is much smarter.

They have all the abilities of Elders with bigger numbers, including in reach, aura size and damage, and ongoing damage from Riposte. Double Attack becomes Triple Attack, allowing three claw swipes in one action. Their new “capstone” skill is Ancient Radiance (close burst 4 vs. Fortitude; enemies only; recharge 6) which does radiant damage and dazes for a turn. After the daze clears, the target gains Vulnerable 10 Radiant (save ends). This is important because the dragon’s Breath Weapon now does “fire and radiant” damage!

Sample Encounters and Final Impressions

Gold dragons surround themselves with allies and subjects that match their individual dispositions. The evil ones employ beings such as evil minotaurs, ogres and trolls as dumb disposable muscle. The good ones have a variety of willing allies acting as guards.

The sample encounters are:

  • Level 10: a young gold dragon and 2 angels of valor.

  • Level 19: an adult gold dragon and 3 savage minotaurs.

Level-wise, these are certainly the most powerful of dragons. The Ancient is a match for the Tarrasque and could put up a decent fight against beings such as demon lords or other “campaign end bosses”.

They do have the same problem as the Tarrasque in that they lack strong condition mitigation powers - that +5 to saves from being a solo might not be enough to prevent stun-locking by an epic party. They also wouldn’t do so well on their own against Demogorgon, so if you want to have a kaiju fight you might want to use the dragon as an ally of the PCs instead of sending it in alone.