Copyright 2009 Wizards of the Coast

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

Iron Dragons were bit players in 3e, appearing in Dragon Magazine #356 seemingly as part of an effort to make a dragon for each element in the periodic table. In 4e, they are promoted to the Monster Manual 2 alongside adamantine dragons to replace the bronze & brass duo that was removed.

The Lore

Iron dragons are kind of the black sheep of the metallic family, since unlike most of their relatives they’re surly, anti-social, and underhanded. They lair in isolated places and prefer terrain that contains plenty of hills, forests, and other features that provide plenty of hiding spots for large predators such as themselves.

They still gather followers and henchthings with the promise of generous pay and/or loot, but they see those as expendable dupes. They’ll send those followers first to intercept any intruders, and will only join the fight themselves if doing so looks like it will bring victory. If the hench-people are severely outmatched, the dragon will get away and leave them to their fate.

As you might have gathered, iron dragons are sneaky and prefer to attack from ambush. They breathe lightning, and their metallic scales become tougher the older they get.

The Numbers

Iron dragons are Solo Lurkers, and have Darkvision like all other dragons. They’re not actually very lurkery aside from a basic level of sneakiness (Stealth training). Their abilities focus on damage mitigation with a side order of control, all on top of the standard dragon loadout.

Young’uns start out Large, growing to Huge at Elder and Gargantuan at Ancient. They have Resist Lightning 15, increasing by 5 per age category beyond Young. Their speed starts out at 8 both in the ground and in the air, growing to 9/9 at Elder and 9/10 at Gargantuan.

Young Iron Dragon

Young iron dragons are Level 5 with 268 HP. They have a bite that does a mix of lightning and physical damage, and a claw that does about half that in physical damage. The usual Double Attack allows them to claw twice, allowing them to spread some damage around.

The Breath Weapon does lightning damage, as described earlier, and also pulls 3 squares on a hit. Maybe it magnetizes the dragon for a moment? Bloodied Breath and Frightful Presence are here and work as usual.

There’s also Wing Block, an interrupt with triggers when the dragon is hit by a melee attack. This gives the dragon Resist 5 against that attack, and allows it to make a melee attack dealing light physical damage against the attacker.

Adult Iron Dragon

This one is Level 11 with 472 HP and all the traits of a youngster with bigger numbers. No new abilities appear at this level.

Elder Iron Dragon

Elders are Level 19 and have 740 HP. They have all of the adult’s abilities, again with bigger numbers all around. Their Double Attack turns into a Triple Attack, allowing for three claw swipes with a single action.

They also gain Wing Defense (minor action; recharge 5-6), which grants the dragon a +2 bonus to all defenses for a turn. As long as it keep recharging, they can keep using it every turn.

Ancient Iron Dragon

Ancients are Level 26 with 992 HP. They have all of the elder’s abilities and gain two new ones:

Predator’s Response is a reaction that triggers when the dragon is hit by a melee or close attack. It allows the dragon to make a claw attack against the triggering enemy and shift 2 squares. I now notice the dragon’s reach remains 2 even though it’s now Gargantuan. Either their limbs and neck are comparatively tiny, or you should increase the reach for the Elder to 3 and the Ancient to 4.

Iron Wing Shroud (minor action; recharge 6) allows them to make a close burst 3 vs. AC attack dealing physical damage, and gain resist 15 to all damage until the start of its next turn. While the damage resistance is active, the dragon can’t make any attacks. I guess this represents the dragon hiding behind its wings and catching surrounding enemies in the movement.

The Shroud’s “can’t make attacks” clause is less of a disadvantage than it seems - an ancient iron dragon can make all of its attacks for the turn and use the Shroud ability as its last minor action. It will lose access to opportunity attacks and Predator’s Response, but will be able to act normally when its next turn rolls around.

Sample Encounters

We have two encounters:

  • Level 7: A young iron dragon and 3 dwarf hammerers.

  • Level 13: 1 adult iron dragon and 2 minotaur warriors.

Both of them would follow the standard pattern I described in the Lore section, with the lackeys being mercenaries lured by the promise of treasure, only to be abandoned by their boss when the fight begins to go sideways.

Final Impressions

Iron dragons are the ones who least fit the classic metallic dragon stereotype, which makes sense given their origins as an obscure magazine-only 3.x dragon. Also I guess it’s hard to make a draconic Lurker who doesn’t sound shady as fuck.

Still, I like that they’re here. That shadiness is one point in favor of them as far as their utility in a story goes.