Mithral Dragon, Young Adult

Family: Dragon - Mithral

Huge dragon, lawful good

Armor Class 18 (natural armor)
Hit Points 216 (16d12 + 112)
Speed 40 ft., fly 80 ft.

STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
24 (+7)	14 (+2)	24 (+7)	18 (+4)	16 (+3)	20 (+5)

Saving Throws Dex +7, Con +12, Wis +8, Cha +10
Skills History +9, Insight +8, Perception +13, Persuasion +10, Religion +9, Stealth +7
Damage Immunities radiant
Senses blindsight 30 ft., darkvision 120 ft., passive Perception 23
Languages Celestial, Common, Draconic
Challenge 13 (8,400 XP)

ACTIONS

• Multiattack. The dragon can use its Frightful Presence. It then makes three attacks: one with its bite and two with its claws.
• Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +12 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit 18 (2d10 + 7) piercing damage.
• Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +12 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 14 (2d6 + 7) slashing damage.
• Teleport. The dragon magically teleports, along with any equipment it is wearing or carrying, up to 40 feet to an unoccupied space it can see.
• Frightful Presence. Each creature of the dragon’s choice that is within 120 feet of the dragon and aware of it must succeed on a DC 18 Wisdom saving throw or become frightened for 1 minute. A creature can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success. If a creature’s saving throw is successful or the effect ends for it, the creature is immune to the dragon’s Frightful Presence for the next 24 hours.
• Breath Weapon (Recharge 5-6). The dragon uses one of the following breath weapons.
  • Radiant Breath. The dragon exhales a beam of radiant energy in a 70-foot line that is 5 feet wide. Each creature in that area must make a DC 20 Dexterity saving throw, taking 58 (9d12) radiant damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.
  • Time Stop Breath. The dragon exhales magical energy in a 40-foot cone. Each creature in that area must make a DC 20 Wisdom saving throw. On a failed save, a creature becomes frozen in time for 1 minute. While frozen in time, the creature is incapacitated, can’t move or speak, and is unaware of its surroundings. Attack rolls against the creature have advantage. The creature also automatically fails Strength and Dexterity saving throws. An affected creature can attempt the save again at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success. The effect ends early if the creature takes damage or is otherwise interacted with in any way.

ABOUT

Mithral dragons are the most powerful of the metallic dragons (though golds are loath to acknowledge the mithrals’ superiority). They have an uncanny ability to sense the future, and often experience visions of events that are to come; often these visions come as a result of their studying and pondering, as they usually offer their services to deities, religious causes, or other great endeavors.

As natives of the Astral Sea, mithral dragons are rarely seen on the Material Plane, unless something specific has driven them there. This always has something to do with the cause to which the dragon has devoted itself, and it usually disappears as soon as its purpose is finished. Ancient mithral dragons are said to guard religious sites of primeval origin on the Material Plane. No one knows the contents of these sites, and no one has had the courage to find out.

Because of their extraplanar origin, mithral dragons are immortal. They age as a normal dragon, but they cannot die of old age and they never reach the Twilight stage of a normal dragon’s development. As a result, mithrals have been known to reach tens of thousands of years old. By that time, the dragon has likely attracted the attention of lesser gods, who then gauge if the dragon is a threat to their existence and act accordingly.

Mithral dragons only fight when and where they want to. If a dragon isn’t looking for a fight and is attacked, it will attempt to halt its attackers with its Time Stop Breath and flee. That is, unless its attackers are directly trying to oppose the dragon’s goals or its cause, in which case the dragon counterattacks fiercely and without mercy. However, even in these situations, the dragon will only attack if it is advantageous for it to do so.

If the dragon does fight, it will choose an area with lots of obstructions and difficult terrain, so that it can most effectively utilize its teleportation ability. It uses its foresight to determine the most powerful foes and target them first, using its Time Stop Breath or teleportation to get into advantageous positions. A mithral dragon then prefers to spread its attacks across all of its foes, rather than focus down a single one, (especially if the dragon has the Dimension Strike dragon feat).

Mithral dragons only speak when they believe what they have to say is of vast importance. Even when they do speak, they don’t think that tiny mortal minds can comprehend the vastness of their calling or the importance of their mission (no matter what their mission happens to be), so their speech tends to be condescending, though not in an overtly insulting manner.

Mithral dragons prefer their home plane, living in the domains of deities. While in these places, they maintain their loyalty to any deities they serve, no matter whose domain they happen to live in. If an “enlightened” mithral dragon can do so, it will try to find places that retain a remnant of Io’s influence so that it can attune to the dead god’s will and exact it. Mithral dragons will lie in wait for centuries or millennia waiting to hear the call of a deity or cause to which they are willing to pledge themselves; when the call comes, the dragon responds with exactness and determination. Trying to talk a mithral dragon out of its cause is like trying to teach a manticore table manners. But the manticore won’t burn you to a crisp with its breath weapon.

On the Material Plane, mithral dragons don’t favor any particular terrain. That said, if a mithral dragon does make a lair on the Material Plane, it will try to find a place where it can attune to the will of deity, which usually happens best in abandoned temples or other important religious areas. If one of these areas cannot be found, the dragon may settle for a mine where it can attempt to read gemstone deposits, and there glean glimpses of future events.