Runewrought Dragon, Medium

Family: Dragons

Medium construct, unaligned

Armor Class 17 (natural armor)
Hit Points 85 (10d8 + 40)
Speed 40 ft., fly 80 ft.

STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
17 (+3)	14 (+2)	18 (+4)	8 (-1)	12 (+1)	8 (-1)

Saving Throws Con +7, Wis +4, Cha +2
Skills Perception +7
Damage Immunities poison, psychic
Condition Immunities charmed, exhaustion, frightened, paralyzed, petrified, poisoned
Senses truesight 120 ft., passive Perception 17
Languages the languages known by its creator
Challenge 5 (1,800 XP)
Proficiency Bonus +3

SPECIAL TRAITS

• Immutable Form. The dragon is immune to any spell or effect that would alter its form.
• Rechargeable Resistance (Recharge 6). If the dragon fails a saving throw, it can choose to succeed instead.
• Vulnerable Wings. Before making an attack roll against the dragon, a creature can choose to take a ?5 penalty to the attack roll to target its wings. If the attack hits, the dragon’s flying speed is halved and it has disadvantage on Wing Spur attack rolls. The second time an attack hits its wings, the dragon can no longer make Wing Spur attacks.

ACTIONS

• Multiattack. The dragon makes two Claw attacks and one Horn attack.
• Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d6 + 3) slashing damage.
• Horn. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 8 (1d10 + 3) piercing damage.
• Shock Breath (Recharge 5 6). The dragon exhales a wave of crackling lightning in a 15-foot cone. Each creature in that area must make a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw. On a failed save, a creature takes 27 (6d8) lightning damage and is staggered until the end of the dragon’s next turn. While staggered, the creature can’t take reactions, and it must choose whether it gets an action, a bonus action, or a move on its turn; it gets only one of the three. On a successful save, the creature takes half as much damage with no additional effects.

BONUS ACTIONS

• Runic Magic. The dragon activates the runes engraved on it to gain one of the following benefits that last until it uses this action again:
  • The dragon gains resistance to one type of damage.
  • The dragon gains a +2 bonus to AC and Dexterity saving throws.
  • The dragon’s attacks deal an additional 3 (1d6) force damage on a hit.
• Wing Spur. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 7 (1d8 + 3) piercing damage. If the target is a prone creature, it is grappled (escape DC 13) and restrained until the grapple ends. The grapple ends if the dragon moves or attacks another creature with its Wing Spur.

LAIR

Like dragons of flesh and blood, a runewrought dragon often inhabits a lair a particular place it has been ordered to protect. As if imbued with a living dragon’s instincts, a runewrought dragons that finds itself without a master often seeks out a lair to inhabit, and tends to be attracted to locations where magic is prevalent. A runewrought dragon encountered in its lair may have access to powerful lair actions.

Lair Actions. On initiative count 20 (losing initiative ties), the dragon can take one of the following lair actions; the dragon can’t take the same lair action two rounds in a row:

• Energy Surge. A crackling beam of energy flickers across the dragon’s form, causing the magical runes etched into its body to flare with blinding light. The dragon gains 30 temporary hit points and each creature within 10 feet of the dragon that can see it must succeed on a DC 15 Constitution saving throw or be blinded until initiative 20 on the next round.
• Arc Lightning. Bolts of lightning spring toward up to three creatures the dragon can see within 30 feet of it. Each target must succeed on a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw or take 14 (4d6) lightning damage and it can’t take reactions until initiative 20 on the next round.
• Cold Feet. Ice forms in a 30-foot radius of a point the dragon can see in its lair and envelops the feet of any creature (other than the dragon) standing on the floor. Each creature other than the dragon must succeed on a DC 15 Strength saving throw or take 11 (2d10) cold damage and be grappled (escape DC 15) until initiative 20 on the next round.

ABOUT

Clad in a crystalline carapace and thick plates made of adamantine, mithral, and copper etched with numerous runes, a runewrought dragon is perhaps the pinnacle of runewrought constructs. While a runewrought dragon can speak and has a much more complex intelligence that an ordinary construct, it is crafted for the sole purpose of combat.

Powered by a complex magical rune known as an azureheart runestone, it can even mimic a dragon’s breath weapon and is almost as resistant to spells and other magical effects as a living dragon.

Despite its prowess, however, a runewrought dragon is, after all, still a constructed creature. It acts as its master wills it and while its armor may be as impenetrable as that of a true dragon, its rubber-like wing flaps are an exploitable weakness in the design as they can be torn to pieces, hampering the dragon’s ability to fly or attack with its wing spurs.