Wyvern, Sand

Family: Wyverns

Large beast, unaligned

STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA
17 (+3) 12 (+1) 20 (+5) 4 (-3) 12 (+1) 11 (+0)

Armor Class 15 (natural armor)
Hit Points 42 (4d10 + 20)
Speed 15 ft., fly 70 ft.
Skills Athletics +5, Stealth +3
Senses passive Perception 11
Languages
Challenge 2 (450 XP)

Special Traits

  • Sandstorm. When wyverns fly over sand or dusty ground, their wings cause a wind effect that creates a cloud that obscures all vision. The radius of the cloud is equal to 5 feet times the number of sand wyverns in the flight and is centered on the innermost wyvern. The cloud dissipates if there are less than three wyverns within its area of effect. Large enough sandstorms give advantage to a wyvern’s Dexterity (Stealth) checks and may otherwise appear natural.

Actions

  • Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 17 (4d6 + 3) piercing damage.
  • Claws. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 10 (2d6 + 3) slashing damage.
  • Stinger. Melee Weapon Attack: +3 to hit, reach 15 ft., one target. Hit: 4 (1d6 + 1) poison damage and the target must make a DC 11 Constitution saving throw or be poisoned until the end of the wyvern’s next turn.
  • Sandblast (1/day). The wyvern exhales sand from special sacs on the side of its neck in a 30-foot cone. Each creature in the area of effect must make a DC 13 Dexterity saving throw. On a failed save, the creature takes 14 (4d6) bludgeoning damage and is blinded and knocked prone. A creature can use half its movement to clean its eyes and remove the blinded condition. On a successful save, the creature takes half damage and can choose to either be blinded or be knocked prone.

Tactics

When attacking on the wing, the sand wyvern may use only its claws or breath weapon. On the ground, sand wyverns attack with a fury of slashes from its claws, its bite and its stinger if available. A commonly-speculated way to avoid an attack by sand wyverns is to “play dead”. Though they are carnivores at heart, these creatures will pass right over anything that appears to be already dead, preferring to tear into living flesh. This tactic may seem better than confronting an angry flock of wyverns, but lying down in the desert and having a sandstorm pass overhead can result in being buried alive…

ABOUT

Sand wyverns are large winged reptiles that scream across the surface of the Scarred Land’s deserts, flying at altitudes of only a few dozen feet.

Flocks of these magical beasts fly in formations over the desert surface, throwing up huge sandstorms to drive potential prey out of hiding.

What Hides Beneath. Sand wyverns’ mottled brown and dark yellow flesh is exceedingly tough, as are their leathery wings, which stretch across their upper arms. Their narrow mouths are filled with dirty, jagged teeth and their large black eyes are covered with a transparent lid. Their rear feet end in wickedly curved claws that they use to scoop prey off the land to take back to their eyries to consume. The long tail of the female sand wyverns ends in a stinger and in a brilliant green gem-scale for males. When sand wyverns travel in large flocks, they have been known to kick up such a great quantity of sand that travelers often mistake their approach for a sandstorm.

Bestial Treasures. There is rumored to be a great nest in the side of a cliff face somewhere in a desert where hundreds, perhaps thousands, of sand wyverns roost during the night. If such were the case, then only the most foolhardy (or desperately greedy) adventurer would ever venture to the place. Each of the long, brilliant gem-scales on a male sand wyvern’s tail is worth anywhere from 50 to 200 gold coins depending on how far one travels from the desert fringe towns to sell it. Tribes of hardened wasteland nomads make their living hunting sand wyverns. Legends describe asaatthi training sand wyverns as war mounts. Asaatthi children reportedly rode the beasts into battle until they grew too large for the beasts to bear.

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