5e:Brass Dragon

< Metallic Dragon

D&D 5e (2014) CC-BY-SA

  

* Maximum Height: 10 feet

• Maximum Weight: 60,000 pounds
• Maximum Length: 42 feet
• Maximum Wingspan: 50 feet
• Breath weapon: cone of sleep gas, line of fire
• Habitat: Desert, plains
• Diet: Mountain goats, sheep, antelope, and other such creatures. Only a malevolent brass dragon would choose to devour an intelligent creature.
• Preferred Treasure: Handcrafted work in materials such as bone, wood, stone, or fabric (particularly weaving).

Although weaker than many other varieties of dragonkind, brass dragons are still powerful creatures by any measure. They have a strong mercenary streak and often agree to serve as guardians or battle champions for anyone willing to pay suitably well.

Physically, the brass dragon is highly distinctive. From below, its outstretched wings form a triangular shape, as they are attached to its body all the way to the tip of its tail. The wings are longest at the shoulder and taper gently as they reach the tail. Their scales seem to radiate heat and light. The shape of the head is quite unusual, as it includes a large, curved plate that extends from the dragon's eyes and cheeks on either side and curves upwards into two points, much like a plowshare. They have two sharp horns on the chin, which become steadily pointier as the dragon ages. They smell like hot, oiled metal.

Brass dragon eggs must be incubated in a nest of open flames. Incubation takes approximately 480 days. The eggs are typically tended by both parents so that they can talk together as they maintain their vigil. A newly hatched brass wyrmling is not remarkable in appearance; its scales are a dull brown. The scales become lighter and more brilliant as the dragon matures. Brass wyrmlings probably learn to talk more quickly than the young of any other sentient species. They talk constantly about anything and everything, and they will talk to anybody: friends, family, enemies, small creatures that cannot talk back, or even to themselves if nobody else is near. When exposed to a new language, a brass wyrmling will usually become fluent in under an hour. Though they have an extremely deadly breath weapon, they are more fragile than other dragons. As a result, they make alliances with small groups of intelligent creatures, such as tribes of nomadic Dragonborn.

As it matures, a brass dragon adds a love of fire to its love of speech. They can stare into burning flames for hours, entranced by their beauty. Older brass dragons often become discouraged with the world, believing that others are ruining it. Yet as they mature, they seem to accept the follies of the world, and may even donate some of their treasures to aid a cause they believe to be worthy. Ancient brass dragons are some of the best - and most willing - sources of advice in the entire Prime Material Plane.

The brass dragon prefers to dig its lair inside a desert peak or spire. They also prefer to have their lairs face eastwards, so that the rising sun will warm the lair for the bulk of the day. A brass dragon's lair is well-constructed and quite extensive, with many twisting corridors and dead ends to confuse and discourage hostile intruders. The centerpiece of any brass dragon's lair is the Grand Conversation Hall, where it spends the majority of its time entertaining friends and visitors. A typical lair will also contain an elegant foyer, a gallery for the artwork the dragon has collected, a sleeping chamber, and a storage room. All brass dragon lairs have several small entrances, known as bolt holes. These multiple entrances allow a brass dragon to easily escape an attack by a blue dragon or other predator.

The brass dragon was an example of content misrepresented by the game's detractors, by whom it was described erroneously as the worst of dragons.

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