This one was created because I wanted a dragon on the ethereal, with the capacity to freely pass between the prime and the ethereal. None of the existing dragons seemed to fit the bill, so I came up with this.
And once you've got a dragon that has a prime/ethereal duality that has interesting implications for how it might hunt and what its interests might be.
Dragon, Violet (Amethyst)
by Cab Davidson
| Dragon, Violet (Amethyst) | |||
| Stat | Small | Large | Huge |
| AC: | 2 | 0 | -1 |
| HD: | 7** | 10+3*** | 14**** |
| Move: | As Black Dragon | As Black Dragon | As Black Dragon |
| Attacks: | As Black Dragon | As Black Dragon | As Black Dragon |
| Damage: | As Black Dragon | As Black Dragon | As Black Dragon |
| No. Appearing: | 1d4 | 1d3 | 1d2 |
| Save As: | F7 | F22 | F36 |
| Morale: | 8 | 9 | 10 |
| Treasure Type: | H | Hx2,I | Hx3,Ix2 |
| Intelligence: | 9 | 12 | 15 |
| Alignment: | Chaotic (Violet), Neutral (Amethyst) | ||
| XP Value: | 1250 | 3500 | 5500 |
Breath Weapon Violet: Buning Light, dimension as for blue dragon.
Breath Weapon, Amethyst: Burning Light, second save to avoid being transported to the ethereal plane
The rare violet dragons are among the most feared of subterranean predators. They are native to the ethereal plane, from which they can see everything happening within visible range on the prime plane. They can, at will, move from the prime to the ethereal (or vice versa) once per round, and when doing so to attack gain a +2 bonus to surprise. They can take any willing creature they touch with them, and unwilling creatures held by them must make a saving throw vs. spells to avoid being thus transported. Their preferred hunting method is to wait in the ethereal next to large caves and caverns in underground complexes, attacking prey therein once it has mistakenly decided that the surroundings there are safe and lowered its guard.
The duality of their existence on the prime and ethereal renders them somewhat magically resistant, with 50% antimagic. That in turn makes them poor spellcasters, and violet dragons able to cast any spells are rare (although all are intelligent and capable of talking).
While violet dragons are known to be brutal and sadistic predators, revelling in the suffering of their prey, amethyst dragons are primarily seekers of knowledge. They wait in the ethereal plane observing and recording happenings on the prime plane, each having specific areas of interest that fascinate them. Their most likely reason to attack is because that interest is under threat from someone on the prime. For example, an amethyst dragon obsessed with the behaviour of a particular tribe of gnomes will attack anything that threatens them. The amethyst dragon prefers to use its breath weapon to divide its foes - those failing a save versus dragon breath will be transported to the ethereal plane. If that is insufficient to discourage further endangering of their prime plane obsession, they will barter the lives of those trapped on the ethereal to try to prevent further harm.