AC 20 (natural armor)
HP 367 (21d20 + 147; bloodied 183)
Speed 40 ft., burrow 40 ft., fly 80 ft.
Proficiency +7; Maneuver DC 23
Saving Throws Dex +7, Con +14, Wis +10, Cha +11
Skills Arcana +12, History +12, Nature +12, Perception +10 (+1d6), Persuasion +11, Religion +12, Stealth +7
Damage Immunities fire
Senses blindsight 60 ft., darkvision 120 ft., passive Perception 23
Languages Common, Draconic, three more
Legendary Resistance (3/Day). When the dragon fails a saving throw , it can choose to succeed instead. When it does, some of its scales fall away and turn to sand. If it has no more uses of this ability, its Armor Class is reduced to 18 until it finishes a long rest.
Self-Sufficient. The brass dragon can subsist on only a quart of water and a pound of food per day.
Scholar of the Ages. The brass dragon gains a d4 expertise die on Intelligence checks made to recall lore. If it fails such a roll, it can expend one use of its Legendary Resistance trait to treat the roll as a 20.
Innate Spellcasting. The dragon’s spellcasting ability is Charisma (save DC 19). It can innately cast the following spells, requiring no material components.
3/day each: comprehend languages , identify , commune , legend lore
1/day: teleport , true seeing
ACTIONS
Multiattack. The dragon attacks once with its bite and twice with its claws. In place of its bite, it can use Molten Spit.
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +15 to hit, reach 15 ft., one target. Hit: 30 (4d10 + 8) piercing damage plus 9 (2d8) fire damage.
Claws. Melee Weapon Attack: +15 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 21 (3d8 + 8) slashing damage.
Tail. Melee Weapon Attack: +15 to hit, reach 20 ft., one target. Hit: 21 (3d8 + 8) bludgeoning damage, and the dragon pushes the target 10 feet away.
Staff (Humanoid Form Only). Melee Weapon Attack: +15 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 12 (1d8 + 8) bludgeoning damage.
Molten Spit. The dragon targets a creature within 60 feet, forcing it to make a DC 22 Dexterity saving throw . The creature takes 22 (4d10) fire damage on a failure or half damage on a success. A creature that fails the saving throw also takes 11 (2d10) ongoing fire damage. A creature can use an action to end the ongoing damage.
Breath Weapons (Recharge 5–6). The dragon uses one of the following breath weapons:
Molten Breath. The dragon exhales molten glass in a 90-foot-long, 10-foot-wide line. Each creature in the area makes a DC 22 Dexterity saving throw , taking 70 (20d6) fire damage on a failed save or half damage on a success. A creature that fails the save is also blinded until the end of its next turn.
Sleep Breath. The dragon exhales sleep gas in a 90-foot cone. Each creature in the area makes a DC 22 Constitution saving throw . On a failure, a creature falls unconscious for 10 minutes or until it takes damage or someone uses an action to wake it.
Change Shape. The dragon magically takes the shape of a humanoid or beast or changes back into its true form. It reverts to its true form if it dies. Any equipment it is wearing or carrying is absorbed or borne by the new form (dragon’s choice). In the new form, the dragon’s stats are unchanged except for its size. It can’t use Molten Spit, Breath Weapons, Tail Attack, or Wing Attack except in dragon form. In beast form, it can attack only with its bite and claws, if appropriate to its form. If the beast form is Large or smaller, the reach of these attacks is reduced to 5 feet. In humanoid form, it can attack only with its staff.
REACTIONS
Tail Attack. When a creature the dragon can see within 10 feet hits the dragon with a melee attack, the dragon makes a tail attack against it.
LEGENDARY ACTIONS
The dragon can take 3 legendary actions, choosing from the options below. Only one legendary action can be used at a time and only at the end of another creature's turn. It regains spent legendary actions at the start of its turn.
Analyze. The dragon evaluates one creature it can see within 60 feet. It learns the creature’s resistances, immunities, vulnerabilities, and current and maximum hit points. That creature’s next attack roll against the dragon before the start of the dragon’s next turn is made with disadvantage .
Roar. Each creature of the dragon’s choice within 120 feet that can hear it makes a DC 19 Charisma saving throw . On a failure, it is frightened for 1 minute. A creature repeats the saving throw at the end of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success. When it succeeds on a saving throw or the effect ends for it, it is immune to Roar for 24 hours.
Wing Attack. The dragon beats its wings. Each creature within 15 feet makes a DC 23 Dexterity saving throw . On a failure, it is pushed 10 feet away and knocked prone . The dragon can then fly up to half its fly speed.
Combat
While individual dragons have their own personalities and tactics, most rely heavily on their breath weapons. They use them whenever they can, preferably from maximum distance and while flying above their enemies.
When fighting in the open, dragons often circle above their enemies as they wait for their breath weapons to recharge. They only close to melee if their enemies deal significant damage with ranged attacks, or if they can savage an enemy cut off from its allies. Once bloodied , dragons become more aggressive, attacking with bite and claws when their breath weapons aren’t available.
If a dragon is protecting its lair, it utilizes lair features, traps, allies, and architecture such as escape tunnels to keep up a hit-and-run fight, reappearing only when it has a fully-recharged breath weapon. If the dragon is forced into melee combat, it uses its bite and claws against a single foe. If it has legendary actions like Roar and Wing Attack, it uses them to disperse its other enemies.
If reduced to less than one-fourth its hit points while fighting in the open, a dragon flies away. However, it fights to the death to defend its lair, unless it can regain the upper hand through tricks or bargains.
Brass Dragon Lair Features
The save DC for the following effects is 13 + the dragon’s proficiency bonus. Choose or roll one or more of the following lair features:
1 The lair’s entrance is covered by a stone slab that reads, in Draconic, “Tell me a story.” A character can make a History or Performance check against the lair DC to tell a story to the door, which opens on a success. (Grant advantage to any player who actually improvises a story.)
2 As a legendary action, the brass dragon can mentally call upon sandy winds to blast through a corridor or chamber for 1 round, extinguishing unprotected flames. A creature other than the dragon caught in these winds makes a Constitution saving throw . On a failure, it is blinded by the sand until the end of its next turn.
3 The caverns are designed to carry sound anywhere in the lair. The brass dragon can use this ability to spy on visitors or tell them stories as they travel through the lair. A creature that listens to the dragon’s stories for 10 minutes makes a Charisma saving throw or becomes slowed as the dragon’s droning voice puts it in a state of walking torpor. If a creature can no longer hear the story, the effect ends.
4 A tunnel in the dragon’s inner sanctum is concealed by a thick layer of sand. The dragon can burrow into this tunnel to escape, kicking up a 20-foot-radius cloud of sand that persists for 1 round and creates heavy obscurement .
Names
Elgenor, Glimlight, Keldathris, Pangloss, Sirac, Xalindra
Legends and Lore
With an Arcana or History check, characters can learn the following:
DC 10 Brass dragons are notoriously talkative. They collect stories like other dragons gather gold.
DC 15 When angered, brass dragons exhale blasts of molten glass—or clouds of soporific gas if they’re feeling merciful.
DC 20 Like all metallic dragons, brass dragons learn to transform into humanoids and beasts as they age. In their humanoid forms, they are sometimes found in royal courts serving as advisors.
Of all dragons, none is more likely to talk your ear off than a brass. Gregarious creatures, brass dragons have been known to invite would-be dragonslayers into their lairs simply to share gossip. They have a habit of losing track of time in pleasant company, however, so visitors too polite (or too fearful) to interrupt a brass dragon could find themselves trapped in its lair for days on end.
Sages and Scholars. Brass dragons often turn their hoarding instinct toward accumulating vast libraries. As a result, many are experts in a wide array of subjects. Brass dragons are careful not to share their knowledge too freely, however, as they know all too well what havoc short-lived humanoids can cause when their information supplants wisdom. Brass dragons may even take it upon themselves to reclaim knowledge used for evil ends—or hire adventurers to do so on their behalf.
Hermits and Advisors. As brass dragons age, some grow weary of the short-lived triumphs and repeated mistakes of humanoids. Others, however, become even more involved in humanoid politics. As they learn to shapeshift, older brass dragons may assume positions as royal advisors in order to steer the short-lived folk onto what they see as the proper path.
Needs of the Many. Because they take a “big picture view” of morality, brass dragons sometimes undervalue individual lives. If ransacking a village to recover a forbidden tome could save an entire nation from ruin, they may consider the atrocity a small price to pay for the greater good. Such pride transforms some brass dragons into villains—at least in the eyes of those too short-sighted to comprehend the dragon’s long-term plans.
1 In humanoid form, reading
2 Hungry for news and gossip and won’t take no for an answer
3 Disgusted with humanoid foolishness and frailty; violently defends its territory against trespass
4 Demands a tribute of secrets, writings, or spell scrolls
1 A permanent sandstorm around one rocky outcropping
2 An ancient, windswept road
3 A half-buried scroll case containing a history text
4 A caravan hired to leave a shipment of rare books at a specific landmark
Brass dragons make their lairs in desert caves, preferably inside towering mesas, where they construct elaborate libraries to shelter their collections from the desert sun.
CR 3–4 brass dragon wyrmling with 3 or 4 acolytes , blink dogs , or dragonbound warriors (see warrior)
Treasure 100 gp, 400 sp, 100 square brass coins (worth 1 gp each only in the City of Brass), 5 scrolls of prophecy (50 gp each), 2 potions of healing
CR 5–10 young brass dragon
Treasure 800 gp, 5 carnelian gemstones (50 gp each), 25 books (50 gp each), potion of animal friendship , adamantine chain shirt
CR 11–16 adult brass dragon ; young brass dragon with 2 dragon cultists , minstrels, or sandlings (see scarecrows )
Treasure 2,000 gp, 3 silver bracelets (75 gp each), brass alchemical equipment (250 gp), 20 rare books (125 gp each), potion of supreme healing , +2 quarterstaff (named Basilisk; its wielder is immune to petrification)
CR 17–22 ancient brass dragon ; adult brass dragon with basilisk , doppelganger , or scorpionfolk
Treasure 100 pp, 8,000 gp, 4 topaz gemstones (500 gp each), 7 of the dragon’s arcane journals (250 gp each), 3 potions of flying , spell scrolls of control weather and guards and wards , wand of the war mage +3
CR 23–30 ancient brass dragon with earth elemental , mage, or young brass dragon
Treasure 20,000 gp, 10 sapphires and emeralds (1,000 gp each), large-scale continental map (10,000 gp), 6-foot-tall magic book that answers one question per day as if legend lore were cast, adamantine breastplate , belt of dwarvenkind
CR 31+ ancient brass dragon with clay guardian , guardian naga , or sphinx ; 2 adult brass dragons
Treasure 80,000 gp, 20 sapphires and emeralds (1,000 gp each), 1,000 books (50 gp each), 100 rare books (125 gp each), gateway to an astral library patrolled by strange librarians, 3 potions of supreme healing , oathbow , ring of djinni summoning
Dragons include red and gold dragons, which are huge reptilian fire-breathers that number among the world’s most dangerous monsters. This type includes white dragons , which breathe killing frost, as well as smaller reptilian creatures related to true dragons, such as pseudodragons .