AC 18 (natural armor)
HP 253 (22d12 + 110; bloodied 126)
Speed 40 ft., climb 40 ft., fly 80 ft.
Proficiency +6; Maneuver DC 20
Saving Throws Dex +7, Con +11, Wis +8, Cha +9
Skills Deception +10, Perception +9 (+1d6), Stealth +7
Damage Immunities acid
Senses blindsight 60 ft., darkvision 120 ft., passive Perception 20
Languages Common, Draconic, two more
Flow Within the Mountain. The dragon has advantage on Stealth checks made to hide in mountainous regions. By spending 1 minute in concentration while touching a natural stone surface, the dragon can merge into it and emerge from any connected stone surface within a mile.
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 stone. If it has no more uses of this ability, its Armor Class is reduced to 16 until it finishes a long rest.
Innate Spellcasting. The dragon’s spellcasting ability is Charisma (save DC 17). It can innately cast the following spells, requiring no material components.
3/day each: hideous laughter , suggestion , mislead , polymorph
ACTIONS
Multiattack. The dragon attacks with its bite and twice with its claws. In place of its bite, it can use Acid Spit.
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +12 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 22 (3d10 + 6) piercing damage plus 4 (1d8) acid damage.
Claws. Melee Weapon Attack: +12 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 19 (3d8 + 6) slashing damage.
Tail. Melee Weapon Attack: +12 to hit, reach 15 ft., one target. Hit: 19 (3d8 + 6) bludgeoning damage, and the dragon pushes the target 10 feet away.
War Pick (Humanoid Form Only). Melee Weapon Attack: +12 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 10 (1d8 + 6) piercing damage.
Acid Spit. The dragon targets a creature within 60 feet, forcing it to make a DC 19 Dexterity saving throw . The creature takes 16 (3d10) acid damage on a failure or half damage on a success. A creature that fails the save also takes 5 (1d10) ongoing acid 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:
Acid Breath. The dragon exhales acid in a 60-foot-long, 5-foot-wide line. Each creature in the area makes a DC 19 Dexterity saving throw, taking 63 (14d8) acid damage on a failed save or half damage on a success. A creature that fails the save is blinded until the end of its next turn.
Slowing Breath. The dragon exhales toxic gas in a 60-foot cone. Each creature in the area makes a DC 19 Constitution saving throw, becoming slowed for 1 minute on a failure. A creature repeats the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success.
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 Acid 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 war pick.
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.
Roar. Each creature of the dragon’s choice within 120 feet that can hear it makes a DC 17 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 19 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.
Trickster’s Gambit (Costs 2 Actions). The dragon magically teleports to an unoccupied space it can see within 30 feet and creates two illusory duplicates in different unoccupied spaces within 30 feet. These duplicates have an AC of 11, and a creature that hits one with an attack can make a DC 16 Intelligence (Investigation) check, identifying it as a fake on a success. The duplicates disappear at the end of the dragon’s next turn but otherwise mimic the dragon’s actions perfectly, even moving according to the dragon’s will.
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.
Copper 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 Those who travel the winding mountain paths to the dragon’s lair feel as though they’re being watched, and the instinct is not unfounded. The animals of the mountain observe travellers and report back to the dragon, ensuring it is never surprised.
2 The dragon can use a legendary action to stomp the ground, causing a weak point to give way. A 10-foot-wide, 10-foot-deep, acid-filled sinkhole appears in a space within 60 feet. Creatures in the area make a Dexterity saving throw . On a success, they can use their reaction to move up to half their speed. A creature that can’t escape falls into the pit, taking 3 (1d6) bludgeoning damage and 11 (2d10) acid damage.
3 If the dragon covers the floor of its lair with its Slowing Breath, the affected area turns soft and muddy, becoming difficult terrain until the start of the dragon’s next turn. A creature in the mud when it reverts to stone becomes stuck in the hardening mud. While stuck, the creature’s Speed becomes 0. The creature can use an action to make an Athletics check, freeing itself on a success.
4 Illusory walls in the lair hide secret escape passages, which the dragon can easily collapse by focusing its Acid Breath.
Names
Alabran, Ithris, Millivillix, Quenzitar, Tatynara, Twopenny
Legends and Lore
With an Arcana or History check, characters can learn the following:
DC 10 One must take care when dealing with a copper dragon. Though mostly harmless, they sometimes allow their pranks to get out of hand.
DC 15 Copper dragons live on mountaintops and similar areas. They exhale blasts of acid or clouds of toxic gas to hinder their foes.
DC 20 A copper dragon’s magical abilities develop as it ages, allowing it to teleport, merge with stone, and create illusory duplicates of itself.
Playful and whimsical, copper dragons often involve themselves in the affairs of short-lived folk, though their contributions to history aren’t always positive. While copper dragons aren’t generally malevolent, they are incorrigible tricksters and rarely understand the difference between a joke and outright cruelty. Of all dragons, copper dragons are the ones most likely to live near humanoids, as they are always searching for new targets for their pranks.
Flighty Urges. As they grow older, copper dragons exhibit all manner of unusual interests. They may yearn for a simpler life and use their shapeshifting to pass themselves off as a farmer or wanderer. They may decide they’re interested in politics and start secretly advising a noble on how best to run a nation. They may tunnel under a wishing well and give life advice to anyone who tosses in a coin. The only consistent feature of these impulses is that they’re short-lived. Inevitably, a copper grows bored of its exploits and abandons them, possibly leaving many people high and dry in the process.
Friendly, If Troublesome. Despite their mischievous natures, copper dragons rarely mean to do harm. If made to understand the trouble they’ve caused, they can usually be counted on to compensate their victims. Convincing a copper dragon to see the error of its ways, however, is rarely a simple task.
1 Listening to a minstrel companion or prisoner
2 Demands to exchange jokes and riddles
3 Loves lying and leading travelers astray
4 Thinks the party’s antics are hilarious
1 Graffiti or caricatures carved into cliffs or monuments
2 A distant laugh
3 Sandaled footprints that disappear or turn into draconic prints
4 An angry local that has been tricked
Copper dragons make their lairs in high mountains and cliffs, where they can watch the consequences of their mischief play out from an elevated position.
CR 3–4 copper dragon wyrmling
Treasure 200 gp, 1,000 sp, loaded dice, deluxe disguise kit (100 gp), 3 potions of healing (turn the drinker green for 6 hours)
CR 5–10 young copper dragon ; copper dragon wyrmling with 1d6 + 2 goblins , pixies , or pseudodragons
Treasure 1,000 gp, 6 jade and jet gemstones (100 gp each), potion of greater healing , ring of protection (named Joy Buzzer; if the wearer can cast cantrips, shocking grasp is added to its list of known cantrips)
CR 11–16 young copper dragon with 1d4 + 1 faerie dragons , magmins , or rust monsters
Treasure 1,500 gp, 5 pieces of gold jewelry (250 gp each), 10 rare joke books (125 gp each), 6 potions of superior healing (each also randomly applies the effects of potions of growth or diminution ), +3 chain mail
CR 17–22 adult copper dragon ; adult copper dragon with fey knight , green hag , or minstrel
Treasure 12,000 gp, 6 spinel and peridot gemstones (500 gp each), spell scrolls of irresistible dance and time stop , rod of absorption
CR 23–30 ancient copper dragon ; ancient copper dragon with 2 doppelgangers or trickster priests (see priest )
Treasure 2,000 pp, 15,000 gp, printing press, 2,000 copies of self-published joke book, 2 potions of supreme healing , mace of smiting (looks like a jester’s staff with a bell-tipped hat; its wielder can use an action to cast disguise self at will)
CR 31+ ancient copper dragon with archmage , invisible render (see invisible stalker ), or young copper dragon
Treasure 75,000 gp, 75,000 counterfeit gold-painted copper coins, 5 pieces of gold jewelry (125 gp each), 20 pieces of gold-plated jewelry (25 gp each), contraption that coats things with gold, spell scroll of shapechange , adamantine half plate , iron flask
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 .