Astral Dragon

(From Dragon Magazine #344 - 2006):

This dragon has long trailing horns, similar in appearance to massive and rigid antennae, trailing back from its wedge shaped head. Its narrow wings stretch out far wider than other dragons of its size. Opalescent eggshell-colored scales smoothly overlap on its sleek body.

Regardless of their size or age, astral dragons always move with incredible grace and fluidity.

Astral dragons act as guardians of the Astral Plane. They view any nonnative creature or object as an affront to the inherent beauty and sanctity of their infini te home. Astral dragons wage an endless and fruitless war against the githyanki. whom they see as the ultimate usurpers and befoulers of the plane. Once or twice a decade a flight of astral dragons assaults the astral fortress of N'gati (see Dragon #305), but as of yet none has caused more than minor damage to the city. These battles usually turn quite fierce when the allies of the githyanki, red dragons, become involved.

Unlike other dragons, an astral dragon does not have a specific lair, as it considers the entire Astral Plane its home. An astral dragon family or flight frequently lays claim to some large piece of solid matter drifting through the plane (such as the body of a dead deity). The dragons in the group store their treasures within the mass and take turns defending it.

An astral dragon never speaks to non-native creatures on the Astral Plane, but it converses pleasantly with any creature that “belongs* on the plane (ie., creatures native to the Astral Plane).

Combat: Astral dragons avoid combat beyond hit-and-run attacks with their breath weapons. An astral dragon watches potential foes, noting which ones move fastest in the astral mist. It then moves within range and breathes at the fastest creature before retreating long enough for its breath weapon to recharge. Despite the cowardly appearance of their tactics, astral dragons make for persistent foes on the Astral Plane. Astral dragons seek to dismiss creatures without killing them in order to protect their home plane from the clutter of dead bodies. It's easier to expel an unwanted visitor, after all, than to dispose of its corpse.

If forcibly removed from the Astral Plane (an astral dragon never willingly leaves its home) an astral dragon rarely survives for very long. On a plane with any kind of actual gravity the astral dragon's massive trailing horns weigh down its head, preventing it from making a bite attack. The dragon is always considered to be carrying a heavy load while in gravity and its fly maneuverability is reduced to clumsy.

Breath Weapon (Su): An astral dragon has two types of breath weapon, a line of dismissal and a cone of scouring dust A creature struck by an astral dragon's line breath weapon must succeed at a Will save or instantly return to its home plane, as per the dismissal spell. Like that spell, there is a 20% chance the astral dragon’s line breath weapon actually sends the subject to a plane other than its own (but never back to the Astral Plane).

Creatures within the cone of dust take the damage listed from a storm of scouring astral wind that flays the skin like a sandstorm. A Reflex save halves the damage.

Spell-Like Abilities: 3/day— eagle's splendor (very young or older), touch of idiocy (juvenile or older); 1/day— banishment (ancient or older), detect animals or plants (adult or older).

Astral Familiarity (Ex): An astral dragon moves through the Astral Plane as if its Wisdom were 8 points higher than it really is when making a check to alter the subjective directional gravity.

Detect Extraplanar (Su): An astral dragon can continuously detect creatures not native to the Astral Plane. This acts in most ways like the detect evil spell, but it extends to a range of 30 feet per age category and it does not actu¬ ally detect the creature's alignment—only that the crea¬ ture isn’t native to the Astral Plane. An astral dragon can determine a creature’s nature after concentrating for a single round (no additional information is provided by multiple rounds of concentration). The astral dragon can suppress or resume this ability as a free action.

Null Gravity Aura (Su): A young or older astral dragon radiates a field of null gravity, changing the area around it from subjective direction gravity to no gravity.

Those within the area merely float unless they possess flight or some other means of magical movement. See page 147 of the Dungeon Master’s Guide for information on the effects of gravity on the Astral Plane. This aura has a radius of 30 feet plus 30 feet per age category beyond young. This aura does not affect the astral dragon, allow¬ ing it to use subjective direction gravity and its flight to move at incredible speeds. An astral dragon can suppress or resume this ability as a free action.

Severing Bite (Su): A juvenile or older astral dragon’s bite severs silver cords on a successful critical hit (see astral projection on page 201 of the Player’s Handbook) in addition to dealing extra damage.

(From 2nd Edition AD&D Monstrous Manual - 1991):

“Astral dragon” is a general term for a race of ancient golden dragons to whom all dragons of Krynn can trace a common ancestry. The immortal astral dragons are the personification of neutrality in dragons.

Among the first dragons ever created by the gods were two astral dragons named Deion and Procene. These dragons were directcd to give birth to a race of dragons that the gods would adopt as their own. Selected newborns were taken from their parents and transformed to reflect the personalties and philosophies of the gods who adopted them. Thus were created early archetypes of black, red, gold, silver, and other dragons. Deion and Procene remained neutral; in exchange for their offspring, the gods pledged to leave them alone.

When the couple grew weary of the constant tension between the good and evil dragons, they appealed to the gods to be relieved of their obligations on Krynn. The gods granted their wish, and relocated them to an alternate plane of existence in the Abyss. In time, Deion and Procene gave birth to new generations of neutral dragons.

An unmated astral dragon is dull yellow in color and about five feet long with human hands and long, slim fingers. It has huge black eyes. and its scales are covered with fine blond fur. Though a hatchling is slightly less formidable (AC 4, HD 2), an astral dragon does not progress through the various age categories as do other dragons; its statistics do not change significantly until it becomes part of a mated pair.

When an astral dragon finds a suitable mate, the couple appeals to the gods of neutrality to sanction their union. If approval is granted, the mated astral dragons undergo a remarkable transformation. To symbolize the union, the gods create a 100-foot golden chain, each end of which encircles the mates’ necks to link them for all eternity. The mates grow to a length of 50 feet and become enveloped in a permanent aura of golden light. Their intelligence and abilities increase to god-like levels.

Thereafter, the couple lives, fights, works, and plays as a unit. If the chain is broken and the mates are separated by a distance of at least 100 yards for 30 days, they will revert to their original, weaker forms; however, it requires the power of a wish spell or its equivalent to break the chain.

Astral dragons speak their own tongue as well as the languages of good and evil dragons. All astral dragons have the ability to communicate with any intelligent creature.'

Combat: Unmated astral dragons are incapable of performing snatch, kick, wing buffet, or tail slap attacks. Though they have the special senses of a dragon (as per the very young age category), they do not radiate fear. They can defend themselves with their claws and teeth, but they are sluggish combatants, always attempting to flee instead of engaging in melee. They are essentially immortal, as they instantly recover all lost hit points. However, they can be destroyed by power word, kill, wish, or similar spells.

Mated astral dragons attack as a unit. Though capable of performing snatch, kick, wing buffet, and tail slap attacks, as well as vicious attacks with their teeth and claws, they prefer to use spells to frighten away their enemies.

Mated astral dragons gain the abilities of a 35th-level cleric. They have the special senses of a dragon (as per the great wyrm age category). They radiate fear in a radius of 50 feet (-4 penalty to saving throw) and have a bonus of +12 to their attack and damage rolls. Like unmated astral dragons, they are essentially immortal, instantly recovering all lost hit points; nothing less than the power of a wish, power word, kill, or similar spells can destroy them.

Habitat/Society: Astral dragons live in immense keeps of black crystal built for them by the gods. They rarely leave their keeps and never voluntarily leave the Abyss. A mated pair must petition the gods for permission to give birth, a request seldom granted in order to limit the population. Upon reaching the age of five, a young astral dragon is dispatched from his parents’ keep to fend for himself. Astral dragons have no interest in treasure.

Ecology: Astral dragons consume only liquids. Any liquid will do — mercury is a nourishing to them as water. They have no natural enemies.