The gray dragon is a type of chromatic dragon from the roleplaying game Dungeons & Dragons. Also known as the "fang dragon", it is considered to be the most savage and ferocious of all dragons.
Description[]
Gray dragons are covered from snout to tailtip in cobbled, stone-gray scales, have jagged horns on their heads and numerous sharp spikes growing from the back of the neck to the end of the tail. Their wings are not as large as other dragon species and they are poor flyers. Their tails fork at the end into scythe-like blades for slashing prey.
Savage and brutal, gray dragons often behave in an unpredictable manner. Lacking self-discipline, they rarely achieve the kind of notoriety and reputation enjoyed by other chromatics. They are prone to sudden violent outbursts and relish the thrill of the hunt. At any moment, a gray dragon can turn an innocuous social situation into an elaborate chase.
Lairs and Terrain[]
Gray dragons tend to make their lairs in stony wastelands and scrublands. They like to build nests upon higher grounds where they can easily survey the surrounding territory and spot potential prey. Most often, gray dragons stay on the move, tracking a particular quarry for great lengths of time and then moving on to their next chase without bothering to return to their abodes for rest.
Favoured Treasure[]
Gray dragons have no great attraction to any specific type of treasure. Instead, they prefer to hoard prizes of the hunt; trophies consisting of whatever items they lifted from their slain quarry. Such prizes can be anything from items that held great sentimental value for the prey, the wealth they had on their persons at the time they were slain, or even what remains of their corpses after the gray dragon has eaten of their flesh.
Life Cycle[]
A gray dragon lays its eggs after about four months, for a total incubation time of twenty months. A clutch numbers one to two eggs, all of which prove viable under optimal conditions.
A gray dragon is a wyrmling until about the age of ten and is young until nearly age 200. It becomes an elder at around 900 years and an ancient around 1,400. The oldest confirmed age any gray dragon has reached is approximately 2,100 years.
When a gray dragon dies, it petrifies, becoming a spiky outcropping with an uncannily draconic shape. When a deceased gray dragon experiences environmental diffusion, the result is an area of abnormal aridity. Streams running through the area dry up, as do wells. Any creature that spends more than an hour in the area becomes parched, and water stored in containers somehow disappears.
Abilities[]
- Flight - While gray dragons do have wings, they are less-capable flyers than other dragons.
- Frightful Presence - Proximity to a gray dragon can cause other creatures to panic and flee in terror.
- Spike Thrower - Gray dragons can shed the spikes growing on their bodies and cast them at enemies.
- Breath Weapons - Gray dragons have two breath attacks. One is a stream of acidic gas that rapidly dissolves any creature caught in it. The second is a line of petrifying gas that turns flesh to stone.