Gold Dragon, Ancient

Golden scales cover the body of this majestic dragon, and a regal crest of horns arches backward above wise and piercing eyes.

Gold Dragon, Ancient (CR 20)

Gargantuan Dragon (Fire)
Alignment: Lawful Good
Initiative: -1
Senses: Dragon Senses; Perception +40
Aura: fire, frightful presence (300 feet, DC 30)

Speed: 60 feet, Fly 250 feet (clumsy), Swim 60 feet
Space: 20 feet

Defense

Armor Class: 39, touch 5, flat-footed 39 (-1 Dex, +34 natural, -4 size)
Hit Points: 377 (26d12+208)
Saving Throws: Fort +23, Ref +14, Will +24
Damage Reduction: 15/magic
Immunity: fire, paralysis, sleep
Spell Resistance: 31
Weaknesses: vulnerability to cold

Offense

Melee: bite +36 (4d6+21/19-20), 2 claws +36 (2d8+14/19-20), 2 wings +34 (2d6+7/19- 20), tail +34 (2d8+21/19-20)
Reach: 15 feet (20 feet with bite)

Special Attacks: Breath Weapon (60-ft. cone, DC 31, 20d10 fire), crush, tail sweep, weaken breath

Spell-Like Abilities (CL 26th):

• At Will- Bless, Daylight, Detect Evil, Geas/Quest, Sunburst (DC 25)

Spells Known (CL 15th):

• 7th (5/day) - Teleport, Greater, Resurrection
  
  
• 6th (7/day) - Antimagic Field, Dispel Magic, Greater, Heal
  
  
• 5th (7/day) - Dispel Evil, Plane Shift, Teleport, True Seeing
  
  
• 4th (7/day) - Divination, Restoration, Spell Immunity, Stoneskin
  
  
• 3rd (7/day) - Dispel Magic, Haste, Invisibility Purge, Prayer
  
  
• 2nd (8/day) - Aid, Cure Moderate Wounds, Restoration, Lesser, Resist Energy, Silence
  
  
• 1st (8/day) - Alarm, Divine Favor, Mage Armor, Shield, Shield Of Faith
  
  
• 0 (at will) - Detect Magic, Light, Mending, Stabilize, 6 more

  Statistics

  Str	Dex	Con	Int	Wis	Cha
  39 (+14)	8 (-1)	27 (+8)	24 (+7)	25 (+7)	24 (+7)

  Base Attack Bonus: +26
  CMB +44
  CMD 53 (57 vs. Trip)
  
  Feats: Alertness, Critical Focus, Extend Spell, Improved Critical (bite, claw, wing, tail), Iron Will, Multiattack, Quicken Spell, Staggering Critical, Vital Strike
  
  Skills: Diplomacy +36, Fly +13, Heal +36, Knowledge (arcana, history, local, nobility, planes, religion) +36, Perception +40, Sense Motive +40, Spellcraft +36, Swim +51
  
  Languages: Celestial, Common, Draconic, 5 more
  
  Special Qualities: Change Shape, detect gems, fast Flight, luck
  
  
  

Special Abilities

Change Shape (Su)

A very young or older gold dragon can assume any animal or humanoid form three times per day as if using polymorph.

Detect Gems (Sp)

A young or older gold dragon can detect gems three times per day. This functions as locate object, but can only be used to locate gemstones.

Divine Aid (Sp)

Once a week, a great wyrm gold dragon can call upon celestial powers for aid. This functions as a miracle.

Fast Flight (Ex)

A young or older gold dragon is treated as one size category larger when determining his fly speed.

Fire Aura (Su)

An old or older gold dragon is surrounded by an aura of fire. All creatures within 5 feet of the dragon take 1d6 points of fire damage at the beginning of the dragon's turn. An ancient gold dragon's aura extends to 10 feet. A great wyrm's damage increases to 2d6. The dragon can activate or suppress this aura as a free action.

Luck (Sp)

Once per day an adult or older gold dragon can touch a gem, usually one embedded in the dragon's hide, and enspell it to bring good luck. As long as the dragon carries the gem, it and every good creature within a given radius of it (10 ft. per age category) receives a +1 luck bonus on all saving throws. If the dragon gives an enspelled gem to another creature, only that bearer gets the bonus. The effect lasts 1d3 hours plus 3 hours per age category of the dragon. This ability is the equivalent of a 2nd-level spell.

Spell-Like Abilities (Sp)

A gold dragon gains the following spell-like abilities upon reaching the listed age category. Its caster level for these effects is equal to its Hit Dice, and any save DCs are Charisma-based. A gold dragon can use these abilities at will. Very young-detect evil; Juvenile-bless; Adult-daylight; Old-geas/quest; Ancient-sunburst; Great wyrm-foresight.

Weakening Breath (Su)

Instead of a cone of fire, a gold dragon can breathe a cone of weakening gas. Creatures within the cone must succeed on a Fortitude save or take 1 point of Strength damage per age category (Will save half ).

Age Category	Special Abilities	Caster Level*
Wyrmling	Fire subtype, weakening breath	-
Very young	Change shape, detect evil	-
Young	Fast flight, detect gems	1st
Juvenile	Bless	3rd
Young adult	DR 5/magic, spell resistance	5th
Adult	Frightful presence, luck, daylight	7th
Mature adult	DR 10/magic	9th
Old	Fire aura, geas/quest	11th
Very old	DR 15/magic	13th
Ancient	Sunburst	15th
Wyrm	DR 20/magic	17th
Great wyrm	Divine aid, foresight	19th
* A gold dragon can cast cleric spells as arcane spells.

Ecology

Environment: Warm Plains
Organization: solitary
Treasure: triple


Gold dragons are the epitome of virtue.

Other metallic dragons revere their gold cousins as the agents of divine forces and the paragons of dragonkind, and often seek them for advice or aid.