Ancient Gold Dragon

Name	Ancient Gold Dragon
Sorted Name	Gold Dragon, Ancient
Family	Dragon, True
Size and Type	Gargantuan Dragon (Fire)
Hit Dice Count	35
Hit Dice	35d12+315 (542 hp)
Random Hit Points	35d12+315 - 315
Initiative	+4
Speed	60 ft., fly 250 ft. (clumsy), swim 60 ft.
Armor Class	40 (-4 size, +34 natural), touch 6, flat-footed 40
Base Attack/Grapple	+35/+63
Attack	Bite +48 (4d6+16) melee
Full Attack	Bite +48 (4d6+16) melee, 2 Claws +48 (2d8+8) melee, 2 Wings +47 (2d6+8) melee, Tail Slap +47 (2d8+24) melee
Space/Reach	20 ft./15 ft. (20 ft. with bite)
Special Attacks	Breath weapon (60 ft. cone of weakening gas or 60 ft. cone of fire 20d10, DC 36), crush 4d6+24 (DC 36), frightful presence (DC 36), tail sweep 2d6+24 (DC 36)
Special Qualities	1st, alternate form, bless, blindsense 60 ft., damage reduction 15/magic, darkvision 120 ft., detect gems, geas/quest, immunity to fire, immunity to sleep and paralysis, keen senses, luck bonus, spells (caster level 30), sunburst 15th, vulnerability to cold, water breathing
Saves	Fort +28, Ref +19, Will +28
Abilities	Str 43, Dex 10, Con 29, Int 28, Wis 29, Cha 28
Skills	Concentration +47, Diplomacy +47, Disguise +47, Escape Artist +38, Heal +47, Intimidate +47, Knowledge (any 4) +47, Listen +49, Search +47, Sense Motive +47, Spot +49, Swim +54, Use Magic Device +47
Feats	Alertness, Blind-Fight, Empower Spell, Flyby Attack, Hover, Improved Initiative, Maximize Spell, Power Attack, Snatch, Weapon Focus (bite), Weapon Focus (claw), Wingover
Environment	Warm plains
Challenge Rating	24
Organization	Solitary, pair, or family (1-2 and 2-5 offspring)
Treasure	Triple standard
Alignment	Always lawful good
Advancement	36-37 HD (Gargantuan)
Level Adjustment	-
Version	SRD
Sources	System Reference Document
Stat_Block	Ancient gold dragon; CR 24; Gargantuan dragon (fire); HD 35d12+315; hp 542; Init +4; Spd 60 ft., fly 250 ft. (clumsy), swim 60 ft.; AC 40 (-4 size, +34 natural), touch 6, flat-footed 40; Base Atk +35; Grp +63; Atk +48 melee (4d6+16, bite); Full Atk +48 melee (4d6+16, bite) and +48 melee (2d8+8, 2 claws) and +47 melee (2d6+8, 2 wings) and +47 melee (2d8+24, tail slap); Space/Reach 20 ft./15 ft. (20 ft. with bite); SA Breath weapon (60 ft. cone of weakening gas or 60 ft. cone of fire 20d10, DC 36), crush 4d6+24 (DC 36), frightful presence (DC 36), tail sweep 2d6+24 (DC 36); SQ 1st, alternate form, bless, blindsense 60 ft., damage reduction 15/magic, darkvision 120 ft., detect gems, geas/quest, immunity to fire, immunity to sleep and paralysis, keen senses, luck bonus, spells (caster level 30), sunburst 15th, vulnerability to cold, water breathing; AL LG; SV Fort +28, Ref +19, Will +28; Str 43, Dex 10, Con 29, Int 28, Wis 29, Cha 28 Skills and Feats: Concentration +47, Diplomacy +47, Disguise +47, Escape Artist +38, Heal +47, Intimidate +47, Knowledge (any 4) +47, Listen +49, Search +47, Sense Motive +47, Spot +49, Swim +54, Use Magic Device +47; Alertness, Blind-Fight, Empower Spell, Flyby Attack, Hover, Improved Initiative, Maximize Spell, Power Attack, Snatch, Weapon Focus (bite), Weapon Focus (claw), Wingover

Gold Dragon

Gold Dragon, Ancient

Gargantuan Dragon (Fire)

Hit Dice:
35d12+315 (542 hp)

Initiative:
+4

Speed:
60 ft., fly 250 ft. (clumsy), swim 60 ft.

Armor Class:
40 (-4 size, +34 natural), touch 6, flat-footed 40

Base Attack/Grapple:
+35/+63

Attack:
Bite +48 (4d6+16) melee

Full Attack:
Bite +48 (4d6+16) melee, 2 Claws +48 (2d8+8) melee, 2 Wings +47 (2d6+8) melee, Tail Slap +47 (2d8+24) melee

Space/Reach:
20 ft./15 ft. (20 ft. with bite)

Special Attacks:
Breath weapon (60 ft. cone of weakening gas or 60 ft. cone of fire 20d10, DC 36), crush 4d6+24 (DC 36), frightful presence (DC 36), tail sweep 2d6+24 (DC 36)

Special Qualities:
1st, alternate form, bless, blindsense 60 ft., damage reduction 15/magic, darkvision 120 ft., detect gems, geas/quest, immunity to fire, immunity to sleep and paralysis, keen senses, luck bonus, spells (caster level 30), sunburst 15th, vulnerability to cold, water breathing

Saves:
Fort +28, Ref +19, Will +28

Abilities:
Str 43, Dex 10, Con 29, Int 28, Wis 29, Cha 28

Skills:
Concentration +47, Diplomacy +47, Disguise +47, Escape Artist +38, Heal +47, Intimidate +47, Knowledge (any 4) +47, Listen +49, Search +47, Sense Motive +47, Spot +49, Swim +54, Use Magic Device +47

Feats:
Alertness, Blind-Fight, Empower Spell, Flyby Attack, Hover, Improved Initiative, Maximize Spell, Power Attack, Snatch, Weapon Focus (bite), Weapon Focus (claw), Wingover

Environment:
Warm plains

Organization:
Solitary, pair, or family (1-2 and 2-5 offspring)

Challenge Rating:
24

Treasure:
Triple standard

Alignment:
Always lawful good

Advancement:
36-37 HD (Gargantuan)

Level Adjustment:
-

Dragon (Fire)

Environment: Warm plains

Organization: Wyrmling, very young, young, juvenile, and young adult: solitary or clutch (2-5); adult, mature adult, old, very old, ancient, wyrm, or great wyrm: solitary, pair, or family (1-2 and 2-5 offspring)

Challenge Ratings: Wyrmling 5; very young 7; young 9; juvenile 11; young adult 14; adult 16; mature adult 19; old 21; very old 22; ancient 24; wyrm 25; great wyrm 27

Treasure: Triple standard

Alignment: Always lawful good

Advancement: Wyrmling 9-10 HD; very young 12-13 HD; young 15-16 HD; juvenile 18-19 HD; young adult 21-22 HD; adult 24-25 HD; mature adult 27-28 HD; old 30-31 HD; very old 33-34 HD; ancient 36-37 HD; wyrm 39-40 HD; great wyrm 42+ HD

Level Adjustment: Wyrmling +4; very young +5; young +6; others -

Gold Dragons by Age

Age	Size	Hit Dice (hp)	Str	Dex	Con	Int	Wis	Cha	Base Attack/ Grapple	Attack	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Breath Weapon (DC)	Frightful Presence DC
Wyrmling	M	8d12+16 (68)	17	10	15	14	15	14	+8/+11	+11	+8	+6	+8	2d10 (16)	-
Very young	L	11d12+33 (104)	21	10	17	16	17	16	+11/+20	+15	+10	+7	+10	4d10 (18)	-
Young	L	14d12+42 (133)	25	10	17	16	17	16	+14/+25	+20	+12	+9	+12	6d10 (20)	-
Juvenile	L	17d12+68 (178)	29	10	19	18	19	18	+17/+30	+25	+14	+10	+14	8d10 (22)	-
Young adult	H	20d12+100 (230)	31	10	21	18	19	18	+20/+38	+28	+17	+12	+16	10d10 (25)	24
Adult	H	23d12+115 (264)	33	10	21	20	21	20	+23/+42	+32	+18	+13	+18	12d10 (26)	26
Mature adult	H	26d12+156 (325)	35	10	23	20	21	20	+26/+46	+36	+21	+15	+20	14d10 (29)	28
Old	G	29d12+203 (391)	39	10	25	24	25	24	+29/+55	+39	+23	+16	+23	16d10 (31)	31
Very old	G	32d12+256 (464)	41	10	27	26	27	26	+32/+59	+43	+26	+18	+26	18d10 (34)	34
Ancient	G	35d12+315 (542)	43	10	29	28	29	28	+35/+63	+47	+28	+19	+28	20d10 (36)	36
Wyrm	C	38d12+380 (627)	45	10	31	30	31	30	+38/+71	+47	+31	+21	+31	22d10 (39)	39
Great wyrm	C	41d12+451 (717)	47	10	33	32	33	32	+41/+75	+51	+33	+22	+33	24d10 (41)	41

Gold Dragon Abilities by Age

Age	Speed	Initiative	AC	Special Abilities	Caster Level	SR
Wyrmling	60 ft., fly 200 ft. (poor), swim 60 ft.	+0	17 (+7 natural), touch 10, flat-footed 17	Alternate form, immunity to fire, vulnerability to cold, water breathing	-	-
Very young	60 ft., fly 200 ft. (poor), swim 60 ft.	+0	19 (-1 size, +10 natural), touch 9, flat-footed 19		-	-
Young	60 ft., fly 200 ft. (poor), swim 60 ft.	+0	22 (-1 size, +13 natural), touch 9, flat-footed 22	1st	-
Juvenile	60 ft., fly 200 ft. (poor), swim 60 ft.	+0	25 (-1 size, +16 natural), touch 9, flat-footed 25	Bless	3rd	-
Young adult	60 ft., fly 200 ft. (poor), swim 60 ft.	+0	27 (-2 size, +19 natural), touch 8, flat-footed 27	Damage reduction 5/magic	5th	21
Adult	60 ft., fly 200 ft. (poor), swim 60 ft.	+0	30 (-2 size, +22 natural), touch 8, flat-footed 30	Luck bonus	7th	23
Mature adult	60 ft., fly 200 ft. (poor), swim 60 ft.	+0	33 (-2 size, +25 natural), touch 8, flat-footed 33	Damage reduction 10/magic	9th	25
Old	60 ft., fly 250 ft. (clumsy), swim 60 ft.	+0	34 (-4 size, +28 natural), touch 6, flat-footed 34	Geas/quest, detect gems	11th	27
Very old	60 ft., fly 250 ft. (clumsy), swim 60 ft.	+0	37 (-4 size, +31 natural), touch 6, flat-footed 37	Damage reduction 15/magic	13th	28
Ancient	60 ft., fly 250 ft. (clumsy), swim 60 ft.	+0	40 (-4 size, +34 natural), touch 6, flat-footed 40	sunburst 15th	30
Wyrm	60 ft., fly 250 ft. (clumsy), swim 60 ft.	+0	39 (-8 size, +37 natural), touch 2, flat-footed 39	Damage reduction 20/magic	17th	31
Great wyrm	60 ft., fly 250 ft. (clumsy), swim 60 ft.	+0	42 (-8 size, +40 natural), touch 2, flat-footed 42	Foresight	19th	33
*Can also cast cleric spells and those from the Law, Luck, and Good domains as arcane spells.

On hatching, a gold dragon's scales are dark yellow with golden metallic flecks.

The flecks get larger as the dragon matures until, at the adult stage, the scales are completely golden. Gold dragons' faces are bewhiskered and sagacious; as they age, their pupils fade until the eyes resemble pools of molten gold.

Combat

Gold dragons usually parley before fighting. When conversing with intelligent creatures, they use Intimidate and Sense Motive to gain the upper hand. In combat, they employ bless and their luck bonus; older dragons use their Luck Bonus at the start of each day. They make heavy use of spells in combat. Among their favorites are cloudkill, delayed blast fireball, fire shield, globe of invulnerability, maze, sleep, slow, and stinking cloud.

Breath Weapon (Su): A gold dragon has two types of breath weapon, a cone of fire and a cone of weakening gas. Creatures within a cone of weakening gas must succeed on a Fortitude save or take 1 point of Strength damage per age category of the dragon.

Alternate Form (Su): A gold dragon can assume any animal or humanoid form of Medium size or smaller as a standard action three times per day. This ability functions as a polymorph spell cast on itself at its caster level, except that the dragon does not regain hit points for changing form and can only assume the form of an animal or humanoid. The dragon can remain in its animal or humanoid form until it chooses to assume a new one or return to its natural form.

Water Breathing (Ex): A gold dragon can breathe underwater indefinitely and can freely use its breath weapon, spells, and other abilities while submerged (the cone of fire becomes a cone of superheated steam underwater).

Luck Bonus (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 in a 10-foot radius per age category of the dragon receives a +1 luck bonus on all saving throws and similar rolls, as for a stone of good luck. 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 but ends if the gem is destroyed. This ability is the equivalent of a 2nd-level spell.

Detect Gems (Sp): An old or older gold dragon can use this ability three times per day. This is a divination effect similar to a detect magic spell, except that it finds only gems. The dragon can scan a 60-degree arc each round: By concentrating for 1 round it knows if there are any gems within the arc; 2 rounds of concentration reveal the exact number of gems; and 3 rounds reveal their exact location, type, and value. This ability is the equivalent of a 2ndlevel spell.

Other Spell-Like Abilities: 3/day-bless (juvenile or older); 1/day-geas/quest (old or older), sunburst (ancient or older), foresight (great wyrm).

Skills: Disguise, Heal, and Swim are considered class skills for gold dragons.