Rime Dragon (Ancient, Spellcaster)
Level 15Attacks
Abilities
A rime dragon's natural camouflage allows them to in arctic terrain without cover. A rime dragon also ignores difficult terrain and greater difficult terrain from ice and snow and doesn't risk falling when crossing ice.
Snow doesn't impair the rime dragon's vision; they ignore Concealment from snowfall.
15 feet. The adult rime dragon's presence lowers the temperature around them. A creature who enters or begins their turn in the aura must attempt a DC 33 fortitude save.
Critical Success The creature is unaffected.
Success The creature begins to shiver as the biting cold affects it. It takes a –5-foot status penalty to its Speeds until the end of its next turn.
Failure The creature's body temperature begins to drop. It takes a –10-foot status penalty to their Speeds and is Enfeebled 1
The dragon breathes out a gust of frost and ice that deals 12d8 cold damage in a 40-foot cone (DC 36 reflex save). They can't use Blizzard Breath again for .
Requirements The dragon has temporary Hit Points from Rime Shield
Effect The dragon launches the collected ice shards from its scales in a 5-foot emanation, dealing 6d6 piercing 4d6 cold damage (DC 36 reflex save). The dragon then loses the AC bonus and temporary Hit Points from Rime Shield.
Requirements The rime dragon's last action was to Fly at least 40 feet
Effect Water vapor collected on the dragon's scales quickly freezes over. The dragon gains a +2 circumstance bonus to AC and 15 temporary Hit Points that last until the end of the dragon's next turn.
Rime dragons are the embodiment of the frigid cold and ice. These hardy creatures have adapted to harsh arctic climates, able to survive indefinitely in sub-zero temperatures. Rime dragons are shades of white and pale blue that perfectly camouflage them in their natural habitat, resembling glaciers or mounds of snow when curled up. They can break through large slabs of ice and dive into frozen waters in search of prey. Due to their natural lower body temperature, they can slow their digestive tract, which allows them to live a long time on little food. Large prey—such as whales, caribou, or moose—offer the best sustenance, but they aren't picky when it's time to eat.
Rime dragons have a deep curiosity for things hidden and lost in the ice. The ocean's currents bring all kinds of artifacts from across the world to their frigid waters. Self-described caretakers and scholars, rime dragons search the arctic regions for ancient antiquities. Rime dragons with an academic interest in archaeology peer into glaciers for pieces of civilizations both recent and ancient, which they preserve in their lairs. Others might search for fossils or preserved corpses. Rime dragons also have an interest in more biological aspects of the world. As preservers of life, some of these dragons collect flora to log and study, and they protect endangered species by using low temperatures to conserve them. They also act as paleopathologists, studying ancient diseases that could cause havoc if they were brought back to a populace unknowingly. These they carefully contain while researching mitigation strategies should the pathogens be reintroduced to the world.