This month's issue of Dragon includes a horde of monsters ready to gnaw on your PCs and a number of tricks for the characters to stop them.
The Creature Catalog returns with twelve new monsters. From classic creatures like the norker to new terrors such as the hex dragon, these critters are hungry for the taste of adventurers. Here is just a taste of the creatures lurking within.
Mature Adult Hex Dragon CR 15
NE Huge dragon (earth)
Init +4; Senses blindsense 60 ft., darkvison 120 ft., keen senses; Listen +31, Spot +31
Aura Frightful presence (210 ft. radius, DC 27)
Languages Abyssal, Common, Draconic, Elven, Infernal, Giant, Orc, Undercommon
AC 28, touch 8, flat-footed 28
hp 231 (22 HD); DR 10/magic
Immune disease, paralysis, poison, sleep
SR 20
Fort +17, Ref +13, Will +19, +4 versus death effects, enchantments, and negative energy
Spd 40 ft. (8 squares), fly 100 ft. (good), burrow 40 ft.
Melee bite +24 (2d6+4) and
2 claws +22 (1d8+2) and
2 wings +22 (1d6+2) and
tail slap +22 (1d8+6)
Space 15 ft.; Reach 5 ft. (10 ft. with tail, 15 ft. with bite)
Base Atk +22; Grp +34
Atk Options Cleave, Flyby Attack, Power Attack, Snatch
Special Actions breath weapon, retributive curse (sickness, agony, or blindness DC 27)
Sorcerer Spells Known (CL 11th, +20 ranged touch, the following plus all enchantment, necromancy, and spells from the Knowledge domain)
5th (5/day)—baleful polymorph (DC 21), cone of cold (DC 21)
4th (7/day)—dimension door, Evard's black tentacles, greater invisibility
3rd (7/day)—dispel magic, fireball (DC 19), protection from energy, slow (DC 19)
2nd (8/day)—glitterdust (DC 18), mirror image, misdirection, scorching ray, web (DC 18)
1st (8/day)—grease (DC 17), mage armor, protection from good, shocking grasp, true strike
0 (6/day)—acid splash, arcane mark, dancing lights, detect magic, flare (DC 16), ghost sound, prestidigitation, read magic, resistance
Spell-like Abilities (CL 22nd)
at will—deathwatch
3/day—suggestion (DC 27)
1/day—geas/quest
Abilities Str 19, Dex 10, Con 19, Int 18, Wis 22, Cha 23
SQ alternate form, graceful flight, physical frailty, vile resistances
Feats Cleave, Flyby Attack, Hover, Improved Initiative, Multiattack, Power Attack, Snatch, Wingover
Skills Concentration +29, Diplomacy +33, Intimidate +31, Listen +31, Knowledge (arcane) +29, Knowledge (history) +29, Search +29, Sense Motive +31, Spot +31, Spellcraft +31
Breath Weapon (Su): 100 ft. line, contact poison, Fortitude DC 25, initial and secondary damage 1d10 Con.
A new Forgotten Realms short story about betrayal, trust, and hunting dragons.
Rumbling up from below and swooping down from the skies, monsters have always had the edge when it comes to mobility, but not anymore. Learn the tricks to turn their edge against them. Here is an excerpt.
For incorporeal foes, the material world only exists when they want it to. Free to lurk inside solid objects, they can emerge when you least expect it, laughing at your futile sword thrusts even as their own attacks effortlessly pass through even the thickest armor. Gifted with this near invulnerability, their capacity to cause harm seems matched only by their malice.
Touched by Ether [General]
You are connected to the intangible threads of existence that lie beyond the Material Plane.
Prerequisite: Cha 13.
Benefit: Something about you makes it difficult for incorporeal creatures to see you clearly. When on the Material Plane, you have concealment from incorporeal creatures (20% miss chance).
See invisibility does not counteract this effect, but true seeing does.
An incorporeal creature that cannot see the subject ignores this effect (although fighting an unseen opponent carries penalties of its own; see page 151 of the Player's Handbook).
This feat has no effect on corporeal or ethereal creatures.
Due to licensing restrictions, the PDF Download edition of this issue does not include Order of the Stick.
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