D R A C O N O M I C O N ™Andy Collins, Skip Williams, James Wyatt

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This d20™ System game utilizes mechanics developed for the new Dungeons & Dragons® game by Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook,Skip Williams, Richard Baker, and Peter Adkison.This WIZARDS OF THE COAST® product contains no Open Game Content. No portion of this work may be reproduced in any form with-out written permission. To learn more about the Open Gaming License and the d20 System License, please visitwww.wizards.com/d20.

Playtesters: Greg Collins, Jesse Decker, Viet Nguyen, Marc Russell, Dennis Worrell

Valuable advice provided by Todd Lockwood and Sam Wood (Dragon Anatomy and Motion), Monica Shellman and Michael S.Webster (Dragon Names)

Resources for this product (and the authors of those works) include Atlas of Animal Anatomy (W. Ellenburg and H. Deittrich), Book ofEldritch Might (Monte Cook/Malhavoc Press), Book of Vile Darkness (Monte Cook), Bulfinch’s Mythology (Thomas Bulfinch),Transformations of Myth Through Time (Joseph Campbell), “Class Acts: Dragonkith,” Dragon Magazine #284 (Monte Cook), Council ofWyrms (Bill Slavicsek), Defenders of the Faith (Rich Redman and James Wyatt), AD&D® 2nd Edition Draconomicon (Nigel Findley,Christopher Kubasik, Carl Sargent, John Terra, and William Tracy), “Dragontongue: A Draconic Language Primer,” DragonMagazine #284 (Owen K. C. Stephens), Forgotten Realms® Campaign Setting (Ed Greenwood, Sean K Reynolds, Skip Williams, andRob Heinsoo), The Golden Bough (James George Frazer), AD&D 1st Edition Monster Manual (Gary Gygax), Monsters of Faerun (JamesWyatt and Rob Heinsoo), AD&D 2nd Edition Monstrous Manual, Oriental Adventures (James Wyatt), Savage Species (Jennifer ClarkeWilkes, David Eckelberry, and Rich Redman), Tome and Blood (Bruce Cordell and Skip Williams).

620-17668-001-EN 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

First Printing: November 2003

Visit our website at www.wizards.com/dnd

D E V E L O P E RAndy Collins

D E S I G N A S S I S T A N C EEd Stark, Gwendolyn F.M. Kestrel

E D I T O R SMichele Carter, Dale Donovan,

Gwendolyn F.M. Kestrel, Charles Ryan

M A N A G I N G E D I T O RKim Mohan

D & D D E S I G N M A N A G E REd Stark

D I R E C T O R O F R P G R & DBill Slavicsek

V I C E P R E S I D E N T O F P U B L I S H I N GMary Kirchoff

P R O J E C T M A N A G E RMartin Durham

P R O D U C T I O N M A N A G E RChas DeLong

A R T D I R E C T O RDawn Murin

C O V E R A R TTodd Lockwood

I N T E R I O R A R T I S T SWayne England, Emily Fiegenschuh,

Lars Grant-West, Rebecca Guay-Mitchell,David Hudnut, Jeremy Jarvis, Ginger Kubic,

John & Laura Lakey, Todd Lockwood,David Martin, Dennis Crabapple-

McClain, Matt Mitchell, Mark Nelson,Steve Prescott, Vinod Rams, Richard

Sardinha, Ron Spencer, Stephen Tappin,Joel Thomas, Ben Thompson, Sam Wood

G R A P H I C D E S I G N E R SDawn Murin, Mari Kolkowski

C A R T O G R A P H E RTodd Gamble

G R A P H I C P R O D U C T I O N S P E C I A L I S T SErin Dorries, Angelika Lokotz

O R I G I N A L I N T E R I O R D E S I G NSean Glenn

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ContentsIntroduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Chapter 1: All About Dragons . . . . . . . . . 5The Dragon’s Body . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5Dragon Physiology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9Dragon Life Cycle. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10Dragon Senses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17Flight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18Other Modes of Movement . . . . . . . . . . 19Combat Abilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21Dragon Weaknesses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25Outlook and Psychology. . . . . . . . . . . . . 25Dragon Society . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26Language. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28Religion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30Dragons by Kind. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Dragon Sizes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36Black Dragons. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37Blue Dragons. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38Brass Dragons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40Bronze Dragons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42Copper Dragons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44Gold Dragons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46Green Dragons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48Red Dragons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50Silver Dragons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53White Dragons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

Chapter 2: A DM’s Guideto Dragons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

Dragons in the Campaign. . . . . . . . . . . . 57Running a Dragon Encounter . . . . . . . . 59

The Mechanics of Melee . . . . . . . . . . 59Fighting on the Wing . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59Using a Breath Weapon . . . . . . . . . . . 62To Breathe or Not to Breathe? . . . . . . 63Using Special Attack Forms . . . . . . . 64Dragons as Spellcasters. . . . . . . . . . . . 65

Dragon Feats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66Feat Descriptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67Dragon Spells. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75Spell Descriptions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76Dragon Magic Items . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

Lair Wards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84Dragon Prestige Classes . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86

Bloodscaled Fury . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86Disciple of Ashardalon . . . . . . . . . . . . 87Dispassionate Watcher

of Chronepsis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89Dragon Ascendant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90Elemental Master. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92Hidecarved Dragon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94Sacred Warder of Bahamut . . . . . . . . 96Unholy Ravager of Tiamat . . . . . . . . . 97

Advanced Dragons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99Sample Advanced Dragon . . . . . . . . 100

Chapter 3: The Player’s Perspective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101

Fighting a Dragon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101Forewarned Is Forearmed . . . . . . . . 101Limit the Battlefield . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101The Element of Surprise . . . . . . . . . 102Spread Out, Concentrate Attacks . . 102Don’t Stay Too Long. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103

Feats. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103New Spells . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106Cleric Domains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107Spell Descriptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109Dragonhide Armor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115Dragoncraft Items . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116Magic Items . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118

Armor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118Weapons. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118Rings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119Rods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119Staffs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119Wondrous Items . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119Minor Artifact . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121

Prestige Classes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122Dracolyte . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122Dragonkith . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123Dragonrider. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124Dragonslayer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125Dragonsong Lyrist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127Dragonstalker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128Hoardstealer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130Initiate of the Draconic

Mysteries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131Platinum Knight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133Talon of Tiamat. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134

Dragons in the Party . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136Dragons’ Advantages

and Disadvantages. . . . . . . . . . . . . 136Dragons as Mounts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136Dragons as Cohorts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138Dragons as Special Mounts . . . . . . . 139Dragons as Familiars . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141

Dragons as Player Characters. . . . . . . . 141

Chapter 4: New Monsters. . . . . . . . . . . 145Abyssal Drake . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145Monsters by Type (and Subtype) . . . . 146Dracolich . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146Draconic Creature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149Dragonkin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150Dragonnel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150Elemental Drake . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152

Air Drake . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152Earth Drake. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153Fire Drake . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154Ice Drake . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154

Magma Drake . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155Ooze Drake . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156Smoke Drake . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157Water Drake . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157

Faerie Dragon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158Fang Dragon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159Felldrake, Spiked . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160Ghostly Dragon. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161Golem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163

Dragonbone Golem. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164Drakestone Golem. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164Ironwyrm Golem. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165

Half-Dragon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166Hoard Scarab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167Landwyrm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168

Desert Landwyrm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169Forest Landwyrm. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170Hill Landwyrm. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170Jungle Landwyrm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171Mountain Landwyrm . . . . . . . . . . . . 172Plains Landwyrm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172Swamp Landwyrm. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173Tundra Landwyrm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174Underdark Landwyrm . . . . . . . . . . . 175

Planar Dragons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176Battle Dragon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176Chaos Dragon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177Ethereal Dragon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179Howling Dragon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180Oceanus Dragon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181Pyroclastic Dragon. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182Radiant Dragon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185Rust Dragon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186Styx Dragon. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187Tarterian Dragon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189

Shadow Dragon. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191Skeletal Dragon. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192Squamous Spewer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193Storm Drake. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194Vampiric Dragon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195Zombie Dragon. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197

Chapter 5: Sample Dragons. . . . . . . . . 199Customizing the Dragons. . . . . . . . . . . 199Sample Black Dragons. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201Sample Blue Dragons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207Sample Brass Dragons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216Sample Bronze Dragons . . . . . . . . . . . . 223Sample Copper Dragons . . . . . . . . . . . . 233Sample Gold Dragons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239Sample Green Dragons . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247Sample Red Dragons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254Sample Silver Dragons . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263Sample White Dragons . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270

Appendix 1: The Dragon’s Hoard . . . . 277

Appendix 2: Index of Dragons . . . . . . 286

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IntroductionThe dragon reared, roaring, clawing at airAnd belching fire, and began to lunge downUpon Dydd, but the druid slashed intoAshardalon’s heart, her scimitar cut And the lifeblood began to spill. Then Dydd Was slain, her heart wrested from her breast byThe dragon’s grasping jaws, swallowed, consumedTo sustain Ashardalon’s ebbing lifeFor a time. . . .—The Lay of Dydd

More than any other creature, dragons are a symbol of allthat is the DUNGEONS & DRAGONS® game. From the savagewhite to the majestic gold, dragons represent the greatestperils adventurers face at any point in their careers, as wellas the greatest rewards they may hope to claim. From thetiny wyrmling at the bottom of an adventurer’s very firstdungeon to the colossal great wyrm he meets at the heightof his career, dragons are the ultimate climactic encounter:a brutal and memorable fight that will pay off in richesfrom the dragon’s hoard.

Dragons are creatures of myth, often described as the firstsentient race to appear on a world, with life spans thatstretch over hundreds of years. They symbolize the worlditself and embody its history, and the oldest dragons arerepositories of vast knowledge and ancient secrets. Thisaspect of dragons makes them much more than just a chal-lenging combat encounter: They are sages and oracles, fontsof wisdom and prophets of things to come. Their veryappearance can be an omen of good or ill fortune.

Perhaps most important, dragons are a reminder thatthe action of the D&D game takes place in a world of fan-tasy, wonder, and magic, a world far from mundane inevery way. Any attempt to describe them as little morethan glorified lizards with wings and breath weapons is adisservice, not only to dragons, but to the fantasy universeof D&D and the wealth of legends, myths, and heroic sto-ries that place dragons in such an iconic position thatthey had to be a part of the very name of the game. Dragonsare, by their very nature, epic forces in the world. Their

actions, their schemes, even their dreams are felt through-out the world. From a wyrmling raiding herds of sheep tothe mighty Ashardalon feasting on preincarnate souls,dragons do things that matter, whether on a small localscale or in the cosmic big picture. They are the embodi-ment of fantasy itself.

That, in a nutshell, is the reason for this book. Dragonsare such a central part of the game that a rules referenceof this nature is an essential addition to any campaign,enhancing the excitement of draconic encounters forplayers and Dungeon Masters alike. A DM will find infor-mation here on the powers and tactics of dragons, as wellas a wealth of new feats, spells, magic items, and prestigeclasses designed to make dragon encounters more interest-ing, challenging, and unusual. In case the dragons alreadydescribed in the Monster Manual and other books are notenough, this book also presents a variety of new dragon-related monsters of all types to include in the game. Players,meanwhile, can unearth dragonslaying tactics and takeadvantage of new feats and spells, magic items, and prestigeclasses to make their characters the ultimate dragon slayers,dragon riders, or even dragon servants.

Draconomicon is not just about the rules, tactics, and ecol-ogy of dragons, however. The illustrations in this book areintended to inspire a fresh sense of wonder and awe at thecreatures that make up such an important part of the D&Dgame. Dragons are rapacious, arrogant, and deadly—butthey are also majestic, awesome, and magnificent. A renewedsense of the grandeur of dragons might not have as con-crete or noticeable an impact on your game as all the newrules you will find in this book, but its influence will surelybe felt around your gaming table.

Let this book inspire you. Whether you use it to buildnew draconic adversaries and exciting dragon lairs stockedwith legendary treasure, or to build a character who ridesa silver dragon into battle against the servants of Tiamat,you are sure to find not just the rules you want, but thewonder you need to make your game more fun. Dragonsare creatures of legend, and with this book you can be apart of that legend. Retell it, relive it, reshape it in yourcharacter’s or your campaign’s image. Draconomicon willshow you how.

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THE DIFFERENT KINDS OF DRAGONSIn the D&D game, the term “dragon” encompasses a numberof different creatures, some of which bear little resemblance tothe great flying creatures with breath weapons that we commonlythink of as dragons.

For the most part, this book concerns itself with the tenvarieties of true dragon described in the Monster Manual—the five chromatic dragons (black, blue, green, red, white) andthe five metallic dragons (brass, bronze, copper, gold, silver).True dragons are those creatures that become more powerfulas they grow older.

A number of other true dragons are described in Chapter 4of this book. In addition, Appendix 2: Index of Dragons provides

a complete list of all true dragons that have been presented inofficial sources.

Other creatures of the dragon type that do not advancethrough age categories are referred to as lesser dragons (whichshould not be taken to mean that they are necessarily lessformidable than true dragons).

The three kinds of lesser dragon described in the MonsterManual are the dragon turtle, the pseudodragon, and thewyvern. Chapter 4 of this book contains a number of descrip-tions of other lesser dragons, and Appendix 2 lists every lesserdragon that has been described in a DUNGEONS & DRAGONS rule-book or accessory.

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wealth of material, from bard’s tales and ponderoustomes alike, has been recorded about dragons.Unfortunately for adventurers planning to con-front a dragon, most of that information is wrong.The opening chapter of this book presents the

truth about dragons—their types, habits, physiology, andworldview.

THE DRAGON’S BODY“How can one imagine anything more magnificent than . . . adragon, the paragon of creation?”

—Bheilorveilthion, red wyrm

“Nothing but a bunch of vain, glorified flying reptiles, if youask me!”

—Hatredymaes, androsphinx

At first glance, a true dragon resembles a reptile. It has amuscular body, a long, thick neck, a horned or frilledhead with a toothy mouth, and a sinuous tail. The crea-ture walks on four powerful legs with clawed feet, and itflies using its vast, batlike wings. Heavy scales cover adragon from the tip of its tail to end of its snout. Asyou’ll see from the details to come, however, that firstglance doesn’t begin to tell the whole story about thenature of dragons.

EXTERNAL ANATOMYDespite its scales and wings, a dragon’s body has fea-tures that seem more feline than reptilian. Refer tothe illustrations on the next few pages as you read on.

Like a cat’s eye, a dragon’s eye has a comparativelylarge iris with a vertical pupil. This arrangementallows the pupil to open extremely wide and admitmuch more light than a human eye can.

The sclera, or “white,” of a dragon’s eye is oftenyellow, gold, green, orange, red, or silver, with aniris of a darker, contrasting color.

To a casual observer, a dragon’s pupils alwayslook like vertical slits. If one were to look veryclosely into a dragon’s eye, however, one couldsee a second iris and pupil within the first. Thedragon can shift and rotate this inner apertureup to 90 degrees, so that the inner pupil canoverlay the outer one or lie at a right angle to it.This ocular structure gives a dragon extremelyaccurate depth perception and focusing abil-ity no matter how much or how little light isavailable.

A dragon’s eye is protected by a leatheryouter eyelid and three smooth inner eyelids, ornictitating membranes. The innermost mem-brane is crystal clear and serves to protect theeye from damage while the dragon flies, 5

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fights, swims, or burrows with its eyes open. The other twoeyelids mainly serve to keep the inner membrane and thesurface of the eye clean. They are thicker than the inner-most membrane and less clear. A dragon can use theseinner lids to protect its eyes from sudden flashes of brightlight. A dragon’s eyes glow in the dark, but the dragon canhide the glow by closing one or more of its inner eyelids;doing this does not affect its vision.

A dragon’s ears often prove indistinguishable from thefrills that frame its head, especially when the dragon is atrest. The ears of an an active dragon, however, constantlytwitch and swivel as the dragon tracks sounds.

Not all dragons have external ears; bur-rowing and aquatic dragons usu-ally have simple ear holesprotected by an overhang-ing fringe.

A dragon’s mouthfeatures powerfuljaws, a forkedtongue, and

sharp teeth. The exact num-ber and size of a dragon’s teeth depend on the dragon’s age,habitat, and diet; however, a dragon’s array of teeth usuallyincludes four well-developed fangs (two upper, two lower)that curve slightly inward and have cutting edges on boththe inner and outer surfaces. A dragon uses its fangs toimpale and kill prey, and they serve as the dragon’s pri-mary weapons.

Immediately in front of the fangs in each jaw lie thedragon’s incisors, which are oval in cross-section and haveserrated edges at the top. When a dragon bites down onlarge prey, these teeth cut out a semicircle of flesh.

Behind the fangs in each jaw, a dragon has a row of peglikemolars that help it grip prey. A dragon is not well equippedfor chewing, and it typically tears prey into chunks smallenough to gulp down. A dragon can create a sawing motionwith its incisors by wiggling its lower jaw and shaking itshead from side to side, allowing the incisors to quickly shearthrough flesh and bone.

Many dragons learn to seize prey and literally shake it to

death. Other dragons have mastered the technique of grab-bing prey and swallowing it whole.

Some dragon hunters boast that they can hold a dragon’smouth closed, preventing the creature from biting. It is truethat a dragon applies more force when closing its jaws thanit does when opening them; however, holding a dragon’smouth closed still requires prodigious strength. Even if anfoe were to succeed in clamping its jaws shut, the dragon islikely to throw off the opponent with one flick of its head,claw its attacker to ribbons, or both.

The spines, frills, and other projectionsthat adorn a dragon’s headmake the creature look

fearsome, and that is theirmain function.

A dragon’s horn is a keratinousprojection growing directly from

the dragon’s skull. A dragon withhorns that point backward can use

the horns for grooming, and they alsohelp protect the dragon’s upper neck in combat.

Horns projecting from the sides of a dragon’s headhelp protect the head.

A dragon’s spines are keratinous, but softerand more flexible than its horns. The spines areimbedded in the dragon’s skin and anchored to

the skeleton by ligaments. Most spines arelocated along the dragon’s back and tail. Unlikehorns, spines are mobile, with a range of motion

that varies with the kind of dragon and thespines’ location on the drag-

on’s body. The spinesalong a dragon’s back,

for example, can only beraised or lowered, whereas

the spines supporting a dragon’s ears can be moved manydifferent ways.

The frills on a dragon’s back and tail help keep the dragonstable when flying or swimming.

To a scholar who knows something about the naturalworld, a dragon’s powerful legs are decidedly nonreptilian,despite their scaly coverings. A dragon’s legs are positionedmore or less directly under its body, in the manner of mam-mals. (Most reptiles’ legs tend to splay out to the sides, offer-ing much less support and mobility than a dragon ormammal enjoys.)

A dragon’s four feet resemble those of a great bird. Eachfoot has three or four clawed toes facing forward (thenumber varies, even among dragons of the same kind), plusan additional toe, also with a claw, set farther back on thefoot and facing slightly inward toward the dragon’s body,like a human’s thumb.

Although a dragon’s front feet are not truly prehensile, adragon can grasp objects with its front feet, provided theyare not too small. This grip is not precise enough for tooluse, writing, or wielding a weapon, but a dragon can holdand carry objects. A dragon also is capable of wieldingmagical devices, such as wands, and can complete somatic

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components required for the spells it can cast (see Spell-casting, below). Some dragons are adroit enough to seizeprey in their front claws and carry it aloft.

A dragon can use the “thumbs” on its rear feet to grasp aswell, but the grip is less precise than that of the front feet.

A dragon’s skin resembles crocodile hide—tough, leath-ery. and thick. Unlike a crocodile, however, a dragon hashundreds of hard, durable scales covering its body. Adragon’s scales are keratinous, like its spines. Unlike thespines, however, a dragon’s scales are not attached to itsskeleton, and the dragon cannot make them move. Thescales are much harder and less flexible than the spines,with a resistance to blows that exceeds that of steel.

A dragon’s largest scales are attached to its hide alongone edge and overlap their neighbors like shingles on aroof or the articulated plates in a suit of armor. These scalescover the dragon’s neck, underbelly, tail, and toes. As thedragon moves its body, the scales tend to shift as the skinand muscle under them moves, and the scales’ free endssometimes rise up slightly. This phenomenon has led someobservers to mistakenly conclude that a dragon can raiseand lower its scales in the same manner as a bird fluffingits feathers.

The majority of a dragon’s scales are smaller and attachedto the skin near their centers. These scales interlock withneighboring scales, giving the surface of the body a pebblytexture. The scales are large enough to forma continuous layer of natural armorover the body even when itstretches or bulges to itsgreatest extent. Whenthe body relaxes orcontracts, the skinunder the scalestends to fold andwrinkle, though theinterlocking scalesgive the body a fairlysmooth look.

A dragon’s scalesgrow throughoutits lifetime, albeitvery slowly. Unlikemost other scaled crea-tures, a dragon neither shedsits skin nor sheds individual scales.Instead, its individual scales grow larger, and italso grows new scales as its body gets bigger. Over the years,a scale may weather and crack near the edges, but its slowgrowth usually proves sufficient to replace any portion thatbreaks off. Dragons occasionally lose scales, especially ifthey become badly damaged. Old scales often litter thefloors of long-occupied dragon lairs.

When a dragon loses a scale, it usually grows a new one inits place. The new scale tends to be smaller than its neigh-bors and usually thinner and weaker as well. This phenom-enon is what gives rise to bards’ tales about chinks in adragon’s armor. These tales are true as far as they go, but one

new scale on a dragon’s massive body seldom leaves thedragon particularly vulnerable to attack.

A dragon’s long, muscular tail serves mainly as a rudderin flight. A dragon also uses its tail for propulsion whenswimming, and as a weapon.

A dragon’s wings consist of a membrane of scaleless hidestretched over a framework of strong but lightweight bones.Immensely powerful muscles in the dragon’s chest providepower for flight.

Most dragons have wings that resemble bat wings, with arelatively short supporting alar limb, ending in a vestigialclaw that juts forward. Most of the wing area comes froma membrane stretched over elongated “fingers” of bone(the alar phalanges; see Skeleton, below), which stretchfar beyond the alar limb.

Some kinds of dragons have wings that run the lengths oftheir bodies, something like the “wings” of manta rays. Thissort of wing also has an alar limb with phalanges supportingthe forward third of the wing, but the remainder of the wingis supported by modified frill spines that have only a limitedrange of motion and muscular control.

Inside the Dragon’s EyeMost scholars remain unaware of how complex and unusuala dragon’s eye really is. In addition to its four layers of eye-lids and its double pupil, a dragon’s eye also has a double

lens. The outer lens (1) is much the sameas any other creature’s in form and

function. The inner lens (2), however,is a mass of transparent muscle fibers thatcan polarize incoming light. The inner lensalso serves to magnify what the dragon

sees, and helps account for the drag-on’s superior long-

distance vision.A dragon’s ret-

inas (3) are packedwith receptors

for both color andblack-and-white vision.

Behind the retina lies the tapetumlucidum (4), a reflective layer that helps the

dragon see in dim light. A dragon literallysees light twice, once when it strikes

the retina and again when it isreflected back. It is the tapetum

lucidum that makes a dragon’s eyes seem toglow in the dark.

INTERNAL ANATOMYAs you’ll see from the following section, a dragon’s resem-blance to a reptile is literally only skin deep. Refer to theaccompanying illustrations as you read on.

SkeletonAlthough complete dragon skeletons are hard to come by,most scholars agree that a little more than 500 bones com-prise a dragon’s skeleton, compared to slightly more than

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