Month of the Dragon: Iconic Blue Dragons

In addition to the 10 facts about each type of dragon, I’m crafting three unique draconic NPCs for each type. Each NPC will have a bit of personality and history, a lair description, a unique ability, and a hoard.

Buzzard Krass
Young Blue Dragon

• Age: 35 years
• Bio: Krass was dubbed Buzzard by their own mother. A rare scale pattern has left Krass faded blue-white from the neck up and blue-black across the rest of their body. A flock of vultures accompanies Krass whenever they take to the skies. Krass has a habit of descending on travelers presenting even a hint of blue, and their lair is full of blue gems, art objects, and linens. Those who escape the young dragon’s lair also report massive, elaborate glass sculptures shaped by lightning and claw.
• Alternative Characterization: The lonely Krass is an idiosyncratic artisan seeking to elevate their artistic talents. Those who escape Buzzard’s lair are typically those who have offered praise for the dragon’s glass creations.
• Lair: Buzzard Krass dwells in a sprawl of caverns carved into a badland mesa. The primary entrance is a 100 foot straight drop.
• Unique Ability: Lightning Breath Burst (Recharge 4-6). Due to their work sculpting glass with their lightning breath, Krass is capable of generating a less powerful lightning breath burst. Krass exhales lightning in a 10-foot straight line that is 5 feet wide. Each creature in that line must make a DC 13 Dexterity saving throw, taking 22 (4d10) lightning damage on a failed save, or half as much on a successful one.
• Hoard: A crystal ball (very rare variety), approximately 4,000 gp in coins, 4 glass figurines depicting badlands wildlife (each worth 250 gp), and 5 gems (each worth 100 gp).

Shaw Shattered-Horn
Adult Blue Dragon

• Age: 560 years
• Bio: Losing most of his horn in a battle at a young age, Shaw despises his own appearance. The joy of flight provides him with rare solace, and he meticulously watches the patterns of wind and rain, waiting for hurricanes. Using the cover of hurricanes, Shaw flies inland and descends on villages battered by the storms.
• Alternative Characterization: Shaw’s love of storms is rooted in an academic passion. His lair contains vast tomes of his collected research. He steals livestock during hurricanes, but unbeknownst to the villages near his lair, he also protects homes from falling trees and flying debris near the eye of the storm.
• Lair: Shaw lives in a cliffside cave on a barren, rocky stretch of cost. Unusually for a blue dragon, there are no reflective surfaces in his lair.
• Unique Ability: Storm-Powered. During storms, Shaw’s fly speed increases to 90 ft., and his lightning breath does an additional 1d10 of damage.
• Hoard: A barnacle encrusted, ornate belt (a Belt of Storm Giant Strength), 200,000 gp in coins, 5 unique ship mastheads (each worth 1000 gp), and a collection of gems and jewelry with a total value of 5,000 gp.

The Pharaoh
Ancient Blue Dragon

• Age: Unknown
• Bio: Born a thrall to a powerful mummy lord, the Pharaoh carries the wounds of many battles. Centuries ago, the Pharaoh broke from his lord’s control and devoured the undead, assuming his thrown. The dragon has turned his lord’s realm into his own. The Pharaoh is slowly replacing the undead servants of his former master with elementals, brought into his service by a djinn locked away deep within his lair.
• Alternative Characterization: The Pharaoh hates undead with a passion, believing them to jeopardize the balance of nature. His work with elementals is rooted in a desire to eliminate all undead and re-assert the natural order.
• Lair: The Pharaoh’s lair is a labyrinth beneath and inside a pyramid half-buried in the sand. It swarms with all manner of elementals, and the pyramid was constructed with astrological alignments in mind.
• Unique Ability: Thunderous Flight (Recharge 6). The Pharaoh’s elemental experiments have made him one with the storm. The Pharaoh flaps his wings, and each creature within 15 feet of the dragon must make a DC 23 Constitution saving throw, taking 88 (16d10) thunder damage and is pushed 15 feet away. On a successful save, a creature takes half as much damage and is not pushed. Unsecured objects that are completely within the area of effect are also pushed 15 feet, and a boom is created that can be heard from 300 feet away.
• Hoard: A golden armband that the Pharaoh wears as a ring (has the same function as a ring of djinni summoning), a hammer of thunderbolts, two random rings of elemental control, 322,000 gp in coins, the burial finery of the mummy lord (worth 5,000 gp total), the mummy lord’s sarcophagus (worth 5,000 gp total), and a collection of gems with a total value of 15,000 gp.