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Metallic Dragon

Paragons of virtue, nobility, and grace, metallic dragons are benevolent entities revered as mythic beings akin to gods in both their power and majesty. Few have ever seen a metallic dragon firsthand, but tales of their intervention in mortals’ lives—and of their passing—always spread far and wide. Named for the way their scales resemble the shining metals humanoids use in commerce, warfare, and industry, these immense beings are diverse in their interests and abilities, and they don’t seem to mind being associated with such mundane materials. After all, to compare a gold dragon to a gold coin is like comparing an ocean to a glass of water—though they may seem similar at first glance, the raw power, breadth, and grandeur of one simply overwhelms the other.

In addition to metallic dragons and their chromatic counterparts, other types of dragons roam the world and the rest of the multiverse. Imperial dragons are serpentine beings who protect the cosmic balance and defend their ancient homeland. Outside the Material Plane, primal dragons such as the domineering brine dragon and reclusive cloud dragon shape the nature and goings-on of the Elemental Planes. Countless other types of dragons are sure to exist, including dragons on far-flung planes of existence and, it is rumored, primeval dragons who soar between the stars.

Shape-Changing Dragons

Some dragons can take humanoid form, allowing them to infiltrate settlements or influence others without revealing their true nature. They gain the following ability:

Change Shape [one-action] (arcane, concentrate, polymorph, transmutation); The dragon takes on the appearance of any Small or Medium humanoid. This doesn’t change its Speed or attack and damage modifiers with its Strikes, but might change the damage type its Strikes deal (typically to bludgeoning).

Metallic Dragon Spellcasters

Each type of metallic dragon features a sidebar on spellcasting dragons of that kind. To make a metallic dragon spellcaster, remove the dragon’s Draconic Frenzy and Draconic Momentum abilities, and give it the spells outlined in its sidebar. You can swap out any number of these with other arcane spells, provided you keep the same number of spells for each level. You might also want to increase the dragon’s Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma modifier by 1 or 2 to reflect its mastery of magic.

Section 15: Copyright Notice

Pathfinder Bestiary (Second Edition) © 2019, Paizo Inc.; Authors: Alexander Augunas, Logan Bonner, Jason Bulmahn, John Compton, Paris Crenshaw, Adam Daigle, Eleanor Ferron, Leo Glass, Thurston Hillman, James Jacobs, Jason Keeley, Lyz Liddell, Ron Lundeen, Robert G. McCreary, Tim Nightengale, Stephen Radney-MacFarland, Alex Riggs, David N. Ross, Michael Sayre, Mark Seifter, Chris S. Sims, Jeffrey Swank, Jason Tondro, Tonya Woldridge, and Linda Zayas-Palmer.

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