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Rock Dragon

Challenge
str
20
dex
10
con
18
int
2
wis
12
cha
5

AC 16 (natural armor)

HP 147 (14d12 + 56; bloodied 74)

Speed 50 ft.


Proficiency +3; Maneuver DC 16

Senses passive Perception 11

Languages


Slow to Rouse. A rock dragon awakens slowly outside its mating period and suffers disadvantage on their Perception checks while not in combat. It also suffers disadvantage on initiative rolls, and during the first round of combat it can only make one claw or bite attack.

False Appearance. When motionless, a rock dragon is indistinguishable from a rocky outcrop.

Sand Shifter. The ground within 10 feet of a conscious rock dragon becomes difficult terrain , which the rock dragon ignores.


ACTIONS

Multiattack. The rock dragon makes a bite and two claw attacks.

Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +9 to hit, reach 15 ft., one target. Hit: 21 (3d10 + 5) piercing damage. If the target is a creature, it is grappled (escape DC 16). Until this grapple ends, the rock dragon can’t bite a different creature, and it has advantage on bite attacks against the grappled creature.

Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +9 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 14 (2d8+ 5) slashing damage.

Crushing Roll. The rock dragon begins to thrash, its spines churning up the earth and lashing out against nearby creatures. Each creature within 5 feet of the rock dragon makes a DC 16 Dexterity saving throw , taking 50 (10d8 + 5) slashing damage on a failure. Large or smaller creatures that fail the saving throw are also pushed 15 feet directly away from the rock dragon and knocked prone . On a success, creatures take half damage and are not pushed or knocked prone.

Legends and Lore

With a History or Nature check, characters can learn the following:

DC 10 Dinosaurs are mighty lizards common in some warm parts of the world.

DC 15 Dinosaurs can be trained, and their eggs are worth a fortune.

Description

Not true dragons, rock dragons are vast, scaly creatures that spend most of their lives half-buried atop dunes. The rocky spines that run along their backs capture the barest amounts of moisture from the air, filtering it down into a pool beneath their bodies and providing them water to drink.

Rock dragons awaken to mate every decade and are sluggish at other times. In combat, a rock dragon attempts to seize prey with its raptor-like beak before using its claws to rend them.

Behavior

Predator Behavior

1 Chasing herbivores or people

2 Feasting on a kill

3 Hungry; chases and attacks on sight

4 In a cave lair filled with remains of old victims


Herbivore Behavior

1 Grazing; flees or stampedes if approached

2 With an egg or baby; defends it fiercely

3 Charges any who approach

4 Migrating to new grazing lands

5 Stuck in a tar pit or bog

6 Wearing a saddle

Signs

1 Half-devoured corpse of a large herbivore dinosaur 

2 Huge reptilian footprints

3 Distant thumps, like a giant’s footsteps

4 A distant trumpeting roar

5 A giant mound of excrement

6 Trees snapped by immense force. DC 12 Survival check: Nearby dinosaur tracks

Encounters

Dinosaurs still exist on remote islands and plateaus and in hot climates.

CR 0–2 Plesiosaurus ; 1 to 3 pteranodons ; 1 or 2 raptors

CR 3–4 Allosaurus ; ankylosaurus ; 3 or 4 raptors

CR 5–10 2 or 3 allosauruses ; diplodocus ; 1 or 2 triceratops ; tyrannosaurus rex

CR 11–15 4 or 5 ankylosauruses ; 2 diplodocuses ; 3 triceratops

Monster Type Description

Beasts are natural animals whose existence and abilities are nonmagical. A bear and a tyrannosaurus rex are both beasts.