I hope you enjoy the pilferer dragon (or making your players angry by having it rob them of all their valuables). See you next week with another monster. Thanks for reading!
Myriad colored bands
cross the surface of this miniature draconic creature. The bands shift in
color, making it difficult to keep an eye on the dragon.
Pilferer Dragon CR 5
XP 1,600
CN Tiny dragon
Init +4; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light
vision; Perception +10
DEFENSE
AC 18, touch 16,
flat-footed 14 (+4 Dex, +2 natural, +2 size)
hp 57 (6d12+18)
Fort +8, Ref +9, Will +6
Immune paralysis,
sleep; SR 16
OFFENSE
Speed 15 ft., fly
50 ft. (good)
Melee bite +4 (1d3–4),
2 claws +4 (1d2–4)
Space 2½ ft.; Reach 0 ft.
Special Attacks
breath weapon
STATISTICS
Str 2, Dex 19, Con 17, Int 15, Wis 12, Cha 16
Base Atk +6; CMB +8 (+12 steal); CMD 14 (16 vs. steal, 18 vs. trip)
Feats Combat
Expertise, Greater StealAPG, Improved StealAPG
Skills Appraise
+23, Bluff +12, Fly +12, Knowledge (arcana) +11, Knowledge (local) +9,
Knowledge (nobility) +9, Perception +10, Spellcraft +10, Stealth +28, Use Magic
Device +12; Racial Modifiers +12
Appraise, +8 Stealth
Languages Common,
Draconic
SQ big mouth,
chameleon, fast stealth
ECOLOGY
Environment any
land
Organization solitary,
pair, or crew (3–8)
Treasure (none or
triple; see below)
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Big Mouth (Su) A
pilferer dragon mouth opens to a pocket dimension where it stores its treasure.
When it succeeds at a steal combat maneuver, it can take a move action to stash
the stolen item in its mouth.
If the dragon dies, the portal to the dimension collapses,
cutting off access to the creature’s hoard.
Breath Weapon (Su)
A pilferer dragon can temporarily redirect its portal to an elemental plane,
allowing it to choose one of four possible breath weapons: 40-ft. line of acid
for 4d6 points of acid damage; 30-ft. cone of cold for 4d6 points of cold
damage; 40-ft. line of lightning for 4d6 points of electricity damage; or
30-ft. cone of fire for 4d6 points of fire damage. A successful DC 16 Reflex
save halves the damage. The dragon can use its breath weapon every 1d4 rounds.
The save DC is Constitution-based.
Chameleon (Su) A
pilferer dragon gains a +8 racial bonus on Stealth checks and can hide in plain
sight (as the ranger’s camouflage class feature). If the dragon’s background
changes drastically (such as from a grassy field to snow-covered ground), it
loses the benefits of this ability for 1 round.
Fast Stealth (Su)
A pilferer dragon can move at full speed using the Stealth skill without
penalty, as per the rogue talent.
Pilferer dragons are a strange evolutionary offshoot of
dragon which popped in areas where more massive and powerful dragons were hunted
to extinction. The resultant dragons are considerably weaker than their
forebears, but they compensate for their minute sizes and subsequent inability
to guard a massive hoard with an internal portal to a demi-plane. The dragons
store all their ill-gotten loot in their own personal demi-plane—at least sages
who have studied pilferer dragons have concluded there is no single plane where
all this treasure goes. In a spiteful bit of supernatural physiology, a
pilferer dragon’s portal deactivates when the dragon dies. Even if it were
returned to life, it loses access to the old hoard and must start a new one in
a different demi-plane. Because of this, pilferer dragons will offer to cough
something up for (or, at the very least, return stolen items to) creatures
presenting a credible threat.
Pilferer dragons enjoy working with each other and other
larcenous creatures, especially to pull of large heists. When working with
non-draconic creatures, the dragons take advantage of their nearly unparalleled
eye for a value’s worth to come out ahead when splitting the take.