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Pathfinder Unchained / Simple Monster Creation / Monster Creation Examples / Monster Examples

Ancient Blue Dragon

Source Pathfinder Unchained pg. 252
This ancient blue dragon has additional attacks, with damage extrapolated from the natural attacks column for CR 18. Despite being a combatant, it has a reduced spellcasting ability (as if it were a CR 12–15 spellcaster) with a DC halfway between combatant and spellcaster to represent a dragon’s natural spellcasting prowess. The spells are customized for this dragon, and it doesn’t receive an additional boon from selecting one of the preset lists.

The dragon has seven options instead of four to reflect its many talents, including several built into its statistics: damage reduction, extra armor, and spell resistance. It adds +4 to the DC of its breath weapon to reflect at ability’s raw power. The dragon gains additional Wisdom and Charisma modifiers of +5. It uses the expert array’s number of skills, and has the flying acumen option built into its statistics.
Array: The dragon is a mighty and iconic beast. It uses the combatant array, but it also possesses reduced spellcasting abilities, and its advanced age grants it superior mental ability scores.
Creature Type: The dragon type grants the ancient blue dragon darkvision, low-light vision, immunity to paralysis and sleep, and a +2 bonus on attack rolls and Will saves. To emphasize its sheer size, the ancient blue dragon also gains an additional +2 bonus on Fortitude saves.
Size: The dragon’s Gargantuan size graft grants it –4 to touch AC, +5 to flat-footed AC, +8 to CMB, and +4 to CMD.
Spells: To reflect its nature as a slightly lesser spellcaster than a true spellcaster of its CR, the dragon gains the spells of a CR 12–15 spellcaster instead, with DCs halfway between those of the combatant and spellcaster arrays. Since it has its own customized spell list, the dragon doesn’t receive an additional boon from selecting one of the preset lists.
Options: Normally, a CR 18 combatant would have three combat options and one any option, but the ancient blue dragon not only has damage reduction, extra armor, and spell resistance, but also critical striker and defense breaker to reflect its ferocious power.
Skills: As it has collected untold knowledge over its many years, the ancient blue dragon uses the expert’s number of skills, and its flying acumen option negates the Gargantuan size graft’s prohibition on Fly as a master skill.
Damage: The dragon has three primary attacks and three secondary attacks. The damage for two natural attacks (55) is doubled to 110. This is multiplied by 125% (137 total) since many attacks use a lower bonus. The damage is divided unevenly to emphasize certain attacks: 32 points for the bite and tail slap, 22 per claw, and 13 per wing.

Ancient Blue Dragon CR/HD 18

Init +4; Perception +31 (blindsense 60 ft., darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision)
Aura electricity (10 ft., 2d6 electricity), frightful presence (300 ft., DC 25)
Size Gargantuan (20 ft.); Speed 40 ft., burrow 20 ft., fly 250 ft. (clumsy, hover)

Defenses

AC 37 (touch 11, flat-footed 35); Fort +20, Ref +18, Will +18; CMD 43; SR 29; Concentration +23
hp 330; DR 15/magic; Immune electricity, paralysis, sleep
Defensive Spells 1/day—mislead

Attacks

Melee bite (reach 20 ft.) +30 (4d6+18/19–20), 2 claws (reach 15 ft.) +30 (3d6+12), 2 wings (reach 15 ft.) +25 (2d6+6), tail slap (reach 15 ft.) +25 (3d8+18)
Attack Spells (DC 17 + spell’s level) 1/day—forceful hand; 3/day—enervation, hold monster; at will—haste
Attack Options (DC 27) breath weapon (120-ft. line, 19d6 electricity), critical striker, defense breaker; CMB +36

Statistics