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Fearsome Flying Dragon

STATS

	Tremendous Vulnerability
	Armored
	Length and Type of attack, varies, see below
	Flying
	Fame 25 Notoriety 25 (maybe more) 
	Combat Values - 

ENVIRONMENT
Meeting this type of Dragon should be extremely rare. Create an extra Treasure card that represents "awakening" the Dragon (alternatively one of the minor magic items could instead be converted to represent the Dragon). Distribute the cards as per normal setup. When the "Awaken Dragon" card is found, it immediately summons the Fearsome Flying Dragon to the clearing of the character that found it. Note: If the Awaken Dragon card should happen to be in possession of a Native, then merely examining that card during a trade action will activate it and immediately summon the Dragon to the clearing of the Native in question (i.e. the player has inadvertently activated some ancient curse of summoning that attracts the Dragon). When occupying a Dwelling, treat the Dragon as an Enemy Native that always attacks any and all player characters or their hirelings (no roll on the meeting table, no buying drinks to make it friendlier).

If the Dragon should survive into the next turn, it remains in the clearing. On subsequent Sunrise phases, on a Monster Die Roll of 1 the Dragon prowls. If there are no characters or hirelings in the tile it occupies, it flies to an adjoining tile. Determine randomly with a die roll in which direction it flies and then in which clearing it lands(if the die roll indicates a direction that would take the dragon off the map or a clearing number that doesn't exist roll again till a suitable destination is found). The only way for the Dragon to leave the map is for it to be killed.

SPECIAL RULES
The Dragon fights similarly to the other Dragons in the game, with the folowing exceptions:

• This Dragon is so big, you must "kill" the body 4 times for it to actually die (only one body is in play per combat round, so if there are multiple successful attacks on the body during a combat phase that result in kills, they all collectively only count as 1 kill. Thus in the best of circumstances, the Dragon will take a minimum of 4 rounds to kill).
• The Dragon only heals if it eats. At the end of each Day that the Dragon is in play, it will "heal" 1 body for each character or hireling or horse it killed that Day.
• In addition to its separate head attack, the Dragon also has 2 separate front claw attacks, 2 separate rear rake attacks, and a tail swipe (extra counters need to be made to represent these attacks). As is similar to the head, these extra attacks cannot be killed or wounded. Only the body can be killed or wounded.
• The flipped side of the head represents a fiery breath attack, and should be resolved on the missile table.
• When the body is showing its normal side up, this represent the Dragon hovering in the air beating its wings. While hovering in the air the following rules apply:
  • The body can cast a Type II Stones Fly spell that represents the massive buffeting wings stirring up a blinding cloud of dust and whirling rocks.
  • The front claws will not attack, unless they are currently flipped to their red side and trying to rend a victim.
  • While hovering, melee weapons can only wound the Dragon if they line up with the body (i.e. undercutting a hovering Dragon with melee weapons is impossible). Missile attacks are not affected by this rule.
  • While hovering, all bow and crossbow attacks against the Dragon are resolved with a +1 die roll modifier due to the tempestuous stirring of air caused by the flapping wings.
• The flipped body represents a crushing attack, where the Dragon attempts to pounce and drop its weight thereby crushing its enemies. While attempting to crush its opponents, the following rules will apply:
  • The two front claws will attack normally.
• Being hit by the normal Claw attacks will cause those counters to flip to their red side, where in subsequent rounds being hit again will result in a auto-kill rending attack as per the normal rules.
• The flipped Tail represents a Swiping attack against any and all Denizens that it lines up with, regardless of whether the Dragon was targeting them or not.
• The Dragon might target multiple opponents. Execute the Lure/Deploy/Distribition phases per the normal rules. Prior to resolving the attacks roll 1 die for the head and 1 die for the tail. On a 1-4 they attack their current target. On a 5-6 they switch targets to another randomly determined Denizen currently on the sheet.

The Ancient magic of this Dragon is such that the Absorb Essence and Transform spells do not work on it.
The Dragon can be controlled with the Dragonfang Necklace.

Optional

• The Dragon can grow larger. Normally, it cannot 'heal' back more than 4 bodies. But if the Dragon is unwounded and still has some dead victims that have not been eaten at the end of a Day, the Dragon GROWS. Add 1 extra body to the Dragon's fully healed total. This will be the new maximum that the Dragon will need to heal before it can grow again.
• Further magic resistance can be added as deemed necessary.

DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS
The Realm really needs a Fearsome Flying Dragon. One that will make even a group of stout adventurers wet their pants. No more characters undercutting the Dragon for an automatic kill in the first round here. Not to be confused with its cousin, the Terrible Flying dragon (poisonous variant).

COMMENTS
I got the idea for this monster when reading the rantings and ravings of various players going on about the MR combat system posted on this thread at BBG. One of the posters (R.S.Barker a.k.a. Silverleaf) described his ideal dragon attack as such:
Any dragon worth his muster knows how to win a battle with a swordsman:

• You first fly in and stir up the dust and sand to blind your opponent (Wing Buffets X 2). During this all enemies must roll vs. fear or run away in panic.
• Next comes the breath weapons - to loosen up anyone who did make their saving throw.
• Then he will pounce - dropping his entire weight onto/into the fray (heavy damage).
• Then you are privy to that incredible damage from the Dragon's 6 attacks in close combat: 2 front claws (Rake, Rake) 2 rear claws (Claw, Claw) Tail (sweep), jaw (bite).
• If need be a secondary and even third breath weapon can be employed.

In the aftermath - dragons gathered around the barbecue, peeling off the hard outer shell and enjoying the soft treat inside.
I thought I would try and create such a beast within the existing game rules that would nonetheless live up to its name.

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