Copper dragons are incorrigible pranksters, joke tellers, and riddlers. They are prideful and are not good losers, although they are reasonable good winner. They are particularly selfish, and greedy for their alignment, and have an almost neutral outlook where wealth is concerned.

At birth, a copper dragon’s scales have a ruddy brown color with a copper tint. As the dragon gets older, the scales become finer and more coppery, assuming a soft, warm gloss by the time the dragon becomes a young adult. Beginning at the venerable stage, the dragons’ scales pick up a green tint.

Copper dragons speak their own tongue, a tongue common to all good dragons, and 14% of hatchling copper dragons have an ability to communicate with any intelligent creature. The chance to possess this ability increases 5% per age category of the dragon.

Combat: Copper dragons like to taunt and annoy their opponents, hoping they will give up or become angry and act foolishly. Early in an encounter, a copper dragon will jump from one side of an opponent to another, landing on inaccessible or vertical stone surfaces. If there are no such places around a dragon’s lair, the dragon will create them ahead of time using stone shape, move earth, and wall of stone. An angry copper dragon will mire its opponents using rock to mud, and will force victims who escape the mud into it with kicks. Once opponents are trapped in the mud, the dragon will crush them with a wall of stone or snatch them and carry them aloft. When fighting airborne opponents, a dragon will draw its enemies into narrow, stony gorges where it can use its spider climb ability in an attempt to maneuver the enemy into colliding with the walls.

Breath Weapon/Special Abilities: A copper dragon’s breath is either a cloud of slow gas 30’ long, 20’ wide, and 20’ high or a spurt of acid 70’ long and 5’ wide. Creatures caught in the gas must save vs breath weapon or be slowed for three minutes per age level of the dragon. Creatures caught in the acid take damage, save vs. breath weapon for half. A copper dragon cast its spells and uses its magical abilities at 7th level, plus its combat modifier.

At birth, copper dragons can spider climb (stone surfaces only) and are immune to acid. As they age, they gain the following additional powers:

Young: neutralize poison three times a day. Juvenile: stone shape twice a day. Adult: forget once a day. Mature adult: rock to mud once a day. Old: move earth once a day. Great wyrm: wall of stone once a day. A copper dragon can jump 30 yards forward or sideways, reaching heights up to 20’ at mid jump. They can jump 30’ straight up.

Habitat/Society: Copper dragons like dry, rocky uplands and mountains. They lair in narrow caves and often conceal the entrances using move earth and stone shape. Within the lair, they construct twisting mazes with open tops. These allow the dragon to fly or jump over intruders struggling through the maze.

Copper dragons appreciate wit, and will usually leave good or neutral creatures alone if they can relate a joke, humorous story, or riddle the dragon has not heard before. They quickly get annoyed with creatures who don’t laugh at their joked or do not accept the dragon’s tricks and antics with good humor.

Because they often inhabit hills in sight of red dragons’ lairs conflicts between the two subspecies often occur. Copper dragons usually run for cover until they can equal the odds.

Ecology: Copper dragons are determined hunters, the good sport a hunt provides is at least as important as the food they get. They are known to eat almost anything, including metal ores. However, they prize giant scorpions and other large poisonous creatures (they say the venom sharpens their wit). The dragon’s digestive system can handle the venom safely, although injected venoms affect them normally.