Monster Manual V

or other athletic feat. If the character demurs, Morlicanthataunts and belittles that PC loud enough for everyone to hear.If a fight breaks out, Morlicantha participates until reducedto 50 hit points or fewer. Then she flies away, shouting, “We’llmeet again!” If the characters win the competition or defeather in combat, Morlicantha might return to offer them a rolein her next xorvintaal move.EcologyAn inveterate traveler, Morlicantha is often on the roadspying on her rivals or making moves against their territory.Because Morlicantha spends so much time in her favoritealternate forms, she has developed a taste for food favoredby humanoids.Environment: Unusual for a silver dragon, Morlicantha’slair is on a small coral atoll off a forbidding coast.Morlicantha is often away playing the great game, but aband of tritons guards her island. A network of tunnelsextends from the atoll to below the seafloor. Morlicanthaisn’t the first dragon to call this atoll home, and becauseof her obsession with xorvintaal, she hasn’t fully exploredall the tunnels yet.Physical Characteristics: In her true form, Morlicanthais 35 feet long and has a wingspan of 50 feet. She weighs 2,500pounds. Her alternate forms adhere to racial averages.Alignment: Morlicantha has a deep and abiding respectfor the rules of xorvintaal, but her sense of fair play doesn’tdull her competitive edge one bit. When it comes to xorvintaal,she acts as aggressively as the rules allow. She islawful good.SocietyMorlicantha is obsessed with xorvintaal, but she has optedfor a risky play style. She refuses to ally herself with morepowerful dragons, choosing to go it alone. This choice affordsher great freedom, but any other dragon can move on herterritory and lair without having to worry about a powerfulpatron. Of course, other dragons don’t necessarily knowMorlicantha is a loner.Morlicantha is exceedingly wary of other dragons, andthat’s one reason why she’s so keen to get allies from whatpqqqqqqqqqrsMORLICANTHA LORECharacters who have ranks in Knowledge (arcana) can learnmore about Morlicantha. When a character makes a successfulskill check, the following lore is revealed, including theinformation from lower DCs. Because she’s new to xorvintaal,little is known about her.Knowledge (Arcana)DC Result23 Morlicantha is a silver dragon fond of takinghumanoid form and manipulating people.28 She plays xorvintaal, the dragons’ great game, andis unaffi liated with any powerful dragons.pqqqqqqqqqrsshe calls the “unwinged races.” Among humans and their ilk,she can be helpful and even gregarious. But in the presenceof dragons or their exarchs, she watches her words carefullyand tries to remain as unobtrusive as possible.Typical TreasureIn her lair, Morlicantha has triple standard treasure for aCR 13 monster, or 39,000 gp. In addition, when she travelsas a maiden or a crone, Morlicantha is equipped as a 10thlevelNPC.CREATING A XORVINTAAL DRAGON“Xorvintaal dragon” is an acquired template that can be addedto any young adult or older true dragon (referred to hereafteras the base dragon).Challenge Rating: Same as base creature or higher,depending on how many xorvintaal abilities it has (seebelow).Languages: A xorvintaal dragon can communicate telepathicallywith any of its exarchs (10-mile range) and withwilling xorvintaal dragons (100-mile range).Immune: Nobody can learn about a xorvintaal dragon’sfuture game moves through divination spells and similareffects. Such effects can still reveal other information abouta xorvintaal dragon.Spell Resistance: Xorvintaal dragons do not have spellresistance.Saving Throws: A xorvintaal dragon gains a +1 insightbonus on saving throws for every two age categories it has.A young adult, for example, gains a +2 insight bonus.Spells: Xorvintaal dragons lose the ability to cast spells.Spell-Like Abilities: A xorvintaal dragon retains all spelllikeabilities, and it gains the following.Charm Monster (Sp): At will, a xorvintaal dragon can usecharm monster on its exarchs (caster level 8th + the dragon’sage category).Scrying (Sp): Three times per day, a xorvintaal dragon canuse scrying with one of its exarchs as the target (caster level8th + the dragon’s age category).Special Qualities: A xorvintaal dragon has all the specialqualities of the base dragon, plus the following specialqualities.Create Exarchs (Sp): A xorvintaal dragon can perform anhour-long ritual to designate a creature as an exarch in theongoing great game. Doing so gives the xorvintaal exarchtemplate (page 47) to the designated creature or gives fivefavor tokens to a creature that is already an exarch.Xorvintaal Abilities (Su): A xorvintaal dragon choosesone of these abilities after it completes the Ritual of Xorvintaal,and it earns more by achieving victories in thegreat game.The average xorvintaal dragon has one of these abilities,plus another one for every two age categories it attains beyondyoung adult. But if you’re creating a particularly successfulxorvintaal dragon, you can add more xorvintaal abilities,DRAGONS OF THEGREAT GAME43