Dragon, Smog

Smog Dragon

Also called the Catastrophic Dragon of Para-Elemental Smoke

The Para-Elemental Plane of Smoke is a perfect place to hide, even when you’re as big as a dragon. Now, all catastrophic dragons are hated by their Prime cousins, but smog dragons are also resented by their own kin. They have the unenviable reputation of being treacherous and not caring a little bit about the Dawn War and the schism between dragons. And for the most part, it is true. Smog dragons were born from copper, green and conspirator wyrms—just the kind of dragons who know the right time to bail out. They stalk the Great Conflagration in search of events to take advantage of and creatures to manipulate. Smog dragons aren’t as strong as many other dragons, but they more than make up for it by their impressive ability to create their own advantages with their smoky breath.

Smog dragons are shaped like serpents. They are covered in long black hair that flows freely amidst the smoke and their constant motion makes it almost impossible to distinguish their true shapes. Apparently, scholars of dragonkind still struggle to figure out if smog dragons lack wings or just hide them really well. Whether they do or not, they can fly just fine anyway.

COMBAT: For a smog dragon, having to enter combat at all is considered embarrassing. They are masters of stealth and visual misdirection and can easily disappear from sight even in the midst of combat. If a smoke dragon somehow finds itself forced to fight, it relies on its breath weapon and spells to create obfuscations and shape the battlefield for its advantage. Smog dragons are cautious (some would say cowardly) and typically retreat from combat with a challenging foe at the first chance they get.

BREATH WEAPON/SPECIAL ABILITIES: The breath weapon of the smog dragon is a plume of hot and toxic smog. It lingers for a short time after its initial launch, creating a smokescreen of sorts, which the smog dragon often uses as cover to slink away. Additionally these dragons can cast spells like stinking cloud, blur, gaseous form and cloudkill. Some have also been known to learn scrying and illusion spells to gain advantage over their enemies. Adult and older smog dragons can shapeshift into the form of any humanoid or genie. Smog dragons are immune to fire and poison, don’t require air, food or drink (although wyrmlings do need to eat) and can freely see and move in the para-elemental plane of Smoke. However, they are vulnerable to air-based attacks, if the air is clean.

HABITAT/SOCIETY: Smog dragons are almost universally chaotic in alignment. They are extremely solitary, trying to avoid any contact with other dragons. Smog dragons have an exceptional sense of smell, and they can detect and identify each other from a mile away, thus avoiding the need to ever meet one another. Even though they do build lairs, they don’t delineate their territory, instead choosing to travel far and wide through the plane, sometimes abandoning their home for years at a time. Most of all, smog dragons like toying with weaker creatures. While some of them use their powers and cunning to increase their wealth, many other smog dragons simply enjoy covertly pushing societies in directions that amuse them. Unfortunately, since they are so secretive, it’s impossible to tell what exactly that might entail. This drives paranoia among natives of Smoke, as every single society is eventually claimed by some berk to be controlled by one draconic mastermind or another.

ECOLOGY: Smog dragons reproduce in a similar way to other catastrophic dragons. They travel to the Prime Material Plane through vortices that are typically formed in the volcanic plains, wildfires, gas giant planets, and heavily industrialised burgs. The presence of a smog dragon amplifies pollution and chokes the skies with foul air, soot, and poison. When the smoke becomes impenetrably thick, a new smog dragon egg spontaneously arises in the grime. What’s worse for everyone is that smog dragons often linger for a longer time than their relatives, attempting to establish a foothold of power in the society. They might try to influence factory owners or businessfolks that deal with coal or metal to expand their forges or factories with no regard for the health of nature or people. The more smoke chimneys belch out, the more likely it is that the vortices to para-elemental Smoke will appear again, giving young smog dragons—who hitherto were feeding and growing in the slums of the city—sure ways to return to their place of origin.

While they usually confine their activities to the Inner Planes and the Prime, one popular haunt of these creatures in the Outer Planes is the burg of Fumetown in Mechanus. Indeed, trouble is brewing there at this moment, in the form of a plot to sow chaos and destruction…

D&D 5e Stats for the smog dragon:

Source: Margarita. Canonwatch: See Dragon Magazines #424 & 425 for the original catastrophic dragons.