It would be ridiculous to try and out-do what Sean has already brilliantly done for D&D 3.5 in The New Argonauts so at the start of every one of these posts I’m going to 1) thank him for making that supplement (thank you Sean!) and 2) tell you to go download it (it’s free–give it 5 stars because damn). This blog series is not intended to be a reproduction of that product, only a conversion update. Go get it.

Post 1: What You Need To Play

Post 2: Aeetes’ Bulls (aka Khalkotauroi or Bulls of Colchis)

Aeetes’ Dragon

Large dragon, neutral
Armor Class 16 (natural armor)
Hit Points 126 (12d10+60)
Speed 40 ft., climb 20 ft., fly 30 ft.

Saving Throws Con +8, Wis +4, Cha +2
Skills Athletics +9, Insight +4, Perception +4, Stealth +5
Damage Resistances poison
Condition Immunities exhaustion
Senses darkvision 60 ft., tremorsense 60 ft., passive Perception 19
Languages —
Challenge 8 (3,900 XP)
Immortal. The dragon cannot suffer from frailty of old age, die from old age, or be aged magically.
Keen Hearing and Smell. The dragon has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on hearing or smell.
Untiring. The dragon never needs to sleep, though it is still susceptible to sleep effects.

ACTIONS
Multiattack. The dragon makes one bite attack and two claw attacks, or one swallow attack and one claw attack.
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +9 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 16 (2d8+7) piercing damage plus 14 (4d6) poison damage. Instead of dealing damage, the dragon can grapple the target (escape DC 17). Until this grapple ends or the target is swallowed, the target is restrained and the dragon can’t bite another target.
Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +9 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 11 (1d6+8) slashing damage.
Swallow. The dragon makes one bite attack against a Medium or smaller creature it is grappling. If the attack hits, that creature takes the bite’s damage and is swallowed, and the grapple ends. While swallowed, the creature is blinded and restrained, it has total cover against attacks and other effects outside the dragon, and it takes 16 (2d8+7) bludgeoning damage and 7 (2d6) acid damage at the start of each of the dragon’s turns. If the dragon takes 20 damage or more on a single turn from a creature inside it, the dragon must succeed on a DC 17 Constitution saving throw at the end of that turn or regurgitate all swallowed creatures, which fall prone in a space within 10 feet of the dragon. If the dragon dies, a swallowed creature is no longer restrained by it and can escape from the corpse using 15 feet of movement, exiting prone.

REACTIONS
Fast Reflexes. The dragon can make two opportunity attacks each turn.

TACTICS
The dragon likes to pretend it is sleeping, using its tremorsense and scent abilities to keep track of approaching creatures. It prefers to start combat with a bite and try to swallow that creature, thereafter using its claws and bite on whichever enemy seems the most dangerous.

HISTORY
The dragon that guarded the Golden Fleece is a dangerous creature that never needs to sleep. Jason and Medea overcame it only because she drugged it to sleep. In some stories it managed to swallow Jason before Medea put it to sleep and she had to force it to disgorge him before they could make off with the  Golden Fleece. The stories do not mention the dragon’s death, and Medea is shown on good terms with dragons in other stories, so it is quite possible the dragon that guards the sacred grove in Colchis is the same one Medea and Jason met.
An Intelligence (History) check reveals the following information: 8—The dragon that guards the Golden Fleece is a great  beast that never sleeps. 13—Its bite is poisonous and it swallows its prey alive like a snake. 18—Jason and Medea passed the dragon by drugging it to sleep with one of Medea’s potions.

Tune in next week for Alkinous’ Hounds and thanks for stopping by. 😀

(Also if you dig Mists of Akuma, check it out: a colorized version is on the way in advance of the Imperial Matchmaker Kickstarter kicking off in March!)