THE APEX PREDATOR
Dragons are the undisputed masters of their territory, residing at the top of the food chain. And everything about them screams carnivore — huge reptilian killing machines; dinosaurs with wings and breath weapons; primal terrors that haunt the dreams of we simple primates. The dragon is truly the king of monsters. The Apex Predator archetype accentuates the dragon’s raw physicality, improving its already impressive strength, weapons, and armor.
HEAVILY ARMORED Starting at 3rd level, your AC granted by your Unarmored Defense racial feature is now equal to 12 + your Strength modifier.
MIGHTY BITE Starting at 7th level, you may use the Attack action on your turn to make one single mighty attack with your bite. Your bite attack deals 2d10 damage for this attack, rather than its usual 2d6. On a hit, if the target is of a smaller size than you, you may toss them up to 10 feet in any direction. A creature tossed straight up will likely fall back down and take 1d6 bludgeoning damage per 10 feet fallen.
REACH At 10th level, the reach of your bite and tail attacks increases to 10 feet.
TAIL SLAP At 13th level, when a creature within your reach hits or misses you with an attack, you can use your reaction to force it to make a Dexterity saving throw (DC 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Strength modifier). On a failure, the creature takes 2d8 + your Strength modifier bludgeoning damage and you may push it up to 10 feet away from you. On a success, the creature takes half damage and is not pushed.
HUGE SIZE You are impressively built, even for a dragon. At 17th level, you become Huge sized, which confers several benefits:!
•You take up a 15 foot by 15 foot space in combat.
•Your weight and carrying capacity double again.
•Your maximum Strength score increases to 28, and your Strength score increases by 2.
•Your hit dice from this class become 1d12 per dragon level. Don’t reroll your hit point maximum — instead, your hit point maximum increases by 17 when you gain this ability, and at subsequent levels increases by 1d12 (or 7) + your Constitution modifier per level in this class above 17th.
Art by Tom Fisherbach
Dragons are the undisputed masters of their territory, residing at the top of the food chain. And everything about them screams carnivore — huge reptilian killing machines; dinosaurs with wings and breath weapons; primal terrors that haunt the dreams of we simple primates. The dragon is truly the king of monsters. The Apex Predator archetype accentuates the dragon’s raw physicality, improving its already impressive strength, weapons, and armor.
HEAVILY ARMORED Starting at 3rd level, your AC granted by your Unarmored Defense racial feature is now equal to 12 + your Strength modifier.
MIGHTY BITE Starting at 7th level, you may use the Attack action on your turn to make one single mighty attack with your bite. Your bite attack deals 2d10 damage for this attack, rather than its usual 2d6. On a hit, if the target is of a smaller size than you, you may toss them up to 10 feet in any direction. A creature tossed straight up will likely fall back down and take 1d6 bludgeoning damage per 10 feet fallen.
REACH At 10th level, the reach of your bite and tail attacks increases to 10 feet.
TAIL SLAP At 13th level, when a creature within your reach hits or misses you with an attack, you can use your reaction to force it to make a Dexterity saving throw (DC 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Strength modifier). On a failure, the creature takes 2d8 + your Strength modifier bludgeoning damage and you may push it up to 10 feet away from you. On a success, the creature takes half damage and is not pushed.
HUGE SIZE You are impressively built, even for a dragon. At 17th level, you become Huge sized, which confers several benefits:!
•You take up a 15 foot by 15 foot space in combat.
•Your weight and carrying capacity double again.
•Your maximum Strength score increases to 28, and your Strength score increases by 2.
•Your hit dice from this class become 1d12 per dragon level. Don’t reroll your hit point maximum — instead, your hit point maximum increases by 17 when you gain this ability, and at subsequent levels increases by 1d12 (or 7) + your Constitution modifier per level in this class above 17th.
Art by Tom Fisherbach