monster

Ancient Dragon Turtle

CR 24

Gargantuan Dragon, Neutral

Reveal Stat Block

Armor Class

22 (natural armor)

Hit Points

409 (21d20 + 189)

Speed

30 ft., swim 60 ft.

str

dex

con

int

wis

cha

Traits

Amphibious.The dragon turtle can breathe air and water.

Blessing of the Sea (Recharges after a Short or Long Rest).If the dragon turtle would be reduced to 0 hit points, its current hit point total instead resets to 350 hit points, and it recharges its Steam Breath. Additionally, the dragon turtle can now use the options in the 'Mythic Actions' section for 1 hour. Award a party an additional 62,000 XP (124,000 XP total) for defeating the dragon turtle after its Blessing of the Sea activates.

Legendary Resistance (3/Day).If the dragon turtle fails a saving throw, it can choose to succeed instead.

Unusual Nature.The dragon turtle doesn't require food or drink.

Actions

Multiattack.The dragon turtle makes one Bite or Tail attack and two Claw attacks.

Bite.mw 16 to hit, reach 15 ft., one target. ({@damage 1d12 + 9) piercing damage plus 13 (2d12) lightning damage.

Claw.mw 16 to hit, reach 15 ft., one target. ({@damage 2d8 + 9) slashing damage.

Tail.mw 16 to hit, reach 15 ft., one target. ({@damage 2d10 + 9) bludgeoning damage. If the target is a creature, it must succeed on a 24 Strength saving throw or be knocked prone.

Steam Breath 5.The dragon turtle exhales steam in a 90-foot cone. Each creature in that area must make a 24 Constitution saving throw, taking 67 (15d8) fire damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. Being underwater doesn't grant resistance against this damage.

Legendary Actions.The creature can take 3 legendary actions...

Attack.The dragon turtle makes one Claw or Tail attack.

Move.The dragon turtle moves up to its speed. If the dragon turtle is swimming, this movement doesn't provoke opportunity attacks.

Boiling Aura (Costs 3 Actions).The dragon turtle radiates intense heat. Until the start of the dragon turtle's next turn, whenever a creature starts its turn within 20 feet of the dragon turtle, that creature must succeed on a 24 Constitution saving throw or take 40 (9d8) fire damage. Being underwater doesn't grant resistance against this damage.

Ancient Dragon Turtle

Dragon turtles are mighty creatures whose inherent magic is intimately linked with the oceans of the Material Plane. The dragon turtle presented in the Monster Manual is a typical adult, at least a century old and boasting a valuable hoard. You can use the stat blocks in this section for older or younger dragon turtles. In addition, chapter 5 includes lair actions and regional effects that can be used for adult or ancient dragon turtles. An ancient dragon turtle is a mythic creature akin to a greatwyrm, combining the power of multiple echoes from across the worlds of the Material Plane. Such a creature can be as large as an island—and indeed, legends suggest that many unwitting sailors wrecked at sea have mistaken slumbering dragon turtles for solid ground.

Ancient dragon turtles might sleep for years or decades while floating along the surface of the ocean, enjoying the warmth of the sun and letting vegetation take root on their shells. An angry ancient dragon turtle is terrible to behold, radiating heat from the shell to boil the surrounding water—and any creatures in it. And even if an enemy wears down the dragon turtle's defenses, magical storms manifest to shield the dragon turtle and strike at foes.

Creating a Dragon Turtle

Use the Dragon Turtle Personality Traits and Dragon Turtle Ideals tables to inspire your portrayal of distinctive dragon turtle characters, and use the Dragon Turtle Spellcasting table to help select spells for a spellcasting dragon. (Though the Monster Manualdoesn't explicitly include dragon turtles in the variant rules for making a dragon a spellcaster, you can apply those rules to these aquatic dragons.)

Dragon Turtle Personality Traits

Dragon Turtle Ideals

Dragon Turtle Spellcasting

Dragon Turtle Adventures

The Dragon Turtle Adventure Hooks table offers suggestions for stories and adventures involving dragon turtles.

Dragon Turtle Adventure Hooks

Connected Creatures

Dragon turtles are stolid and slow to anger. This temperament, combined with their disinterest in moral quandaries, allows them to get along with—or at least abide—most creatures they encounter. They frequently enter symbiotic relationships with other sea creatures that can bring them food or treasure, and they sometimes agree to work for creatures who ply them with generous sums of wealth.

Ancient Dragon Turtle Connections

Dragon Turtle Lairs

Dragon turtles make their lairs in underwater caves and coral reefs. Most such lairs are situated deep beneath the waves near the ocean's floor, though some dragon turtles prefer coastal lairs with easier access to settlements they can trade with—or prey upon. Particularly reclusive dragon turtles seek lairs in even more remote locales, including deep-sea trenches or underwater volcanoes.

Dragon turtles are largely unconcerned with the design of their lairs and seldom work to improve them. A dragon turtle's primary concern when selecting a lair is ensuring that the site is large enough to accommodate the creature's prodigious size as the centuries wear on. After that, proximity to shipping lanes and freedom from irksome neighbors take precedence.

Dragon Turtle Lair Features

The underwater caves inhabited by dragon turtles are structurally similar to the seaside caverns where bronze and topaz dragons lair. When constructing a dragon turtle's lair, you can simply take a coastal map and translate it to an underwater environment or use the map as-is if the dragon turtle is content to lair near the surface.

As an example, map 5.14 depicts a topaz dragon's lair in a seaside cavern, but it could be reimagined as a grotto in the side of a coral reef rising from a shelf on the ocean floor, with the following features: