Alignment neutral Based on Dragon turtle | Image Wizards.com image | |
Stats Open Game License stats | ||
The dragon turtle is a fictional creature from the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game. The creature is depicted as a gigantic sea predator that breathes a cloud of scalding steam, and has an armored turtle-like shell and a dragon-like head. The dragon turtle was introduced in the original Dungeons & Dragons rule booklets in 1974 and subsequently appeared in the first edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons game, and in the game's second edition and third edition.
Contents
Publication history
The dragon turtle first appeared as an illustration in the 1974 rule booklet Dungeons & Dragons, Volume 2: Monsters & Treasure, page 40, and was detailed in Dungeons & Dragons, Volume 3: The Underworld & Wilderness Adventures, page 34.
The dragon turtle later appeared in first edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons in the original Monster Manual (1977).
The dragon turtle appeared in the Dungeons & Dragons Expert Set (1981), and the Companion Rules set (1984), the adventure modules The War Rafts of Kron (1984) and Duchy of Ten (1987), and the Dungeons & Dragons Rules Cyclopedia (1991).
The dragon turtle appeared in second edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons in Monstrous Compendium Volume One (1989), and reprinted in the Monstrous Manual (1993).
The dragon turtle appeared in third edition Dungeons & Dragons in the Monster Manual (2000), and in the 3.5 revised Monster Manual (2003).
Description
The dragon turtle is a gigantic sea creature with the body of a turtle and a dragon-like head. Its massively armored shell is impervious to most weapons and is often mistaken for the reflection of heavenly bodies on the water when it surfaces, being accented with silver fringes. The shell's actual color is about the same color as the sea around it, and its limbs and neck are a lighter color, highlighted with golden fringes. An adult can surpass forty feet in length, and it breathes a cloud of scalding steam. It is one of the most feared water creatures, and is able to capsize the largest ships.