Black Dragon (Abyss)

Dragon is a black dragon that appears in the Test of Pride in the Pride (Abyss) cavern area during Baldur's Gate II Chapter 7, part 2.
==Gameplay==
The party descends the long staircase leading below to the cavern and is met by the Pride (Abyss) demon, who administers the test of Pride to the bhaalspawn.
As part of the test, the demon entices the bhaalspawn to make a choice regarding his vaunted ability as a mighty bhaalspawn, and ability to vanquish any opponent. The demon says that one of the Tears of Bhaal is possessed by a creature further in the cavern (the party can't see this creature at this time) - this Tear can be had by seizing it from the creature ahead.
The demon makes it clear that he expects the bhaalspawn will triumph and live up to the fearsome reputation earned by so many previous victories. Simply seize the day and take the Tear by force. 
The choices presented in dialog with the demon are covered in the Finding Irenicus in Hell article.
If the bhaalspawn decides to face the unknown creature to defeat it and get the sought after Tear - then the demon approves, remarking it as an "excellent" choice, makes a closing remark, and disappears from the map, and the party may advance to see what kind of creature it is, and engage it in battle.
The party will soon observe a Black Dragon, who is hostile and will defend itself and attack via its scripted actions.
The dragon will apply a Stoneskin and Haste spell on itself while also launching a Remove Magic at the nearest opponent in range. These spells are not interruptible.
Shortly thereafter a Dragon Fear innate ability will radiate from the dragon exposing nearby party members to the effect. A saving throw will negate, or immunity to the Panic status effect will prevent the disabling effect. If a party member is with a 10' range it will also perform a Wing Buffet at this time.
When the dragon's starting hit point total falls to 50% an instantly applied Heal spell is applied. This only occurs once in the battle.
The dragon will blast a Black Dragon Breath after about three rounds into the battle at detected party members in range. The area of effect might strike several party members depending on their positioning.
Thereafter, the dragon will attack party members in melee range with its claws, pausing about every three rounds to blast out another Black Dragon breath attack, followed by yet another Wing Buffet. This cycle continues as long as the dragon is still able to fight back and function. The dragon will move to the nearest enemy in order to get into range with its melee and breath attacks.
Later in the battle there is about a 1 in 3 chance that the dragon will cast a Charm Person spell at the party member with the most damaging melee attack it can detect. This occurs only once, if it occurs at all.
==Fighting the Dragon if the Bhaalspawn takes the "good" path==
If the player selects the "good" path in the test, the demon departs the area with different dialogue. In order to retrieve the required Tear of Bhaal, the party can speak with the dragon, who will freely supply it to the party and depart the map - or preemptively attack the dragon (without speaking to it first) and destroy it (hoping that it has the Tear on its person).
In this scenario the dragon presented to the party is actually a different one from the hostile dragon written in the text above (reference HDRAGSIL), which has a dialogue script and lacks carried loot (except for some gold pieces and the Tear of Bhaal).
The good path dragon version won't actually go from neutral to a red circled hostile creature if attacked, yet it will fight back with the same script as the hostile dragon. The game doesn't penalize the player from attacking the good dragon version - the only difference between speaking with the dragon and obtaining the Tear peaceably and attacking it - is the delivery of dialogue, and departure animation versus a fight and the XP gained from slaying the dragon. 
Also, perhaps the dubious and unnecessary attack on a neutral Dragon when taking the so called "good" path isn't something to be proud of, nor does it display any humility. Depending on the player's moral code and viewpoint.
Role play this as desired. The party is after all in Hell - so forgiveness, compassion and ethics aren't really enforced here.
==Gallery==
HELL SCS Dragon 1.png|The Dragon buffs itself with Haste and broadcasts an aura of fear around itself.
Hell SCS Dragon Breath.png|Black Dragon Breath attack during fight with the "evil" path Dragon.
Hell Dragon Speaks.png|The "good" path Dragon speaks and then bestows the Tear of Bhaal to the party, then vanishes in a flash of fire.
==Mod content==
Sword Coast Stratagems mod revises the dragons here. The AI scripts are changed to include more situational logic and reactive analysis of the tactical situation. The dragon will evaluate player defensive buffs, equipped item, spells and innate abilities active on the party members before responding/attacking. The SCS dragon has no Heal spell ability.
*Dragon is a 23 Hit Dice dragon (casts spells at level 23)
*480 Hit Points (depends on difficulty setting)
*Already has Stoneskin applied.
*Note that with SCS, all dragon main hand melee weapons (claws/bite) have weapon range reach of 5. They can strike at opponents several rows back.
Immunities in addition to the unmodified dragon version:
*Intelligence Modification (Feeblemind will still work)
*100% Acid damage resistance
*100% Poison damage resistance
*Blindness
*Imprisonment
*Slay
*Kill target
*Most acid and poison-based spells (Death Fog, Melf's acid arrow, Cloudkill etc.)
*All Insect and Creeping Doom type spells.
The dragon is scripted to use an innate Summon Insects dragon version spell. Also, a Plant Growth spell might be used after many rounds (10 plus at least) has elapsed after the battle begins.
The dragon follows the unmodified game to a certain extent, however depending on the game difficulty selection, will perform breath attacks more frequently (every two rounds). Additionally, the dragon is able to cast Magic Missile and Melf's Acid Arrow twice each. Instead of charm person it can cast Dire Charm.
If any cloud type spells are cast at the dragon, including Incendiary Cloud, then the script will initiate a Wing Buffet to clear it from the map.
With SCS, dragon breath weapons are not assigned to any school of magic and have no secondary type - so the Cloak of Mirroring has no effect, nor will Spell Shield, Spell Immunity and similar protections have any interaction.
If the player has the IWDification mod installed with SCS, or the internal SCS Icewind Dale spells component enabled, then additional IWD scrolls are added to the dragon's carried loot.
==Mod gallery==
:Portraits from Portraits Portraits Everywhere
HDRAGSIL.png|Test of Pride Dragon - only speaks if spoken to, not attacked, and under the "good" path selection.