Ghostly Dragon

Spiked felldrake

Of the many kinds of felldrakes, few are as powerful as the spiked felldrake. Its size and strength place it in the front line of important battles, and some mighty knights or paladins employ the spiked felldrake as a steed.

Felldrakes speak Draconic and Sylvan.

Combat

A spiked felldrake can stand up to terrible punishment while dealing out plenty of its own with swordlike claws.

The spikes on its tail are not just for show—it can project them in a hail of deadly fire at approaching enemies. With its scent and vision abilities, a spiked felldrake can root out even hidden enemies reliably.

Spiked Felldrakes as Special Mounts

At the DM’s option, a paladin of 11th level or higher can call a spiked felldrake as her special mount. For the purposes of the mount’s bonus Hit Dice, natural armor, Strength adjustment, Intelligence score, and special powers, treat the paladin as if she were six levels lower than actual.

A ghost template is found in the Monster Manual. The ghostly dragon template presented here provides an alternative method of creating ghostly dragons to have them retain more of their innate draconic power and deadliness.

Ghostly dragons are most often created when a powerful dragon is slain and its hoard looted. In such a case, the ghostly dragon can only be laid to rest by returning its lost treasure (or the equivalent value) to the creature’s lair. (You can estimate the ghostly dragon’s hoard by using the average treasure value for an encounter with the dragon, were it still alive.) Should this occur, the ghostly dragon settles upon the new hoard and disappears into nothingness, taking the hoard with it to the afterlife. SAMPLE GHOSTLY DRAGON

This example uses an adult green dragon as the base dragon.

Ghostly Adult Green Dragon Huge Undead (Incorporeal) Hit Dice: 20d12+40 (170 hp) Initiative: +4 Speed: Fly 150 ft. (perfect) Armor Class: 13 (–2 size, +5 deflection), touch 13, flatfooted 13; or 27 (–2 size, +19 natural), touch 8, flat-footed 27 Base Attack/Grapple: +20/+36 Attack: Incorporeal touch +20 melee (1d4 corruption plus 1d4 Str plus 1d4 Con plus energy drain); or bite +26 melee (2d8+8) Full Attack: Incorporeal touch +20 melee (1d4 corruption plus 1d4 Str plus 1d4 Con plus energy drain); or bite +26 melee (2d8+8) and 2 claws +21 melee (2d6+4) and 2 wings +21 melee (1d8+4) and tail slap +21 melee (2d6+12) Space/Reach: 15 ft./10 ft. Special Attacks: Breath weapon, energy drain, frightful presence, manifestation, snatch, spellcasting, spell-like abilities, withering Special Qualities: Blindsense 60 ft., damage reduction 5/magic, darkvision 120 ft., immunity to acid, magic sleep effects, and paralysis, keen senses, low-light vision, rejuvenation, spell resistance 21, turn resistance +4, undead traits Saves: Fort +12, Ref +12, Will +15 Abilities: Str 27, Dex 10, Con —, Int 16, Wis 17, Cha 20 Skills: Bluff +22, Concentration +15, Diplomacy +15, Hide +8, Intimidate +27, Knowledge (arcana) +18, Knowledge (nature) +18, Listen +31, Move Silently +20, Search +31,

Sense Motive +11, Spellcraft +25, Spot +31, Swim +16 Feats: Clinging Breath, Flyby Attack, Hover, Improved

Initiative, Power Attack, Snatch, Wingover Environment: Temperate forests Organization: Solitary Challenge Rating: 14 Treasure: None Alignment: Lawful evil Advancement: 21–22 HD (Huge) Level Adjustment: —

This ghostly green dragon still haunts its dark underground or forest lair, longing for the return of the hoard it guarded in life. Tormented by its inability to seek out additional treasure, it waits . . . and plots.

Combat

Should intruders enter its lair, the ghostly green dragon learns as much as it can about them before commencing

the attack. When it finally manifests, it uses frightful presence to terrify its opponents, then unleashes its ability-draining breath weapon before moving in to finish off the survivors.

This ghostly green dragon’s natural weapons are treated as magic weapons for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.

Breath Weapon (Su): 50-ft. cone, 12d6 acid, Reflex DC 25 half; or 50-ft. cone, 6 points of Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution drain, Fortitude DC 25 negates.

Frightful Presence (Ex): 60-ft. radius, HD 19 or fewer, Will DC 25 negates.

Snatch (Ex): Against Small or smaller creatures, bite for 2d8+8/round or claw for 2d6+4/round.

Spell-Like Abilities: 3/day—suggestion (DC 18). Caster level 6th.

Spells: As 5th-level sorcerer.

Keen Senses (Ex): This ghostly dragon sees four times as well as a human in low-light conditions and twice as well in normal light. It also has darkvision out to 120 feet.

Water Breathing (Ex): This ghostly dragon can breathe underwater indefinitely and can freely use its breath weapon, spells, and other abilities while submerged.

Sorcerer Spells Known (6/8/5; save DC 15 + spell level): 0—dancing lights, detect magic, ghost sound, mending, open/close, read magic; 1st—alarm, shield, true strike, unseen servant; 2nd— darkness, detect thoughts.

CREATING A GHOSTLY DRAGON

“Ghostly” is an acquired template that can be added to any dragon. The creature (referred to hereafter as the base dragon) must have a Charisma score of at least 8.

A ghostly dragon uses all the base dragon’s statistics and special abilities except as noted here.

Size and Type: The creature’s type changes to undead. It gains the incorporeal subtype. Size is unchanged.

Hit Dice: The base dragon’s Hit Dice remain the same, but it loses any Constitution bonus to its hit points (see Abilities, below). However, a ghostly dragon gains bonus hit points equal to twice its HD.

Speed: A ghostly dragon has a fly speed of 30 feet, unless the base dragon has a higher fly speed. Regardless of its fly speed, the ghostly dragon has perfect maneuverability.

Armor Class: A ghostly dragon’s natural armor bonus is the same as the base dragon but applies only to ethereal encounters. When a ghostly dragon manifests (see below), its natural armor bonus is +0, but it gains a deflection bonus equal to its Charisma modifier or +1, whichever is higher.

Attacks: A ghostly dragon retains all the attacks of the base dragon, although those relying on physical contact do not affect nonethereal creatures. It also gains an incorporeal touch attack, which it can use with any body part normally capable of attacking (which may include the bite, a claw, a wing, or a tail). Apply a ghostly dragon’s Dexterity modifier, not its Strength modifier, to its incorporeal touch attack roll.

Damage: Against ethereal creatures, a ghostly dragon uses the base dragon’s damage ratings. Against nonethereal creatures, a ghostly dragon usually cannot deal physical damage but can use its special attacks, if any, when it manifests (see below).

Special Attacks: A ghostly dragon retains all the special attacks of the base creature, although those relying on physical contact do not affect nonethereal creatures. The ghost gains the manifestation ability plus other special attacks described below. Saves against a ghostly dragon’s special attacks (including those of the base dragon) have a DC of 10 + 1/2 ghostly dragon’s HD + ghostly dragon’s Cha modifier unless otherwise noted.

Breath Weapon (Su): In addition to any breath weapons it had in life, a ghostly dragon gains a breath weapon that creates a cone-shaped cloud of gray mist. Any creature caught within is affected by a catastrophic ability drain, permanently losing a number of points of Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution equal to the base dragon’s age category (Fortitude negates). A creature that successfully saves against this effect cannot be affected by this breath weapon from the same ghostly dragon for 24 hours (though it can be affected by the ghostly dragon’s other breath weapons as normal). This breath weapon can be used once every 1d4 rounds and a maximum of three times per day. Energy Drain (Su): With a successful touch attack, a ghostly dragon bestows two negative levels on the target. A ghostly dragon does not bestow negative levels with any of its natural attacks (claws, bite, wing, tail, and so on). Manifestation (Su): A ghostly dragon dwells on the Ethereal Plane and, as an ethereal creature, it cannot affect or be affected by anything in the material world. When a ghostly dragon manifests, it partly enters the Material Plane and becomes visible but incorporeal on the Material Plane. A manifested ghostly dragon can be harmed only by other incorporeal creatures, magic weapons, or spells, with a 50% chance to ignore any damage from a corporeal

Ghostly green dragon