Vampiric Dragon

to separate the combatants from one another, then softens up the remaining opponents with call lightning, ice storm, and shout. If it has time to prepare, it may use control winds or control weather to create a setting more conducive to its victory. It doesn’t hesitate to flee if outmatched, using either gaseous form or (if pursued) wind walk to escape.

Breath Weapon (Su): A storm drake has one type of breath weapon, a 60-foot cone of wind usable once every 1d4 rounds. This attack produces the equivalent of tornado-strength winds (see Table 3–24 on page 95 of the Dungeon Master’s Guide). Those in the cone may attempt DC 30 Fortitude saves to resist the effect.

Gaseous Form (Su): A storm drake can assume gaseous form at will as a standard action. While gaseous, the drake has a fly speed of 60 feet (perfect) and is unaffected by wind of any kind. It can’t attack or use its breath weapon while gaseous, but it can use spell-like abilities normally. This ability is otherwise identical with the gaseous form spell.

Snatch (Ex): Against Medium or smaller creatures, bite for 4d6+12/round or claw for 2d8+6/round.

Spell-Like Abilities: At will—fog cloud (DC 17), 3/day— call lightning (DC 18), sleet storm (DC 18), stinking cloud (DC 18), wind wall (DC 18); 1/day—control weather (DC 21), control winds (DC 20), ice storm (DC 19), shout (DC 19),wind walk (DC 22). Caster level 20th.

A vampiric dragon is forever anchored to its hoard, much like a normal vampire craves its coffin. It appears much as it did as a living dragon, though its eyes gleam with a feral and predatory glint. It dreams only of death and evil, spreading legends of its treasure to draw in unwitting adventurers in order to create vampire spawn.

Thankfully, such creatures are rare in the extreme, most often created by energy draining effects or unique confluences of negative energy.

Like normal vampires, vampiric dragons cast no shadows and throw no reflections in mirrors. They speak any languages they knew in life.

SAMPLE VAMPIRIC DRAGON

This example uses a mature adult red dragon as the base dragon. Vampiric Mature Adult Red Dragon Huge Undead Hit Dice: 25d12+100 (262 hp) Initiative: +3 Speed: 40 ft. (8 squares), fly 150 ft. (poor) Armor Class: 37 (–2 size, +3 Dex, +26 natural), touch 11, flat-footed 34 Base Attack/Grapple: +25/+46 Attack: Bite +38 melee (2d8+13) Full Attack: Bite +36 melee (2d8+13) and 2 claws +31 melee (2d6+6) and 2 wings +31 melee (1d8+6) and tail slap +31 melee (2d6+19) Space/Reach: 15 ft./10 ft. (15 ft. with bite) Special Attacks: Blood drain, breath weapon, charm, create spawn, domination, energy drain, improved snatch, spells, spell-like abilities Special Qualities: Blindsense 60 ft., damage reduction 10/magic, darkvision 120 ft., fast healing 5, immunity to fire, keen senses, resistance to cold 20 and electricity 20, spell resistance 23, turn resistance +4, undead traits, vampiric weaknesses Saves: Fort +14, Ref +17, Will +16 Abilities: Str 37, Dex 16, Con —, Int 20, Wis 21, Cha 22 Skills: Appraise +30, Bluff +19, Concentration +24,

Diplomacy +24, Hide +3, Intimidate +32, Jump +38,

Knowledge (arcana) +22, Knowledge (geography) +16,

Knowledge (history) +16, Knowledge (nature) +13,

Knowledge (the planes) +13, Knowledge (religion) +16,

Listen +40, Move Silently +11, Search +38, Sense Motive +23, Spellcraft +30, Spot +35 Feats: Alertness, Cleave, Combat Reflexes, Dodge, Flyby

Attack, Hover, Improved Initiative, Improved Snatch,

Lightning Reflexes, Multisnatch, Power Attack, Quicken

Breath, Snatch, Wingover Environment: Warm mountains Organization: Solitary or guarded (1 plus 2–5 vampire spawn) Challenge Rating: 20 Treasure: Triple standard Alignment: Always chaotic evil Advancement: 26–27 HD (Huge) Level Adjustment: —

This vampiric red dragon lurks in a dark cave deep beneath the earth, guarding its life-preserving hoard and awaiting new victims to add to its tally of death.

Storm drake

Combat

This vampiric red dragon casts desecrate upon its lair each day, granting combat bonuses to it and its vampire spawn minions, if any. When it first senses intruders, it listens from a distance to learn more about them, sending vampire spawn forward to battle if available. If it can employ its charming voice before revealing its presence, it does so. In battle, it prefers to target lone opponents, using

Flyby Attack and Snatch to grapple the target and then carry it to a safe location to employ its blood drain.

The DC is 28 for the Will save against this vampiric dragon’s charm, domination, and frightful presence, and for the Fortitude save to regain levels lost to its energy drain.

This vampiric red dragon’s natural weapons are treated as magic weapons for purpose of overcoming damage reduction.

Breath Weapon (Su): 50-ft. cone, 14d10 fire, Reflex DC 28 half.

Improved Snatch (Ex):

Against Medium or smaller creatures, bite for 2d8+13/round or claw for 2d6+6/round.

Spell-Like Abilities: 7/day— locate object. Caster level 9th.

Spells: As 9th-level sorcerer.

Keen Senses (Ex): This vampiric red dragon sees four times as well as a human in low-light conditions and twice as well in normal light.

Sorcerer Spells Known (6/8/8/7/5; save DC 16 + spell level): 0—arcane mark, dancing lights, detect magic, ghost sound, guidance, mage hand, read magic, resistance; 1st—alarm, magic missile, protection from good, shield, shocking grasp; 2nd—cat’s grace, cure moderate wounds, darkness, sound burst; 3rd—dispel magic, protection from energy, stinking cloud; 4th—fire shield, greater invisibility.

CREATING A VAMPIRIC DRAGON

“Vampiric” is a template that can be added to any dragon of at least adult age (referred to hereafter as the base dragon). The creature uses all the base dragon’s statistics and special abilities except as noted here.

Size and Type: The creature’s type changes to undead, and it loses any subtypes it had in life. Do not recalculate the creature’s base attack bonus, saves, or skill points. 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 vampiric dragon gains bonus hit points equal to four times its HD.

Armor Class: The base dragon’s natural armor bonus improves by 2.

Attacks: A vampiric dragon retains all the attacks of the base dragon. Unlike typical vampires, a vampiric dragon does not gain slam attacks. Special Attacks: A vampiric dragon retains all the special attacks of the base dragon and also gains those noted below. Saves have a DC of 10 + 1/2 vampiric dragon’s HD + vampiric dragon’s Cha modifier unless noted otherwise. Blood Drain (Ex): A vampiric dragon can suck blood from a living victim one size category smaller than itself or larger. If it pins the foe with whom it is grappling, it drains blood, dealing 1d4 points of Constitution drain each round the pin is maintained. Charm (Su): The voice of a vampiric dragon can bewitch listeners. This requires a full-round action by the vampiric dragon, but any creatures within 30 feet per age category of the base dragon who can hear its voice must make a Will save or become charmed (as charm monster). The charm is immediately broken if the vampiric dragon uses its frightful presence within range of the charmed individual or makes any attack against the charmed individual. A vampiric dragon need not see its targets to use this power.

Create Spawn (Su): A humanoid or monstrous humanoid slain by a vampiric dragon’s energy drain attack rises as a vampire spawn (see page 253 of the Monster Manual) 1d4 days after death.

If a vampiric dragon instead drains its victim’s Constitution to 0, the victim returns as a spawn if it had 4 or fewer Hit Dice and as a vampire if it had 5 or more HD. In either case, the new vampire or spawn is under the command of the vampiric dragon that created it and remains enslaved until its master’s death.

An adult or older dragon slain by a vampiric dragon’s blood drain returns as a vampiric dragon under the command of the vampiric dragon that created it, as noted above. Young adult or younger dragons slain by its blood drain attack, or any dragons slain by its energy drain attack, rise instead as mindless zombie dragons (see page 197).

Domination (Su): A vampiric dragon can crush an opponent’s will just by looking into its eyes. This ability works similarly to a gaze attack, except that the vampiric dragon must use a standard action, and those merely looking at the creature are not affected. Anyone the vampiric dragon targets must succeed on a Will save or fall instantly under the vampiric dragon’s influence as though by a dominate monster spell (caster level 18th). The ability has a range of 30 feet plus 10 feet per age category of the base dragon.

Energy Drain (Su): A living creature hit by a vampiric dragon’s claw attack gains one negative level.

Vampiric red dragon