Elder Shadow Drake
Large Dragon, chaotic evil
A large dragon-like creature with black scales and shadowy wings emerges suddenly from the darkness. Its red eyes glare bright as coals, and it speaks in a deep monotone.
Strange Humor. Elder shadow drakes are mischievous and greedy. They devour entire goats and sheep and sometimes spell out messages with their bones. They make surprisingly good bandits, and sometimes ally themselves with bands of humanoids—their own share of plunder must always be clearly the largest share of any such arrangement.
Solitary Lairs. They haunt dark and lonely places, such as deep caves, dense forests, and shadowy ruins. They are longlived for drakes, often reaching 250 years of age, and mate rarely, abandoning their eggs shortly before hatching.
Fade Into Shadows. An elder shadow drake naturally fades from view in areas of dim light or darkness. Darkvision doesn’t overcome this, because the shadow drake doesn’t simply blend into shadows; it magically becomes invisible in them.
Armor Class 16 (natural armor)
Hit Points 114 (12d10+48)
Speed 20 ft., fly 60 ft.
- STR
- 22 (+6)
- DEX
- 13 (+1)
- CON
- 18 (+4)
- INT
- 8 (-1)
- WIS
- 9 (-1)
- CHA
- 13 (+1)
Saving Throws Cha +4, Con +7, Dex +4
Skills Stealth +7, Perception +5
Damage Vulnerabilities radiant
Damage Immunities cold
Condition Immunities paralyzed, unconscious
Senses darkvision 120 ft., passive Perception 15
Languages Common, Draconic, Umbral
Challenge 7
Traits
Shadow Blend. In areas of dim light or darkness, an elder shadow drake is treated as invisible. Artificial illumination, such as a lantern or a light or continual flame spell, does not negate this ability; nothing less than true sunlight or a daylight spell does. The drake cannot use its Speed Surge or its Stygian Breath while invisible. An elder shadow drake can suspend or resume this ability at will, so long as the drake is in dim light or darkness.
Shadow Jump (3/Day). An elder shadow drake can travel between shadows as if by means of a dimension door spell. This magical transport must begin and end in an area of dim light or darkness, and the distance must be no more than 60 feet.
Speed Surge (3/Day). The elder shadow drake takes one additional move action on its turn. It can use only one speed surge per round.
Actions
Multiattack. The drake makes one bite attack and one tail slap attack.
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +9 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 22 (3d10 + 6) piercing damage.
Tail Slap. Melee Weapon Attack: +9 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 19 (3d8 + 6) bludgeoning damage.
Stygian Breath (Recharge 5-6). The elder shadow drake exhales a ball of black liquid that travels up to 60 feet before exploding into a cloud of frigid black mist with a 20-foot radius. Each creature in that sphere takes 42 (12d6) cold damage, or half damage with a successful DC 15 Constitution saving throw. Within the area of effect, the mist snuffs out nonmagical light sources and dispels magical light of 1st level or lower.
