An-Ur, The Wandering Death |
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Colossal Dragon
(Extraplanar)
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| Hit Dice: 31d12+308 (509) |
| Initiative: +4 |
| Speed: 40 ft. (8 squares), fly 50 ft. (clumsy), swim 20 ft. |
| Armor Class: 35 (–8 size, +0 Dex, +33 natural), touch 2, flat-footed 35 |
| Base Attack/Grapple: +31/+58 |
| Attack: Bite +35 melee (4d8+11) |
| Full Attack: 2 bites +35 melee (4d8+11) and 2 claws +32 melee (4d6+5) and 2 wings +32 melee (2d8+5) and tail slap +32 melee (4d6+16) |
| Space/Reach: 30 ft./20 ft. (30 ft. with bite) |
| Special Attacks: Breath weapon, crush 4d8+16, frightful presence, spells, tail sweep 2d8+16 |
Special Qualities: Blindsense 60 ft., damage reduction 20/good and magic, ethereal vision, immunity to paralysis and sleep, keen senses, see ethereal, spell resistance 33, strike ethereal creatures
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| Saves: Fort +25,
Ref +17, Will +25
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| Abilities: Str 33,
Dex 10, Con 27,
Int 25, Wis 26,
Cha 25 |
| Skills: Bluff +41, Concentration +42, Diplomacy +47, Hide -16*, Intimidate +43, Knowledge (arcana) +41, Knowledge (religion) +41, Knowledge (the planes) +41, Listen +42, Search +41, Sense Motive +44, Spellcraft +43, Spot +42, Survival +8 (+10 on other planes) |
| Feats: Epic Toughness (x2), Flyby Attack, Hover, Improved Initiative, Multiattack, Negotiator, Power Attack, Wingover, Snatch, Weapon Focus (bite) |
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| Environment: Ethereal Plane |
| Organization: Solitary |
| Challenge Rating: 22 |
| Treasure: Triple standard |
| Alignment: Always neutral evil |
| Advancement: 32+ HD (Colossal) |
| Level Adjustment: - |
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This massive dragon appears ghostly, its scales rippling with a myriad of colors. Small tusks jut from the lower jaws of its wide snout, and its tail ends in a bladelike tip.
An-Ur wanders the limitless expanse of the Deep Ethereal, feeding on the prima matera - or concentrated ethereal mist - that makes up the Ethereal Plane. An-Ur appears as a ghostly shape on the rare occasions during which it semi-materializes on the Prime Material Plane, but it ripples with myriad colors when seen on the Deep Ethereal. Some sages have pointed to An-Ur's many hues as 'proof' of its connection to the curtain of vaporous color, a shimmering wall of ethereal mist that serves as a doorway to specific areas on the Border Ethereal.
An-Ur lives a solitary existence on the Ethereal Plane, navigating the Waveless Sea on its own implacable course. Some sages speculate that it floats through the plane and acts like an ecological regulator, feeding off of the energy that bleeds into the Ethereal from the Inner Planes and maintaining some form of equilibrium.
Since it sometimes discovers or coerces items and treasure from individuals unfortunate enough to raise its ire, An-Ur must have a lair hidden in the Deep Ethereal, but no one has discovered it.
An-Ur is the oldest of Tiamat's children. Legends say that it sprang into being from Tiamat's first breath. Despite existing for hundreds of centuries, An-Ur has steadfastly ignored the ongoing struggle between the courts of Tiamat and Bahamut.
An-Ur feeds off the swirling ethereal particles that compose the Ethereal Plane, culling its food like a whale. Once every three hundred years or so, this creature's hunger flares, and it must consume vast amounts of prima matera. It is the time of An-Ur's Hungering that the creatures of the Ethereal Plane fears the most, as it scours the Deep Ethereal, devouring entire demiplanes. Once it finds an appetizing demiplane, An-Ur causes it to break apart using an innate ability similar to the demiplane decay Priest spell.
An-Ur is 140 feet long and weighs over 275 tons.
An-Ur speaks Draconic and Infernal.
Combat
An-Ur avoids combat when it can. Though smaller and less physically imposing than other unique dragons, An-Ur commands fearsome combat powers.
If its breath weapon or cyclone summoning fail to neutralize a threat, An-Ur fights with claws, teeth, tail, and spells. An-Ur is always interested in negotiation rather than combat, and any honest attempt to end a battle (whose outcome is unknown) through peaceful resolution usually succeeds. It possesses incredible intelligence and typical dragon instincts, so negotiating parties might need to make difficult concessions. An-Ur rarely keeps its word, and adventurers who successfully parley with this dragon often find themselves under attack again after it has regained its strength.
An-Ur's natural weapons are treated as evil-aligned magic weapons for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.
Blindsense (Ex): An-Ur can pinpoint creatures within a distance of 60 feet. Opponents An-Ur can't actually see still have total concealment against it.
Breath Weapon (Su): An-Ur has two different breath weapons, a 70-foot cone of force or a 140-foot line of ethereal mist. The force breath deals 24d6 points of force damage, and like all force effects, its breath weapon affects ethereal creatures when An-Ur is on the Material Plane. A successful Reflex save (DC 33) halves the damage. Any creature caught within the area of the ethereal mist must make a successful Reflex save (DC 33) or find itself transported to the Ethereal Plane. The save DC is Constitution-based. Once An-Ur breathes, it must wait 1d4 rounds before using its breath weapon again.
Crush (Ex): When flying or jumping, An-Ur can land on opponents three or more sizes smaller than itself as a standard action, using its whole body to crush them. A crush attack affects as many creatures as can fit under it's body. Each creature in the affected area must succeed at a Reflex save (DC 33) or be pinned, automatically taking 4d8+16 points of bludgeoning damage. The save DC is Constitution-based. Thereafter, if An-Ur chooses to maintain the pin, treat it as a normal grapple attack. While pinned, the opponent takes crush damage each round.
Ethereal Jaunt (Su): An-Ur can shift from the Ethereal Plane to the Material Plane as a free action, and shift back again as a move action. The ability is otherwise identical with ethereal jaunt cast by a 20th-level sorcerer.
Ethereal Vision (Ex): While on the Material Plane, An-Ur can see ethereal creatures as if they were visible. While on the Ethereal Plane, An-Ur can see normally out to the range of its darkvision (normally creatures on the Ethereal Plane have a visual limit of 60 feet). Note that blindsense functions normally even on the Ethereal Plane, regardless of visual limits.
Frightful Presence (Ex): Whenever An-Ur attacks, charges, or flies overhead, each creature in a 360-foot radius that has fewer HD than it does must make a DC 32 Will save. Failure indicates that the creature is panicked for 4d6 rounds (if it has 4 or fewer HD) or shaken for 4d6 rounds (if it has 5 or more HD). A creature that succeeds on its Will save remains immune to that An-Ur's frightful presence for 24 hours. The save DC is Charisma-based.
Keen Senses (Ex): An-Ur sees four times as well as a human in shadowy illumination and twice as well in normal light.
See Ethereal (Su): An-Ur can see ethereal creatures as if they were visible.
Spells: An-Ur casts arcane spells as a 10th-level sorcerer, and can also cast cleric spells and those from the Destruction, Evil, Law, and Trickery domains as arcane spells.
Typical Sorcerer Spells Known (spells known 9/5/4/3/2/1/-/-/-/-; spells per day 6/8/8/8/6/4/-/-/-/-; save DC 17 + spell level): 0—detect magic, ghost sound, guidance, mage hand, message, open/close, prestidigitation, read magic, resistance; 1st—color spray, expeditious retreat, mage armor, magic missle, shield; 2nd—cat's grace, cure moderate wounds, detect thoughts, resist energy; 3rd—dispel magic, displacement, heroism; 4th—resilient sphere, solid fog; 5th—wall of force.
Strike Ethereal Creatures (Ex): An-Ur can strike ethereal creatures as if they were material. This ability does not allow An-Ur while on the Ethereal Plane to affect creatures on the Material Plane.
Summon Ethereal Cyclone (Su): Three times per day, while on the Ethereal Plane, An-Ur can summon an ethereal cyclone. This requires a full-round action, and the storm lasts for 1 minute. All creatures (except undead) within 300 feet of An-Ur are affected as described in Chapter 5 of Manual of the Planes. (If you don't have access to Manual of the Planes, you can simply rule that each creature within the cyclone is thrown 1d10 miles in a random direction.) This power has no effect anywhere other than on the Ethereal Plane.
Skills: *An-Ur has a +8 racial bonus on Hide checks when on the Ethereal Plane.
An-Ur and the Draconomicon
If you are using the Draconomicon, the following changes are recommended.
Feats: Replace Improved Initiative and Weapon Focus (bite) with Quicken Breath and Tempest Breath.
Spells: Replace cat's grace with scintillating scales. |
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1999 Wizards of the Coast, Inc.
Originally found in Dragon Magazine #260, "Spawn of Tiamat, Children of Bahamut", Keith Francis Strohm. |
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