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<blockquote data-quote="dave2008" data-source="post: 8086547" data-attributes="member: 83242"><p>[ATTACH=full]141252[/ATTACH]</p><p><a href="https://www.deviantart.com/ahkahna/art/Dracolich-Commission-18235267" target="_blank">Dracolich Commission</a> by Ahkahna</p><p></p><p>*Note: my view on a dracolich is different then what is presented in the MM.</p><p></p><p><span style="font-size: 26px">D</span><span style="font-size: 22px">RACOLICH</span></p><p>[ATTACH=full]131495[/ATTACH]</p><p>Even as long-lived as they are, all dragons must eventually die. This thought doesn’t sit well with many dragons, it is generally accepted. However, some powerful dragons cannot except the limitations of a mortal life and allow themselves to be transformed by necromantic energy and ancient rituals into powerful undead dracoliches. Only the most narcissistic and depraved dragons choose this path, knowing that by doing so, they sever all ties to their kin and the dragon gods.</p><p></p><p><strong><em>Beyond Death</em></strong>. The ritual that transforms a dragon into a dracolich consumes its vitality and innate elemental magic. The reborn dracolich retains the shape, size, and mental capabilities it had in life; however, its body withers, its skin and scales draw tight and slough away to leave a skeletal form behind. Its eyes appear as glowing points of light floating in shadowy sockets, hinting at the malevolence of its undead mind. Additionally, it looses the ability to use the magic it had in life, including its breathweapon, but it gains new necrotic powers in the process.</p><p></p><p>Though many dragons pursue vain goals of destruction and dominance, dracoliches are more nefarious than the most evil dragons, driven to rule over all. A dracolich is a fiendishly intelligent tyrant that crafts complex webs of foul schemes, attracting servants motivated by greed and a lust for power. Acting from the shadows and actively plotting to keep its existence a secret, a dracolich is a cunning and challenging foe.</p><p></p><p>The process of becoming a dracolich robs a dragon of the elemental magic it had in life as it fuels its undead transformation. However, many dracolich's use their undeath to acquiring new magical abilities, becoming wizards, sorcerers, or occasionally clerics of evil gods.</p><p></p><p><strong><em>Dracolich Phylacteries.</em></strong> Creating a dracolich requires the cooperation of the dragon and a group of mages or cultists that can perform the proper ritual. During the ritual, the dragon consumes a toxic brew that slays it instantly. The attendant spellcasters then ensnare its spirit and transfer it to a special gemstone that functions like a lich’s phylactery. As the dragon’s flesh rots away, the spirit inside the gem returns to animate the dragon’s bones.</p><p></p><p>If a dracolich’s physical form is ever destroyed, its spirit returns to the gem as long as the two are on the same plane. If the gem comes into contact with another dragon’s corpse, the dracolich’s spirit can take possession of that corpse to become a new dracolich. If the dracolich’s spirit gem is taken to another plane, the dracolich’s spirit has nowhere to go when its undead body is destroyed and simply passes into the afterlife.</p><p></p><p><span style="font-size: 22px">D</span><span style="font-size: 18px">RACOLICH </span><span style="font-size: 22px">T</span><span style="font-size: 18px">EMPLATE</span></p><p>[ATTACH=full]131496[/ATTACH]</p><p>Only an ancient or adult true dragon can be transformed into a dracolich. Younger dragons that attempt to undergo the transformation die, as do other creatures that aren’t true dragons but possess the dragon type, such as pseudodragons and wyverns. A shadow dragon can’t be transformed into a dracolich, for it has already lost too much of its physical form.</p><p></p><p>When a dragon becomes a dracolich, it retains its statistics except as described below. The dragon loses any trait, such as Amphibious, that assumes a living physiology. The dracolich might retain or lose any or all of its lair actions or inherit new ones, as the DM sees fit.</p><p></p><p><strong><em>Type.</em></strong> The dracolich’s type changes from dragon to undead, and it no longer requires air, food, drink, or sleep.</p><p></p><p><strong><em>Armor Class.</em></strong> The dracolich's armor class is reduced by 4, compared to what it had when it was living.</p><p></p><p><strong><em>Hit Points. </em></strong>The dracolich has 2 less hit dice than than the dragon had in life. Recalculate the dracolich's hit points based on its revised hit dice and Constitution.</p><p></p><p><strong><em>Speed.</em></strong> Reduce all speeds it has by 10 ft.</p><p></p><p><strong><em>Strength.</em></strong> The dracolich's Strength score is reduced by 4, compared to what it had when it was living.</p><p></p><p><strong><em>Dexterity.</em></strong> The dracolich's Dexterity score is reduced by 2, compared to what it had when it was living.</p><p></p><p><strong><em>Constitution. </em></strong>The dracolich's Constitution score is reduced by 2, compared to what it had when it was living.</p><p></p><p><strong><em>Damage Resistance.</em></strong> The dracolich has resistance to necrotic and piercing damage.</p><p></p><p><strong><em>Damage Immunities.</em></strong> The dracolich has immunity to poison. It also retains any immunities it had prior to becoming a dracolich.</p><p></p><p><strong><em>Condition Immunities.</em></strong> The dracolich can’t be charmed, frightened, paralyzed, or poisoned. It also doesn’t suffer from exhaustion.</p><p></p><p><strong><em>Dragon Magic. </em></strong> The dracolich cannot use the innate magic it had in life, it looses the Dragon Magic trait.</p><p></p><p><strong><em>Dragon Scales. </em></strong>The dracolich's scales wither and fall off, it looses the Dragon Scales trait.</p><p></p><p><strong><em>Magic Resistance.</em></strong> The dracolich has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects and any creature that makes a spell attack against the dracolich has disadvantage on the attack roll.</p><p></p><p><strong><em>Perceptive. </em></strong>The dracolich looses this trait if it had it in life.</p><p></p><p><strong><em>Seige Monster.</em></strong> The dracolich looses this trait if it had it in life.</p><p></p><p><strong><em>Breathweapon.</em></strong> The dracolich's breathweapon damage type changes to necrotic. Additionally, any creature that takes damage from the dracolich's breathweapon must make an additional Constitution saving throw, same DC as the breathweapon, or its hit point maximum is reduced by an amount equal to half the necrotic damage taken. The reduction lasts until the target finishes a long rest. The target dies if this effect reduces its hit point maximum to 0.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="dave2008, post: 8086547, member: 83242"] [ATTACH type="full"]141252[/ATTACH] [URL='https://www.deviantart.com/ahkahna/art/Dracolich-Commission-18235267']Dracolich Commission[/URL] by Ahkahna *Note: my view on a dracolich is different then what is presented in the MM. [SIZE=7]D[/SIZE][SIZE=6]RACOLICH[/SIZE] [ATTACH type="full" alt="1610980755965.png"]131495[/ATTACH] Even as long-lived as they are, all dragons must eventually die. This thought doesn’t sit well with many dragons, it is generally accepted. However, some powerful dragons cannot except the limitations of a mortal life and allow themselves to be transformed by necromantic energy and ancient rituals into powerful undead dracoliches. Only the most narcissistic and depraved dragons choose this path, knowing that by doing so, they sever all ties to their kin and the dragon gods. [B][I]Beyond Death[/I][/B]. The ritual that transforms a dragon into a dracolich consumes its vitality and innate elemental magic. The reborn dracolich retains the shape, size, and mental capabilities it had in life; however, its body withers, its skin and scales draw tight and slough away to leave a skeletal form behind. Its eyes appear as glowing points of light floating in shadowy sockets, hinting at the malevolence of its undead mind. Additionally, it looses the ability to use the magic it had in life, including its breathweapon, but it gains new necrotic powers in the process. Though many dragons pursue vain goals of destruction and dominance, dracoliches are more nefarious than the most evil dragons, driven to rule over all. A dracolich is a fiendishly intelligent tyrant that crafts complex webs of foul schemes, attracting servants motivated by greed and a lust for power. Acting from the shadows and actively plotting to keep its existence a secret, a dracolich is a cunning and challenging foe. The process of becoming a dracolich robs a dragon of the elemental magic it had in life as it fuels its undead transformation. However, many dracolich's use their undeath to acquiring new magical abilities, becoming wizards, sorcerers, or occasionally clerics of evil gods. [B][I]Dracolich Phylacteries.[/I][/B] Creating a dracolich requires the cooperation of the dragon and a group of mages or cultists that can perform the proper ritual. During the ritual, the dragon consumes a toxic brew that slays it instantly. The attendant spellcasters then ensnare its spirit and transfer it to a special gemstone that functions like a lich’s phylactery. As the dragon’s flesh rots away, the spirit inside the gem returns to animate the dragon’s bones. If a dracolich’s physical form is ever destroyed, its spirit returns to the gem as long as the two are on the same plane. If the gem comes into contact with another dragon’s corpse, the dracolich’s spirit can take possession of that corpse to become a new dracolich. If the dracolich’s spirit gem is taken to another plane, the dracolich’s spirit has nowhere to go when its undead body is destroyed and simply passes into the afterlife. [SIZE=6]D[/SIZE][SIZE=5]RACOLICH [/SIZE][SIZE=6]T[/SIZE][SIZE=5]EMPLATE[/SIZE] [ATTACH type="full" alt="1610980764926.png"]131496[/ATTACH] Only an ancient or adult true dragon can be transformed into a dracolich. Younger dragons that attempt to undergo the transformation die, as do other creatures that aren’t true dragons but possess the dragon type, such as pseudodragons and wyverns. A shadow dragon can’t be transformed into a dracolich, for it has already lost too much of its physical form. When a dragon becomes a dracolich, it retains its statistics except as described below. The dragon loses any trait, such as Amphibious, that assumes a living physiology. The dracolich might retain or lose any or all of its lair actions or inherit new ones, as the DM sees fit. [B][I]Type.[/I][/B] The dracolich’s type changes from dragon to undead, and it no longer requires air, food, drink, or sleep. [B][I]Armor Class.[/I][/B] The dracolich's armor class is reduced by 4, compared to what it had when it was living. [B][I]Hit Points. [/I][/B]The dracolich has 2 less hit dice than than the dragon had in life. Recalculate the dracolich's hit points based on its revised hit dice and Constitution. [B][I]Speed.[/I][/B] Reduce all speeds it has by 10 ft. [B][I]Strength.[/I][/B] The dracolich's Strength score is reduced by 4, compared to what it had when it was living. [B][I]Dexterity.[/I][/B] The dracolich's Dexterity score is reduced by 2, compared to what it had when it was living. [B][I]Constitution. [/I][/B]The dracolich's Constitution score is reduced by 2, compared to what it had when it was living. [B][I]Damage Resistance.[/I][/B] The dracolich has resistance to necrotic and piercing damage. [B][I]Damage Immunities.[/I][/B] The dracolich has immunity to poison. It also retains any immunities it had prior to becoming a dracolich. [B][I]Condition Immunities.[/I][/B] The dracolich can’t be charmed, frightened, paralyzed, or poisoned. It also doesn’t suffer from exhaustion. [B][I]Dragon Magic. [/I][/B] The dracolich cannot use the innate magic it had in life, it looses the Dragon Magic trait. [B][I]Dragon Scales. [/I][/B]The dracolich's scales wither and fall off, it looses the Dragon Scales trait. [B][I]Magic Resistance.[/I][/B] The dracolich has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects and any creature that makes a spell attack against the dracolich has disadvantage on the attack roll. [B][I]Perceptive. [/I][/B]The dracolich looses this trait if it had it in life. [B][I]Seige Monster.[/I][/B] The dracolich looses this trait if it had it in life. [B][I]Breathweapon.[/I][/B] The dracolich's breathweapon damage type changes to necrotic. Additionally, any creature that takes damage from the dracolich's breathweapon must make an additional Constitution saving throw, same DC as the breathweapon, or its hit point maximum is reduced by an amount equal to half the necrotic damage taken. The reduction lasts until the target finishes a long rest. The target dies if this effect reduces its hit point maximum to 0. [/QUOTE]
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