Shadow Dragon
Description
Shadow Dragons were evil true Dragons that were either native to the Shadowfell, or transformed by years spent there. Physically seeming insubstantial, Shadow Dragons had dark and translucent scales which helped them camouflage into the darkness around them. Shadow Dragons were often mistaken for Black Dragons, but their horns pointed backwards. A long fringe of spines emerged from the back of a Dragon's neck and its powerful tail featured a swimming fin. An average Shadow Dragon was 20ft - 30ft in length.
A Dragon egg could be identified as that of a Shadow Dragon by the purple tinge seen when held in front of an intense white light, though it shared this trait with Deep Dragon and Amethyst Dragon eggs.
Shadow Dragons were crafty and devious, eclipsing even Red Dragons in their mental capabilities and were on par with Gold Dragons, the smartest of the Metallic Dragons. Like any other true Dragon, Shadow Dragons had sharp hearing and sight, which was capable of Low-Light Vision and Darkvision. They also had Blindsense.
Abilities
Shadow Dragons were physically weak compared to other Dragons. For example even at Ancient stage Shadow Dragons were, in regards of raw physical strength, below a White Dragon, the weakest of the Chromatic Dragons, at the same stage. They had the frightful presence like other Dragons and a number of abilities that allowed them to be stealthy and also to move fast. Starting with a predisposition towards mundane hiding, sneaking and jumping. They weren't exactly fast flyers but could move unusually fast on feet for Dragons.
A Shadow Dragon's breath was a cone of shadows. Creatures caught in it lost parts of their vitality, skills and spells, possibly permanently, all while temporarily empowering the Dragon. They could train their breath weapon to turn those they killed with it into spectral creatures who were then permanently enslaved by the Shadow Dragon.
As they aged, Shadow Dragons learned an increasing number of magical abilities to hide from enemies and enhance their movement. They could hide away into shadows, even those in otherwise well-lit areas, and learned over its ages to cast Mirror Image, Dimension Door; Non-Detection and Shadow Walk.
Once at Ancient stage, they could fill a large area with darkness. Once this ability was used, a battle was in danger of becoming a one sided matter in favor of the Shadow Dragon. The darkness was impossible to disperse with light, magical or not. Creatures without ties to the Plane of Shadow were practically blind as long as they remained in the area that encompassed a radius of 100 yards. Those with ties to the plane were largely unaffected. This ability was usable multiple times.
Combat
A Shadow Dragon would stalk its prey from the shadows, preferring to use its abilities to blend with the darkness and to confuse its enemies. It fought in many of the ways typically done by true Dragons — biting, clawing, bludgeoning with its wings and/or its tail, crushing on an enemy and sweeping with its tail.
A Shadow Dragon had very strong spell resistances and very hard scales. As it grew, it gained an increasingly stronger resistance against spells and non magical physical attacks. Their scales were hard even among Dragons and grew only harder with age. All Shadow Dragons owned an outright immunity against life sapping effects.
General Information
Vision
Darkvision
Language(s)
Draconic
Homeland(s)
Shadowfell; The Prime Material Plane
Favored Terrain
Underground
Appearance
Average Length
20ft ‒ 30ft
Skin Color(s)
Dark Translucent Scales
Eye Color(s)
Grey
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