Legendary Resistance (3/Day). If the dracolich fails a saving throw, it can choose to succeed instead.
Magic Resistance. The dracolich has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.
Multiattack. The dracolich can use its Frightful Presence. It then makes three attacks, one with its bite and two with its claws.
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +11 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 17 (2d10 + 6) piercing damage.
Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +11 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 13 (2d6 + 6) slashing damage.
Tail. Melee Weapon Attack: +11 to hit, reach 15 ft., one target. Hit: 15 (2d8 + 6) bludgeoning damage.
Frightful Presence. Each creature of the dracolich’s choice that is within 120 feet of the dracolich and aware of it must succeed on a DC 16 Wisdom saving throw or become frightened for 1 minute. A creature can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success. If a creature’s saving throw is successful or the effect ends for it, the creature is immune to the dracolich’s Frightful Presence for the next 24 hours.
Control Undead. As an action, you can choose one undead that you can see within 60 feet of you. That creature must make a DC 18 Charisma saving throw. If it succeeds, you can’t use this feature on it again. If it fails, it becomes friendly to you and obeys your commands until you use this feature again.
Intelligent undead are harder to control in this way. If the target has an Intelligence of 8 or higher, it has advantage on the saving throw. If it fails the saving throw and has an Intelligence of 12 or higher, it can repeat the saving throw at the end of every hour until it succeeds and breaks free.
Breath Weapons (Recharge 5–6). The dracolich uses one of the following breath weapons.
Acid Breath. The dracolich exhales acid in a 60-foot line that is 5 feet wide. Each creature in that line must make a DC 18 Dexterity saving throw, taking 54 (12d8) acid damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.
Slowing Breath. The dracolich exhales gas in a 60-foot cone. Each creature in that area must succeed on a DC 18 Constitution saving throw. On a failed save, the creature can't use reactions, its speed is halved, and it can't make more than one attack on its turn. In addition, the creature can use either an action or a bonus action on its turn, but not both. These effects last for 1 minute. The creature can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself with a successful save.
The dracolich can take 3 legendary actions, choosing from the options below. Only one legendary action option can be used at a time and only at the end of another creature’s turn. The dracolich regains spent legendary actions at the start of its turn.
Detect. The dracolich makes a Wisdom (Perception) check.
Tail Attack. The dracolich makes a tail attack.
Wing Attack (Costs 2 Actions). The dracolich beats its tattered wings. Each creature within 10 feet of the dracolich must succeed on a DC 19 Dexterity saving throw or take 13 (2d6 + 6) bludgeoning damage and be knocked prone. After beating its wings this way, the dracolich can can then fly up to 40 feet.
Description
More than a powerful form of undead, a dracolich was a dragon who had voluntarily tied its soul to a phylactery, freeing itself from death. A type of lich, the creature's spirit could possess any dead reptilian body, usually their original form, and retained all the powers and abilities of the former body. That meant a dracolich had the supernatural fear aura, spells, and breath weapon it had in life, plus the terrible might of the undead. When killed in its corporeal body, the dracolich didn't "die". Instead, its spirit fled and hid in the phylactery, awaiting another suitable body to animate and inhabit. Like other types of lich, a dracolich was only truly annihilated when its phylactery was destroyed.
The most evil-tempered and vile of their kind, black dracoliches collect the wreckage and treasures of fallen peoples. These beings loathe seeing the weak prosper and revel in the collapse of humanoid kingdoms. They make their homes in fetid swamps and crumbling ruins where kingdoms once stood. Even in its life, with deep-socketed eyes and broad nasal openings, a black dragon’s face resembled a skull, and now it truly has one, pocked and grooved with acid. A black dracolich’s head is marked by spikes and horns. Its tongue is flat with a forked tip, drooling slime whose acidic scent adds to the dracolich’s reek of rotting vegetation and foul water.
Brutal and Cruel. All dracoliches are evil, but black dracoliches stand apart for their sadistic nature. It revels in watching its prey beg for mercy, and will often offer the illusion of respite or escape before finishing off its enemies. A black dracolich tends to strike at its weakest enemies first, ensuring a quick and brutal victory, which bolsters its ego as it terrifies its remaining foes. On the verge of defeat, a black dracolich does anything it can to save itself, but it accepts death before allowing any other creature to claim mastery over it. After all, its phylactery is usually hidden far, far away...
Foes and Servants. Black dracoliches hate and fear the rest of their kind, living and undead alike. They spy on draconic and dracolich rivals from afar, looking for opportunities to slay the weak and avoid the strong. If a stronger dracolich should ever threaten it, a black dracolich will abandon its lair without a second thought.
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