Sunlight Sensitivity. While in sunlight, the dragon has disadvantage on attack rolls and Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on sight.
Shadow Cloak. While in dim light or darkness, the dragon has advantage on saving throws against spells and magical effects and resistance to all damage that isn't fire, force, psychic, or radiant.
Legendary Resistance (2/Day). If the dragon fails a saving throw, it can choose to succeed instead.
Shadow Stealth. While in dim light or Darkness, the dragon can take the Hide action as a Bonus Action. Its stealth bonus is also improved to +14.
Multiattack. The dragon can use its Frightful Presence. It then makes three melee attacks, one with its bite and two with its claws.
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +11 to hit, reach 10ft., one target. Hit 16 (2d10 + 5) piercing plus 7 (2d6) necrotic damage.
Claws. Melee Weapon Attack: +11 to hit, reach 5ft., one target. Hit 12 (2d6 + 5) slashing damage.
Tail. Melee Weapon Attack: +11 to hit, reach 15ft., one target. Hit 14 (2d8 + 5) bludgeoning damage.
Frightful Presence. Each creature of the dragon’s choice that is within 120 feet of the dragon and aware of it must succeed on a DC 21 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 dragon’s Frightful Presence for the next 24 hours.
Shadow Walk. When in dim light or darkness, the dragon can teleport up to 120 feet to an unoccupied space it can see that is also in dim light or darkness.
Withering Breath (Recharge 5–6). The dragon can only use this ability when it is at or above half its maximum hit points. The dragon exhales shadowy fire in a 30-foot cone. Each creature in that area must make a DC 18 Dexterity saving throw, taking 42 (12d6) necrotic damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. If the saving throw fails by 5 or more, the target also suffers a point of exhaustion.
A humanoid reduced to 0 hit points by this damage dies, and an undead shadow rises from its corpse and acts immediately after the dragon in the initiative count. The shadow is under the dragon’s control.
Beam of Shadow (Recharge 5-6). The dragon can only use this ability when it is below half its maximum hit points. The dragon emits a beam of pure darkness that is 100 feet long and 5 feet wide in a direction it chooses. Each creature in the line must make a DC 18 Dexterity saving throw. On a failed save, a creature takes 56 (16d6) necrotic damage and is thrown 10 feet away from the dragon landing prone. On a success, a creature takes half as much damage and is not thrown. If the saving throw fails by 5 or more, the target also suffers a point of exhaustion.
Bloodied Breath. The first time the dragon is reduced to fewer than half it's maximum hit points, its lets out a a shriek of rage and tendrils of dark energy explode from its body in a 15-foot radius. Each creature in that area must make a DC 18 Dexterity saving throw. On a failed save, a creature takes 28 (8d6) necrotic damage and is thrown 10 feet away from the dragon. On a successful save a creature takes half as much damage and isn’t thrown. A creature within 5 feet of the dragon makes this saving throw at disadvantage. If the saving throw fails by 5 or more, the creature also suffers a point of exhaustion.
In addition, the dragon summons three Grasping Shadows in unoccupied spaces within 30 feet of it, and is stunned until the he end of its next turn.
The dragon 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 dragon regains spent legendary actions at the start of its turn.
Detect. The dragon makes a Wisdom (Perception) check.
Tail Attack. The dragon makes a tail attack.
Shadow Walk (2 actions). The dragon uses its Shadow Walk ability.
Wing Attack (2 actions). The dragon beats its wings. Each creature within 10ft. of the dragon must succeed on a DC 18 Dexterity saving throw or take 12 (2d6+5) bludgeoning damage and be knocked prone.
Description
Shadow dragons are evil true dragons that were either native to the Shadowfell, or transformed by years spent there. Physically seeming insubstantial, shadow dragons had dark, translucent scales which helped them camouflaged into the darkness around them. Shadow dragons are true dragons that were either born in the Shadowfell or transformed by years spent within its dismal confines. The transformation to a shadow dragon happens over a period of years, during which time a dragons scales lose their luster and fade to a charcoal hue. It’s leathery wings become translucent, and its eyes paling to pools of opalescent gray. The longer a creature remains on the Shadowfell, the more it accepts the plane’s malaise. As months and years pass for a dragon on the Shadowfell, it devotes aware of the transformation being wrought upon it and yet can do nothing to prevent it.
From the Shadows. A shadow dragon stalks its prey from the shadows. They have the frightful presence of other dragons and a number of abilities that allow them to be stealthy and move quickly, starting with a predisposition towards mundane hiding, sneaking and jumping. They aren't exactly fast flyers but can move unusually fast on feet for dragons. They learn an increasing number of magical abilities to hide from enemies and movement. A shadow dragon can hide away into shadows and learns over its ages to cast mirror image, dimension door, and nondetection.
Once at great wyrm stage, they can 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 is impossible to disperse, at least with light, magical or not and creatures who don't have some kind of tie to the Plane of Shadow are at a severe disadvantage to those who do because they gained added abilities in stealth and retained perfect vision, while those without connection are practically blind as long as they remain in the area that encompasses a radius of up to 100 yards (91.44 m). This ability was usable multiple times.
Weak of Body, Strong of Mind, Tough of Scale. A shadow dragon has standard physical attacks for a true dragon, biting, clawing, bludgeoning with its wings and/or its tail, crushing on an enemy and sweeping with its tail. But while a shadow dragon can use the standard physical attack forms, a shadow dragon is physically weak compared to other dragons. For example, even at great wyrm stage, shadow dragons are, in regards of raw physical strength, below a white dragon, the weakest of the chromatic dragons, at the same stage.
In regards of mental capabilities however, they eclipse even red dragons and are on par with gold dragons, the smartest of the metallic dragons. A shadow dragon has very strong spell resistances and very hard scales. As it grows, it gains an increasingly stronger resistance to spells and non magical physical attacks. Their scales are hard even among dragons and grow only harder with age. All shadow dragons own an outright immunity against necrotic damage and life-draining effects.
Magic. Like many other true dragons, shadow dragons have a tendency to develop sorcerous abilities with at least the potential to learn spells usually only open to divine casters as well as those from the Chaos, Evil, and Trickery Domains.
Lair and Lair Actions
A Shadow Dragon’s Lair
Shadow Dragons lair in forlorn places and the deep gloom of subterranean caverns, often near portals to the Shadowfell, where their corrupting transformation took place. Shadow dragons rarely leave their lairs, except under cover of darkest night, as they find the lights of the outside world abhorrent - indeed, they are weaker in bright light than they are in darkness.
Throughout the lair complex, the twisted remains of fallen souls from the Shadowfell roam - these Grasping Shadows desperately seek to drag the living into the darkness with them.
Lair Actions. On initiative count 20 (losing initiative ties), the dragon takes a lair action to cause one of the following effects; the dragon can't use the same effect two rounds in a row:
- Shadow spreads from a point the dragon chooses within 60 feet of it, filling a 15-foot-radius sphere until the dragon dismisses it as an action, uses this lair action again, or dies. The shadow spreads around corners. In this sphere, bright light becomes dim light, and dim light becomes darkness.
- Lights within the lair flicker and darken for a moment, and 1d4 Grasping Shadows appear in unoccupied spaces that are in dim light or darkness. If the entire lair is lit with bright light, nothing happens.
- A tremor shakes the lair in a 60-foot radius around the dragon. Each creature other than the dragon on the ground in the area must succeed on a DC 15 Desterity saving throw or be knocked prone.
Regional Effects. The region containing a corrupted shadow dragon’s lair is warped by the dragon’s magic, which creates on or more of the following effects:
- Magical light sources inexplicably fail for a few seconds each day within 6 miles of the dragon’s lair.
- Moonless nights are supernaturally dark within. Mile of the lair, preventing darkness from being illuminated by no magical light sources.
- Twisted shadows within 1 mile of the dragon’s lair take shape, as Grasping Shadows appear to roam the world above on the darkest nights. If the dragon dies, these effects fade over the course of 1d10 days.
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