Amphibious. The dragon can breathe air and water.
Legendary Resistance (3/Day). If the dragon fails a saving throw, it can choose to succeed instead.
Rotten Regrowth. At the beginning of each of its turn, the dragon regains 2d8 hit points.
Ragin' Contagion. Whenever any creature is hit by the dragons bite they must make a DC 8 con saving throw. On a failed save the creature is infected with the mark of death. Due to the dragons infected magical blood this is a magic infection. It bypasses all disease immunities, and nothing magical shy of a healing spell cast at level 9 three times or the wish spell can heal this infection. All other forms of magical intervention only feeds the illness, causing this disease to increase in severity. (Each "incorrect" magical treatment speeds the symptoms by one day.) A successful DC 30 medicine check will allow another creature to successfully create an strong medicine that will remove the symptoms for one day and set the exhaustion counter back by one.
Mark of death symptoms are as follows:
Diagnostic- 6 hours after being infected, the creature gains a black, circular mark on their forehead.
-Every 48 hours this illness goes untreated the infected creature gains one level of exhaustion
-after the first day, the creature must make a DC 15 Con save before each of its actions, on a failed save the creature's body tenses up and they are treated as if they are paralyzed for that turn.
-after the second day the creature takes a -20 to its max hit points as long as its infected.
-after the third day, the creature experiences hallucinations and paranoia.
-after the fourth day, the creature is paralyzed.
-after the seventh day, the creature falls into a coma.
This disease can only be cured by a practicing doctor, or an experienced alchemist with the blood of the dragon that infected the creature.
Multiattack. The dragon can use its Smog Spray and two claw attacks or it can make 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 plus 4 (1d8) acid damage. Creatures hit by this must make a DC 13 dexterity save or take 4 (1d8) necrotic damage.
Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +11 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 13 (2d6 + 6) necrotic damage.
Tail. Melee Weapon Attack: +11 to hit, reach 15 ft., one target. Hit: 15 (2d8 + 6) necrotic damage.
Smog Spray. Each creature of the dragon's choice that is within 120 feet of the dragon and aware of it must succeed on a DC 14 dexterity saving throw or become poisoned for one minute.
Rotten Breath (Recharge 3-4). The dragon opens its maw and unloads a haze of yellow fog in an area 30ft around itself. Creatures within this area must make a DC 12 dexterity saving throw or take 20(2d20) poison damage on a failed save or half as much on a successful one. The fog persists for two rounds after its unleash. Any creature that ends its turn in the area of the fog must make a DC 18 Con save or take 10 (4d5) poison damage on a failed save or a quarter as much on a successful one.
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.
Sloughing Skin(Costs 1 action per zombie). The dragon creates up to three zombies, taking 22 damage per zombie created. They each roll their own initiative but dont take a turn until the end of the current round.
Death Mark (Costs 3 Actions). The dragon rolls its eyes back as it begins to utter a curse. After which three veiny tendrils shoot from its mouth at one creature. The creature must make a DC 28 dex save or be latched onto by the tendrils. Each turn the creature is connected to the tendrils, they must make a DC 15 con save (increasing by 1 each turn) or be infected by the mark of death. Cutting the tendrils will require the attached creature to make a DC 18 Con save or be infected by mark of death. The zombie dragon can only infect a creature once this way.
Description
"What happens when a dragon refuses to die and hasn't had time to fully decompose? You get the most terrifying avatar of death- the diseased dragon. The zombie dragon."
~Doctor Celltifuge, after treating yet another foolish adventurer.
Zombie dragons are the oh so very much more scary counterpart to their once living selves. Undeath has racked their bodies and the time they've spent in the ground has infected their very soul. These dragons often times slough off their infinitely regenerating flesh to summon forth zombified minions to increase their legendary hordes. The thing that makes these dragons legendary isn't the terrifying appearance of their white, colorless scales, or their opaque eyes, or even the necrotic, black tissue that carries the scent of death itself. What makes these dragons famous- neigh- infamous, is the disease they carry. These dragons mix the virus that infects their soul with the magic still coursing through their blood. Their prime pray is the ever confident paladins whom believe their god protects them from all disease. For not even divine protection can save one from the cursed contagion that is the mark of death.
Lair and Lair Actions
The zombie dragon's lair is found wherever it had first died. It's cursed undead magic flowing through the land, choking out any life for miles around it. The zombie dragon's lair commonly has some sort of higher ground in the center, where it can climb its way up to and allow its smog, and rotten purulent discharge drift and flow down from to create rivers of deadly disease which can infect travelers with its cursed disease just as easily as it can. The zombie dragon's lair is guarded by the resurrected corpses of those it slayed, functioning as a hive mind linked by its magical bacteria.
Lair Actions
On initiative count 20, the dragon can cause one of the following effects. It cannot use the same lair action twice in a row.
- Ill Wind. The dragon stomps the ground and causes a geyser to erupt from somewhere in its lair, blasting a gale of rotten wind in a 20ft long and 10ft wide line. Any creatures caught in this line must make a DC 15 Constitution saving throw, with the following effects occurring based on the geyser's direction on a fail.
- Upwards: The creature(s) that fail are launched a full 20ft into the air, taking 4d6 bludgeoning damage after plummeting to the ground.
- Downwards: Should the geyser blast downwards, the failed creature(s) are knocked prone.
- Any other direction: The creature(s) that fail are pushed 25ft in the direction of the geysers foul wind.
- On a successful save. The creatures are only pushed 5ft in the general direction of the geysers wind, the downwards geyser does not incur any effect.
- Dreadful Gas. The dragon chooses a point within its lair within 120ft of itself, a 20ft radius sphere of poisonous gas fills the area. The gas spreads around corners and lasts until the dragon dismisses it as a bonus action or dies. The cloud is lightly obscured. Any creature in the cloud when it appears must make on a DC 15 Constitution saving throw, taking 10 (3d6) poison damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. A creature that ends its turn in the cloud takes 10 (3d6) poison damage and must make a DC 12 Constitution saving throw, being paralyzed until the end of their next turn on a failure.
- Flowing Death. Rivers of the dragon's natural discharge begin to surge and flow in a direction it indicates, any creature on the ground within 20 feet of such a river must succeed on a DC 15 Strength saving throw or be pulled into the river, knocked prone, and pulled an additional 25ft in the direction of the dragon's choice.
Regional Effects
The region containing a zombie dragon’s lair is warped by it's cursed disease and magic, which creates one or more of the following effects:
- The land within 2 miles of the lair is diseased. No plant life grows and undead roam the land. Traversing the land takes double the normal amount of time it would in order to avoid the hordes of undead.
- Water sources within 1 mile of the lair are infected and fouled. All non-undead creatures that drink such water must regurgitate it within seconds or become infected.
- All creatures that die within 2 miles of the lair are resurrected as undead versions of themselves, unified by the bacterial hive mind.
If the dragon dies, all undead created by its curse crumble and die, and vegetation slowly begins to grow back over 1d10 years.
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