The Peridrake

It is said that if one ventures to warm, forested lands not far from the sea, where groves of ficin thrive, they may discover signs of an aberrant, unnatural subspecies of dragon. The origins of this strange breed are as shrouded in myth as their colonies, which few even know of; some say a clutch of dragon eggs was touched by the Far Realm, while others say a solitary dragon had become a victim of its own magical experiments. What is agreed on by seers is that they are reclusive, subterranean colony dwellers who carefully pull strings with the outside world.

Individuals seeking to become warlocks may venture into the great groves of ficin surrounding their colonies; most campaign settings may have as few as one colony in their world. And then, seeking an audience, they are carried down into the deepest bowels of the earth, where at last a pact is struck with their magi. A few drops of blood, some lessons in transmutation, and then the fledgling warlock is dubbed an emissary of the colony. And as their service continues, the Blood of the Peridrakes slowly twists their bodies into a hybrid, signifying the link between their race and the warlock...

The Price of Power

No matter what kind of warlock one encounters, all of them share a similar theme- power for a price. Some patrons demand that an aspiring warlock forfeit their soul, whereas others ask only for them to perform favors. A peridrake is no different, as the life of a colonial emissary is one of constant action. Unlike other emissaries however, a warlock is also forced to demonstrate their arcane competence, or die trying. To become a warlock, one must first partake in a ritual where the blood of one's patron is imbibed, bestowing their arcane affinity in the process. But such excitement is short-lived, as peridrakes continue to regenerate even as they are being digested, feeding on the host's innards to fuel their reconstitution. This flesh-eating disease will eventually kill the host, but those who are skilled enough will eventually turn the disease into a symbiote. Afterwards, they will become exponentially more powerful- starting their career as one of the most fragile and limited spellcasters, and ending it as a highly versatile arcane juggernaut.

Even as they struggle against the very disease which granted them their power, a peridrake warlock must remember that they have pledged as an emissary to beings hidden deep within the bowels of the world, whose magi can draw in magical energy as one draws in air to breathe. Their motives are inscrutable to all others, but their emissaries understand that what they crave most of all is power- be it in the form of resources, wealth, influence, or raw magical might. As such, a peridrake warlock is expected to hoard whatever leverage they can on behalf of their patron, with the final goal being to levy resources and arcane secrets from wherever they are sent. While the peridrakes do not expect a constant stream of sacrifices and offerings, the far-reaching effects of their machinations can go far beyond what many other patrons expect to gain from their pawns.

Pact Boon

BOON	Description
Blade	If your weapon has a blade, it is made from solid obsidian. Otherwise, it is made from black onyx.
Chain	Your familiar is either a cockatrice, a dust mephit, or a faerie dragon (younger).
Talisman	Your talisman has either a wheel-cross made from solid gold, or a carved bauble made from solid moonstone.
Tome	Your tome is bound in a living, breathing shell of chitin. Each page is a gill covered in bioluminescent text; you can write in it by pressing a pointed object to the pages.

Expanded Spell List

The Peridrake lets you choose from an expanded list of spells when you learn a warlock spell. The following spells are added to the warlock spell list for you.

Peridrake Expanded Spells

Spell Level	Spells
1st	earth tremor, command
2nd	maximilian's earthen grasp, knock
3rd	erupting earth, protection from energy
4th	black tentacles, arcane eye
5th	flame strike, geas

*In the original off-site homebrew, flame strike was replaced with destructive wave in order to provide a non-concentration AoE spell with a CON save instead of yet another DEX save. The spell could not be included on DnD Beyond due to licensing issues with content from the Player's Handbook, but you are welcome to write that spell in at your DM's discretion.

Inner Turmoil

Starting at 1st level, the dosage of blood you imbibed from your Peridrake patron has triggered a strong reaction inside your own body. Its parasitic essence wages war with your immune system, slowly gaining a foothold as it devours and replaces cells with more of its kind. Your body feels like a roiling maelstrom.

As a consequence of this infection, your Strength score drops by -2 and your Constitution score drops by -4. You will also take 10d10 psychic damage whenever you identify or share detailed information about your patron, but only once per day. However, you gain immunity to disease and resistance to poison damage. Also, whenever you are brought below 0 hit points, you automatically stabilize unless you suffer massive damage or your body is destroyed.

Parasitic Integration

Starting at 6th level, the bloodborne pathogen has wrested control of your immune system, and is now free to take over your bodily tissues. Although the sickness you felt before is passing, you feel... strange. Your state of mind becomes increasingly hard to describe. You are filled with unusual cravings, ranging from fish, to alcohol, to rocks. And stranger yet, you begin to feel like your internal organs are shifting...

Your previous Strength and Constitution score penalties are reduced by half. You also gain resistance to psychic damage, and advantage on Wisdom saving throws.

Unnatural Body

Starting at level 10, your body is showing outward signs of your pact with the peridrakes. Your skin takes on a silvery sheen as scales begin to cover it. Your mouth, orifices, mucous membranes, and the skin around your eyes are turning a vibrant color. Horns of black, organic silica begin to sprout on your head. Your teeth harden and turn shiny black as your tongue elongates. Your eyes turn black and your irises glow a white, bioluminescent light in the dark. A fissure runs along the backs of your elongated hands as your nails and fingertips turn to hardened points. Your ears begin to recede, fusing with the scales that are taking over your flesh. The hair on your scalp turns to soft, pliable quills. And somewhere deep within your chest, you feel a burning heat that you swear should be cooking your insides. Conversations stop as you enter rooms, and commoners stare warily at your aberrant visage.

Roll 2d6 or pick two of the following options- one for the tint of your hair, and one for your insides and eye markings. Over time, they have gradually turned a different color:

Option	Color
1	Ruby
2	Amber
3	Hematite
4	Jade
5	Sapphire
6	Amethyst

 

With this alien body, your Strength score penalty from the previous stages is removed outright, but your Constitution score remains weakened. You also gain resistance to cold and bludgeoning damage, advantage on Constitution saving throws, and the ability to breathe underwater. Finally, while your unusual visage or anatomy is not concealed or disguised, you have advantage on intimidation checks, but you suffer disadvantage on all other Charisma checks with creatures that are neither dragons nor aberrations.

Metamorphosis

Starting at level 14, you feel that the infection has run its course, leaving you a half-peridrake. A pair of black horns sweep behind your head as your flesh is covered in smooth, silvery scales. Your mouth elongates into a muzzle, and your elongated tongue transforms into a flexible proboscis. Your ears have receded into simple holes with tympanic membranes, and your visage is framed in vitreous tendrils. Your arms have bifurcated, splitting in two to grant you a total of four. The toes on your feet have morphed into a third pair of hands, and you feel as if your entire body is nimbler than before. A large serpent sprouts from the small of your back to form a tail, watchful and vigilant. Stones, gravel, and salt have become as integral a part of your diet as hearty fish and baskets of eggs. You appear completely alien to others, perplexing even other half-dragons with your quirks, for you have come to embody two completely different worlds- the surface world, and the colony.

With the Blood of the Peridrakes coursing through your veins, your creature type changes to Aberration (Dragon). You gain +4 to your Dexterity score up to a maximum of 20, advantage on acrobatics and athletics checks, resistance to fire damage, and you cannot die from a lack of air or water. You also cease all age progression and cannot be aged magically. Your tail-snake also prevents you from becoming surprised, flanked, or susceptible to sneak attacks; it also automatically makes attacks against enemies within 5 feet of you on your turn. However, you now have a vulnerability to lightning damage due to your form's alien body chemistry. Finally, your newfound regenerative abilities allow you to regain all of your hit dice upon finishing either a short or long rest.