Ancient Faerie Dragon

The common (and diminutive) faerie dragon is not what most veteran adventurers consider a lethal threat. Annoying, yes. Not to be underestimated, of course. But a deadly foe? Hardly. Even though they grow more powerful with age, they never approach the might of a true dragon. Or so most people believe. Truly ancient faerie dragons, as old as the first creatures to walk the realms, are a terror to behold. Though they retain their mischievous spirit and love of pranks, they possess incredible physical strength, magical defenses, and a breath weapon that melts the psyche of its victims.

Ancient faerie dragons undergo a maturation process in the fey realms that turns them from dragons into true fey. They exist between the ecological and cosmological niches of both creatures, possessing the draconic instinct for hoarding treasure and a massive ego combined with a fey’s love of manipulation and deceit. Each ancient faerie dragon follows its own philosophy, with unique goals and a code of conduct. These take precedence over any moral beliefs, and if the party wishes to entreat a favor from an ancient faerie dragon, they had best learn what it wants and help it get that. No other approach will work.


ANCIENT FAERIE DRAGON

Huge fey, neutral


Armor Class 24 (natural armor)
Hit Points 400 (32d12 + 192)
Speed 30 ft., fly 90 ft.

STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA
28 (+9) 19 (+4) 22 (+6) 20 (+5) 28 (+9) 28 (+9)

Saving Throws Str +16, Dex +11, Con +13, Int +12, Wis +16, Cha +16
Skills Deception +23, Insight +16, Nature +12, Perception +16, Survival +16
Damage Resistances psychic
Condition Immunities charmed, frightened, stunned
Senses blindsight 60 ft., truesight 10 ft., passive Perception 26
Languages Draconic, Sylvan
Challenge 21 (33,000 XP)


TRAITS

Legendary Resistance (3/Day). If the dragon fails a saving throw, it can choose to succeed instead.

Prismatic Coat. At the start of each of the dragon’s turns, roll a d6 and compare the result to the following list. The dragon’s scales and feathers adopt the indicated color, and it gains the corresponding benefits which last until the start of the dragon’s next turn.

  • 1 – Red – The dragon becomes immune to fire damage, and its attacks deal maximum damage to targets wearing medium armor.
  • 2 – Orange – The dragon becomes immune to thunder damage, and its breath weapon deals maximum damage.
  • 3 – Yellow – The dragon becomes immune to lightning damage, and its attacks deal maximum damage to targets wearing heavy armor.
  • 4 – Green – The dragon becomes immune to acid damage, and its attacks deal maximum damage to targets wearing light armor.
  • 5 – Blue – The dragon becomes immune to cold damage, and its attacks deal maximum damage to targets wearing no armor.
  • 6 – Violet – The dragon gains resistance to all damage, and it can take a second action on its turn.

Seeing Double. When the dragon rolls for initiative, it creates an illusory duplicate in an unoccupied space it can see within 60 feet of it, and then both the dragon and its duplicate can teleport up to 60 feet to unoccupied spaces the dragon can see. When the dragon attacks or uses its Breath Weapon, it can choose to have the ability originate from its true location or the illusion’s location, and characters moving away from the illusion provoke opportunity attacks as normal. When the dragon moves, the illusion moves an equivalent distance as directed by the dragon. Both the dragon and its illusion react identically when either one is attacked, giving no clues as to which is genuine. This illusory duplicate is indistinguishable from the real dragon even to creatures with truesight. The only way to tell them apart for certain is for a creature that can see the dragon or the duplicate to use an action or a bonus action to attempt a DC 24 Intelligence (Investigation) ability check. On a success, the character identifies which one is an illusion and retains this knowledge for as long as at least one of the dragons can be seen. Characters with truesight have advantage on this check.


ACTIONS

Multiattack. The dragon makes one Horn Slam attack, two Chromatic Claw attacks, and one Tail Whip attack. If available, it can replace its Horn Slam attack with its Breath Weapon.

Breath Weapon (Recharge 5–6). The dragon exhales a 60-foot-long cone of mind-melting energy. Creatures in the cone must succeed on a DC 24 Intelligence saving throw or take 66 (12d10) psychic damage and be charmed by the dragon. While charmed in this manner, a creature must take an action on each of its turns to grapple the nearest ally other than the dragon. If it is already grappling an ally, the creature instead does everything in its power to maintain the grapple.

Chromatic Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +15 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 27 (4d8 + 9) magical slashing damage, and the target must immediately expend two spell slots of its choice (if available).

Horn Slam. Melee Weapon Attack: +15 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 35 (4d12 + 9) magical bludgeoning damage, and the target is teleported up to 30 feet to an unoccupied space of the dragon’s choice.

Tail Whip. Melee Weapon Attack: +15 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 31 (4d10 + 9) magical bludgeoning damage, the target is grappled (escape DC 24), and the dragon learns a single secret the creature knows that it has shared with no one (when applicable). While grappled in this way, the target is restrained and the dragon cannot Tail Whip another target.


LEGENDARY ACTIONS

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.

Dazzling Chroma. All creatures within 10 feet of the dragon or its illusion must succeed on a DC 23 Constitution saving throw or be blinded until the end of their next turn.

Phase Shift (Costs 2 Actions). The dragon and its illusory double teleport up to 60 feet to unoccupied spaces the dragon can see.

Swipe. The dragon makes a Chromatic Claw attack.


Ref: TPKB1 p198