Shadow dragon
| Shadow dragon | |
|---|---|
 A shadow dragon illustrated by Mark Nelson, in the second edition Monstrous Manual]] | |
| General information | |
| Alignment: | Chaotic evil |
| Type: | Dragon |
| Subtype: | True dragon |
| First appearance: | Monster Manual II (first edition)[1] |
Shadow dragons are evil[2] true dragons who are found on both the Material Plane and the shadowfell (Plane of Shadow). They may either be born in the shadowfell[3] or transformed by years spent there.[4]
Description
Physically seeming insubstantial, shadow dragons have dark and translucent scales which help them camouflage into the darkness around them. Shadow dragons are often mistaken for black dragons, but their horns point backwards. A long fringe of spines emerges from the back of a dragon's neck and its powerful tail feature a swimming fin.[3] An average shadow dragon is 20 ft - 30 ft (6.1 m - 9.1 m) in length.[1]
A dragon egg can be identified as that of a shadow dragon by the purple tinge seen when held in front of an intense white light, though it shares this trait with deep dragon and amethyst dragon eggs.[5]
Personality
Shadow dragons are crafty and devious,[6] eclipsing even red dragons in their mental capabilities[7] and are on par with gold dragons, the smartest of the metallic dragons.[8][3]
Possessions
Activities
Society
Homelands
Many shadow dragons inhabit the dark places of Oerth, such as ruins or abandoned keeps.[3]
They are found in the underoerth.[9] They prefer depths of at least ten miles below the surface where the connections to the Plane of Shadow are stronger.[6]
Relationships
Shadow dragons are a favored monster of the drow god Vhaeraun, serving him and sometimes being sent by him to aid his followers.[10]>
Sorcerers are sometimes known to form pacts with them. The pact is called Elusive Disciple of Dusk and gave the sorcerer abilities to flee safely.[11]
Abilities
Shadow dragons are 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.[12][3]
They have a frightful presence like other dragons and a number of abilities that allow them to be stealthy and also to move fast. Starting with a predisposition towards mundane hiding, sneaking and jumping.[13]</ref> They aren't exactly fast flyers but can move unusually fast on feet for dragons.[14]
Senses
Like any other true dragon, shadow dragons have sharp hearing and sight, which is capable of low-light vision and darkvision. They also have blindsense.[15]
Breath
A shadow dragon's breath weapon is a cone of shadows. Creatures caught in it lost parts of their vitality, skills and spells, possibly permanently, all while temporarily empowering the dragon.[16] They can train their breath weapon to turn those they kill with it into spectral creatures who are then permanently enslaved by the shadow dragon.[17]
Magic
As they age, shadow dragons learned an increasing number of magical abilities to hide from enemies and enhance their movement. They can hide away into shadows, even those in otherwise well-lit areas, and learned over its ages to cast mirror image, dimension door; nondetection and shadowwalk.[14][6]
Once at great wyrm stage, they can fill a large area with darkness. Once this ability is used, a battle is in danger of becoming a one-sided matter in favor of the shadow dragon. The darkness is impossible to disperse with light, magical or not. Creatures without ties to the Plane of Shadow are practically blind as long as they remain in the area that encompassed a radius of 100 yards. Those with ties to the plane are largely unaffected. This ability is usable multiple times.[14]
Like many other true dragons, they developed sorcerer abilities with at least the potential to learn spells usually only open to divine casters as well as from the chaos, evil and trickery domain.{{csb|Draconomicon: The Book of Dragons|192} only harder with age. All shadow dragons owned an outright immunity against life sapping effects.[14]
History
Notable shadow dragons
- Ebb—once resident in Azalin's keep, Ebb now lives to the south in Mount Nyid. Perhaps Azalin's single most physically powerful ally.[18]
- Sabrita—about four centuries old (380 in 581 CY).[19] She lives in an overgrown castle ruin, with her horde beneath.
Combat
A shadow dragon stalks its prey from the shadows,[3] preferring to use its abilities to blend with the darkness and to confuse its enemies.[6] It fights in many of the ways typically done by true dragons—biting, clawing, bludgeoning with its wings and/or its tail, crushing on an enemy and sweeping with its tail.[20]
A shadow dragon has extraordinarily strong spell resistances and tremendously hard scales. As it grows, it gains an increasingly stronger resistance against spells and non-magical physical attacks. Their scales are hard even among dragons and grow harder with age. All shadow dragons have an outright immunity against life-sapping effects.[14]
Rumors & legends
Gallery
-
5e
by Craig J. Spearing (2014). -
3e
by Todd Lockwood (2001). -
2e
by Mark Nelson (1990). -
1e
by Harry Quinn. (1983).
Creative origins
Publication history
References
Notes
Citations
- ↑ a b Monster Manual II (1983), p.58.
- ↑ Monster Manual II (1983), p.59.
- ↑ a b c d e f Draconomicon: Chromatic Dragons (2008), p.199.
- ↑ Monster Manual (2014), p.84-85.
- ↑ Volo's Guide to the Dalelands, p.193.
- ↑ a b c d Monster Compendium: Monsters of Faerûn (2001), p.42-44.
- ↑ Monster Manual v3.5 (2003), p.75.
- ↑ Monster Manual v3.5 (2003), p.84.
- ↑ Underdark, p.114-116.
- ↑ Deity Do's and Don'ts (web enhancement)', p.15.
- ↑ Dragon Magic, p.90.
- ↑ Monster Manual v3.5 (2003), p.77.
- ↑ Monster Update (web enhancement)', p.4.
- ↑ a b c d e Draconomicon (2003), p.191-192.
- ↑ Monster Manual v3.5 (2003), p.69.
- ↑ Draconomicon (2003), p.191.
- ↑ City of Wyrmshadows (web enhancement)', p.6.
- ↑ RQ3 From the Shadows (1992).
- ↑ 1991 Trading Cards, card #537, Sabrita, Shadow Dragon
- ↑ Monster Manual v3.5 (2003), p.68-69.
Bibliography
- Beach, Tim. Doug Stewart, ed. Monstrous Manual. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1993. Item code TSR2140. ISBN 1-56076-619-0
- Boucher, Grant, , William W. Connors, Skip Williams, et al. MC5 Monstrous Compendium Greyhawk Adventures Appendix. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1990. Item code TSR2107.
- Gygax, Gary. Monster Manual II. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1983. Item code TSR2016.
- Mearls, Mike, Jeremy Crawford and Christopher Perkins. Monster Manual. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 2014. Item code A9218.
- James Wyatt, Rob Heinsoo. Monster Compendium: Monsters of Faerûn. Edited by Duane Maxwell. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 2001. ISBN 0-7869-1832-2.
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