Lethus Dragon (3.5e Creature)

The Lethus Dragon is a horror that stems from places with strong negative energy, a body blacker than a Black Dragon that is wreathed in horrible black smoke. They are the evilest of dragons, and roam in places where death wanders, and where the dead themselves are ferried over. Some live in the cursed waters of the rivers Lethe, Styx and Phlegethon, the first from which they derive their name. Their most powerful attacks are not so much the weapons of their breath, but infernal screeches that rend the mind itself.

A Lethus Dragon.

Type:	Evil, Psionic
Environment:	Negative energy dominant planes, planes associated with death (underworlds, infernal realms etc)
Organization:	Almost always solitary for every age category; Lethus Dragons have no compunction to form familial bonds.
Challenge Rating:	Wyrmling 8; very young 10; young 13; juvenile 16; young adult 19; adult 23; mature adult 26; old 29; very old 32; ancient 34; wyrm 37; great wyrm 40
Treasure:	Double standard
Alignment:	Always neutral evil
Advancement:	Wyrmling 13-15 (Large) HD; very young 17-19 (Large) HD; young 21-23 (Huge) HD; juvenile 25-27 (Huge) HD; young adult 29-31 (Huge) HD; adult 33-36 (Gargantuan) HD; mature adult 37-39 (Gargantuan) HD; old 41-43 (Gargantuan) HD; very old 45-47 (Colossal) HD; ancient 49-51 (Colossal) HD; wyrm 53-55 (Colossal) HD; great wyrm 57-59 (Colossal +) HD
Level Adjustment:	—

Lethus Dragons by Age

Age	Size	Hit Dice (hp)	Str	Dex	Con	Int	Wis	Cha	Base Attack/ Grapple	Attack	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Breath Weapon (DC)	Frightful Presence DC
Wyrmling	L	12d12+36 (114)	21	10	16	12	12	12	+12/+21	+16	+11	+8	+9	4d12 (19)	—
Very young	L	16d12+64 (168)	24	10	18	15	15	15	+16/+27	+22	+14	+10	+12	8d12 (22)	20
Young	H	20d12+100 (230)	27	10	20	18	18	18	+20/+36	+26	+17	+12	+16	12d12 (25)	24
Juvenile	H	24d12+144 (300)	30	10	22	21	21	21	+24/+42	+32	+20	+14	+19	16d12 (28)	27
Young adult	H	28d12+196 (378)	33	10	24	24	24	24	+28/+47	+37	+23	+16	+23	20d12 (31)	31
Adult	G	32d12+288 (496)	36	10	28	27	27	27	+32/+57	+41	+27	+18	+26	24d12 (35)	34
Mature adult	G	36d12+396 (630)	39	10	32	30	30	30	+36/+62	+46	+31	+20	+30	28d12 (39)	38
Old	G	40d12+520 (780)	42	10	36	33	33	33	+40/+68	+52	+35	+22	+33	32d12 (43)	41
Very old	C	44d12+660 (946)	45	10	40	36	36	36	+44/+77	+53	+39	+24	+37	36d12 (47)	45
Ancient	C	48d12+816 (1,128)	48	10	44	39	39	39	+48/+83	+59	+43	+26	+40	40d12 (51)	48
Wyrm	C	52d12+988 (1,326)	51	10	48	42	42	42	+52/+88	+64	+47	+28	+44	44d12 (55)	52
Great wyrm	T	56d12+1,176 (1,540)	54	10	52	45	45	45	+56/+94	+70	+51	+30	+47	48d12 (59)	55

Lethus Dragon Abilities by Age

Age	Speed	Initiative	AC	Special Abilities	Caster Level	SR
Wyrmling	60 ft., fly 200 ft. (average)	+1	21 (-1 size, +1 profane, +11 natural), touch 10, flat-footed 21	Spells, powers, DR 10/magic and good, enhanced magic (darkness and death spells), immunities, profane protection, shadow walk	5th	20
Very young	60 ft., fly 200 ft. (average)	+2	26 (-1 size, +2 profane, +15 natural), touch 11, flat-footed 26	deeper darkness at will	8th	23
Young	60 ft., fly 200 ft. (average)	+4	31 (-2 size, +4 profane, +19 natural), touch 12, flat-footed 31	Damage reduction 15/magic and good	11th	26
Juvenile	60 ft., fly 250 ft. (poor)	+5	36 (-2 size, +5 profane, +23 natural), touch 13, flat-footed 36	Shadow conjuration at will	14th	29
Young adult	60 ft., fly 250 ft. (poor)	+7	42 (-2 size, +7 profane, +27 natural), touch 15, flat-footed 42	Damage reduction 15/epic and good	17th	32
Adult	60 ft., fly 250 ft. (poor)	+8	45 (-4 size, +8 profane, +31 natural), touch 14, flat-footed 45	Shadow evocation at will	20th	35
Mature adult	60 ft., fly 250 ft. (poor)	+10	51 (-4 size, +10 profane, +35 natural), touch 16, flat-footed 51	Damage reduction 20/epic and good	23rd	38
Old	60 ft., fly 250 ft. (poor)	+11	56 (-4 size, +11 profane, +39 natural), touch 17, flat-footed 56	Simulacrum 1/day	26th	41
Very old	60 ft., fly 250 ft. (poor)	+13	58 (-8 size, +13 profane, +43 natural), touch 15, flat-footed 58	Damage reduction 25/epic and good	29th	44
Ancient	60 ft., fly 250 ft. (poor)	+14	63 (-8 size, +14 profane, +47 natural), touch 16, flat-footed 63	shadow body 3/day	32nd	47
Wyrm	60 ft., fly 300 ft. (clumsy)	+16	69 (-8 size, +16 profane, +51 natural), touch 18, flat-footed 69	Damage reduction 30/epic and good	35th	50
Great wyrm	60 ft., fly 300 ft. (clumsy)	+17	74 (-8 size, +17 profane, +55 natural), touch 19, flat-footed 74	Shadow asgard 1/day	38th	53

Lethus dragons have foregone the majestic effigies of their Chromatic brethren, and are more warped, grotesque exemplars of the species of True Dragons. The oldest of them live unnaturally long, and they become unnaturally powerful. The first 6 categories are considered non-epic, and the last 6 are considered epic dragons.

Lethus dragons are first and foremost guardians of the places of the dead, and despite their vile nature, they are renowned for their indifference to pleas. By the consent of a lethus dragon, a specific soul may be restored and returned from the dead, but dealing with one of these creatures is very dangerous. Approaching a lethus dragon with the purpose of releasing an ally's soul from the dead without having a proper bargaining chip is a death sentence. Furthermore, lethus dragons delight in just finding out how far people are willing to go for their friends, a mindset that the dragon both loathes and respects.

Combat

A Lethus dragon’s natural weapons and any weapons it wields are treated as evil-aligned as well as magic (wyrmling – adult) or epic (mature adult – great wyrm) for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.

Aside from possessing the natural weapons, abilities and traits innate to all true dragons, Lethus dragons have the following unique qualities.

Breath Weapon (Su): The Lethus dragon has one type of breath weapon, for lack of a better word (as it's a psionic attack). It functions like an ultrablast attack that is projected in a cone of normal length for a dragon's breath weapon and with the associated damage in Table: Lethus Dragons by Age. A Lethus dragon's breath weapon passes through anything, even walls of force or similar warding effects. This means that the breath weapon passes straight through cover, total concealment and doesn't require line of effect. The DCs associated apply to Will saves for half damage.

Enhanced Magic (Su): Within the confines of a Lethus dragon's body, magics with either the Darkness or Death descriptor are empowered and maximized, without requiring a higher level spell slot. spell-like abilities based on spells with those descriptors are also enhanced.

Profane Protection (Ex): The Lethus dragon's body is protected by a very vile protective shroud, bestowing upon it a profane bonus to its Armor Class equal to its Charisma modifier. A Lethus dragon also gains this bonus to all initiative checks.

Shadow Walk (Su): Lethus dragons have a profound understanding of the shadow plane. This ability functions like the spell, but the dragon can precisely control its destination and the ability functions more like a short range jump or teleport effect, as it creates instantaneous travel from one place to another place on the same plane (as long as said plane is coterminous with the shadow plane). The dragon can use his shadow walk ability for short range transportation, in order to throw its enemies off during battle. Furthermore, it can use Shadow Walk everywhere on planes coterminous with the shadow plane, using it's own body which is perpetually wreathed in smoky black shadow as a medium. A Lethus dragon may use shadow walk to jump every 1d4 rounds. Maximum jump distance depends on the dragon's age category.

Table: Lethus Dragon and Shadow Walk

Age	Max. Distance
Wyrmling	50 ft.
Very Young	100 ft.
Young	200 ft.
Juvenile	300 ft.
Young Adult	400 ft.
Adult	600 ft.
Mature Adult	800 ft.
Old	1,000 ft.
Very Old	1,500 ft.
Ancient	2,000 ft.
Wyrm	3,000 ft.
Great Wyrm	1 mile

Spells: Lethus dragons cast spells as a sorcerer of their effective caster level.

Powers: Lethus dragons manifest psionic powers as a wilder of their effective caster level, which is also their effective manifester level.

Immunities (Ex): The Lethus dragon cannot be harmed or negatively affected by energy drain, death effects and damage that stems directly from negative energy thanks to its origins on the negative energy plane.

Sample Lethus Dragon, Old

Size/Type:	Gargantuan Dragon (Evil, Psionic)
Hit Dice:	40d12+520 (780 hp)
Initiative:	+15
Speed:	60 ft. (12 squares), fly 250 ft. (poor)
Armor Class:	56 (-4 size, +11 profane, +39 natural), touch 17, flat-footed 56
Base Attack/Grapple:	+40/+68
Attack:	Bite +52 melee (4d6+24/19-20)
Full Attack:	Bite +52 melee (4d6+24/19-20), 2 claws +47 melee (2d8+16/19-20), 2 wings +47 melee (2d6+16/19-20), tail slap +47 melee (2d8+24/19-20)
Space/Reach:	20 ft./15 ft.
Special Attacks:	Crush 4d6+24 (DC 43), tail sweep 2d6+24 (DC 43), Automatic Metamagic (Death, Darkness), breath weapon, frightful presence (DC 41), powers, spells, spell-like abilities
Special Qualities:	Immunities, blindsight 60 ft., damage reduction 15/epic, spell resistance 41, keen senses, profane protection
Saves:	Fort +35, Ref +22, Will +33
Abilities:	Str 42, Dex 10, Con 36, Int 33, Wis 33, Cha 33
Skills:	Appraise +36 (alchemy +38), Bluff +41, Concentration +56, Craft (Alchemy) +41, Diplomacy +47, Escape Artist +30, Gather Information +33, Intimidate +33, Jump +36, Knowledge (all) +46, Listen +54, Search +37 (+39 secret doors), Sense Motive +42,Spellcraft +56, Spot +36
Feats:	Alertness, Combat Reflexes, Flyby Attack, Hover, Improved Critical (bite), Improved Critical (claws), Improved Critical (wings), Improved Critical (tail slap), Improved Initiative, Improved Sunder, Power Attack, Spell Knowledge, Widen Spell, Wingover
Environment:	Negative energy dominant planes, planes associated with death (underworlds, infernal realms etc)
Organization:	Almost always solitary for every age category; Lethus Dragons have no compunction to form familial bonds.
Challenge Rating:	29
Treasure:	Double standard
Alignment:	Always neutral evil
Advancement:	41-43 HD (Gargantuan)
Level Adjustment:	—

An old Lethus dragon's natural weapons are treated as magic for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.

Breath Weapon (Ps): Cone, 60 ft., of ultrablast, damage 32d12, Will half (DC 41). The DC is Constitution based.

Enhanced Magic (Ex): Within the confines of a Lethus dragon's body, magics with either the Darkness or Death descriptor are empowered and maximized, without requiring a higher level spell slot. spell-like abilities based on spells with those descriptors are also enhanced.

Spell-Like Abilities: At will—deeper darkness, shadow conjuration (DC 25), shadow evocation (DC 26). 3/day—simulacrum. Caster level 26th.

Immunities (Ex): Immune to sleep and paralysis, immune to death effects, energy drain and other negative energy effects.

Sorcerer Spells Known (6/9/9/9/8/8/8/8/5; base DC 21 + spell level)

0—arcane mark, dancing lights, detect magic, flare, ghost sound, light, mending, open/close, read magic; 1st—cause fear, chill touch, disguise self, ray of enfeeblement, silent image; 2nd—command undead, ghoul touch, hypnotic pattern, mirror image, scare; 3rd—displacement, major image, ray of exhaustion, slow; 4th—bestow curse, contagion, enervation, phantasmal killer; 5th—false vision, mirage arcana, nightmare, persistent image; 6th—circle of death, eyebite, veil; 7th—limited wish, project image, waves of exhaustion; 8th—create greater undead, horrid wilting. Caster level 26th.

Wilder Powers Known (343 power points; base DC 21 + power level)

1st—disable, mind thrust; 2nd—inflict pain; 3rd—time hop; 4th—death urge; 5th—psychic crush; 6th—breath of the black dragon; 7th—divert teleport; 8th—psionic greater teleport. Manifester level 26th.

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