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Archives of Nethys

Archives of Nethys

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PFS StandardAncient Umbral Dragon

While the other primal dragons hail from the Elemental Planes, the cruel and unceasingly malicious umbral dragons originate in the depths of the Shadow Plane. Their sleek black scales and serpentine grace allow them to strike from hiding, and they are known for playing with their prey before finally finishing it. These creatures of shadowy energy and unwholesome appetites prefer the necrotic flesh of undead creatures to any other meal. This strange hunger can be of accidental benefit to nearby humanoid societies, but ultimately they hunt and kill undead creatures for the taste, rather than out of any desire to protect others from the undead. The benefit is always short-lived, however. When umbral dragons exhaust their preferred prey, they turn on whatever living creatures happen to be nearby. Umbral dragons sometimes go to great lengths to obtain their favorite meals, even creating undead creatures that they then feast upon.

For all their power, umbral dragons are uninterested in fair battles. When faced with foes that pose any kind of actual danger to them, umbral dragons flee into the shadows and seek to strike back through pawns or minions rather than risk their own lives. Their treasure hoards are varied and diverse, often augmented by loot stolen from crypts the dragons have turned into feeding grounds. They have a strong respect for and interest in traditions and heirlooms, and they often seek to augment their hoards with items of great value that have been handed down through the generations of those whose corpses and ghosts they've fed upon.

Recall Knowledge - Dragon (Arcana): DC 45
Unspecific Lore: DC 43
Specific Lore: DC 40

Elite | Normal | Weak
Proficiency without Level

Changes from being Weak are marked in red below.
NOTE: The -2 damage penalty to non-strike offensive abilities (-4 if the ability is limited, such as spells) is NOT factored in.

Weak Ancient Umbral DragonCreature 19

Legacy Content

Rare NE Gargantuan Dragon Shadow 
Source Bestiary 2 pg. 97 2.0
Perception +36; greater darkvision, scent (imprecise) 60 feet, tremorsense (imprecise) 60 feet
Languages Common, Daemonic, Draconic, Necril, Shadowtongue
Skills Acrobatics +31, Athletics +36, Deception +32, Intimidation +34, Nature +32, Stealth +33, Survival +32
Str +10, Dex +5, Con +7, Int +6, Wis +8, Cha +6
AC 43; Fort +33, Ref +31, Will +36; +1 status to all saves vs. magic
HP 355; Immunities negative, paralyzed, sleep
Frightful Presence (aura, emotion, fear, mental) 90 feet, DC 38Attack of Opportunity [reaction] Jaws only.
Speed 60 feet, fly 200 feet
Melee [one-action] jaws +36 [+31/+26] (negative, magical, reach 20 feet), Damage 4d10-2+18 piercing plus 4d6 negative and drain vigorMelee [one-action] claw +36 [+32/+28] (agile, magical, reach 15 feet), Damage 4d10-2+18 slashingMelee [one-action] tail +34 [+29/+24] (magical, reach 25 feet), Damage 4d12-2+18 slashingMelee [one-action] wing +34 [+30/+26] (agile, magical, reach 20 feet), Damage 3d10-2+18 slashingPrimal Innate Spells DC 40 (-4 dmg); 10th massacre; 9th darkness (at will), finger of death; 8th vampiric exsanguination (at will); Cantrips (10th) detect magic
Rituals DC 40 (-4 dmg); 2nd create undead (shadows only)
Breath Weapon [two-actions] The umbral dragon breathes in one of two ways. They can't use Breath Weapon again for 1d4 rounds.
  • Negative (necromancy, negative, primal) The dragon breathes a blast of darkness in a 50-foot cone that deals 21d6 negative damage (DC 40 basic Reflex save). Undead creatures take 25d6 force damage instead of the negative damage.
  • Shadows (necromancy, primal, shadow) The dragon breathes a blast of shadows in a 50-foot cone. Each creature within the cone must attempt a DC 40 Fortitude save.
    Critical Success The creature is unaffected.
    Success The creature is enfeebled 3 for 1 round.
    Failure The creature is enfeebled 3 for 1 minute.
    Critical Failure The creature is enfeebled 3 for 1 minute and blinded for 1 round.
Draconic Frenzy [two-actions] The dragon makes two claw Strikes and one wing Strike in any order.Draconic Momentum The dragon recharges their Breath Weapon whenever they score a critical hit with a Strike.Drain Vigor (primal, necromancy) When the dragon deals negative damage to a living creature with its jaws Strike, the umbral dragon gains 20 temporary Hit Points and the creature must succeed at a DC 39 Fortitude save or become enfeebled 2. Further damage dealt by the dragon's jaws Strike increases the enfeebled condition value by 2 on a failed save, to a maximum of enfeebled 4.Ghost Bane An umbral dragon's Strikes affect incorporeal creatures with the effects of a ghost touch property rune, and an umbral dragon's jaws deal an additional 8d6 force damage to undead.

All Monsters in "Dragon, Umbral"

NameLevel
Adult Umbral Dragon15
Ancient Umbral Dragon20
Young Umbral Dragon11

Dragon, Umbral

Source Bestiary 2 pg. 95 2.0
While the other primal dragons hail from the Elemental Planes, the cruel and unceasingly malicious umbral dragons originate in the depths of the Shadow Plane. Their sleek black scales and serpentine grace allow them to strike from hiding, and they are known for playing with their prey before finally finishing it. These creatures of shadowy energy and unwholesome appetites prefer the necrotic flesh of undead creatures to any other meal. This strange hunger can be of accidental benefit to nearby humanoid societies, but ultimately they hunt and kill undead creatures for the taste, rather than out of any desire to protect others from the undead. The benefit is always short-lived, however. When umbral dragons exhaust their preferred prey, they turn on whatever living creatures happen to be nearby. Umbral dragons sometimes go to great lengths to obtain their favorite meals, even creating undead creatures that they then feast upon.

For all their power, umbral dragons are uninterested in fair battles. When faced with foes that pose any kind of actual danger to them, umbral dragons flee into the shadows and seek to strike back through pawns or minions rather than risk their own lives. Their treasure hoards are varied and diverse, often augmented by loot stolen from crypts the dragons have turned into feeding grounds. They have a strong respect for and interest in traditions and heirlooms, and they often seek to augment their hoards with items of great value that have been handed down through the generations of those whose corpses and ghosts they've fed upon.

Dragon, Primal

Related Groups Dragon, Brine, Dragon, Cloud, Dragon, Crystal, Dragon, Magma
The strange and otherworldly primal dragons hail from realities adjacent to the Material Plane—the four Elemental Planes and the Shadow Plane. These true dragons have natures and powers that exemplify their plane of origin and an affinity for primal magic, unlike chromatic and metallic dragons, who favor arcane or divine magic. Although they come from distant planes, primal dragons can be found on the Material Plane in regions touched by or reminiscent of their home plane. Although such encounters are rare, adventurers and travelers have sometimes found a brine dragon dwelling near a salty inland sea, for example, or a crystal dragon living in massive natural caverns deep in the Darklands. Unlike chromatic and metallic dragons, primal dragons tend not to develop shape-changing powers, and they are less interested in infiltrating settlements or influencing others from the shadows.

Primal Dragon Spellcasters

Each type of primal dragon features a note in the margins on spellcasting dragons of that type. To make a primal dragon spellcaster, remove the dragon’s Draconic Frenzy and Draconic Momentum abilities and give it the spells outlined in its sidebar. You can swap out any number of these with other primal spells, provided you keep the same number of spells for each level. You might also want to increase the dragon’s Wisdom or Charisma modifier by 1 or 2 to reflect their mastery of magic.

Primal Dragons of Golarion

Golarion is not home to many primal dragons. Yet primal dragons do still come to Golarion now and then, whether to escape persecution in their home plane, build new lairs, torment and brutalize weaker creatures, or seek knowledge and resources that are scarce or unavailable at home.

Brine dragons can be found along Golarion’s coastlines but are often frustrated by piracy and other lawless elements. They tend to avoid heavily populated coastal areas like the Shackles and instead choose remote islands in the oceans as their homes, where they can rule small communities of their own curation. Cloud dragons are even more isolated, and lacking any interest in politics, they prefer to dwell in large mountain ranges like the Kodars or the Barrier Wall. Crystal dragons’ vanity compels them to seek places that complement their natural beauty, such as gem-studded caverns in the Darklands. Of all the primal dragons, cantankerous magma dragons may be the ones most often found dwelling on Golarion, where they are drawn to volcanic ranges like the Five Kings Mountains. Umbral dragons hail not from an Elemental Plane but the Shadow Plane, and they can be encountered anywhere the borders to that plane grow thin, particularly in the sinister nation of Nidal.

Sidebar - Related Creatures Ugothogo

Denizens of the Midnight Mountains in the Darklands worship the ancient umbral dragon Ugothogo as a deity.

Sidebar - Advice and Rules Umbral Dragon Spellcasters

Umbral dragon spellcasters tend to cast the following spells.

Young

Primal Prepared Spells DC 29, attack +24; 4th gaseous form, hallucinatory terrain, nightmare; 3rd bind undead, blindness, slow; 2nd death knell, gentle repose, humanoid form; 1st charm, item facade, ray of enfeeblement; Cantrips (4th) chill touch, ghost sound, ray of frost, read aura, sigil

Adult

Primal Prepared Spells DC 35, attack +30; as young umbral dragon, plus 6th dominate, true seeing, vampiric exsanguination; 5th black tentacles, shadow blast, shadow siphon; Cantrips (6th) chill touch, ghost sound, ray of frost, read aura, sigil

Ancient

Primal Prepared Spells DC 41, attack +38; as adult umbral dragon, plus 9th disjunction, massacre, weird; 8th disappearance, horrid wilting, maze; 7th eclipse burst, mask of terror, plane shift; Cantrips (9th) chill touch, ghost sound, ray of frost, read aura, sigil