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Resurrection Archdragon

Resurrection dragons teeter between life and death. They have a mastery of vital energies, allowing them to restore life to the dead, and a mastery of void energies, to bestow death on others. They make use of their abilities to play with the lives of mortals, calling on spirits to aid them or reviving creatures they find important or interesting. The lair of a resurrection dragon is generally a barren place. While they still hoard wealth like other dragons, they do little to decorate their lairs and treasures are generally kept in dark niches, as if the dragon has little care for their possessions. Resurrection dragons tend to take tokens from those they resurrect or plan to resurrect, however, and these are kept particularly safe.

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Resurrection ArchdragonCreature 23

Rare Gargantuan Divine Dragon
Source Draconic Codex pg. 94
Recall Knowledge DC 51 (includes +5 from Rare) • Dragon (Arcana)
Perception +40; darkvision, scent (imprecise) 60 feet
Languages Common, Draconic, Necril
Skills Acrobatics +36, Arcana +36, Athletics +43, Diplomacy +40, Medicine +43, Necromancy Lore +46, Religion +43, Stealth +38
Str +11, Dex +6, Con +8, Int +6, Wis +10, Cha +8
Arise! (divine, exploration, healing) The resurrection dragon uses their mastery over life energy to cast their own soul into the Boneyard and pull a willing creature's soul back to their body in a process that takes 1 hour. This has the effects of raise dead except the maximum level of the target is 18 and the soul is tethered to the dragon's. Only one creature can be tethered to the dragon's soul at a time. If the creature and the dragon are no longer on the same plane or the dragon dies, the raised creature dies and can't be raised with Arise! again. The dragon can Dismiss the connection at any time. Doing so doesn't prevent the dragon from raising the creature with Arise! again.
While raised in this way, the creature is still a valid target for raise dead, resurrection, and similar effects. Returning the creature to life in this way fully restores the creature, severing the connection to the dragon and allowing the dragon to establish a connection with a different creature.

AC 48; Fort +36, Ref +35, Will +40
HP 470; Immunities death effects, paralyzed, sleep; Resistances spirit 25
Risen Commander (divine) A resurrection dragon has a strong connection with their minions and can Sustain summon undead or invoke spirits as a free action once per turn.Reawaken! [reaction] (divine, spirit, vitality) Trigger A living creature the resurrection dragon can see dies; Effect The resurrection dragon uses divine and vital energy to retether the soul to their dead body. The willing creature is returned to life with full Hit Points at the start of their next turn. A creature can only be resurrected by this ability once.Siphon Life [reaction] (divine, healing, vitality) Trigger A creature within 60 feet uses a healing effect that restores Hit Points; Effect The resurrection dragon redirects vital energies away from the effect, minimizing its impact. The triggering effect rolls the minimum amount on any dice rolls to restore Hit Points, and any flat values for restoring Hit Points (such as the additional Hit Points for a two-action heal spell), are cut in half. The dragon then gains 4d8 temporary Hit Points that last for 1 round.

Speed 60 feet, fly 240 feet
Melee [one-action] jaws +42 [+37/+32] (magical, reach 20 feet), Damage 4d12+19 piercing plus 1d6 voidMelee [one-action] claw +42 [+38/+34] (agile, magical, reach 15 feet), Damage 4d10+19 slashingMelee [one-action] tail +40 [+35/+30] (magical, reach 25 feet), Damage 4d12+19 bludgeoningDivine Innate Spells DC 46, attack +38; 10th harm (×2), raise dead, summon undead (at will); 9th invoke spirits (×2); 4th talking corpse (at will); Cantrips (10th) guidance, stabilize, void warp
Draconic Frenzy [two-actions] The dragon makes two claw Strikes and one tail Strike in any order.Draconic Momentum The dragon recharges their Soul Siphoning Breath whenever they score a critical hit with a Strike.Mortal Fears [two-actions] (concentrate, emotion, fear, mental) The archdragon imposes the fear of death onto the living and fear of the living onto the undead. Each creature within a 120-foot emanation must attempt a DC 46 Will save.
Critical Success The creature is unaffected.
Success The creature is frightened 2.
Failure The creature is frightened 3. A living creature can't reduce its frightened condition below 1 if it ends its turn within 15 feet of the archdragon or an undead creature. An undead creature can't reduce its frightened condition below 1 if it ends its turn within 15 feet of the archdragon or a living creature.
Critical Failure As failure, but frightened 4.Necro Puppeteer [two-actions] (divine, void) The dragon siphons energy into an undead creature, a dying creature, or a corpse they can see within 60 feet. The dragon moves the target creature 30 feet and causes it to unleash a wave of void energy in a 10-foot emanation, dealing 8d8 void damage (DC 43 basic Reflex save).Soul Siphoning Breath [two-actions] (divine, void) The archdragon unleashes a torrent of divine energy dealing 22d6 void damage in a 60-foot cone (DC 46 basic Fortitude save) that draws the life force from the creatures within. The dragon gains fast healing 20 until their Soul Siphoning Breath recharges. The resurrection dragon can't use Soul Siphoning Breath again for 1d4 rounds.

All Monsters in "Dragon, Resurrection"

Name	Level
Adult Resurrection Dragon	12
Ancient Resurrection Dragon	17
Resurrection Archdragon	23
Young Resurrection Dragon	8

Dragon, Resurrection

Source Monster Core 2 pg. 128
Resurrection dragons teeter between life and death. They have a mastery of vital energies, allowing them to restore life to the dead, and a mastery of void energies, to bestow death on others. They make use of their abilities to play with the lives of mortals, calling on spirits to aid them or reviving creatures they find important or interesting. The lair of a resurrection dragon is generally a barren place. While they still hoard wealth like other dragons, they do little to decorate their lairs and treasures are generally kept in dark niches, as if the dragon has little care for their possessions. Resurrection dragons tend to take tokens from those they resurrect or plan to resurrect, however, and these are kept particularly safe.

Dragon

Related Groups Dragon, Adamantine, Dragon, Barrage, Dragon, Bog, Dragon, Brine, Dragon, Cinder, Dragon, Cloud, Dragon, Conspirator, Dragon, Coral, Dragon, Crystal, Dragon, Delight, Dragon, Despair, Dragon, Diabolic, Dragon, Empyreal, Dragon, Executor, Dragon, Forest, Dragon, Fortune, Dragon, Horned, Dragon, Magma, Dragon, Mirage, Dragon, Mocking, Dragon, Oath, Dragon, Omen, Dragon, Phase, Dragon, Requiem, Dragon, Rime, Dragon, Rune, Dragon, Sage, Dragon, Sea, Dragon, Sky, Dragon, Sovereign, Dragon, Stormcrown, Dragon, Time, Dragon, Umbral, Dragon, Underworld, Dragon, Vizier, Dragon, Vorpal, Dragon, Wailing, Dragon, Whisper, Dragon, Wish, Dragonet, Wyrmwraith
Dragons come in myriad forms, with many having magical abilities or connections to magic. Some dragons draw greater power from magic than others, allowing them to manifest abilities or alter their physiques with prolonged exposure to magic. These dragons become more powerful as they age and strengthen their connections with their magical origins. Scholars debate the classification of these dragons, with some preferring the name magical dragons and others using traditional dragons due to their connection to specific magical traditions. Regardless of their names, these dragons share a number of characteristics: their ability to tap into magical energies, intensified might and cunning as they grow older, and an inclination to hoard vast amounts of treasure and wealth.

Draconic Spellcasters

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

Alternate Abilities

Some resurrection dragons can control life and death in different ways. You can apply the following adjustments to a resurrection dragon of any age.

As a resurrection dragon heals themself, they can simultaneously weaken the living around them. To create a dragon with this ability, replace Draconic Momentum with the following.

Shred Souls (divine, void) [free-action] Trigger The resurrection dragon ends their turn; Requirements The dragon’s Soul Siphoning Breath recharged this turn; Effect Excess void energy spills out from the dragon in a 60-foot emanation. Each living creature in the area must succeed at a Fortitude save with a DC equal to the dragon’s Soul Siphoning Breath or gain weakness to void equal to the dragon’s resistance to spirit for 1 round (or 1 minute on a critical failure).

Resurrection dragons who focus their power into slaying as much of the living as possible can wreath their claws in void energy. To create a dragon with this ability, replace Draconic Frenzy with the following.

Harmful Claw [two-actions] (divine) The resurrection dragon channels a divine spell into their claw. They Cast a 1-action version of harm, but the effects of the spell don’t occur immediately. The dragon then makes a claw Strike. This counts as two attacks for the dragon’s multiple attack penalty. The attack is imbued with the spell’s effects according to the results of the Strike.
Critical Success The Strike deals double damage as normal, and the target must attempt a basic Fortitude save against the spell’s damage, but treats its result as one degree of success worse.
Success The Strike deals damage as normal, and the target attempts a basic Fortitude save against the spell’s damage.
Failure The Strike deals no damage, but the target must attempt a basic Fortitude save against the spell’s damage.
Critical Failure The Strike deals no damage, and the target is unaffected by the spell.

More necromancy-focused resurrection dragons enjoy creating permanent undead minions. To create a dragon with this ability, give the dragon the create undead ritual and replace Risen Commander with the following.

Deathless Servant (divine, unholy) When a resurrection dragon performs the create undead ritual, they can create any common undead and don’t require secondary casters. If the dragon creates a mindless undead creature whose level is at least 2 lower than themself, it automatically becomes the dragon’s minion—a deathless servant. This minion can’t be destroyed unless the dragon is slain; if reduced to 0 Hit Points, such a minion returns to full Hit Points 1d6 days later. A resurrection dragon can have only one deathless servant at a time.

Resurrection Dragon Spellcasting

Resurrection dragon spellcasters tend to cast the following spells.

Young Resurrection Dragon

Divine Innate Spells DC 26, attack +18; 3rd final sacrifice, sudden blight, vampiric feast; 2nd heal, share life, spirit sense; 1st command, infuse vitality, grim tendrils; Cantrips (3rd) detect magic, guidance, haunting hymn, read aura, stabilize

Adult Resurrection Dragon

Divine Innate Spells DC 32, attack +24; As young resurrection dragon, plus 5th dispel magic, heal, invoke spirits; 4th harm, summon undead, talking corpse; Cantrips (5th) detect magic, guidance, haunting hymn, read aura, stabilize

Ancient Resurrection Dragon

Divine Innate Spells DC 38, attack +30; As adult resurrection dragon, plus 8th moment of renewal, raise dead, summon undead; 7th execute, harm, regenerate; 6th field of life, raise dead, summon undead; Cantrips (8th) detect magic, guidance, haunting hymn, read aura, stabilize

Resurrection Archdragon

Divine Prepared Spells DC 46, attack +38; As ancient resurrection dragon plus 10th revival; 9th massacre, wails of the damned; Cantrips (10th) detect magic, guidance, haunting hymn, read aura, stabilize

Revirescena and Esurek

Revirescena and Esurek are a rare mother-son pair of resurrection dragons located on the western coast of the Lake of Mists and Veils who maintain a close bond out of both affection and necessity. Born sickly, Esurek was unable to properly defend himself and eventually met his demise at the hand of a party of adventurers seeking wealth and glory. One of the adventurer’s weapons disrupted Esurek’s soul, forcing Revirescena to send her own soul to the Boneyard to pull her son’s soul back to his body, chaining their souls together in the process. Revirescena is unable to fully restore Esurek’s disrupted soul. She has become a doting, overprotective parent, seeking a way to return her son’s soul to normal but unable to leave her son’s side long enough to seek help.

Archives of Nethys

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Resurrection Archdragon