Drake, Deep

Family: Drake

Large dragon, chaotic evil

Armor Class 17 (natural armor)
Hit Points 150 (20d10 + 40)
Speed 40 ft., climb 30 ft., fly 80 ft.

STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA
21 (+5) 19 (+4) 14 (+2) 11 (+0) 14 (+2) 12 (+1)

Saving Throws Dex +8, Con +6
Skills Athletics +9, Insight +6, Perception +6
Damage Immunities necrotic
Condition Immunities paralyzed
Senses blindsight 60 ft., darkvision 120 ft., passive Perception 16
Languages Common, Darakhul, Draconic, Undercommon
Challenge 9 (5,000 XP)
Proficiency Bonus +4

SPECIAL TRAITS

  • Magic Resistance. The drake has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.
  • Sunlight Sensitivity. While in sunlight, the drake has disadvantage on attack rolls, as well as on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on sight.

ACTIONS

  • Multiattack. The drake makes one Bite attack, two Claw attacks, and one Stinger attack.
  • Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +9 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 16 (2d10 + 5) piercing damage.
  • Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +9 to hit, reach 5 ft, one target. Hit: 12 (2d6 + 5) slashing damage.
  • Stinger. Melee Weapon Attack: +9 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 16 (2d10 + 5) piercing damage plus 7 (2d6) poison damage, and the target must succeed on a DC 16 Constitution saving throw or become poisoned for 1 minute. A poisoned creature must repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns. On a failure, the creature takes 7 (2d6) poison damage. On a success, the condition ends. When animate dead is cast on one or more creatures killed by this poison, the spellcaster requires no material components and can cast the spell as an action.
  • Enervating Breath (Recharge 5–6). The deep drake exhales pain-inducing, purple-black energy in a 90-foot line that is 5 feet wide. Each creature in the line must make a DC 16 Dexterity saving throw. On a failure, a creature takes 35 (10d6) necrotic damage and is stunned until the end of its next turn. On a success, a creature takes half the damage and isn’t stunned.

ABOUT

This large, unnerving drake’s glassy black scales have purple undertones. Its features are elongated and almost alien. Black, expressionless eyes stare ahead, and a barbed stinger sits at the end of a long tail.

Friend to Ghouls. The deep drake has made a niche for itself in subterranean realms, establishing trade with the darakhul and with other races of the underworld. The drakes’ poison ensures the ghouls have replacements when their population dwindles. In return, those underlings who fail their rulers become food for the drake.

Love Darkness. Deep drakes are 12 feet long, plus a three-foot long tail, and weigh up to 1,500 pounds. Their coloration makes them ideal predators in the subterranean dark. They love life underground, and they feel a kinship with the aberrations and undead residing there. They avoid sunlight and are strictly nocturnal when on the surface.

Few in Number. A deep drake mates for life with another deep drake when two of these rare creatures meet. A hermaphroditic creature, the drake assumes a gender until it finds a mate, at which time it may change. Once every 10–20 years, the drakes reproduce, resulting in three or four threefoot long, rubbery eggs. Occasionally, subterranean undead or aberrations take these eggs to their cities to train the young drakes. A “household drake” is a great status symbol in some deep places, and surface necromancers who have heard of them are often eager to acquire one.

Section 15: Copyright Notice

Tome of Beasts 1 ©2023 Open Design LLC; Authors: Daniel Kahn, Jeff Lee, and Mike Welham.

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