Ghost Dragon, Ancient

Family: Dragons

Gargantuan dragon, any

Armor Class 22 (natural armor)
Hit Points 448 (23d20 + 207)
Speed 30 ft., fly 60 ft. (hover), swim 30 ft.

STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
25 (+7)	14 (+2)	29 (+9)	18 (+4)	25 (+7)	22 (+6)

Saving Throws Dex +9, Con +16, Wis +14, Cha +13
Skills Arcana +11, Insight +14, Perception +14, Stealth +9
Damage Resistances acid, cold, fire, lightning, thunder; bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical attacks
Damage Immunities necrotic, poison
Condition Immunities charmed, exhaustion, frightened, grappled, paralyzed, petrified, poisoned, prone, restrained, unconscious
Senses blindsight 120 ft. (blind beyond this radius), passive Perception 24
Languages Common, Draconic, plus any other languages it knew in life
Challenge 24 (62,000 XP)
Proficiency Bonus +7

SPECIAL TRAITS

• Ethereal Sight. The dragon can see 120 feet into the Ethereal Plane when it is on the Material Plane, and vice versa.

SPECIAL TRAITS

• Legendary Resistance (3/Day). If the dragon fails a saving throw, it can choose to succeed instead.
• Unusual Nature. The dragon doesn’t require air, food, or drink.

ACTIONS

• Multiattack. The dragon makes two attacks, one with its Bite and one with its Claws or Tail, or it uses its Ethereal Form action and its Weakening Presence action.
• Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +17 to hit, reach 15 ft., one target. Hit: 21 (2d10 + 10) piercing damage plus 14 (4d6) necrotic damage.
• Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +17 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 17 (2d6 + 10) slashing damage.
• Tail. Melee Weapon Attack: +17 to hit, reach 20 ft., one target. Hit: 19 (2d8 + 10) bludgeoning damage.
• Ethereal Form. As an action, the dragon enters the Border Ethereal, becoming incorporeal. It is visible on the Material Plane while it is in the Border Ethereal, and vice versa. While incorporeal, it cannot attack creatures unless they are on the Ethereal Plane and it can’t affect or be affected by anything on the other plane, except by using its Weakening Presence action. In this state, the ghost can move through other creatures and objects as if they were difficult terrain, and it does not provoke opportunity attacks. It takes 5 (1d10) force damage if it ends its turn inside an object.

• Slime Breath (Recharge 5–6). The dragon exhales ectoplasmic slime in a 90-foot cone. Each creature within that area must attempt a DC 25 Dexterity saving throw, taking 38 (7d10) necrotic damage and 38 (7d10) psychic damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. Until the start of the dragon’s next turn, a creature that takes damage from the slime breath can’t regain hit points and reduces its speed by 10 feet.
• Weakening Presence. Each creature of the dragon’s choice that is within 5 feet of the dragon must succeed on a DC 21 Wisdom saving throw or become weakened until the start of the dragon’s next turn. While weakened, a creature has disadvantage on all attack rolls, ability checks, and saving throws that include their Strength modifier. This action even affects creatures on the Material Plane when the dragon is on the Ethereal Plane, and vice versa.

BONUS ACTIONS

• Manifestation. The ghost dragon enters the Material Plane from the Ethereal Plane. If it is in the same space as any object or creature when it does so, it takes 5 (1d10) force damage for each space it is in that is occupied, and each of those objects and creatures is shunted to the nearest unoccupied space.

LEGENDARY ACTIONS

The dragon can take 3 legendary actions, choosing from the options below. Only one legendary action option can be used at a time and only at the end of another creature’s turn. The dragon regains spent legendary actions at the start of its turn.

• Detect. The dragon makes a Wisdom (Perception) check.
• Tail Attack. The dragon makes a Tail attack.
• Horrifying Visage (Costs 2 Actions). Each non-undead creature within 60 feet of the dragon that can see it must succeed on a DC 21 Wisdom saving throw or be frightened for 1 minute. If the save fails by 5 or more, the target also ages 1d4 × 10 years. A frightened target can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the frightened condition on itself on a success. If a target’s saving throw is successful or the effect ends for it, the target is immune to this dragon’s Horrifying Visage for the next 24 hours. The aging effect can be reversed with a greater restoration spell, but only within 24 hours of it occurring.
• Wing Attack (Costs 2 Actions). The dragon beats its wings. Each creature within 15 feet of the dragon must succeed on a DC 25 Dexterity saving throw or take 17 (2d6 + 10) bludgeoning damage and be knocked prone. The dragon can then fly up to half its flying speed.

ABOUT

It is said that the older a soul is, the more potent and powerful it becomes in death. This is frighteningly true when facing the specter of a fallen dragon: a terrible combination of the fury of an ancient drake and the lifestealing power of a specter. Just as deadly in terms of raw, physical power as when it was alive, the ancient ghost dragon has a host of new powers granted to it in death.

Horrifying and Hopeless In tales of heroes who faced off against ancient dragons, one pervasive feeling is shared by all—fear.

The dragon’s ability to instill fear in its enemies through its sheer presence is one of its more notable powers.

However, in death, the ancient dragon loses this fearinspiring presence and instead imbues those nearby with a sense of hopelessness. This hopelessness leads its enemies to make careless, fatal mistakes in the presence of the drake. The disheartened prey of the ancient ghost dragon are easily drowned in its slimy breath that binds unfortunate victims in place and drains them of their vitality. Worse still are those who Haunted Bestiary 110 are withered and aged by its horrifying visage when its true form is revealed, a sight so unholy that few records exist to depict what one might see.

Ethereal Hunter Living dragons lack the ability to move undetected due to their sheer size; the ancient ghost dragon, however, can move silently across the sky and attack its prey without warning. Having the ability to move between the Ethereal Plane and the Material Plane with ease, the ancient ghost dragon can wait in its lair for unfortunate heroes to enter and trigger a deadly ambush, or wander the world unseen, only to emerge and devastate those nearby with its terrifying aura.

Ancient ghost dragons frequently use this tactic to find and kill whoever who slew them in life, killing everything near their intended target due to their sheer devastating size.

It is not uncommon for the lair of an ancient ghost dragon to be filled with the ghosts of those who slew it, now shackled in immortal servitude. Among these spirits may also be the heroes who came to destroy its Undead form.

Section 15: Copyright Notice

Grizelda’s Guide to Ghost Hunting Copyright 2022 Scoundrel Game Labs; Author(s) T.A. Gray, Jeremy Forbing, Andrew Marquis, Darren Kenney, Sven Truckenbrodt, DMBen.

This is not the complete license attribution - see the full license for this page