Oct 7, 2023
Bone Golem by Critical Crafting
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Bone Golem by Critical Crafting
Collection: Purple Dragons
“Born from amaranthine, great form uncoiled, ivory claws extended to the smoke-storming sky, pale eyes blinded by immense hands, yet no less daunting than if they would pierce each mind.” - Excerpt from “Song of the Dragon”, a mythological account of an encounter with the Great Blind Serpent, Rilzriaduss (author unknown)
Scourge of the Underdark. Where some are lucky enough to see - and survive - an encounter with a red, blue or green dragon, those who have encountered their purple cousins are fewer and far between. Purple dragons are difficult to learn about, both because they are extremely solitary creatures, preferring the company of none in their caves and underground burrows, and because any unfortunate soul that meets one rarely escapes with their life. Purple dragons burrow out their lairs, digging it out of stone and earth, and are most often found in the Underdark, where they prey on unsuspecting passersby, which are most often drow or svirfneblin. On rare occasions, purple dragons have dealt with humanoid races through mutual agreements - purple dragons are, in fact, smart enough to manipulate, and wise enough to understand when they have been outnumbered or when escape is unlikely. They are powerful though disloyal allies, although their pure strength is often enough to make up for their rapidly-shifting alliances.
Mental masters. Purple dragons are, just moments after hatching, notoriously difficult to control, whether through mind magic or through deception. Their nature allows them a strong defense against magical effects, and influencing their minds is nearly impossible. They are well-spoken beings, capable of such mental gymnastics that they can change other creatures’ minds without revealing their intentions. However, as cousins to the chromatic dragons, purple dragons are also greatly manipulative, evil, and cruel.
For better, full-page high quality imagery, take a look at the Purple Dragons Collection at the Homebrewery here!
Under the Read More, you’ll find the purple dragon’s lair actions and regional effects.
Halloween Zero-to-Thirty Challenge Rating Challenge
October 24th Prompt: Outer Space
Art by TigerLilyNoh!
Void Dragon
Lore
Beyond the protective atmospheres of the little worlds of the Material Plane, past the stars daintily suspended in the skies, between the grains of particles that influence the movement of nebulas and galaxies, void dragons dwell intertwined within the folds of space itself, slowly amassing their colossal matter hoards and defying entropy.
Mind over Matter. A void dragon perceives space and the interactions of the planes the same way a human sees diverging paths in a road. With a mere thought, it can bend space around its environment, and thus move across great distances, through physically small spaces, or even to other realities. To these stellar beings, physicality is oftentimes merely a convenience or a presentation, and not any sort of limitation. This cavalier attitude extends even to their size, and an individual could shift between atomic and global scales multiple times in short periods to suit its mood.
Solitary Nature. Because a void dragon's greed knows no boundaries of space and distance, the extent of their neighborhoods tend to be limited only by the presence of other void dragons. The creatures are fiercely competitive and jealous of each other's galactic collections, sometimes gravitationally skimming off rogue planets and comets, but unless there's a drastic discrepancy in mass, they tend to be evenly matched and thus give each other the space needed to avoid collisions. Void dragons will seek each other out to birth new generations amongst stellar nurseries, but otherwise spend most of their lives alone. Observational evidence indicates that almost every large galaxy has no more than a single void dragon at its center, and the complex distortions to space caused by multiple void dragons in cohabitation might spell disaster for any civilizations within their gravity well.
A Void Dragon's Lair
A void dragon is not without the material interests of its more terrestrial kin. Like the chromatic and metallic dragons, void dragons too amass collections of wealth, but their ability to shift size and scale grants them a much broader perspective of value. The hoard of a void dragon might constitute some carbon atoms with particularly excitable electrons, or they might drift freely in space as grand nebulas of diamond and quartz deposits. Most often, though, a void dragon will simply pile up their valuables in orbit around a star, allowing gravity and accretion to eventually form rocky hoard planets that act as their lairs.
The most valuable treasures tend to be among a void dragon's oldest possessions, and thus they typically reside within the hoard planet's core. Though this provides ample natural protection, a void dragon wouldn't dare leave their favored gems and compounds unwatched. Massive tunnels are bored through the entire length of hoard planets, creating crisscrossing channels and byzantine mazes difficult for foolhardy treasure-seekers to navigate.
In some cases, a void dragon leaves the surface of its world entirely unattended while it lies under the mantle, and after thousands or millions of years, new life can take root. Societies could rise and fall dozens of times over without ever discovering what causes the occasional quakes as the planet's core churns and throws the surface into disarray. Their happy ignorance might be preferable to learning the awful truth when the void dragon eventually wakes and decides to expand its collection.
Lair Actions
On initiative count 20 (losing initiative ties), the dragon takes a lair action to cause one of the following effects; the dragon can’t use the same effect two rounds in a row:
A tremor shakes the lair in a 60-foot radius around the dragon. Each creature other than the dragon on the ground in that area must succeed on a DC 16 Dexterity saving throw or be knocked prone.
Gravity becomes less reliable in a 60-foot radius around the dragon. Each creature other than the dragon in that area is suddenly pulled in a random direction as their personal gravity shifts. An affected creature can grab onto the nearest surface within reach to prevent falling by succeeding on a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw, otherwise they fall until they hit a solid object or surface. The effect ends on a creature when it moves more than 60 feet away from the dragon.
The dragon bends space around a creature it can see within 120 feet of it. That creature must succeed on a DC 13 Constitution saving throw or it grows smaller or larger by one size category, similar to the effects of an enlarge/reduce spell. A creature can be affected by this lair action more than once (e.g. a Medium creature made Small can be made Tiny if targeted twice). Casting greater restoration will remove one instance of this effect per casting.
Regional Effects
The hoard planet containing a legendary void dragon’s lair is warped by the dragon’s magic, which creates one or more of the following effects:
Small quakes are common on random continents on the hoard planet's surface.
The hoard planet is orbited by a cloud of captured asteroids. Creatures and objects take 1d4 piercing damage from micrometeoroids for every hour spent in orbit.
The hoard planet is full of tunnels created by the void dragon's travels over time, which vary greatly in size and create complex mazes difficult to navigate. For each hour spent traveling the tunnels, creatures must succeed on a DC 15 Survival check or reach a dead end as the tunnel becomes too small to traverse, requiring backtracking to find other routes. Tiny creatures are not affected by this limitation and can continue through the microtunnels normally.
If the dragon dies, the quakes fade over the course of 1d10 days, and the other effects fade over the course of 1d100 years.
Slime King by CM46
Blank Synthform
Creature: Zyranis
"...and there I wonder if the great warriors on Mount Celestia, revering their everlasting masters upon that great bulwark, truly do believe that creatures of innate goodness are not capable of great evils. I have seen the darkness among the light and there is no turning back from the truth of the universe - that even those who believe in the greatest of goods are desperately evil, and will put their beliefs above the lives they swore to protect. They call me a monster, now, for what I have seen, said, and done, but they cannot see the monstrousness inherent in their own grotesque, diabolical faith." - Excerpt from "Seven Treatises on Good and Evil", written by the zyranis Tau.
Fallen angels and ascended devils. The story of Zariel, the angel who fell, is known widely amongst the universe and told as a warning story to celestials that might follow her path. But few know of the fate of the zyrani - at creation, either devilish or celestial, but given a new turning point to ponder: free will. Scholars throughout the ages have wondered whether creatures of absolute law such as celestials and creatures of absolute evil such as devils have free will to govern themselves - at least the followers of true gods and true devils seem to simply follow orders. Zyrani either attain or are created with true free will, and all choose the middle path, essentially estranging them from both sides of the war. Their free will allows them to realize the horrible truth that neither devil nor angel wishes to accept: that there is no true good and no true evil, and that the grey in between stretches to encompass everything.
Dethroned generals. Zyrani of either devilish or celestial side that choose the middle path are generally destroyed by other members of their circle in an attempt to stop the perceived "wrongdoing" of the zyranis. Those that survive this ordeal or who manage to escape have punishment placed upon them threefold: celestial zyrani have their wings torn from them and their healing powers removed. Devilish zyrani have their regeneration stripped, and their devilish eyesight reduced. Both parties lose a majority of their abilities and are reduced to lesser creatures of their type, but a zyranis who chooses this path becomes a new being and gains strength from their choice. They themselves become the in-between: a strange, otherworldly amalgamation of devil and celestial that is simultaneously both beautiful and horrific.
A new life. Zyrani that are removed from Mount Celestia or the Nine Hells settle in between: they find their place on the Material Plane, usually passing as high-ranking generals of armies or royal advisors, using their ability to change their physical shape in order to pass as a humanoid creature. Those who can count a zyrani amongst their allies has a powerful force behind them, as a zyrani isn't tied to any particular way of life or code of behavior, and will fight for whatever cause seems best at that moment. The zyrani's neutrality allows for them to see from a new point of view, and they rarely choose sides in humanoid conflicts such as wars, unless the conflict may be a personal attack on the zyranis' place in the world.
Friends and companions. Because of their neutral stance and their willingness to live amongst humanoids without detection, zyrani can become allies with nearly all neutral-aligned parties. They may pass as a druid protecting a grove that represents the circle of life, or they may live as a scholar amongst men, studying the works of history. Some zyrani choose to live as powerful, legendary beasts, in seclusion, and others may instead seek fame as a master thief, talented artist or intelligent sage. Zyrani avoid companionship with celestials and devils out of fear of detection or out of disinterest, and they shun causes that are outright evil or outright good, such as cults or religious sects.
Hybrid nature. The zyranis has two creature types: celestial and fiend (devil). It can be influenced by an effect if it works on either of its creature types.
Sky Reaper Shark
Creature: Strix from the Great Before
Great Before Collection part 2 of ?
The Great Before Collection is a bundle of primordial and primeval creatures from the time before mankind. These beasts are ancient, and do not follow the laws of creation as they were written after the birth of these beings. There are a multitude of creatures from the Great Before, and when they are all finished, I will be creating a bundle with lore, mechanics and lots of beasts from the Great Before! Stay tuned.
Read the full-page print of the Strix from the Great Before on the Homebrewery here!
Find the other creatures from the Great Before Collection here!