Buy me a coffee“Shadow Drake: The Phantom of Midnight Wings”
A Shadow Drake is a sly, winged predator woven from living darkness, slipping between dim light and pitch black to strike with icy breath and vanish before its prey can scream.
The Shadow Drake is a lithe, serpentine wyrm no larger than a wolf, cloaked in scales of deep, smoky charcoal that drink in surrounding light. Its narrow eyes gleam with a dim amethyst glow, and its membranous wings shimmer with drifting wisps of darkness, as if stitched from the night itself. A long, whip-like tail ends in a barbed fin, granting sudden, razor-sharp turns in flight. In dim light, its edges blur and fade, leaving only the suggestion of a lurking silhouette.
Behaviour
Cunning and mercurial, Shadow Drakes thrive on misdirection and advantage. They stalk their quarry with patient precision, then harry it in a cruel game of feints, vanishing into darkness before striking again. Though primarily solitary, they sometimes form fleeting hunting pacts—partnerships that inevitably dissolve in betrayal or theft.
Habitat
Shadow Drakes favor liminal realms where light and dark meet—twilight forests, cavern mouths, abandoned ruins, and the half-lit edges of shadow-tainted planes. While able to endure daylight, they are most active in the gloaming, when shadows stretch long. Their lairs, often perched in high cliff crevices or the hollow crowns of ruined towers, are fiercely defended.
Modus Operandi
A Shadow Drake hunts as the night does—quietly, patiently, and without warning. It strikes from concealment, beginning with a breath of icy, shadow-laced mist to blind and weaken, then slipping away into cover to circle and strike anew. Rarely do they commit to a sustained melee; instead, they wear foes down with hit-and-fade assaults until the kill is certain.
Motivation
Shadow Drakes are driven by a mingling of avarice and obsession. They prize treasures that catch the faintest gleam in darkness—moon-silver, dark-hued gems, and polished obsidian mirrors. Their fixation with light sources borders on compulsion: they extinguish them not only to hunt unseen, but to claim dominion over the shadows themselves. Above all, they seek to reign as the unseen master of their chosen domain—predator, phantom, and keeper of the dark.
Shadow Drake 2024 5e
Shadow Drake, Pathfinder
Shadow Drake
A flicker in the corner of your eye, a whisper of wings in the gloom—then a breath of winter shadow snuffs out the light.
Tiny Dragon, Chaotic Neutral
Armor Class 16 (natural armor)
Hit Points 45 (10d4 + 20)
Speed 30 ft., fly 60 ft.
| STR | DEX | CON | INT | WIS | CHA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 (+0) | 18 (+4) | 14 (+2) | 8 (−1) | 14 (+2) | 12 (+1) |
Saving Throws Dex +7, Wis +5, Cha +4
Skills Perception +5, Stealth +9, Sleight of Hand +6
Damage Resistances cold, necrotic; bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical attacks
Damage Vulnerabilities radiant
Condition Immunities charmed, frightened
Senses darkvision 120 ft., passive Perception 15
Languages Draconic; understands Common but rarely speaks
Challenge 3 (700 XP)
Proficiency Bonus +2
Innate Shadow Magic
The drake’s innate spellcasting ability is Charisma (spell save DC 12, +4 to hit with spell attacks). It can innately cast the following spells, requiring no material components:
- At will: minor illusion, thaumaturgy
- 3/day each: darkness, shadow blade (2nd level)
- 1/day each: fear, greater invisibility
Shadow Blend
While in dim light or darkness, the drake can use a bonus action to obscure itself until the start of its next turn. While obscured, it has advantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks, and attack rolls against it have disadvantage.
Evasion
If the drake is subjected to an effect that allows it to make a Dexterity saving throw to take only half damage, it instead takes no damage on a success, and half damage on a failure.
Actions
Multiattack. The drake makes two attacks: one with its bite and one with its claws.
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 8 (1d10 + 4) piercing damage plus 4 (1d8) cold damage.
Claws. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d6 + 4) slashing damage.
Stygian Breath (Recharge 5–6). The drake exhales icy, shadow-laced mist in a 15-foot cone. Each creature in that area must make a DC 13 Constitution saving throw, taking 18 (4d8) cold damage and becoming blinded until the start of the drake’s next turn on a failed save, or half as much damage and no blindness on a success. Nonmagical light sources in the area are extinguished.
Reactions
Shadow Slip. When a creature the drake can see targets it with an attack, the drake can move up to 15 feet to an unoccupied space in dim light or darkness, potentially causing the attack to miss if it’s now out of range or line of sight.
Legendary Actions
The Shadow Drake can take 2 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 drake regains spent legendary actions at the start of its turn.
- Detect. The drake makes a Wisdom (Perception) check.
- Fade Step. The drake teleports up to 20 feet to an unoccupied space in dim light or darkness.
- Shadow Strike (Costs 2 Actions). The drake makes one claw attack with advantage.
Combat Tactics
The Shadow Drake begins combat hidden, opening with Stygian Breath to blind and weaken its foes before vanishing into darkness with Shadow Slip or greater invisibility. It prefers to harry opponents with swift melee strikes and will extinguish light sources to maintain the advantage of its Shadow Blend. If injured, it uses terrain, flight, and teleportation to keep distance, returning only when it can strike unseen. The drake flees if reduced below one-third of its hit points—unless defending its hoard.
Shadow Drake
This tiny black dragonlike creature has charcoal-colored scales and shadowy wings.
Shadow drakes are mischievous and greedy. They often use their whiplike tails as third limbs, grasping small objects or even using their tails to work locks or swipe small objects they desire. Because they are so small and fast, they are master thieves and pickpockets. Unlike most drakes and dragonkin, shadow drakes like to haunt the fringes of civilization, often making lairs in abandoned buildings, forgotten attics, or unused bell towers, and stashing their tiny treasure hoards there.
A shadow drake can be chosen as a familiar by a 7th-level evil spellcaster who has the Improved Familiar feat. Young shadow drakes are almost pure black and have lustrous hides. As they age, their scales lose this luster and turn dull gray. Much like their larger dragon cousins, shadow drakes are long-lived, and can reach 150 to 200 years in age.
Shadow Drake CR 2
XP 600
CE Tiny dragon (cold)
Init +5; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Perception +7
DEFENSE
AC 18, touch 17, flat-footed 13 (+5 Dex, +1 natural, +2 size)
hp 22 (3d12+3)
Fort +4, Ref +8, Will +4
Defensive Abilities shadow blend; Immune cold, paralysis, and sleep
Weaknesses light sensitivity, vulnerable to fire
OFFENSE
Speed 20 ft., fly 90 ft. (perfect)
Melee bite +10 (1d3–1), tail slap +5 (1d3–1)
Space 2-1/2 ft.; Reach 0 ft. (5 ft. with tail)
Special Attacks stygian breath
STATISTICS
Str 9, Dex 20, Con 12, Int 11, Wis 12, Cha 16
Base Atk +3; CMB +6; CMD 15
Feats Flyby Attack, Weapon Finesse
Skills Acrobatics +8 (+4 when jumping), Disable Device +8, Fly +23, Perception +7, Sleight of Hand +8, Stealth +19; Racial Modifiers –4 Acrobatics when jumping
Languages Common, Draconic
SQ speed surge
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Shadow Blend (Su)
In conditions of illumination other than bright light, a shadow drake disappears into the shadows, giving it concealment (20% miss chance). It can resume or suspend this ability as a free action.
Speed Surge (Ex)
Three times per day as a swift action, a shadow drake may draw on its draconic heritage for a boost of strength and speed to take an additional move action in that round.
Stygian Breath (Su)
As a standard action, a shadow drake can exhale a ball of black liquid that explodes into a cloud of frigid black mist. This attack has a range of 60 feet and deals 2d6 points of cold damage (Reflex DC 12 half) to all creatures within a 5-foot-radius spread. The mist snuffs out light sources in the area effect, extinguishing non-magical light sources and dispelling light spells of 1st level or lower. Once a shadow drake has used its stygian breath, it cannot do so again for 1d6 rounds. The save DC is Constitution-based.
ECOLOGY
Environment any
Organization solitary, pair, or rampage (3–5)
Treasure standard
Section 15: Copyright Notice
Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Bestiary 4 © 2013, Paizo Publishing, LLC; Authors: Dennis Baker, Jesse Benner, Savannah Broadway, Ross Byers, Adam Daigle, Tim Hitchcock, Tracy Hurley, James Jacobs, Matt James, Rob McCreary, Jason Nelson, Tom Phillips, Stephen Radney-MacFarland, Sean K Reynolds, F. Wesley Schneider, Tork Shaw, and Russ Taylor.