Dragons to Dracoliches

[Dr. Cliché]

Something of a random question, but do you believe that any particular type of true dragon (Red, Shadow, Howling etc.) makes the best Dracoliches?

If so, which type of dragon and why?

This can be based on either flavour or power level.

[sleepyphoenixx]

Steel Dragons get the highest casting per HD. Tome Dragons get free metamagic and tons of free spells known.
Neither is usually evil, but we can work around that, assuming you want dracolich minions.

Basically the more casting they have the better, with the Spellhoarding template and Loredrake archetype if possible.

[WhamBamSam]

Psionic Dragons might circumvent the prohibition on casting as a Proto-Dracolich so long as they don't have the Magic Mantle, though that's a little cheesy. This is likely also true of Xorivintaal Dragons, so love of the great game is as good a reason as any to prolong your existence through Dracolichdom.

In general, the Dracolich template is most useful for physical combat, what with the awesome Paralyzing Touch that it gets. It doesn't do that much that an equivalent increase in CR/ECL through class levels/aging wouldn't for casting, and it's really bad for breath blasting because so many of the metabreath feats require a Con score.

The Spinewyrm (Dungeon Magazine 110) makes a pretty lethal Dracolich. It's Psionic, and the Dracolich version of Paralyzing Touch works on any physical attack, including ranged ones, so their ability to fire off their spines becomes even more dangerous than usual. Throw on Ranged Pin so that there's even more chance that those hit with the spine volley will be stymied, and so you can trigger their fancy impale power for more damage. Up close, their grappling capabilities allow for some further mileage out of paralyzing touch.

Sapphire Dragons are another Psionic Dragon, and stand out among the Gem Dragons for their (Su) Sense Psychoportation, which is handy if you're looking to defend a lair for millenia.

The Styx and Fang dragons are good as well, what with their extra emphasis on physical combat, and the Styx's lingering line of acid breath being useful against enemies who can't move even without metabreath stuff tacked onto it.

A Mercury Dracolich using Flyby Attack to Paralyzing Touch with a Longbow would be pretty hysterical and dangerous.

Dragonwrought Kobolds make great Dracoliches, as they are good at everything and would be perfectly happy to lose their Con score. Note that the template just requires you to be an Evil Dragon, so they qualify regardless of whether or not they're True Dragons. I've been meaning to build a good Dragonwrought Dracolich archer for a while now.

[NeoPhoenix0]

I can't really suggest a combat oriented dragon, the increase in CR doesn't come with any significant increase in physical defenses (although that dr 5/bludgeoning might actually block some damage for a change) and it outright loses hp. So i think the dragon should have a high caster level and rely on ranged combat. The two elemental immunities are nice so an acid or fire immune dragon would be nice. (It was probably written for red dragons which they love so much.) If you do make a combat oriented dragon make it quick and rely on it's minions to get in the way a lot. It will be a bit of a fragile bruiser on dragon standards.

With the increase in CR most dragons are better of advancing in age category, so a dragon that already has 9th level spells would be good. So a great wyrm steel dragon is a good option. Also i would graft a second pair of dragon wings on the back so it can still fly to some degree in an anti-magic field.

A great wyrm red, core metallic, steel, mercury or mist would probably work pretty good.

For best i would go with mist dragon for it's mist form and immunity to every energy type except sonic. oh and 19th level casting, though the other two dragons in dragons of faerun make good options too.

[WhamBamSam]

I can't really suggest a combat oriented dragon, the increase in CR doesn't come with any significant increase in physical defenses (although that dr 5/bludgeoning might actually block some damage for a change) and it outright loses hp. So i think the dragon should have a high caster level and rely on ranged combat. The two elemental immunities are nice so an acid or fire immune dragon would be nice. (It was probably written for red dragons which they love so much.) If you do make a combat oriented dragon make it quick and rely on it's minions to get in the way a lot. It will be a bit of a fragile bruiser on dragon standards.I mean, it shouldn't be trading full attacks, but that was true anyway. The paralyzing touch/gaze can be prepared against, but they at least add an extra wrinkle when it comes to the party damage dealers getting their chance to whale on it.

So a Fang Dragon melee monster isn't just charging and taking turns swinging away with the party, but rather making a Flyby Attack or Great Flyby Attack (if it has the Dex through items, buffs, the Elite Array or whatever) run to hit with claw or tail attacks for trip attempts, then using Improved Trip to attack with its Con draining bite if successful. Same holds true for the Dracolich version except you add a bit of cold damage and saves against paralysis into the mix.

Also, one of my favorite Dracolich setups (though admittedly a fairly risky one if the PCs find the phylactery) is to have the phylactery buried around the neck of a White Dragon beneath a room littered with dragon corpses, just close enough that the dracolich can possess the corpses. The dracolich can then continue posessing the other corpses to continue the fight, or if it feels the fight isn't going well, possess the White Dragon, burrow to an escape tunnel, then fly/swim to safety. Depending on the number of corpses it's willing to possess before giving up and fleeing, it might well end up with more HP.

Also, a dragon with powerful casting likely has better means of bringing itself back than the phylactery, though the undead immunities are nice.


With the increase in CR most dragons are better of advancing in age category, so a dragon that already has 9th level spells would be good. So a great wyrm steel dragon is a good option. Also i would graft a second pair of dragon wings on the back so it can still fly to some degree in an anti-magic field.

A great wyrm red, core metallic, steel, mercury or mist would probably work pretty good.

For best i would go with mist dragon for it's mist form and immunity to every energy type except sonic. oh and 19th level casting, though the other two dragons in dragons of faerun make good options too.Mist gets some nice immunities, but I still stand by the claim that the big draws of the template are the Paralyzing Touch and Gaze, which can't be used in mist form.

Becoming a Dracolich (or a Vampiric Dragon) will wipe away the Con score of a dragon with the Ravening Psychosis (Dragon 313) that's been underfed for a while. As I said though, Dracoliches aren't very good at breath blasting due to all the metabreath feats that require Con. There are better ways to handle the Con damage. The Str boost and fire shield effect (energy type corresponding to breath weapon) are potentially nice for a dracolich though.

[Zanos]

Breath of Unlife from Dragons of Faerun allows you to use your charisma score for metabreath feats.

I'd also recommend doing the dracolich ritual around an alter with Fell Energy Desecrate to get a large bonus to HP. It might not equally out to what your con modifier would be getting you, but it's better than just d12s.

[WhamBamSam]

Breath of Unlife from Dragons of Faerun allows you to use your charisma score for metabreath feats.

I'd also recommend doing the dracolich ritual around an alter with Fell Energy Desecrate to get a large bonus to HP. It might not equally out to what your con modifier would be getting you, but it's better than just d12s.Huh. I'd never noticed that line in the feat before. That does help Dracoliches act more dragony with their breath weapons.

That'd make a Cobalt Dragon Marshal 1 a good candidate for Dracolichdom, since it could key everything off Cha and get Cha added to the bull rush on its breath attack (Marshal's Art of War minor aura is the only thing I've found that works for boosting the check other than just more damage, since most things reference "strength checks to bull rush opponents" or "strength checks such as bull rush checks" instead of just "bull rush checks.")

[NeoPhoenix0]

you make a good point, though i still take the stance of ranged combat being better.

this cobalt dragon intrigues me, where is it from?

[WhamBamSam]

you make a good point, though i still take the stance of ranged combat being better.

this cobalt dragon intrigues me, where is it from?Hence several of my suggestions being ranged (Spinewyrm using its Spine Volley/Ranged Pin, Mercury Dragon with a Longbow, Dragonwrought Kobold archer).

The Cobalt Dragon is in Dragon Magazine 356.

[Ellowryn]

On the save dc's, you know it says right in the dracolich entry in Draconomicon that all its special attacks become based on Cha instead of Con. And odly enough the sample dracolich they gave had metabreath feats and used them as per the description, so i guess as long as you took the feats before you turned lich you can still use them.

[NeoPhoenix0]

i don't know, the more i look at it the more i don't like the dracolich template.


On the save dc's, you know it says right in the dracolich entry in Draconomicon that all its special attacks become based on Cha instead of Con. And odly enough the sample dracolich they gave had metabreath feats and used them as per the description, so i guess as long as you took the feats before you turned lich you can still use them.

On metabreath feats, dms should feel free to interpret it however they want. heck they don't even have to follow the rules for there monsters if they don't want to, but strictly RAW speaking you do have to qualify for a feat to use it, not just take it. Also, WotC are notorious for having terribly inaccurate and impossible stat blocks.