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The Vorpal Tribble
2008-09-16, 08:08 PM
I wrote this up long, looong ago but never posted. Have updated and spruced it up.

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Dragon Uncarnate

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c273/AwakenedDreamer/RandomStuff/DragonUncarnate.jpg

Dragon (Extraplanar, Incorporeal, Psionic)
Environment: Region of Dreams, Shallows
Organization: Solitary or Mates (2 young adult or older dragon uncarnates)
Challenge Rating: Wyrmling (as host); Very Young 5; Young 6; Juvenile 8; Young Adult 11; Adult 12; Mature Adult 15; Old 17; Very Old 19; Ancient 21; Wyrm 23; Great Wyrm 25
Treasure: None
Alignment: Any chaotic
Advancement: Wyrmling 4–5 HD; very young 6–8 HD; young 9-11 HD; juvenile 12–14 HD; young adult 15–17 HD; adult 18–20 HD; mature adult 21–23 HD; old 24–26 HD; very old 27–29 HD; ancient 30–32 HD; wyrm 33–35 HD; great wyrm 37+ HD
Level Adjustment: -

Dragon uncarnates are ultimately imaginative, creative and unpredictable. They dislike anything that hints at routine or conforming to a norm. They value the unique and interesting above all other things.

A predator of the medium of thoughts and dreams, a dragon uncarnate is incorporeal and can appear to anyone as any creature it likes, though it rarely bothers. In its natural form it appears as a dragon with a very long, sinuous body and tail that extends far out of sight, with no visible end. Its scales are in constant motion, lifting off of the dragon, changing shape, rearranging, and wandering about its surface before lying flat. They are slightly transparent, resembling liquid crystal, with the faintest of white glows. It has massive, feathered wings that grow fainter and fainter along their length until it disappears entirely. The head of the dragon is long and indistinct with blurred features that never quite come into focus. Two black holes in the face are the shape of eyes, tiny lights chasing and revolving about each other within. Four thick tentacles protrude from around its mouth, two on top, two on the bottom, each ending in a clawed tip. The mouth itself is toothless, with only a dark hole of fathomless depth within.

Dragon Uncarnates are almost always on the move, but they are known to often mentally craft themselves a lair in out-of-the-way areas within dream realms. These lairs do not always have gravity that corresponds with the outer pull and are always incredibly surreal yet unimaginably beautiful.
Dragon Uncarnates breed by use of metaconcert to combine their minds. Together they produce a seed of the psyche that one of them decides to keep within until a suitable mind can be found to incubate. There it grows within the eldritch womb of a dreamscape.
Dragon Uncarnates communicate telepathically.


Dragon Uncarnates by Age

{table]Age|Size|Hit Dice (hp)|Str|Dex*|Con|Int|Wis|Cha*|Base Attack/Grapple|Attack|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Breath Weapon ("DC")|Surreal Presence
Wyrmling |*| * (*) |*| *| *|14|13|15| */* | * |+* |+* |+* | * | *|
Very Young |S| 6d12+6 (45) |-|16|12|16|15|17| +6/+2 |+9 |+6 |+8 |+7 |+16|18|
Young |S| 9d12+9 (67) |-|16|12|18|17|19| +9/+5 |+12|+7 |+9 |+8 |+18|20|
Juvenile |M|12d12+24 (102)|-|19|15|20|19|21|+12/+12|+16|+10|+12|+12|+21|23|
Young Adult |M|15d12+45 (142)|-|19|17|22|21|23|+15/+15|+19|+12|+13|+14|+23|25|
Adult |L|18d12+54 (171)|-|22|17|24|23|25|+18/+22|+24|+14|+17|+17|+26|28|
Mature Adult |L|21d12+84 (220)|-|22|19|26|25|27|+21/+25|+27|+16|+18|+19|+28|30|
Old |H|24d12+120 (276)|-|25|21|28|27|29|+24/+32|+31|+19|+21|+22|+31|32|
Very Old |H|27d12+135 (310)|-|25|21|30|29|31|+27/+35|+34|+20|+22|+24|+33|35|
Ancient |G|30d12+180 (375)|-|28|23|32|31|33|+30/+42|+39|+23|+26|+27|+36|38|
Wyrm |G|33d12+231 (445)|-|28|25|34|33|35|+33/+45|+42|+25|+27|+29|+39|40|
Great Wyrm |C|36d12+252 (486)|-|31|25|36|35|37|+36/+52|+46|+27|+30|+32|+41|43|
[/table]
* As host


Dragon Uncarnate Abilities by Age

{table]Age|Speed|Initiative| Armor Class|Special Abilities|Manifester Level|PR
Wyrmling |fly 200 ft (Perfect)| - |- (-) , - touch, - flat-footed|Born of Dream, Dream Inured |- |-
Very Young |fly 200 ft (Perfect)|+3 |17 (+3 deflection, +3 dex, +1 size) , 17 touch, 14 flat-footed|Imagined, Incorporeal Touch, Incorporeal Traits, Surreal Presence|- |-
Young |fly 200 ft (Perfect)|+3 |18 (+4 deflection, +3 dex, +1 size) , 18 touch, 15 flat-footed|Detect Dreams, Enter Dream |1st |-
Juvenile |fly 200 ft (Perfect)|+4 |19 (+5 deflection, +4 dex) , 19 touch, 15 flat-footed|Read Thoughts |3rd |-
Young Adult |fly 200 ft (Perfect)|+4 |20 (+6 deflection, +4 dex) , 20 touch, 16 flat-footed|DR 5/magic, Realized Potential |5th |19
Adult |fly 200 ft (Perfect)|+6 |22 (+7 deflection, +6 dex, -1 size) , 22 touch, 16 flat-footed|Mind Song, Seed of the Psyche |7th |21
Mature Adult|fly 200 ft (Perfect)|+6 |23 (+8 deflection, +6 dex, -1 size) , 23 touch, 17 flat-footed|DR 10/magic, Dream Travel |9th |24
Old |fly 200 ft (Perfect)|+7 |24 (+9 deflection, +7 dex, -2 size) , 24 touch, 17 flat-footed|Dreamless |11th|27
Very Old |fly 200 ft (Perfect)|+7 |25 (+10 deflection, +7 dex, -2 size) , 25 touch, 18 flat-footed|DR 15/magic, Metaconcert |13th|29
Ancient |fly 200 ft (Perfect)|+9 |26 (+11 deflection, +9 dex, -4 size) , 26 touch, 15 flat-footed|True Seeing |15th|32
Wyrm |fly 200 ft (Perfect)|+9 |27 (+12 deflection, +9 dex, -4 size) , 27 touch, 16 flat-footed|DR 20/magic |17th|34
Great Wyrm |fly 200 ft (Perfect)|+10|25 (+13 deflection, +10 dex, -8 size), 25 touch, 15 flat-footed|Genesis |19th|37
[/table]



Combat
A dragon uncarnate usually has no need to fight, stealthily invading a mind and putting them to sleep. Once within the dream the dragon uncarnate has full sway over events. Normally this consists of the dragon sending the dreamer through tests and obstacles requiring imaginative strategies or original thinking to escape. These tests may be cruel and sadistic or quite enjoyable, but either way the dreamer must be creative and win before the dragon allows the sleeper to wake. Those who solve its riddles quickly or do something so unexpected that the dragon uncarnate was caught by surprise are normally the recipient of a seed of the psyche. The riddles and scenarios are simple to figure when the dragon is young, but as it ages they become increasingly complex and difficult.

Tentacles: A dragon uncarnate, unlike most dragons, do not have a bite attack. Instead they gain 4 tentacle attacks. Tentacle attacks deal the indicated damage plus the dragon’s Strength bonus. A dragon uncarnate also can use two or more of its tentacles to snatch opponents if it has the Snatch feat.

{table]Size|Reach w. Tentacle|Damage
Small |10 ft.| 1d3
Medium |10 ft.| 1d4
Large |15 ft.| 1d6
Huge |20 ft.| 1d8
Gargantuan |25 ft.| 2d6
Colossal |35 ft.| 2d8
[/table]

Born of Dream (Ex): Dragon Uncarnates appear hazy and out of focus, such that all melee and ranged attacks against them are assessed a 20 percent miss chance. This is not the same as concealment and does not preclude the possibility of effective sneak attacks.

Breath Weapon (Su): A Dragon Uncarnate has two types of breath weapon, a cone of sleep or a cloud of fancy.
Creatures within the cone of sleep must succeed at a Will save or fall asleep. They do not awaken on their own, but vigorous shaking or damage taken (though not damage from hunger or thirst) can awake them after 1 minute per Size Category of the dragon uncarnate. This is a mind-affecting, sleep effect.
Creatures within a cloud of fancy must succeed at a Will save or be caught in a dream so real they cannot awake and are rendered helpless. Whatever the dragon uncarnate wishes them to see they experience. This cloud lasts for as long as the dragon uncarnate uses a standard action and 1 round afterward. Those in the cloud may attempt a new Will save each round. The cloud is 10 feet high, 15 feet wide, and 25 feet long. This is a mind-affecting effect.
The save DC against a dragon uncarnate breath weapon is 10 + 1/2 dragon’s HD + dragon’s Cha modifier.

Detect Dreams (Su):
The dragon uncarnate can use this ability at will such as if using the Detect Psionics ability except it can only detect dreaming beings. the dragon can scan a 60-degree arc each round: By concentrating for one round it knows if there are anyone sleeping within the arc; 2 rounds of concentration reveals the exact number of sleeping folk; and three rounds reveal their exact location and their race, allowing it to make a jump straight into their minds.

Dream Inured: A dragon uncarnate is immune to fear, confusion and insanity.

Enter Dream (Su): A dragon uncarnate can make a touch attack against any sleeping being. They appear to disappear within the target if it fails a Will save (DC 10 + half dragon's HD + Cha mod). They are immediately teleported to the Region of Dreams and the subject's dream in particular.
If he victim makes his save he is immune to that particular dragon's enter dream ability until next they sleep.

Imagined (Su): A Dragon Uncarnate can assume the likeness of any creature within a size category of itself as a standard action that does not provoke attacks of opportunity. Its abilities do not change, but it appears to be that creature, relying on its Bluff and Disguise skills to deflect suspicion.

Incorporeal Touch (Su): A dragon uncarnate deals damage with its physical attacks same as a normal would, but does it with its incorporeal touch, ignoring non-magical armor and shields.

Incorporeal Traits: A dragon uncarnate is harmed only by other incorporeal creatures, magic weapons, powers, spells, spell-like abilities, and supernatural abilities. It has a 50% chance to ignore any damage from a corporeal source, except for force effects or attacks made with ghost touch weapons. It can pass through solid objects, but not force effects, at will. Its attacks ignore natural armor, armor, and shields, but deflection bonuses and force effects work normally against them. An incorporeal creature always moves silently and cannot be heard with Listen checks if it doesn’t wish to be.

Ohrwurm (Su): Spread by telepathic contact, Will DC (10 + half HD + Int or Cha modifier), incubation period one day, damage ohrwurm.
Ohrwurm is a psychic malady picked up after telepathic discourse with an exceptionally powerful intellect, leaving a sort of psionic ringing in the mind that disrupts telepathic communication. It is also passed by telepathic contact with one suffering from this affliction, such as the telepathy special ability or mind-affecting spells and powers or similar.
The victim becomes telepathically deaf, unable to send or receive telepathic communication, nor able to use psionic powers with the mind-affecting descriptor.
The secondary effect is 1d4 hours later the ringing forms into a melody lovely yet eerie beyond words that starts to play in the subject's mind. In addition to the previous symptoms, which remain, spellcasting, or concentrating on spells requires a Concentration check (DC = original DC) and the target takes a –2 penalty on initiative, skill checks, and ability checks for the duration. This state lasts for a number of days equal to the Charisma modifier of the carrier.
It can be cured by Psychic Chirurgery, but the manifester has a chance of contacting the malady in doing so (a roll of 1 on a six sided die means it has spread to the manifester). Reality Revision can also cure the Ohrwurm.


Psi-like Abilities:
At will - Dream Travel, Read Thoughts
3/day - *Realized Potential
1/day - Dreamless (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2544417&postcount=1), Metaconcert
1/month - Genesis

* From Complete Psionic

Psionics: A dragon uncarnate manifests powers as a wilder of the level indicated in its variety description, gaining bonus power points for a high Charisma score and the Wild Surge ability. A dragon uncarnate may also manifest powers from the Telepath discipline.

Seed of the Psyche (Su):
To reproduce a dragon uncarnate implants a mental anomaly within the subconsciousness of individuals who have shown themselves to be of unusual resourcefulness and imagination. The being must succeed on a Will save (DC 10 + half Dragon's HD + Cha mod) or be implanted. The subject has incredibly realistic and uncanny dreams every time he sleeps as a dragon uncarnate begins to take form in the dream scape. This condition lasts 800 days, at which point the embryonic dragon uncarnate has matured and completely takes over the host's body. The host, to all appearances, is the same, and the wyrmling uncarnate has been within him long enough to know how to control the body and have it act in the way it did before. Once the wyrmling has grown one size category (whenever the host would gain a level it is instead transferred to the wyrm in the form of an extra HD) it is mature enough to leave the host as a Very Young dragon uncarnate. The host is left with his own personality intact, but is dazed for a day, and has no recollection of what has transpired since the day the wyrmling 'hatched'.

Psychic chirugery can remove a mind egg, though the wyrmling gets a save. Healing spells and abilities are useless as the egg/wyrmling is not damaging the host in any way. While the wyrmling is in possession of the body it takes damage to the host as its own. It also takes all the physical abilities and properties of the host.

The host gains the Wild Talent feat after it has been released, the possession of the wyrmling having strengthened and expanded the mind to fit its needs during its growth.

Surreal Presence (Ex): This acts as Frightful Presence, except dragon uncarnates may use it at any age and all gain a +2 racial bonus to their check. A wyrm not only frighten and panics, but it can choose so that those of any HD less than the dragon uncarnate must succeed on a save or go insane from it's bewildering presence.

True Seeing (Su): An ancient dragon uncarnate has a continuous true seeing ability, as the power (manifester level equal to HD).

Skills: Autohypnosis, Bluff, Disguise and Lucid Dreaming are considered class skills for dragon uncarnates. A dragon uncarnate gains Psicraft in place of Spellcraft.

Zeta Kai
2008-09-19, 10:35 AM
Exit light, Enter night.
Take my hand. We're off to Never-Never Land.
:biggrin:

Eighth_Seraph
2008-09-20, 10:26 AM
Wow. I like it! The concept of the seed implant would be very difficult to implement into a campaign (800 days of cool dreams, followed by one level of continuous domination), but I can see the wyrmling finally breaking free of the host body, making itself visible for the first time and appearing to the party, offering it a favor sometime in the future for all the assistance.

Very nice, VT. You might want to clear up the text about the mind seed, though. Does the experience drain begin only after the initial 800 days? Also, I would suggest that you make it explicit that the dragon uncarnate leaves the host as a Very Young dragon, for those that can't read tables. Also, change Frightful Presence to Surreal Presence on the table.

I really like this creature. Lotsa utility to be gotten out of it.

The Vorpal Tribble
2008-09-20, 08:32 PM
Does the experience drain begin only after the initial 800 days?
Yeah, only once it is actually in control of its host.

Primal Fury
2008-09-21, 06:03 PM
This is a nice dragon. Best I've seen actually. But I was wondering why you didn't give it a level adjustment. Most other dragons at least give the option of playing as wyrmlings. Any particualy reason you didn't make that an option for this one?

Mr.Bookworm
2008-09-21, 06:53 PM
I notice this works extremely well for Eberron. Was that intended?

Also, does anything unusual happen when the seed/Wyrmling is inside a psionic host?

The Vorpal Tribble
2008-10-05, 11:54 AM
I was wondering why you didn't give it a level adjustment. Most other dragons at least give the option of playing as wyrmlings. Any particualy reason you didn't make that an option for this one?
Well, playing an incorporeal dragon with fear effects and the ability to assume any form, etc... just seemed really non-player worthy. Unbodied would be about the closest, but even the youngest playable dragon uncarnate would be more powerful. +5 LA at the very least.


I notice this works extremely well for Eberron. Was that intended?
Didn't have it in mind at the time of making it.


Also, does anything unusual happen when the seed/Wyrmling is inside a psionic host?
Not really, except the dragon probably has a better chance of survival and perhaps the host could communicate with it beforehand.

afroakuma
2008-10-05, 12:38 PM
Tribble you poodoo, I was gonna do a dragon for the contest! :smallfurious:

That said, it's quite cool. :smallbiggrin:

The Vorpal Tribble
2008-10-07, 09:54 AM
Tribble you poodoo, I was gonna do a dragon for the contest! :smallfurious:
Y'still can. I just merely call dibs on the dream-dragons :smallamused: