Barrage Archdragon
Level 20Attacks
Abilities
The dragon can detect the presence of iron and other ferrous metals as a precise sense at the listed range.
15 feet.
A vortex of fist-sized balls of pure magic swirls around the dragon. Air within the emanation is difficult terrain for Flying creatures other than the dragon. A creature that enters the aura or begins its turn within the aura takes 8d6 force damage (DC 39 reflex save).
Trigger The dragon is targeted with a ranged spell attack
Effect The dragon creates a field of distorted space between themself and the caster. The creature targeting the barrage dragon must roll the spell attack twice and take the worse result.
Trigger The dragon is critically hit with a melee weapon or unarmed attack
Effect The dragon's blood forms into hard spheres as it erupts from the wound, battering the attacker. The creature who dealt the triggering damage takes 9d6 bludgeoning damage with a DC 44 reflex save.
The dragon makes two claw Strikes and one tail Strike in any order.
When the dragon scores a critical hit with a Strike, they recharge Scattershot.
1 to 3
The dragon emits pulses of energy that radiates outward in a 25-foot emanation, dealing (3d8+3)[force|options:area-damage] damage (DC 42 reflex save).
For each action spent, a new pulse of energy is created and each subsequent pulse after the first is 5 feet larger than the previous one.
The dragon exhales a cloud of small balls of pure energy that deal (11d4+11)[force|options:area-damage] damage in a 60-foot cone with no save. The dragon can't use Scattershot again for .
Frequency once per minute
Effect The barrage archdragon transforms into pure energy and surges across the battlefield. They Fly up to their Speed, and during this movement they have resistance 30 to all damage (except spirit damage). At any point during this movement, the dragon can make up to two claw Strikes; each of these Strikes deals an additional 3d8+3 force damage.
The barrage dragon performs a 2-action Force Pulse. Each creature who fails its save is pushed 15 feet away from the dragon (30 feet on a critical failure).
To the uninitiated, spellcasting is an art for those with iron wills, people who reach out and grab hold of the fundamental laws of the universe and bend them to their whim. It takes discipline, study, and above all else, it takes control. Fail to control the very building blocks of reality and everything could fall apart.
Those who have even dabbled in the arcane arts know that this is nonsense. Magic is chaos, and channeling arcane forces is less akin to exerting one's will over the world and more like surfing on a bolt of lightning through a world-shaking storm and hoping to steer it without falling off. Spellcasting is barely contained panic, a lance of adrenaline, the constant danger of burning oneself out of existence. And the more powerful someone becomes, the more real this danger is.