Adult Black Dragon
huge dragon, chaotic evil
Defense
Proficiencies & Senses
Traits
Traits
Amphibious
The monster can breathe air and water.
Legendary Resistance
If the monster fails a saving throw, it can choose to succeed instead.
Actions
Multiattack
The monster makes three Rend attacks. It can replace one attack with a use of Spellcasting to cast Melf's Acid Arrow (level 3 version).
Rend
Melee Attack: +11 to hit. reach 10 ft. Hit: 2d6 + 6 slashing plus 1d8 acid damage.
Acid Breath
Dexterity Save: DC 18. target: 60-foot-long, 5-foot-wide line, creature. Failure: 12d8 acid damage; success: half.
Spellcasting
The monster casts one of the following spells, requiring no Material components and using Charisma as the spellcasting ability (+9 to hit with spell attacks): At Will: Detect Magic, Fear, Melf's Acid Arrow (level 3 version) 1/Day Each: Speak with Dead, Vitriolic Sphere
Detect Magic
For the duration, you sense the presence of magical effects within 30 feet of yourself. If you sense such effects, you can take the Magic action to see a faint aura around any visible creature or object in the area that bears the magic, and if an effect was created by a spell, you learn the spell's school of magic. The spell is blocked by 1 foot of stone, dirt, or wood; 1 inch of metal; or a thin sheet of lead.
Fear
Each creature in a 30-foot Cone must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw or drop whatever it is holding and have the Frightened condition for the duration. A Frightened creature takes the Dash action and moves away from you by the safest route on each of its turns unless there is nowhere to move. If the creature ends its turn in a space where it doesn't have line of sight to you, the creature makes a Wisdom saving throw. On a successful save, the spell ends on that creature.
Melf's Acid Arrow
A shimmering green arrow streaks toward a target within range and bursts in a spray of acid. Make a ranged spell attack against the target. On a hit, the target takes 4d4 Acid damage and 2d4 Acid damage at the end of its next turn. On a miss, the arrow splashes the target with acid for half as much of the initial damage only. Using a Higher-Level Spell Slot. The damage (both initial and later) increases by 1d4 for each spell slot level above 2.
Speak with Dead
You grant the semblance of life to a corpse of your choice within range, allowing it to answer questions you pose. The corpse must have a mouth, and this spell fails if the deceased creature was Undead when it died. The spell also fails if the corpse was the target of this spell within the past 10 days. Until the spell ends, you can ask the corpse up to five questions. The corpse knows only what it knew in life, including the languages it knew. Answers are usually brief, cryptic, or repetitive, and the corpse is under no compulsion to offer a truthful answer if you are antagonistic toward it or it recognizes you as an enemy. This spell doesn't return the creature's soul to its body, only its animating spirit. Thus, the corpse can't learn new information, doesn't comprehend anything that has happened since it died, and can't speculate about future events.
Vitriolic Sphere
You point at a location within range, and a glowing, 1-foot-diameter ball of acid streaks there and explodes in a 20-foot-radius Sphere. Each creature in that area makes a Dexterity saving throw. On a failed save, a creature takes 10d4 Acid damage and another damage at the end of its next turn. On a successful save, a creature takes half the initial damage only. Using a Higher-Level Spell Slot. The initial damage increases by 2d4 for each spell slot level above 4.
Cloud of Insects
Dexterity Save: DC 17. target: creature. Failure: 4d10 poison damage.
Frightful Presence
The monster casts Fear, requiring no Material components and using Charisma as the spellcasting ability. The monster can't take this action again until the start of its next turn.
Fear
Each creature in a 30-foot Cone must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw or drop whatever it is holding and have the Frightened condition for the duration. A Frightened creature takes the Dash action and moves away from you by the safest route on each of its turns unless there is nowhere to move. If the creature ends its turn in a space where it doesn't have line of sight to you, the creature makes a Wisdom saving throw. On a successful save, the spell ends on that creature.
Pounce
The monster moves up to half its Speed, and it makes one Rend attack.