Protean Dragon (3.5e Monster)

Protean Dragon
''Long before the material plane was formed, during a time when the First Gods warred for control over Creation, there was the Far Realm, and deep within its seething cauldron of bubbling protoplasm and formless thoughts the Idea of Dragonkind was born. Like every whimsy concocted by unfocused minds, the Idea was vague and formless, but at the same time it was something new and distinct, and the limit of its power and potential was yet unknown. Born from the maleficent consciousness of the Far Realm, the Protean Dragons were the very first of the Primeval Dragons, and their ever-changing vestiges gave birth to many later Primevals.''

Protean dragons hail from a time when the young Multiverse was heavily tainted by the evil of its creators. It was the terror of the First Gods that shaped the warped geometry of the Far Realm, which in turn infected the neonate Dragonkind with the Idea of Evil; the very first Idea that had ever been conceived. As an infant perceiving the vagaries of existence for the first time, the Protean Dragons sought to understand themselves and their environment and in so doing they cemented their form. Protean Dragons mirror the bizarre, the insane and the downright grotesque inherent in the Far Realm, and are horrifying to look at. More than any other primeval dragon that spawned from them, Protean dragons embody the cerebral, and the power of the mind over the body. Born from thoughts and ideas, their own consciousness determines and defines the extent to which they can alter their shape. Because of this, a Protean dragon is ever greedy for knowledge and power, stopping at nothing to continually increase both. Unlike most dragons, even primeval ones, Protean dragons are mostly indifferent to the lure of wealth and riches, though they value objects that can aid them in their quest for further enlightenment.

A Protean dragon's body is clad in purulent scales whose colours and patterning varies from a dark gray to a mottled stale blue, usually consisting of thinner blue scale covered in a jagged coat of additional obsidian scale that is mostly prevalent around the necks and crowns of the dragon. A multitude of black wings extend from the secondary scale coat along the dragon's back, usually four, six or even more with a consistency and appearance more befitting that of scaly fins rather than wings, losing opacity towards their tips and tapering into tendrils of translucent, smoky fibers that disperse into the atmosphere around them. They only use their wings to maneuver in the air and increase their speed, instead relying on the power of their minds and a multitude of ventral canals lining their underside expelling gases to generate buoyancy in the air. Protean dragons fly clumsily, but hover above any sort of solid surface with surprising ease.

A fully matured Protean dragon has three heads, much like a chimera of sorts. Its main head represents knowledge, its right head, ideals, and its left and final head, truth. It is believed that from its Embodiment of Ideals - the hope, faith and life that now resounds through the Upper Plains - the first of the Olympus dragons were born, whereas the first of the Lethus dragons is the product of its Truth - dark epiphany, the finality of death, and darkness that denies all. Its Knowledge purveys through all of the primeval elemental dragons, such as the Calefact and the Gelidus dragons.

No records of Protean dragons entering the material plane have ever been discovered.

Combat
A Protean dragon’s natural weapons and any weapons it wields are treated as chaotic and evil-aligned as well as epic for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.

Composite Creature: Despite having up to three heads, each with a separate consciousness, a protean dragon is considered a single creature and gains a single turn each round. Each head gets a separate standard action, though the dragon may take a full-round action in part or as a whole. If the dragon makes a double move, or takes any other action that takes a full round, at least one of the dragon's heads loses its standard action for the round.

A protean dragon takes damage and makes Reflex and Fortitude saves as a single creature, but status effects that allow a Will save are resolved independently for each head. Since every head may exert control over the body, a protean dragon retains its ability to move and act as long as at least one of its heads it not stunned or otherwise indisposed.

 : To be done.







 : A protean dragon radiates an aura that mutates anything within reach, making it difficult for any enemy to approach it while maintaining its form and sapience. For as long as any creature remains within the protean dragon's natural reach, it takes 1d6 points of damage per age category the dragon has every round, as their physiologies start to undergo rapid, uncontrollable mutations, and must make a Fortitude save each round. If the creature fails one save against this effect, he becomes effectively confused from the excruciating pain until 2d4 minutes after it leaves the aura completely. If the creature fails a second Fortitude save or its hit points drop below 0 while within the protean dragon's reach, its rapid mutation culminates in the Half-Farspawn template (Lords of Madness p151). Its confusion becomes permanent insanity and it will lash out in its madness until fully restored or destroyed. While remaining within range of the aura, a creature in this stage of mutation will continue functioning regardless of damage taken, though it will instantly incur the full effects of its injuries once it leaves the aura. The mutations brought on by a protean dragon's aura are permanent, though a greater restoration or wish can remove them, along with the insanity effect.

A creature mutated and rendered insane by a protean dragon's aura must make a Will save after every 24 hours or have its alignment change one step towards chaotic evil (first towards evil, then towards chaotic) as their minds are slowly broken apart and restructured by the mutation. Once the creature becomes chaotic evil (or if it was already chaotic evil to begin with) the insanity effect disappears after another 24 hours. Once the insanity stops, the change into Half-Farspawn will be complete, and is irreversible except by using two wish spells; one to restore the creature's body, and the other to restore its mind and alignment.

Any creature immune to form-altering effects is immune to the effects of the aura, and cannot gain the Half-Farspawn template. Creatures that cannot normally gain the Half-Farspawn template, such as outsiders, are also immune to the effects of the aura but not the damage. The mutation simply kills them when their hit points drop below 0.

A protean dragon's flux aura extends beyond its reach, creating an area of wild transmutation out to a certain distance depending on their age category. In this area, spells cast of the transmutation school or powers manifested of the psychometabolism discipline are subject to the effects of Wild Magic (see About Planes). The protean dragon's own spells and powers are unaffected by its aura. More to come.