AC 18 (natural armor)
HP 144 (17d10 + 51; bloodied 72)
Speed 40 ft., fly 80 ft., swim 40 ft.
Proficiency +4; Maneuver DC 16
Saving Throws Dex +6, Con +7, Wis +5, Cha +6
Skills History +5, Perception +5 (+1d6), Stealth +6
Damage Immunities acid
Senses blindsight 30 ft., darkvision 120 ft., passive Perception 18
Languages Common, Draconic
Ambusher. When submerged in water, the dragon has advantage on Stealth checks. If the dragon hits a creature that can’t see it with its bite, it can deal piercing damage and grapple the target simultaneously.
Amphibious. The dragon can breathe air and water.
Ruthless (1/Round). After scoring a critical hit on its turn, the dragon can immediately make one claw attack.
Innate Spellcasting. The dragon’s spellcasting ability is Charisma (save DC 14). It can innately cast the following spells, requiring no material components.
3/day each: fog cloud , pass without trace
ACTIONS
Multiattack. The dragon attacks once with its bite and twice with its claws.
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 20 (3d10 + 4) piercing damage plus 4 (1d8) acid damage. Instead of dealing piercing damage, the dragon can grapple the target (escape DC 16), and a Medium or smaller creature grappled in this way is restrained . While grappling a creature, the dragon can’t bite another creature.
Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 13 (2d8 + 4) slashing damage.
Acid Breath (Recharge 5–6). The dragon exhales sizzling acid in a 40-foot-long, 5-foot-wide line. Each creature in that area makes a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw , taking 45 (10d8) acid damage on a failed save or half damage on a success. A creature that fails the save is blinded until the end of its next turn.
Combat
While individual dragons have their own personalities and tactics, most rely heavily on their breath weapons. They use them whenever they can, preferably from maximum distance and while flying above their enemies.
When fighting in the open, dragons often circle above their enemies as they wait for their breath weapons to recharge. They only close to melee if their enemies deal significant damage with ranged attacks, or if they can savage an enemy cut off from its allies. Once bloodied , dragons become more aggressive, attacking with bite and claws when their breath weapons aren’t available.
If a dragon is protecting its lair, it utilizes lair features, traps, allies, and architecture such as escape tunnels to keep up a hit-and-run fight, reappearing only when it has a fully-recharged breath weapon. If the dragon is forced into melee combat, it uses its bite and claws against a single foe. If it has legendary actions like Roar and Wing Attack, it uses them to disperse its other enemies.
If reduced to less than one-fourth its hit points while fighting in the open, a dragon flies away. However, it fights to the death to defend its lair, unless it can regain the upper hand through tricks or bargains.
Black Dragon Lair Features
The save DC for the following effects is 13 + the dragon’s proficiency bonus. Choose or roll one or more of the following lair features:
1 A successful Perception check reveals a hidden tunnel. If possible, the dragon snaps someone up in its jaws and squeezes through the tunnel.
2 The lair contains craters filled with bubbling acid. Once per turn, the dragon can use a legendary action to dunk a grappled creature into the acid. The creature takes acid damage equal to one-half the dragon’s breath weapon damage.
3 Murky pools connect to the surrounding bog via underwater tunnels.
4 Creatures other than the black dragon gain no benefit from darkvision within the lair. The dragon can make a creature immune to this effect by ritualistically scarring it with acid.
Names
Algarath, Azoth, Ebonflame, Exatharis, Bitterbite, Sear
Legends and Lore
With an Arcana or History check, characters can learn the following:
DC 10 Black dragons make their lairs in swamps and among the ruins of ancient empires.
DC 15 Black dragons spit acid, and the oldest among them can surround themselves with magical darkness.
DC 20 Obsessed with death, black dragons sometimes extend their existences through an arcane ritual that turns them into liches.
With a death's-head face and black wings like a tattered cloak, a black dragon somewhat resembles the humanoid personification of death. Dwelling in rotting swamps among fallen and forgotten monuments, a black dragon revels in terror and decay.
Cruel Ambushers. Black dragons are equally at home high in the night sky or hiding beneath the murky waters of their swamp lairs. They can surround themselves with magical pools of inky shadow. With many ways to hide from prey, black dragons are deadly ambush hunters. Most black dragons relish the fear of their quarry and draw out their hunts as long as possible. Sometimes they grant wounded prey temporary respite, allowing the illusion of escape before plunging their quarry into darkness and terror.
Ancient Monuments. Black dragons are both attracted to—and the cause of—decay and ruin. They often lair within the palaces of fallen kingdoms, especially those they helped topple. But even long-buried peoples still seem alive to the black dragon. It holds ancient rivals in a mixture of contempt and reverence, and often gloats over the dead it has drowned. Collectors and students of ancient relics and treasure, black dragons are eager to share their knowledge about ancient mysteries—though the questioner may not long survive the answer.
Life Beyond Death. With their fixation on time and mortality, black dragons are the most common dragon liches. If personal undeath is beyond a black dragon’s arcane power, it may seek to bolster its physical defenses by creating armies of undead servants.
1 Sleeping underwater
2 Ranting about the weaklings it has destroyed
3 Hiding in ambush
4 Vandalizing ancient architecture
5 Hiding a portion of its treasure in a secondary lair, just in case; it tries to destroy witnesses
6 Flying overhead, hunting
1 Sucking mire; after each hour of travel, succeed on a DC 12 Constitution saving throw or gain a level of fatigue
2 Fouled, poisoned water
3 Low mist obscuring dangerous bogs and other hazards
4 A draconic footprint filled with steaming liquid
5 Fallen towers half-buried in mud: scalding black smoke suddenly jets from a window
6 A toppled royal statue; a crude dragon statue sits in its place atop an empty pedestal
Black dragons live in rotting swamps, lairing among ruins and toppled monuments.
CR 3–4 black dragon wyrmling with 1d4 dragonbound warriors (see warrior), kobolds , or lizardfolk
Treasure 300 gp, 500 sp, 4 sardonyx gemstones (50 gp each), exquisite marble throne (worth 200 gp but bulky), potion of greater healing , leaden helm (acts as ring of mind shielding )
CR 5–10 young black dragon ; young black dragon with 1d4 kobolds , shriekers , or stirges ; black dragon wyrmling with 1 or 2 dire centipedes , giant scorpions , or will-o’-wisps
Treasure 1,200 gp, 3,000 sp, 2 adamantine-bladed battleaxes (500 gp each), 3 potions of healing , 1 greataxe (named Immortal; the haft is topped with a gold crown)
CR 11–16 young black dragon with banshee , ghost , night hag , or shambling mound
Treasure 2,000 gp, 5,000 sp, ceremonial gold full plate armor with crowned helm (2,500 gp), potion of superior healing , oil of sharpness , 2 scale armor (the wearer can breathe water)
CR 17–22 adult black dragon ; adult black dragon lich ; adult black dragon with 2 bugbears , dire centipedes , specters , or will-o’-wisps
Treasure 8,000 gp, 4,000 ep, iron crown set with 25 jet gemstones (100 gp each gemstone), 50 scrolls of lost history and literature (100 gp each), 3 potions of supreme healing , spell scrolls of greater restoration and move earth , carpet of flying
CR 23–30 ancient black dragon ; ancient black dragon with mage, otyugh , shambling mound , or wight ; ancient black dragon with 2d4 bugbears , lizardfolk , or specters ; adult black dragon lich with 1d6 + 4 skeletons and necromancer or ogre mage
Treasure 15,000 gp, miniature replica of city featuring a 3-foot-tall electrum obelisk (5,000 gp), black dragon egg (25,000 gp), potion of speed , 2 arrows of undead slaying , cloak of the bat , crystal ball
CR 31+ great wyrm black dragon ; ancient black dragon with 3 banshees or ghosts and 10 or 20 skeletons or zombies ; 2 adult black dragons
Treasure 100,000 gp, 2 gem-studded gold crowns (25,000 gp each), 10 pieces of miscellaneous jewelry (2,500 gp each), huge stone calendar that predicts a future catastrophe, 3 potions of supreme healing , mantle of spell resistance , ring of invisibility
Dragons include red and gold dragons, which are huge reptilian fire-breathers that number among the world’s most dangerous monsters. This type includes white dragons , which breathe killing frost, as well as smaller reptilian creatures related to true dragons, such as pseudodragons .