Tiamat the Chromatic Dragon

This was an interesting project, considering that Tiamat is included in the FR Powers & Pantheons book. However, as that was specifically to the FR/Unther Human version rather than the generic/multisphere Draconic version, it wasn’t possible to do a straight cut and paste. Also, this features my version of draconic specialty priests, which I think work a LOT better than the version in Cult of the Dragon. Also, watch for me slip in some hints at what I’m going to do with my revised real-world pantheons.  :D

Tiamat (PDF Version)
(The Chromatic Dragon, the Dragon Queen, Nemesis of the Gods, the Dark Lady, Queen of Chaos, the Undying Queen, Bane of Bahamut, the Avaricious)
Lesser Power of Baator, LE

Portfolio:  Evil dragons, chromatic dragons, evil reptiles, conquest
Aliases:  Tchazzar (Chessenta)
Domain Name:  Avernus/Tiamat’s Lair
Superior:  Io
Allies:  Lords of the Nine
Foes:  Bahamut, Faluzure, Garyx, Gilgeam (dead), Iyachtu Xvim, Ilmater, Marduk, Nammu
Symbol:  Five headed dragon
Wor. Align.:  LE, NE, CE

Tiamat (TEE-a-maht), the Chromatic Dragon, is feared throughout the known spheres as the queen of evil dragonkind. Chromatic dragons on most worlds worship or pay homage to the vain and avaricious Bane of Bahamut, regardless of whether or not they form fully-fledged priesthoods. She has also recently expanded her influence into human and demihuman populations to a much greater degree than ever before (for details on her non-draconic worship, see Powers & Pantheons). Tiamat is a greedy, vain, and arrogant goddess who embodies all of the strengths of her chromatic progeny but few of their weaknesses. She is entirety focused on the acquisition of personal power and wealth and views mortals as hapless pawns in her struggles with other deities. She can he charming and fey when necessary, but herself-serving, evil, reptilian nature is readily apparent to those who look.

Despite being a lesser power, Tiamat is one of the most well-known of all of Io’s children. She has few allies amongst her siblings, however, as she never forgets a slight or insult and covets power for herself. She does obey Io himself, however, for she grudgingly respects and fears his power; she will always seek to twist his commands to her advantage if she believes she can get away with it, though. Of her brethren, she most despises Bahamut, the noble Platinum Dragon, for his unceasing opposition to the depredations of her children. The war between the two lawful draconic powers has waged for millennia, with neither being able to gain the upper hand; the constant struggle has effectively prevented either one from making the transition to an intermediate power. While Lendys works to keep peace between the two and maintain the balance of power between them, the Chromatic Dragon feels the Balance-Keeper takes the Platinum Dragon’s side far too often. Bahamut and Tiamat have a much less well known brother, Sardior the Ruby Dragon; he takes no sides in their conflict and says nothing of his opinion on the matter, so he is one of the few other draconic gods that the Dark Lady does not hate or despise outright, although neither does she particularly love him. Her major rival for the worship of evil dragons is Garyx, as he is quite attractive to Tiamat’s most powerful followers, the red dragons. The Dragon Queen covets the hoards and portfolios of both Task and Astilabor; she has yet to make any direct moves against them, however, mainly due to the continued distractions caused by Bahamut and other enemies. She has recently made an enemy of Faluzure in particular, as she is beginning to make an effort to acquire aspects of his undeath portfolio by creating her Undying Queen avatar form and her recent secret efforts to suborn followers of the Cult of the Dragon on the world of Toril. Faluzure has yet to take action against her for these intrusions onto his domain, but it is likely he will in the near future.

Tiamat is frequently associated with the Anunnaki on many worlds, and it is through this association that she has acquired the titles of Nemesis of the Gods and Queen of Chaos (something of a misnomer). In particular, she has long been a foe of the god Marduk, warring with him nearly as long as she has been with Bahamut. There is much debate on this issue amongst theological sages, many of whom argue she is an interloper and has successfully displaced an earlier goddess who originally held those titles. Just which goddess this is varies, but the most common name mentioned is Nammu. She also holds animosity towards Gilgamesh for the actions of his aspect Gilgeam, who was trapped on Toril until the Godswar there brought down the planar boundaries erected by the Imaskari sorcerers.

Her allies primarily consist of her consorts, each an extremely powerful and immortal great wyrm dragon of one of the various colors, and many of the Lords of the Nine, those powerful Baatezu who rule the individual layers of Baator. Her consorts are fanatically loyal to her, despite her great amusement at pitting one against each other for her favor. They guard her great cavernous lair on Avernus, and she occasionally sends them out to do her bidding on the Prime Material. The Chromatic Dragon’s alliances with the Lords of the Nine is a bit more fragile, although she has worked with them on a number of smaller matters (it is rumored that the creation of the abishai were one such instance), but recent rumors indicate a more lasting alliance may have been formed that will provide her with great treasures in return for the assistance of her dragons in the Blood War.

Many planar wanderers have noticed the great similarity between the Dragon Queen and Takhisis, the Queen of Evil Dragons of Krynnspace. Despite the arguments of planar sages, these two beings are distinct, if quite similar. Neither discusses the issue with their priesthood, and questions directed to either always go unanswered. Of course, this has not deterred sages from speculating on some sort of connection between the two.

Tiamat is a very active deity, and frequently sends her avatars and consorts out to battle the forces of Bahamut and other gods of justice and goodness. The world of Toril has recently been at the forefront of her attention. In the aftermath of the Time of Troubles, the Dragon Queen finally had an opportunity to destroy one of her hated enemies, Gilgeam of Unther in a battle that raged across the planes. Unfortunately, this battle expended a great deal of her power and dropping her status to a demipower, and before she could celebrate her victory, Bahamut sent in a party of powerful mortals who slew her remaining avatar and dashed her chances of controlling the land of Unther entirely. She has since regained her former status as a Lesser Power, but the loss of power has been a serious setback for her ambitions.

She will send her avatar to confront the actions of Bahamut whenever she notices them (just as he does the same to her), as well as the actions of any other deity who is directly acting in opposition to her plans. The Dragon Queen occasionally visits powerful evil dragons to demand worship or offerings, and may reward them if she is pleased with their supplications. Rarely, she will lay waste to an area with her breath weapons to drive off other sentient creatures and allow her chromatic spawn to populate the area. She will usually manifest in her Chromatic Dragon or Undying Queen form when she wants to exercise a visible display of her power or when interacting with dragonkind. She only uses her Dark Lady form when interacting with humans, demihumans, or humanoids. There is a 10% chance she will be accompanied by one of her consorts (great wyrm with maximum hit points) even in Dark Lady form, unless doing so would be disadvantageous.

Tiamat’s Avatar (Fighter 25, Cleric 25, Wizard 25)
The Dark Lady appears as a human sorceress with long, dark hair and dark robes. She has a fey beauty, a seductive smile, and totally black eyes.

The Chromatic Dragon is a nightmarish amalgamation of a monstrous draconic body on four stubby legs that has five writhing necks and heads, each corresponding to one of the species of chromatic dragons. Each head’s color runs the length of the neck and into the forepart of her body as strips, gradually blending to three stripes of gray, blue-green, and purple over her back and hindquarters, then merging into a muddy dark brown tail. Her underbelly and legs are greenish white fading into her upper body colors. Traditionally Tiamat’s heads are colored red, green, blue, black, and white, but in fact the Chromatic Dragon can have many different subsets of heads, as long as there are no more than five total, each head’s color and powers are unique, and each corresponds to an evil chromatic dragon species found in the sphere she is manifesting in. For example, other known colors manifested by the Chromatic Dragon have included yellow and brown, and rumors persist that on some worlds she has manifested with orange or purple heads, although this has yet to be confirmed.

The Undying Queen is an undead manifestation of the Chromatic Dragon, a sort of multiheaded dracolich. It has skeletal wings and glowing points of light floating in shadowy eye sockets rather than normal draconic eyes.

Dark Lady
AC -12; MV 15; HP 199; THAC0 -4; #AT 1 or 2/1
Dmg 1d10+8+energy drain (+8 Str) or by weapon+8 (+8 Str)
MR 75%; SZ M (6 feet)
Str 21, Dex 20, Con 23, Int 19, Wis 20, Cha 24
Spells P: 12/12/11/11/9/8/4, W: 5/5/5/5/5/5/5/5/4
Saves PPDM 2; RSW 3; PP 4; BW 4; Sp 4

Chromatic Dragon or Undying Queen
AC -12; MV 18, Fl 90 (C), Br 9, Sw 30, Jp 6; HP 199; THAC0 -4; #AT 5+special
Dmg see below
MR 75%; SZ G (500 feet—body 280 feet, tail 220 feet)
Str 21, Dex 20, Con 23, Int 19, Wis 20, Cha 24
Spells P: 12/12/11/11/9/8/4, W: 5/5/5/5/5/5/5/5/4
Saves PPDM 2; RSW 3; PP 4; BW 4; Sp 4

Head

Slay*

Breath**

Bite

BW Form
Blue

56

24d8+12

3d8+12

5-foot-wide×100-foot long lightning bolt
Red

60

24d10+12

3d10+12

90-foot-long cone of fire, 5 feet wide at the dragon’s mouth and 30 feet wide in diameter at the base
Green

52

24d6+12

2d10+12

50-foot-long×40-foot-wide×30-foot-high poisonous chlorine gas cloud
Black

48

24d4+12

3d6+12

5-foot-wide×60-foot-long acid stream
White

44

12d6+12

2d8+12

70-foot-long cone of frost, 5 feet wide at the dragon’s mouth and 25 feet in diameter at the base
Brown

56

24d6+24

3d10+12

5-foot-wide×60-foot-long acid stream
Yellow

52

24d4+12

2d8+12

50-foot-long×40-foot-wide×20-foot-high scorching sandblast

*This is the total number of hit points of damage a head can sustain before being destroyed. The avatar regenerates the head in 12 hours. Damage specifically inflicted on a head does not affect the general body total.
**The number shown is the damage for the breath weapon for the head in question.
†This is the damage caused by a successful bite.
‡This is the general configuration of the head’s breath weapon.

Special Att/Def: The Dark Lady can cast two spells and attack with her fist each round. Her touch does 1d10+8 points of bludgeoning damage, plus the victim must make a successful saving throw vs. spell or suffer the effects of an energy drain (as the 9th-level wizard spell). On the rare occasions she wields a weapon, it is usually a dapper, staff, or, in one instance, a short sword of no particular magical distinction. She attacks twice per round with a melee weapon but with no energy-draining effect. In addition, the Dark Lady can travel astrally or ethereally at will and can change form into the Chromatic Dragon or Undying Queen in three rounds, during which time all she does is take defensive actions.

The Chromatic Dragon’s five heads can operate entirely independently of each other. During any round, each can perform any of the following actions: bite, breathe its breath weapon, or cast a spell. Each bite attack inflicts damage as though it were a great wyrm of the appropriate color; the total damage is summarized on the above table. Likewise, each head has a breath weapon equivalent to that of a great wyrm of the appropriate color. All saving throws vs. the Chromatic Dragon’s breath weapons are made at a -4 penalty. Finally, each head can cast one spell per round. The total number of spells all the heads combined can cast is given above. Each head can withstand the number of points of damage indicated on the table above before it “dies” and becomes useless. If all of the Chromatic Dragon’s heads are killed or if her body is reduced to 0 hit points, she immediately returns to Avernus, but her avatar is not considered destroyed.

Although the Chromatic Dragon’s sheer size prevents claw and kick attacks while she is on the ground, she can use two claw attacks while flying, each of which inflicts 1d10 points of damage. She can use all other draconic attack modes, such as snatch (flying only, limit seven victims), plummet (flying only; 3d10+12 points of damage), wing buffet (1d10 points of damage and succeed at a Dexterity ability check or be knocked prone), and tail slap (2d20 points of damage and save vs. petrification or be stunned for 1d4+4 rounds), as described in the Monstrous Manual tome in the introductory material on dragons.

In addition, the Chromatic Dragon’s long, serpentine tail is tipped with a sting that drips black venom. It is sinuous enough that she can attack enemies directly in front of her and to the sides, as well as behind her, though she cannot both sting and tail slap in the same round. The sting inflicts 1d6 points of damage, and the victim must roll a successful saving throw vs. poison with a -3 penalty or die agonizingly at the end of the following round.

Finally, the Chromatic Dragon’s aura of dragon fear is 140 yards in diameter. Creatures of up to 5 HD/levels who catch sight of her are automatically affected (as well as all noncarnivorous, nonaggressive creatures with fewer than 25 Hit Dice) and flee for 4d6 rounds. Trained war mounts of 4 HD or more, organized military units, and single creatures with more than 5 HD or levels do not automatically flee. Rather, they are entitled to a saving throw vs. petrification at a -5 penalty. If they fail this saving throw, they fight with a -2 penalty to attack and damage rolls. No one save another deity is automatically immune to her fear effect.

The Undying Queen has all of the powers of the Chromatic Dragon plus several additional abilities. She can detect invisible objects and creatures (including those hidden in darkness and fog) within a 120-foot radius. She possesses a natural clairaudience ability in a 240-foot radius at all times. Saving throws vs. her fear aura are made with a -1 penalty. The gaze of her glowing eyes (from any head) can also paralyze creatures within 100 yards if upon meeting her gaze they fail their saving throws. (Creatures of 6 or more HD gain a +3 bonus to their saving throws.) If a creature successfully saves against the gaze of one of the Undying Queen’s heads, it is permanently immune to the gaze of that head only.

All the Undying Queen’s physical attacks do an additional 2d8 points of chilling damage, and any victim struck by the Undying Queen who fails a saving throw vs. paralyzation is paralyzed for 2d6 rounds. (Immunity to cold damage or negative energy [energy-draining] damage negates the chilling damage, but not the paralyzation.) Finally, the Undying Queen can control the actions of any undead creature not controlled by another deity or a priest of over 24th level within 60 yards.

Tiamat in any form is immune to all spells below 5th level and to poison, paralysis, and mind-affecting and controlling spells. She is immune to all spells from the school of enchantment/charm or the sphere of charm. Weapons below +2 enchantment do not affect her. She takes half damage from cold-, fire-, and electricity-based attacks. In Chromatic Dragon or Undying Queen form, she has all of the immunities common to great wyrms of each subrace represented in her current roster of heads (some of which may supersede other immunities). In Undying Queen form she is also immune to magical and natural cold, electricity, insanity, and polymorph spells

Other Manifestations
Tiamat commonly manifests in a fashion similar to a thunderbolt from the heavens. Such strokes of divine power are always equivalent to the breath weapon of a great wyrm of one of the chromatic species of dragon.

Tiamat shows her favor through the discovery of priceless treasures including gold, silver, precious gems, and rare works of art. Of course, the Dragon Queen expects the immediate sacrifice of any such discoveries to her ever-growing hoard, or her ire is quickly earned. Tiamat’s displeasure is usually expressed by the inexplicable disappearance of a vast amount of hoarded wealth from a supposedly safe location. The Dragon Queen is served by all species of evil dragons, abishai baatezu of all colors, evil dragonets, and many species of reptiles, particularly serpents.

The Church
Clergy:  Priest-dragons, specialty priests
Clergy’s Align.:  LE, NE, CE
Turn Undead:  PD: No, SP: No
Cmnd. Undead:  PD: Yes, SP: No

All priest-dragons and specialty priests of Tiamat receive religion (draconic) as a bonus nonweapon proficiency. The effective spellcasting level (for determining damage, range, etc., not number of spells known) of a dragon-priest or specialty priest is the dragon’s current hit dice for its age category (base hit dice + hit die modifier) plus the combat modifier. Thus, a Young Blue Dragon-Priest would have an effective casting level of 15, while a Great Wyrm Blue Dragon-Priest would have an effective casting level of 34.

Tiamat is extremely well known amongst all dragonkind, and is even known, if sometimes obscurely, outside draconic species. Most chromatic dragons propitiate her, although actual worship is not common; only a few ever feel the calling to become full-fledged priests. On some worlds, however, worship of the Dragon Queen has made the leap into human, demihuman, and humanoid populations; on those worlds, her church is much feared for their violent acts against other faiths and authority figures.

Temples dedicated to the Chromatic Dragon are rare indeed. Most draconic priests act as roving temples; it is extremely unlikely to see them set up permanent places of worship. However, when they do, dragon lairs that Tiamat’s avatar has resided in are the most common locations, as well as the lairs of great wyrm metallic dragons slain by a rival chromatic dragon. On worlds with humanoid worship of the Dragon Queen, former lairs of chromatic dragons are popular. In all cases, only natural cavern lairs are utilized, and they are always rife with traps and magical protection, as they contain vast hoards of wealth to sacrifice to the goddess.

On most worlds, dragons do not form organized priesthoods, as there are too few of them, and they are far too individualistic. Only worlds with very dense dragon populations or very structured dragon cultures will develop hierarchical priesthoods, and the form they take are likely to be unique to those worlds. Dragon-priests are the minority of Tiamat’s clergy (25%), with the rest being specialty priests, known as spawnlords (75%). The Dragon Queen’s priests are fairly evenly divided amongst red (26%), blue (35%), and green (33%) dragons, with a small minority of yellow (4%) and brown (2%) dragons. White and black dragons are not capable of becoming clergy at all, although they will still worship her.

Dogma: Acquire wealth and power above all. Destroy Bahamut’s wretched spawn at every opportunity. Chromatic dragons are the rightful rulers of creation, and all others should bow to them. Never forget a slight, and always seek to repay it severely.

Day-to-Day Activities: Tiamat’s clergy occupy their days as do most dragons: endless hours of sleep, avaricious contemplation of their hoards, and plotting of future glories interspersed with brief hunting and mating forays and the occasional battle with interlopers in their lairs. However, they also plot the destruction of any metallic dragons they know of; their favorite method is to persuade or trick another chromatic dragon into fighting the metallic dragon in such a way that the chromatic dies and the metallic is seriously weakened. The priest then slays the weakened metallic dragon, and claims the hoards of both (sacrificing an appropriate amount to the Dragon Queen, of course). In general, Tiamat’s priests attempt to acquire more treasure than other dragons, since they have the added burden of sacrificing a portion of it to the Chromatic Dragon.

In addition, Tiamat’s draconic priests have a Tithing ceremony much like that of her human priests. Once per week (unless they are in a slumbering state), must offer a clawful of treasure (25-100gp value is normal) to their goddess. They cup their other claw over the treasure and offer a small prayer; upon completing the prayer and opening their claws, there is a 10% chance the offering has vanished. On days this happens, the priests feel particularly blessed in their current plans or actions.

On some worlds, Tiamat’s draconic priests may attempt to spread the worship of the Dark Lady to local human and demihuman populations, while setting themselves up as a valued servant of hers that also requires the sacrifice of treasure.

Important Ceremonies/Holy Days: Holy days for Tiamat’s faith are very world-specific. They are usually based on victories of her avatars over those of her enemies’ avatars. For example, on Toril, her victory over the Untheric god Gilgeam is celebrated on the first full moon after Midsummer. The green dragons of Bodi celebrate on the autumnal equinox the slaying of an avatar of Bahamut and the elimination of the small population of bronze dragons that inhabited that world many millennia ago.

Major Centers of Worship: Temples dedicated to Tiamat in use by dragons are few and far between, but rumors circulate on the locations of some of them. One of the most credible rumors places a temple to the Chromatic Dragon on the world of Golot, within the former lair of a clan of gold dragons slain by a single, powerful red dragon millennia ago. The most likely location is within the highest mountain range on that world. There may also be one in the ancient lair of a bronze dragon on Bodi, but this is almost pure speculation. Other credible rumors place one amongst a lesser blue dragon clan in Io’s Blood Isles.

Affiliated Orders: None.

Priestly Vestments: The holy symbol of Tiamat’s draconic priests is a piece of jewelry with five gems of any sort of at least 100gp value each. The gems must be five of the seven following colors: red, blue, green, black (or similar very dark color), white (or clear), yellow, or brown. Magic is usually employed to create the holy symbols.

Adventuring Garb: None.

Specialty Priests (Spawnlords)
Requirements:  Strength 14, Wisdom 11
Prime Req.:  Strength, Wisdom
Alignment:  LE, NE, CE
Weapons:  Any, but normally a dragon’s natural weaponry
Armor:  Any, but normally a dragon’s natural armor
Major Spheres:  All, astral, charm, combat, divination, guardian, law, necromantic, protection, time, wards, weather
Minor Spheres:  Elemental, healing, summoning
Magical Items:  Same as dragons and clerics
Req. Profs:  None
Bonus Profs:  Appraising

Dragons can become specialty priests at any age category up to and including the first one they gain the ability to cast priest spells. At that point, they are considered first level for determining the spells they can memorize, using the chart in the Council of Wyrms setting (p.62/Book II, p.59). Subsequent age categories are called second level, third level, etc. All granted powers are given in terms of the required relative level of the draconic specialty priest. Becoming a specialty priest immediately causes the loss of all spell abilities not already gained (i.e. no wizard or priest spells gained at subsequent age categories, although a dragon keeps its existing innate spellcasting abilities). The effective casting ability for the dragon’s priestly spells, as used to determine things such as damage, duration, and range, is calculated by taking a dragon type’s base hit dice, subtracting the hit dice age modifier, and adding the combat modifier (see p.64 in the Monstrous Manual tome). For example, a young blue dragon is effectively a 15th level priest for determining such variables (14 [base hit dice for a blue dragon] – 2 [hit die modifier] + 3 [combat modifier]), while a mature adult crystal dragon is effectively level 20 (10+3+7). Like other priests, dragon-priests receive bonus spells for high Wisdom.

Shadow dragons, for example, typically can first cast priest spells when they are mature adults. Therefore, they can elect to become a specialty priest at any age category up to that point. If they start at hatchling, they can become a 12th-level specialty priest, whereas electing to become a specialty priest upon achieving the age of mature adult will allow them to achieve no more than 6th-level. Red dragons, on the other hand, can typically first cast priest spells when they are of venerable status. Thus, a typical red dragon could elect to become a specialty priest at any age up to that point.

  • Spawnlords may be yellow dragons, brown dragons, blue dragons, green dragons, red dragons, or dracoliches of any chromatic species.
  • Spawnlords are not allowed to multiclass.
  • At 1st level, spawnlords can cast the 1st-level wizard spell scale shift once per day. For every two levels beyond 1st, they can cast it an additional time per day (so twice at 3rd, three times at 5th, etc.).
  • At 2nd level, spawnlords can cast hydraform (as the 1st-level priest spell) once per day.
  • At 3rd level, spawnlords can cast aura of terror (as the 2nd-level wizard spell) twice per day.
  • At 4th level, spawnlords who cast hydraform, spawn of Tiamat, or Lernaean spawn of Tiamat, or using any innate power that duplicates those effects, is able to choose what chromatic dragon head is grown (for example, a brown dragon could grow red dragon heads), and when multiple heads are grown, they do not all have to be the same type (a red dragon who grows two heads could grow a blue and a white head). Base damage done by these heads is as the specified dragon type. The breath weapons usable through the spawn of Tiamat spells are not altered, unless another ability or spell is used.
  • At 5th level, spawnlords can cast the 4th-level wizard spells focus fear or extend fear once per day. For every three additional levels, spawnlords can cast one or the other an additional time per day. For example, at 8th level, they can cast focus fear twice a day, or focus fear and extend fear once per day each, or extend fear twice per day, and so on.
  • At 7th level, spawnlords can cast alter breath weapon (as the 6th-level wizard spell) once per day. They can cast it an additional time per day for every two levels above 7th (so twice at 9th and three times at 11th).
  • At 10th level, spawnlords gain the ability to use the breath weapon of another chromatic dragon. They can use this breath weapon once per day in addition to any other uses of their original breath weapon, although they must obey all other breath weapon restrictions. The breath weapon does damage as the other dragon type of the same age category.
  • At 11th level, spawnlords gain immunity to one specific type of breath attack used by other chromatic dragons (i.e. acid, electricity, etc.).
  • At 12th level, spawnlords can cast Lernaean spawn of Tiamat (as the 7th-level priest spell) upon themselves once per day for double the duration; in addition, the spell generates an extra head.

Tiamatan Spells
In addition to the spells listed below, priests of the Dragon Queen may cast the 1st-level priest spell hydraform (although they grow a number of heads equal to the maximum spell level they can cast; i.e. a dragon who can cast 4th level spells grows 4 heads; the heads also do not gain the combat modifier of the dragon itself), detailed in Dragon Magazine #248, the 1st-level wizard spell scale shift, detailed in Cult of the Dragon, the 2nd-level wizard spells aura of terror, detailed in Cult of the Dragon, and magnify breath weapon, detailed in Dragon Magazine #272, the 3rd-level wizard spells bloodburn and hoard armor, detailed in Cult of the Dragon, and breathmantle and hoard cache, detailed in Dragon Magazine #272, the 4th-level wizard spell focus fear, detailed in Cult of the Dragon, the 6th-level wizard spell alter breath weapon, detailed in Cult of the Dragon, and the 6th-level priest spell spawn of Tiamat (which they can memorize as a 3rd-level spell), detailed in Powers & Pantheons under the entry for Tiamat.

7th Level
Lernaean Spawn of Tiamat (Pr 7; Alteration)
Sphere:  Combat
Range:  60 yds.
Components:  V, S, M
Duration:  1 turn +2 rds./level
Casting Time:  9
Area of Effect:  1 dragon
Saving Throw:  None

By means of this spell, a priest can cause any of Tiamat’s spawn (defined as any chromatic dragon) to grow a second head and neck for the duration of the incantation. The second head, identical in appearance to the original head, can bite once per round in addition to the dragon’s normal attacks. Dragons cannot normally employ their breath weapon while making physical attacks, but by means of this spell, a dragon can employ its breath weapon with its second head while attacking physically or casting spells with the original head and body. Even under the effects of a Lernaean spawn of Tiamat spell, a dragon cannot breathe more than once every three rounds total from both heads. Unlike the normal spawn of Tiamat spell, the second head is intelligent (although still completely under the control of the dragon), and can be used to cast spells. The dragon is still limited to its standard allotment of spells per day, however.

The second head and neck have the same Armor Class as the rest of the dragon. The head and neck has 20 hit points; only attacks directed upon them count towards this total, and damage done to the head does not count toward the dragon’s total. If “slain,” the head and neck disappear, but within 1–4 rounds, two new heads grow, each having the same hit points and abilities the original had. Unlike Lernaean hydras, fire does not prevent new heads from appearing. All additional heads and necks vanish at the end of the spell duration or when the dragon is slain. A dragon can only benefit from a single Lernaean spawn of Tiamat spell at a time.

The material component is the priest’s holy symbol.

7 Responses to Tiamat the Chromatic Dragon

  1. Barastir says:

    Auld Dragon, will you revise this entry, with an HD-based avatar?

  2. Barastir says:

    Hi, Auld Dragon! Good to see the post about Koriel, but I was in fact expecting the renewal of this one (no problem, of course). I am specially curious about Tiamat’s flying speed: in “Powers & Pantheons” we find the flight speed equal to teh one in your post, but since you’ve diminished the speed of other draconic avatars, I was expecting you to change it here, too. Or maybe we should double the speed of all other avatars, what do you think?

    • AuldDragon says:

      So far the only concrete changes would be to the Avatar, so I’m waiting until/if I have more to change about the elements most people would use. I went with the template for Null rather than Tiamat for most deities, since those speeds tend to be *too* fast for most dragons, I think.

      • Barastir says:

        I understand, but maybe Null was made slower just because he is an aspect of Faluzure, no? Anyway, it would be nice to have the changes in the avatar, IMHO, maybe you could post it here. Or maybe you could elaborate more on the Tiamat/Takhisis relations, just like in Bahamut’s entry.

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