Amphibious
Half its transformation never finished — gills beneath scaled plates let it move between air and water without pause.
Xithier can breathe air and water.
Huge Aberration · Unaligned · Challenge 12
Xithier
/'zɪθ.i.ər/ — "ZITH-ee-er"
Huge Aberration · Unaligned · Challenge 12
/'zɪθ.i.ər/ — "ZITH-ee-er"
Once the unfinished prize of a mad wizard's attempt to fuse a water dragon and an acid dragon into something stronger than either, Xithier never got the chance to become whatever it was meant to be. The wizard, a disciple of the great Giazo, sought a weapon worthy of that name — but the fusion escaped mid-transformation and fell into the folded nowhere-space of a bag of holding, never to be retrieved. For millions of years it drifted there, feeding on stray magic bleeding through the seams of that pocket dimension, until the magic itself became part of its body. What clawed its way back out is not a dragon. It's the shape a dragon leaves behind when something else wears it instead.
Each shield triggers once, the first time Xithier's hit points cross its threshold. While active, a shield absorbs 60 hit points and Xithier is immune to all damage except the matching type — fire for the first shield, lightning for the second — while it regains 20 hp per turn. A shield ends after 3 rounds or when its pool is destroyed, and once spent, never re-arms.
Saving ThrowsStr +11, Con +8, Wis +6
SkillsPerception +6, Athletics +11
Damage Resistancesacid
Sensesdarkvision 60 ft., blindsight 30 ft., passive Perception 16
Languagesunderstands Aquan and Primordial but can't speak
Amphibious
Half its transformation never finished — gills beneath scaled plates let it move between air and water without pause.
Xithier can breathe air and water.
Fire Shield (1/Encounter)
When wounded badly enough, the raw magic knitted into Xithier's flesh boils to the surface, wreathing it in scalding, superheated water that answers to nothing but fire.
The first time Xithier's hit points are reduced to 140 or fewer, it manifests a shield of superheated, boiling water with 60 hit points. While the shield persists, Xithier is immune to all damage except fire damage, and fire damage reduces the shield's hit points before affecting Xithier's own hit points. At the start of each of Xithier's turns while the shield persists, it regains 20 hit points (it cannot exceed its hit point maximum). The shield ends after 3 of Xithier's turns or when its hit points are reduced to 0, whichever comes first. Once this shield has been triggered, it cannot be triggered again for the rest of the encounter, even if Xithier's hit points rise back above 140.
Lightning Shield (1/Encounter)
Pushed further still, that same stolen magic curdles into a crackling storm-skin — a defense that only lightning can unmake.
The first time Xithier's hit points are reduced to 70 or fewer, it manifests a shield of crackling, electrified water with 60 hit points, functioning identically to Fire Shield except that only lightning damage can reduce it. Once triggered, it cannot be triggered again for the rest of the encounter, even if Xithier's hit points rise back above 70.
Multiattack
Xithier makes three attacks: one with its bite and two with its claws. It can replace one claw attack with a tail attack.
Bite
Melee Weapon Attack: +11 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 18 (2d10 + 7) piercing damage plus 7 (2d6) acid damage.
Claw
Melee Weapon Attack: +11 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 14 (2d8 + 7) slashing damage.
Tail
Melee Weapon Attack: +11 to hit, reach 15 ft., one target. Hit: 16 (2d10 + 7) bludgeoning damage. If the target is Large or smaller, it is pushed 10 feet away and knocked prone.
Corrosive Spray (Recharge 5–6)
Xithier exhales the acid its dragon-half never got to master — thinner, meaner, and eager to eat through anything it touches.
Xithier exhales acid in a 60-foot line that is 5 feet wide. Each creature in that line must make a DC 19 Dexterity saving throw, taking 59 (17d6) acid damage on a failed save, or half as much on a successful one. A creature that fails the save also has its armor and exposed gear pitted with acid, giving it a −2 penalty to AC. This penalty lasts for 5 rounds or until the creature uses an action to scrape/wash off the corrosion, whichever comes first.
Crushing Tide (Recharge 5–6)
A concussive wave of water, forced out with more raw magic than technique — brutal rather than elegant, like everything about it.
Xithier unleashes a wave of force in a 30-foot cone. Each creature in that area must make a DC 19 Strength saving throw, taking 42 (12d6) bludgeoning damage and being pushed 15 feet away and knocked prone on a failed save, or half as much damage and no push/prone on a successful one.
Xithier can take 3 legendary actions, choosing from the options below. Only one legendary action can be used at a time and only at the end of another creature's turn. Xithier regains spent legendary actions at the start of its turn.
Claw
Xithier makes one claw attack.
Tidal Surge (Costs 2 Actions)
For a moment, Xithier seems to stop being fully solid — sliding through space the way it once drifted through the void.
Xithier moves up to half its speed without provoking opportunity attacks, and can move through the space of any Large or smaller creature. If it ends this movement in a creature's space, that creature must succeed on a DC 19 Strength saving throw or be knocked prone.
Detect
Xithier makes a Wisdom (Perception) check.