Weredragon

Folk tales describe weredragons as beautiful women turned into dragons. The truth runs the other way: they are a dragon race able to take female human form at will, and most live hidden among people, showing their scales only in moments of grave personal danger or crisis.

Her human guise is a healthy woman of 20 to 30, never less than Charisma 16. Her dragon shape is lithe and striking, shaped like a copper dragon but usually shimmering blue and silver. Whichever body she wears, she keeps her whole mind and is born with 60-foot infravision, true seeing out to 15 feet and the ability to use tongues at will. Most are superb actors, so people seldom suspect a thing.

A weredragon strikes swiftly and ruthlessly with keen claws, and often sings for joy as she fights, falling quiet only when the noise might betray an ambush or put friends at risk. As a woman she prefers slashing blades. Her spells and powers work in both shapes, but using her breath forces her into dragon form.

Becoming a dragon takes one round; returning to human shape takes two. Mid-change she can only breathe or cast spells and is otherwise helpless to move, though she may fall. Ropes, chains, cells and clothing simply tear apart as she grows, leaving her unhurt. Nobody knows of any cap on how often she may shift, or any spell that can block it.

Her single breath weapon is a cloud of arcing, lightning-charged gas measuring 30 feet long, 20 wide and 20 high; a save vs. breath weapon halves the damage. The damage scales from 2d6+1 for a hatchling to 24d6+12 for a great wyrm, and magic resistance starts at 10% at young adult and climbs to 45% at great wyrm. Spells and powers function at 9th level plus her combat modifier.

Even a hatchling ignores electrical attacks and every natural poison, and may use light and darkness, 15' radius, once apiece per 6 turns. Further powers arrive as she ages. Usable twice daily: featherfall (gained when young), blink (juvenile), wall of force (old) and polymorph any object (wyrm). Usable once daily: protection from normal missiles (young adult), teleport (adult), heal (mature adult), reverse gravity (very old) and plane shift (great wyrm). With a touch she can bestow any of these effects on someone else.

The race's past is largely a mystery. Weredragons shun each other's company and would rather live in towns and courts than in remote lairs. They take special delight in seducing brutal, grasping men, marrying or courting them, and then slaying them in dragon shape, which has filled many a hoard. Unlike other dragons, the thrill lies in winning wealth, not in sitting on it. Many ally with good wizards, a secretive good-aligned network, and others who work to protect and restore the land.

Every weredragon is female, fertile in both shapes, and her children are always weredragons too. The name misleads: this is their natural state, not lycanthropy. It cannot be cured, and no bite or other means spreads it. They can eat any plant or animal food.