Awaken The Coiling Dragon Within

Awaken The Coiling Dragon Within – Pathfinder Occult Ritual

School Transmutation; Level 9th

Casting Time 9 hours

Components V, S, M (a masterwork, life-like miniature statuette of the primary caster, as she

desires to appear once her true draconic form is realized, crafted of rare metals and precious
gemstones, worth at least 4,000 gp; a masterwork, life-like miniature statuette of the primary
caster, as she appears before the ritual begins, crafted of rare metals and precious gemstones,
worth at least 1,000 gp; a feast befitting a true dragon, worth at least 2,000 gp; exotic tattoo-inks
and masterwork tattoo-needles, worth at least 1,000 gp.); F (severed and preserved pieces of
ancient dragons – including fangs, claws, scales, eyes and heart – and the first elements of the
primary caster’s new horde, worth a total of 28,000 gp), SC (minimum zero; a maximum of up to
twenty secondary casters may assist with this ritual)

Skill Checks Craft (tattooing) DC 33, 2 successes; Knowledge (arcana) DC 33, 2 successes;
Perform (singing) DC 33, 2 successes; Profession (scribe) DC 33, 1 success; Profession
(cooking) DC 33, 1 success; Spellcraft DC 33, 1 success
For each caster of this ritual who possesses a draconic sorcerer bloodline, a draconic
bloodrager bloodline, the dragon disciple prestige class, the scaled fist monk archetype,
the Devour the Blazing Dragon feat or the Half-Dragon template, the casters of this ritual
receive a +1 racial bonus on any one skill check, to a maximum of +20. These bonuses
may be split-apart and applied as necessary after each skill check roll has been made, in
order to ensure the final success of this ritual.

At a GM’s discretion, she may allow other connections to dragon-kind (such as the
profane blessing of a divine caster in service of Dahak) to provide a similar bonus, to the
same maximum of +20.

Range self

Duration instantaneous

Saving Throw Will negates (harmless); Spell Resistance no

Backlash The primary caster is exhausted and immediately falls to -1 hit points, bleeding out
and dying; the primary caster also suffers a permanent -4 penalty to one ability score (selected by
the primary caster). The caster may choose to reduce her Dexterity score with this Backlash, as
this penalty overlaps with (does not stack with) all reduction to her Dexterity from the primary
caster’s new form.

Failure The primary caster immediately suffers the effects of feeblemind (no save). She then
transforms into one or more hideous, regionally-appropriate dragon-like monsters (such as a
brazen medusa, drake, dracolisk, hydra or wyvern) with a final CR (or total CR equivalency) no
higher than her own.

Each monster birthed from this apocalyptic conflagration gains the Ravenous Creature
template, and each monster is treated as having consumed herself within the last 24
hours.

The primary caster, in whatever form or forms she takes, gains sustenance only from consuming
the flesh of the ritual’s secondary casters, although she may mistakenly attempt to gain
sustenance from other members of her previous species in her bestial fury. If the primary caster
is ever slain by violence or other mishap (rather than dying of her accursed starvation), she
returns to life in 2d4 days (as per true resurrection) and gains either the Advanced Simple
Template, the Giant Simple Template or another appropriate +1 CR template (such as the Earth-
Infused template); these special templates always stack.

Effect:

This ritual may only be cast on the primary caster’s birthday or on the date of an especially
emotionally-significant event in the primary caster’s life (on the 50th anniversary of her
wedding, on the date of an important military victory or on a high holy-day of a faith to which
she belongs). No more than three such dates may fall during any given year.

The ritual must be cast outdoors, in an environment appropriate to the primary caster’s chosen
new form, bathed in near-total darkness: lit only by candles, torches and moonlight.

This ritual may only be cast by an intelligent humanoid creature or by an intelligent creature who
was once a humanoid.

By means of this ritual, the caster may permanently transform into a true dragon of her choice;
the primary caster may freely manipulate what additional templates and class levels her final
form will possess (if any), subject to GM discretion. The final CR of the primary caster’s new
form may be no higher than the primary caster’s initial CR +2.

Thus, if this ritual was used by a vampire aristocrat of CR 5, she could become a young
black dragon, throwing off the chains of undeath entirely; similarly, a vampire sorcerer
could transform into a dread vampire young green dragon, into an adult imperial
underworld dragon, or into a skincrawler dragon, as she chooses.

A creature with the Cursed Lord template could not, however, remove that template by
use of this ritual unless it amuses the GM to allow it.

The primary caster may additionally choose to apply the Old Serpent of Avarice Drawback and
any one other Drawback of her choice (such as the Curse of a Blackened Bloodline Drawback) to
herself at the time that this ritual is cast; she may also choose what specific benefit she will gain
in exchange when these Drawbacks are applied; elven princes who ascend to dragon-hood often
select the For The Black Woods Deepen feat, for example.

The ritual begins with the preparation of a deep pit, which shall separate the ritual’s primary
caster from the icon representing her new form for the duration of the ritual. This draconic icon
is often placed upon a plinth or a pedestal, although this is not technically necessary. The pit is
then filled-in with the preserved body-parts of long-dead dragons and all of the accoutrements
which shall compose the dragon’s horde, forming a wobbling bridge between the caster and her
final goal. All the parts of her feast are also poured into the pit: these begin to seethe and boil
with power, releasing fumes. Greater amounts of food and wine are continuously poured into the
pit, along with ever greater treasures to be added to the horde.

The primary caster holds tightly to the icon of herself with both hands, digging her fingernails
into it and biting upon it to relieve the pain of her transformation.
The primary caster gazes at the image of her new form, across the pit from her, near-exclusively
for the duration of the ritual. She is tattooed head-to-toe to match this image all-but-perfectly. All
of her glorious deeds are sung, written down exactly, and then etched into her flesh. If the
tattooing, the singing or the preparation of the feast ever stops, the ritual automatically fails.

Words of incredible power & unutterable complexity are spoken in Draconic.

As the final drop of ink is hammered into the primary caster’s flesh, the masterwork tattoo
needles used to mark her shatter utterly.

The ritual concludes with the primary caster snapping the icon of herself in half and then walking
across the bridge of bones (and her collected horde) to take the icon of her new self; this object
cracks like an egg and then evaporates in a scream of power as the primary caster crosses the
bridge to grasp it.

The primary caster, halfway across the pit, falls – or is pulled – beneath the smoking bones, the
fuming gold, the burning meat and the bubbling wine.

Whether the ritual is successful or not, the primary caster then emerges from the pit in her new
form, puling free for one full round before the Backlash of the ritual’s cost must be paid in full.

Designer’s Note: There are, in theory, any number of ways this ritual could be added to your
game. Let’s look at a few:

1. This ritual does not exist. This is the default assumption of most games, so don’t be afraid
of it.
2. This ritual is newly-discovered, and serves as a dangerously-tempting way for mortals to
seriously damage the universe. Existing dragons in the setting should be very active in
stamping it out.
3. This ritual is ancient beyond words, and may – in fact – be the original well-spring from
which dragons were first created. Existing dragons in the setting should, again, be very
active in stamping out all mention of it.
4. There are no true dragons in the setting; they exist only as a metaphor … except in the
instance of people who complete this ritual. No one has ascended for centuries, and no
one knows how.
5. There are no dragons in the setting … except for the seven people who have completed
this ritual. They guard it jealously.
6. Dragons who complete this ritual always gain the Buried Memories drawback upon their
transformation, forever-after believing themselves to have never been human.
7. Dragon eggs do not actually hatch. Instead, they serve as one of the key components for
completing this ritual; this is a secret kept by dragons and by those rare creatures they
favor.

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within