I hand waived 6 levels...

[Pbartender]

Also, white dragons are the stupidest of dragons. A mature one has only an Intelligence of 12.

That's still smarter than your average human.

Anyway, if want a fun little trick that'll introduce some confusion for the first round or two, give the dragon the Change Self spell. If he knows the PCs are coming, cast the spell ahead of
time, and make change his coloration to that of his polar opposite dragon type... In case the case of a white dragon, make him look like a red dragon.

Unless they are very perceptive and notice the cold, icy lair, or see through that big bonus toi his disguise check, the PCs might put up a few useless defenses, or throw out a few useless attack, before they realize what's going on.

 

[Ferrix]

That's still smarter than your average human.

Anyway, if want a fun little trick that'll introduce some confusion for the first round or two, give the dragon the Change Self spell. If he knows the PCs are coming, cast the spell ahead of
time, and make change his coloration to that of his polar opposite dragon type... In case the case of a white dragon, make him look like a red dragon.

Unless they are very perceptive and notice the cold, icy lair, or see through that big bonus toi his disguise check, the PCs might put up a few useless defenses, or throw out a few useless attack, before they realize what's going on.

Not by much, and probably not much smarter than the average member of the party, and the wizard would almost assuredly laugh at the things poor intellect.

Change Self would be a neat trick too. Although, any party who is going to fight a dragon should know more than enough about it's color before they even enter the lair that they'll probably laugh it off as a sham of a disguise, especially if it is in a nice chilly lair.

 

[punkorange]

Well, I think I am going to go with a 16HD young adult half-fiend white dragon.
Am I right in that he will get 5 feats? This will put him at a Challenge Rating of 11 or 12.
I'm curious as to how the fire vulnerability will work with fire resistance 10.

 

[shilsen]

Well, I think I am going to go with a 16HD young adult half-fiend white dragon.
Am I right in that he will get 5 feats? This will put him at a Challenge Rating of 11 or 12.
I'm curious as to how the fire vulnerability will work with fire resistance 10.

6 feats, since he gets one at 1st and then one each at 3rd, 6th, 9th, 12th and 15th.

For the fire resistance/vulnerability issue, I'd work out the total damage taken (including the 50% increase) and then minus 10 from it due to the fire resistance.

Though it's technically a CR11/12, it'll be a lot tougher in play. If I ran something like this against a 10th lvl party it would be an automatic TPK. Many of the significant strengths of the half-fiend template are based off HD, and this one has 16 HD. That means that it has SR 26, so the party casters have only a 35% chance of getting through if they have Spell Penetration and 25% if they don't. More scary is the fact that it gets a bunch of spell-like abilities, including a 16d6 Horrid Wilting and most scary, Blasphemy. The Blasphemy is as a 16th lvl caster, so vs. a 10th lvl group it means automatic paralysis for them for 1d10 minutes with no save (the Str damage and dazing becomes irrelevant). TPK.

 

[Whimsical]

Start with four or five challenges where the CR = or is less than the party level. This will give you and the players room to try out thier new characters and to get a good feel on how they work as individuals and as a group. There should be room for tactical error and exploration. After everyone is comfortable with what they have and they had a day to rest, then put them against a dragon.

From a more general sense, read Monte Cook's Design Secrets: High Level Adventures to learn about the unique game elements that high level play will bring. It's a different game at high level. Suddenly the old adventure plot structures fail to challenge anymore. No more wandering encounters. Forget about traps. No more using classical mystery/investigative plotlines that are easily adapted from books and TV shows. Storming a castle is just a Scry and a Teleport away. So, be ready for it. Along with the article that I mentioned, the Epic Level Handbook has some good adventure design advice that applies well to the "teen" levels.

 

[Bastoche]

In our current campaign, we just hit level 11. Going from level 3 to 11 In FR to allow +2 ECL characters.

Since we reach level 10, I begun to hate 3E more and more at every session. It's un-versatile, dominated by spellcasters (especially in forgotten realms) stiff and bland. YMMV.

So to contribute to the topic: Be careful of divination spells. They will have teleport. They can summon planar creature.

 

[BigFreekinGoblinoid]

Start with four or five challenges where the CR = or is less than the party level. This will give you and the players room to try out thier new characters and to get a good feel on how they work as individuals and as a group. There should be room for tactical error and exploration. After everyone is comfortable with what they have and they had a day to rest, then put them against a dragon.

...

I agree

 

[S'mon]

Try an Adult White Dragon. That's a CR 10. I while playing, you think te PC's are having too easy a time, just add more hit points.

Maybe a listed-CR 10 dragon with 75% of max hit points would work best - tough enough for a good hard fight, less likely to kill PCs than a CR12. Also dragons need extra XP awards - give them XP for CR 12 when they beat it.

 

[Klaus]

Fiery Dragon's unimitable James Bell ran a dragon-hunting adventure once, where everyone was sure they were after a white dragon.

Turns out it was an albino black dragon.

Much hilarity and cursing ensues.

 

[haiiro]

Fiery Dragon's unimitable James Bell ran a dragon-hunting adventure once, where everyone was sure they were after a white dragon.

Turns out it was an albino black dragon.

Much hilarity and cursing ensues.

I can't remember the source, but someone once did something similar with a white dragon that was actually a "wight dragon." Dastardly.