D&D 5E Setting Party level vs an Ancient Red Dragon

[Tormyr]

The stage is finally set. It looks like tomorrow night the adventure begins. I don't know how quickly the party will have their first engagement with the dragon. They are arriving in the middle of what is effectively an apocalyptic war. The Dragonborn have been revealed as "sleeper" agents of the dragon and are doing post-conflagaration clean-up and control. The major cities have been emptied and the people are begging the fae for shelter while a loose alliance of the surviving human kingdoms, former orc slaves and others are trying to maintain some control and fight off the dragonborn. The last bastion of actual civilization is the magic academy whose wards have so far kept the dragon at bay, but the most powerful wizards left for other lands and worlds years before. If the PCs kill the dragon then the dragonborn will be free willed once again and the war will likely end.

The High King that was killed a decade ago when the Dragon returned became High King by (apparently) slaying the dragon and taking its hoard. What no one knows is that the High King used an artifact spear the "kill" the Dragon -- actually putting it in stasis as long as the spear remained in the Dragon's heart. The queen of the elf Spring Court granted the High King the spear in the first place but ten years ago the Winter Queen took the spear back, causing the Dragon to return. There are just enough hints about the elf involvement in this mess the PCs might go there first, either to beg aid or take back the spear.

Good luck!

 

[Stalker0]

The stage is finally set. It looks like tomorrow night the adventure begins. I don't know how quickly the party will have their first engagement with the dragon. They are arriving in the middle of what is effectively an apocalyptic war. The Dragonborn have been revealed as "sleeper" agents of the dragon and are doing post-conflagaration clean-up and control. The major cities have been emptied and the people are begging the fae for shelter while a loose alliance of the surviving human kingdoms, former orc slaves and others are trying to maintain some control and fight off the dragonborn. The last bastion of actual civilization is the magic academy whose wards have so far kept the dragon at bay, but the most powerful wizards left for other lands and worlds years before. If the PCs kill the dragon then the dragonborn will be free willed once again and the war will likely end.

The High King that was killed a decade ago when the Dragon returned became High King by (apparently) slaying the dragon and taking its hoard. What no one knows is that the High King used an artifact spear the "kill" the Dragon -- actually putting it in stasis as long as the spear remained in the Dragon's heart. The queen of the elf Spring Court granted the High King the spear in the first place but ten years ago the Winter Queen took the spear back, causing the Dragon to return. There are just enough hints about the elf involvement in this mess the PCs might go there first, either to beg aid or take back the spear.

So eager to hear how it goes! What dragon did you ultimately decide on? Does the party still have the 3 wishes?

 

[Reynard]

So eager to hear how it goes! What dragon did you ultimately decide on? Does the party still have the 3 wishes?

I modified an Ancient Bronze (CR 22; KFC says this is right) to be a Red, gave him some spells per the sidebar and will see what happens. They have 2 available wishes at this point.

 

[Reynard]

We did not get to the dragon fight tonight. The PCs reappeared in their home plane from adventures in the Elemental Plane of Water and had to make contact with allies. they learned about the depredations of Zaskettr the Dragon and how it was destroying everything from capitol cities to small villages (it is an agent of entropy, specifically targeting civilization) and generally how the world has gone to hell. They decided to find an old ally (and former PC in fact) in a magi-tech facility they had previously cleared out and taken control of. After traveling across the blasted landscape and witnessing Zaskettr teleport in, destroy a homestead and teleport out, they magic-hacked their way into the facility. Their ally was a dragonborn who felt the dragon beginning to take control (all other dragonborn in the setting have become members of a have mind in service of Zaskettr) and who secured himself along with a bunch of orphans with sorcerous blood (which Zaskettr consumes to power his spell like abilities)in the facility. Now inside and able to plan their next move, the party has to decided whether to investigate the elves -- who throughout history have not been attacked by the dragon, despite being a civilization of their own -- or to use the facility to plane shift into the dragon's lair in hopes of surprising it.

In the meantime, I am looking for a good map usable on Fantasy grounds of a burned out fantasy city...

 

[Reynard]

Last week the party was able to research how precisely Zaskettr was defeated and how it returned:

Zaskettr is a force of entropy that exists as a part of Maroester, this island nation that is actually a demi-plane not unlike Ravenloft. In the distant past a magictech civilization called the Primordials colonized Maroester. Their ruins serve as most of the "dungeons" on the island. They were driven away by Zaskettr as well. The elves (unkind celtic fair folk rather than traditional good elves) have never had such a problem with the dragon because the queen of their Winter Court has always held in her position the key to Zaskettr's demise -- a lance that upon landing the killing blow in the Dragon's heart and left there puts the beast in a form of torpor.

Zaskettr began to rise when the old High King started to consolidate his power. For reasons of her own, the Winter Queen gifted the lance to the king and he used it to defeat Zaskettr, steal the beast's hoard and make himself ruler. After 40 years of his reign, the elf queen (again, for reasons of her own) took back the lance and Zaskettr rose and and took revenge, obliterating the King and his whole capital city.

Now knowing this, the PCs went to the queen (encountering one of Zaskettr's mind controlled dragonborn patrols along the way) and negotiated: she gave the party the lance for the love and obedience of the party's paladin-warlock. So long as he serves her willingly the lance remains theirs. Note: the player is respeccing the character to reflect his new allegiance.

Now the party has to decide how to approach their final battle with Zaskettr. They have a wish left among them which helps, but ultimately have to be able to beat the dragon in combat and strike the killing blow with the lance.

That battle will likely occur this week or next (or both).

 

[Stalker0]

Last week the party was able to research how precisely Zaskettr was defeated and how it returned:

Zaskettr is a force of entropy that exists as a part of Maroester, this island nation that is actually a demi-plane not unlike Ravenloft. In the distant past a magictech civilization called the Primordials colonized Maroester. Their ruins serve as most of the "dungeons" on the island. They were driven away by Zaskettr as well. The elves (unkind celtic fair folk rather than traditional good elves) have never had such a problem with the dragon because the queen of their Winter Court has always held in her position the key to Zaskettr's demise -- a lance that upon landing the killing blow in the Dragon's heart and left there puts the beast in a form of torpor.

Zaskettr began to rise when the old High King started to consolidate his power. For reasons of her own, the Winter Queen gifted the lance to the king and he used it to defeat Zaskettr, steal the beast's hoard and make himself ruler. After 40 years of his reign, the elf queen (again, for reasons of her own) took back the lance and Zaskettr rose and and took revenge, obliterating the King and his whole capital city.

Now knowing this, the PCs went to the queen (encountering one of Zaskettr's mind controlled dragonborn patrols along the way) and negotiated: she gave the party the lance for the love and obedience of the party's paladin-warlock. So long as he serves her willingly the lance remains theirs. Note: the player is respeccing the character to reflect his new allegiance.

Now the party has to decide how to approach their final battle with Zaskettr. They have a wish left among them which helps, but ultimately have to be able to beat the dragon in combat and strike the killing blow with the lance.

That battle will likely occur this week or next (or both).

Awesome! Can't wait to hear how it goes!

 

[Reynard]

Awesome! Can't wait to hear how it goes!

I'm excited. I had a ski trip planned for this weekend so the finale wasn't until next week, but (ironically) bad winter weather has cancelled the trip. So if the players are all still free we will do it tomorrow night.

 

[Reynard]

EDIT: I forgot to mention part of the party's preparatation was to use their last wish to create a simulacrum of a 20th level bard, which basically threw the whole encounter out of balance.

So it went down last night and it was one of the least satisfying DMing experiences I have ever had.

Here's the transcript from one of my players:

While preparing the 24 hour ritual for HALLOW spell cast upon the surface exterior of the Primordial Ruins, Mr. Umber, now without his helmet, has returned from the Winter Court to assist the Marchguard with battling Zaskettr.

Queen of Winter has been playing a long game against Zaskettr. She has failed because of various flaws in her logic and a fundamental understanding of humanity. She has changed her strategy to involve the Marchguard. She also wants someone to willingly submit to her, under the following restrictions:
If the plan goes wrong, Umber is to take the lance and teleport back to the winter court
if he is disloyal, the lance returns on its own.
Umber feels a good deal different, more connected to the land.
Everyone gets into position, Dray shuts off the power and jumps through the portal to Bytopia, fleeing ahead of the dragon

After 35 minutes of waiting, Zaskettr shows up and the party roles initiative
Everyone quaffs their potions of fire resistance.
Heat distortion forms in the air 100ft above the ruins, and the space tears open for the dragon to floy through

ROUND 1
Kallista casts Stoneskin on Fah. Flanky holds an action.
Klog flies up about 80 feet towards the dragon
Bard the bard simulacrum hides in the bush and readies an action to cast a spell--FORCE CAGE--when the dragon enters the battle arena.
Genevieve casts GUIDANCE on Mr. Umber to add a d4 to an ability check of choice, then casts a SPIRITUAL WEAPON. (Hudson recommends that change to a BLESS which targets multiple party members under the same concentration restriction)
RETCON Genevieve casts BLESS and foregoes the spiritual weapon this round.
Nud SUMMONS 8 pixies, who have invisibility.
Mr. Umber casts MIRROR IMAGE and taunts Zaskettr
Arabelle uses bonus action to activate psionics to grant herslef a fly speed and increased AC. She then takes out her bow and fires at disadvantage at Zaskettr, missing twice. For her hasted action she hits, dealing 6 da

ROUND 2
Kallista moves back away from Zaskettr. She activates her CUBE OF FORCE on the setting that does not allow living matter cannot pass through, in a 15ft cube.
Flanky waits outside the hallowed ground
Pixie 7 & 8 cast detect thoughts on Mr. Umber to see what the winter queen looks like
Pixies 1 through 6 are going to fly ten feet apart in formation towards the dragon. Nud makes a disadvantaged Insight role. Pixies 7 & 8 don't think they like the Winter Queen.
Klog taunts the dragon, move up 20 ft to match it's elevation.
Bard casts Glibness on himself and moves into position.
Genevieve attacks with her CROSSGBOW and hits for 9 damage
Nud shifts position slightly and holds an action to cast CALL LIGHTNING 4TH LEVEL if dragon comes within 120 feet.
Sir Umber holds an action to HEX the dragon should it move within 90 feet of Umber.
Arabelle activates another psychic ability as a bonus action, flies up to be within melee range as it passes and draws her Glaive.
Zaskettr flies up to be within range of Arabelle and readies his flame breath. She uses her REACTION action to attack it with her Glaive, using her special ability SENTINEL ability to reduce it's speed to 0 and drops it to the ground. She deals 22 damage with the Glaive. Zasketter falls to the ground, 30 feet forward, crashing into a tree.
It lands within range of Nud who deals 19 damage to Zaskettr with the CALL LIGHTNING spell at 4th level!
Zaskettr retaliates with his breath weapon! He spews fire on Fah, Umber, Nud, and Sister Genevieve, as well as the bard. Base damage on the breath weapon was 90 damage, but everyone made their save and had Resistance to Fire up, except Genevieve who took 45 damage. Genevieve loses her concentration on the BLESS spell and Nud loses concentration on his summoned pixies.
Leon climbs up a tree to get line of sight, then takes another shot at the prone dragon and hits for 26 damage
Fah rushes up to the prone dragon and swings his dragonslayer sword at it, hitting for 26 and again for 19, then uses ACTION SURGE to attack twice more with advantage, dealing 25 and 17 damage respectively. 87 total damage across 4 actions.
Zaskettr takes one of his LEGENDARY ACTIONS to beat its wings (WING BUFFETING) and forces Fah to make a Dex save. Fah is knocked prone and takes 8 points of damage.
ROUND 3
Kallista moved behind the dragon and casts MAGIC MISSILE from her Wand, dealing 13 damage.
Flanky does nothing
Zaskettr takes a LEGENDARY ACTION to lash FAH with it's TAIL, doing a critical, but that gets replaced by Kallista with a 5 as a reaction, with the PORTENT power.
Klog flies above Zaskettr but can't get within range to attack.
Bard casts FORCE CAGE around Zaskettr, trapping him in an invisible cage. Spells can go through it. The only way to escape is to teleport out, it can't be broken or dispelled. There is no saving throw. The Bard then uses a bonus action to grant D12 inspiration to Fah.
Sister Genevieve casts SACRED FLAME but the dragon resists. She then summons her SPIRITUAL WEAPON Hammer at 4th level. She attacks at disadvantage and misses.
Nud casts MASS CURE WOUNDS on all party members in range, including the Bard, Klog, Nud, Genevieve, and Umber, the last of whom gets filled to full HP.
Sir Umber casts EXPEDITIOUS RETREAT and uses the DASH action to move forward to plunge his weapon into Zaskettr, twice, but misses both times.
Arabelle flies down and drops to the ground at the cage, hurling a flurry of blows at advantage, dealing 26 damage with one attack, missing with another, and then hitting for 22 on the hasted action and punching it for 11 damage, and a stunning blow (DC 16)
Zaskettr fails to reload it's Breath Weapon at the beginning of its turn, and does not have enough Legendary Actions to do something else. It casts Chain Lightning, but Bard uses his reaction to counter Chain Lightning.
[[Bards are the best counterspellers in D&D 5E]]
Zaskettr can't move, can't teleport, and is more or less stuck.
Leon takes a shot at the caged dragon, but misses.
Fah takes a swipe but misses.
Zaskettr takes a LEGENDARY ACTION to do a WING BUFFET to everyone with 15 foot area--Fah, Umber, and Arabelle.
ROUND 4
Kallista casts ANIMATE OBJECT on a sample of adamantite fragments she tosses into the air. They hover in the air for a moment, then fly in formation like bees to attack Zaskettr inside the cage. She makes 8 attacks and deals 7 damage.
Zaskettr uses it's LEGENDARY ACTION to do a TAIL SWIPE at the animated objects, but Arabelle uses her Sentinel reaction to counterattack, as does Fah, who is also in Sentinel stance. Arabelle does 22 to Zaskettr, and Fah misses. He does 15 damage to the adamantite bees, but fails to kill them in one blow.
Klog moves up and stabs the dragonlance through the cage at Zaskettr. He uses his RAGE ability and uses RECKLESS ATTACK. He misses with his first attack, which was at advantage, and misses with his second attack as well.
Bard uses a bonus action to give a D12 inspiration die on attacks to Klog
Sister Genevieve casts BEACON OF HOPE, targeting the local party, to Bard, Nud, Umber, Herself, Fah, and Klog. Her SPIRITUAL WEAPON attacks the dragon at disadvantage and misses.
Nud casts THORN WALL inside the FORCE CAGE. Zaskettr uses one of his LEGENDARY ACTIONS to save against it and takes 15 damage.
Sir Umber gets advantage on melee attacks from Klog, and attacks with his slashing sword, dealing 11 damage and adding another 10 SMITE damage. He attacks and misses, but Kallista uses PORTENT to make the roll a hit, for 10 damage plus 15 SMITE damage.
Arabelle activates a psionic weapon attack to create additional damage, then attacks Zaskettr with a mean psychic attack.
This KOs Zaskettr and the party is able to get the lance into it to cause it to fall into torpor.
Kallista casts FABRICATE to bind the lance in the body of the dragon. During the casting time, of 10 minutes, the weather changes and an unnatural winter storm rushes in.
Out of the white gale walks the Snow Queen and a dozen of her elven warriors. She does a slow clap and offers to take the beast away.
Kallista denies her. Fah taunts her. She acts the patient matron and lets Kallista and Fah boast.

Long story short: I am not very good at this sort of thing. I'm retiring.

 

[dave2008]

EDIT: I forgot to mention part of the party's preparatation was to use their last wish to create a simulacrum of a 20th level bard, which basically threw the whole encounter out of balance.

So it went down last night and it was one of the least satisfying DMing experiences I have ever had.

Here's the transcript from one of my players:


Long story short: I am not very good at this sort of thing. I'm retiring.

I would recommend letting the dragon spending its legendary resistance to negate the forcecage. Having your big bad trapped in cage most of the fight is no fun. Alternately, the rules state if the creature cannot fully fit in the cage it is forced outside the cage. Some have argued (and I tend to agree) that the dragons head/neck, wings, and tail all extend beyond the 20', thus it could not be captured in a force cage.

 

[Reynard]

I would recommend letting the dragon spending its legendary resistance to negate the forcecage. Having your big bad trapped in cage most of the fight is no fun. Alternately, the rules state if the creature cannot fully fit in the cage it is forced outside the cage. Some have argued (and I tend to agree) that the dragons head/neck, wings, and tail all extend beyond the 20', thus it could not be captured in a force cage.

I was playing it RAW which means no save and the dragon fits in a 20x20x20 space due to its size.

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