7 to 8 pc's of 16th Lvl Avg.; Opinions on what CR Red dragon to throw at the group

[DeBhaal]

AuraSeer, There arent any real spoilers in there ... nothing that cant be infered from playing it.

 

[green slime]

Gey - edit - yeah, meant to say Hey, but I thought I would leave it in for comic relief - edit - Green Slime

Thanks for not taking offense at my lack of assumptions. It sounds to me like you would be a very fair DM - I do not equate fairness with niceness. Rather, I would consider the following an unfair DM:

I plan an attack on said Dragon with a special type of Dexterity reducing poison and the DM decides that this dragon randomly has immunity to poisons - AFTER I HAVE INITIATED THE ATTACK and not before hand.



I obviously did eat the"stupid breakfast"

One thing I would say is that sometimes planning an attack can be as much satisfaction as the climactic battle. Seriously, think about a group whose wizard spends the requisite amount of time to enchant all of the fighter's main weapons with ghost touch, just so that they are effective in ghost form. Think about sitting around the strategy table planning on exactly what everyone will do in the different circumstances possible. To me that is a lot of fun. Grant it, both the planning/1 round kill AND the climactic battles have their merits - I will not even attempt to say that as a player I don't enjoy those close battles - especially when they are the climactic ones.

I will reiterate the TPK risk though. I make no assumption that the Dragon can't know anything about the PC's, just that if it does then a TPK will result. Jaxom, if you play the Dragon right, and it does in fact have all the knowledge about the party, there really should be no way that the party can win - even if the Dragon is a much younger Dragon, like an adult. I have both DMed and played against very powerful dragons and know from experience.

Gey to you too, Gaiden

I concede your point on the excitement of planning. Some of my most enjoyable moments have been from listening to the players lay their meticulous plan, and trying not to burst into a wail of laughter. The lengths they go to to avoid a perceived trap is incredible.

Good luck with your encounter Jaxom. Let us know how it goes!

 

[Jaxom]

Good news to those following the posts. Below is a short account of how the evening went, so a warning goes out to those who might play in the adventure.

I ran the encounter last night and due to a few members not showing (the Incantrix, in my POV one of the stronger PC's in the group, and one of the Clerics) and the buffing spells, I calculated that I'd be better off dropping the dragon down a few age categories from what's stated in the adventure. We ran out of time so the battle isn't completed, but we're at the top of the fifth. A few little things I did to add some element of surprise. I used a few spells from the Book of Vile Darkness, wither is great spell to use on a spell caster that makes their arms shrivel into uselessness so they can't cast spells as easily. Blasphemy turned out to be useful, those flying drop their weapons making attacking difficult especially when alot of the groups buffing spells went into making their weapons more effective. I used the snatch ability to fling fighter away causing them to not only get back into combat but to also get their weapon again. The dragon definitely has disadvantages in a confined space, but with a little creativity it can use the space to its advantage as well. The fight may not go much longer, but a few of the characters are in bad shape as well so the dragon's doing its best.

 

[green slime]

Give me a -D-

Give me a -R-

Give me a -A-

Give me a -G-

Give me a -O-

Give me a -N-

GO DRAGON!!!!

 

[Fade]

Follow PKitty's lead and make the weapons really go away. When you disarm someone unarmed you end up holding the weapon. Now where will a dragon be holding it if he uses his bite attack, and what can he do then?