D&D 5E A problem with legendary actions

[Olrox17]

I like the concept of legendary actions, and how they allow a legendary monster to better square off against a group of opponents. I do however, dislike how they often end up working in practice.

Let's take the most iconic of legendary creatures, the dragon, as an example. In my gaming experience, once a dragon has used its breath weapon, it'll usually position itself near a squishy target. Then, unless the dragon is given a very good reason to use detect or wing attack, it'll use its legendary tail attack, over and over, against the same target.

Focus fire is a smart strategy, dragons are smart, and I don't have a problem with monster fighting optimally...but am I the only one that finds this relatively common scenario to be very unappealing and gamey?

Unappealing, because a dragon tail whipping a guy multiple times in rapid succession, round after round, does not scream "epic" or "dragon-ey" to me.

Gamey because, well, why the heck is Timmy the bard getting tail whipped after Sammy the cleric has cast a spell, then again after Bob the archer has fired its bow, then again after Morty the wizard has made its death saving throw? Where's the in-game world connection?

Am I the only one that feels this way? I'd much prefer if legendary action attacks could only be used against the character that just ended its turn, the character that "triggered" the legendary attack, so to speak.

 

[Leatherhead]

Why would you not use Wing Attack?
Wing Attack knocks things prone, that means the Dragon gets advantage on it's normal attack routine on it's turn.
Furthermore, Prone things don't move around as much, and the dragon even gets to fly 40' in order to set itself up to better pick on the squishies.

 

[Olrox17]

Mostly because of the 2/actions cost. I suppose it might be party dependent, too. A melee heavy party might be hit pretty hard by wing attack, while a ranged heavy one will probably spread to avoid AoEs such as the breath and wing attack.
Most of my experience in 5e has been with ranged capable parties.

Edit: Also, the prone condition is not that great in 5e, IMO (unless it's coupled with grappled). Standing up does not provoke opportunity attacks and only takes half movement. The advantage is good, but legendary dragons already have big attack roll bonuses, often hitting an unarmored target on a roll of 2.

 

[Coroc]

In the open a powerful dragon would normally stay airborne and use ist breath atttack as often as possible.
If cornered this might be also the best tactics, it is to intelligent to fall for the "Tanks" intimmidation attempts, it knows who are the casters and who are the squishy ones. A Party encountering a Dragon wellprepared (the Party) with the Dragon in a Corner, and CR apropriate, might survive one breath attack, the hitpointbags and the members with good dex saves might survive a second breath attack but wizards and clerics and the like might not - and the Dragon being super Genius knows that or it ain't played correct by the DM.

Legendary Actions allows this Kind of Dragon fight in 5E. If the breath does not recharge following some mechanical rule then the Dragons Encounter dificulty is totally unpredictable.

 

[Warmaster Horus]

Dragon Legendary Actions are boring and need to be spiced up, in my opinion. Every type of dragon should not have the same copy-paste options. That said, Wing Attack is awesome because it allows the dragon to prone out all adjacent and get into the air where those pesky GWMs can't hack it to pieces.

 

[Olrox17]

I've made an alternative list of dragon legendary actions, trying to remain close to the RAW version but with the intent to solve my problem with "gamey" legendary actions. Would you like this alternate dragon actions if they were presented to you, as a player, in a campaign?


LEGENDARY ACTIONS
The dragon can take 3 legendary actions, choosing from the options below. Only one legendary action option can be used at a time and only at the end of another creature's turn. The dragon regains spent legendary actions at the start of its turn.


Detect. The dragon carefully watches the creature that just ended its turn. If the dragon can’t see the creature, it makes a Wisdom (Perception) check to find it. Until the end of the watched creature’s next turn, any attack roll the creature makes against the dragon has disadvantage if the dragon can see it, and the dragon makes Dexterity saving throws against the creature with advantage. The dragon loses this benefit if it is incapacitated or if its speed drops to 0.

Tail Sweep. The dragon makes a tail attack against the creature that just ended its turn. On a hit, the target is also knocked prone, unless it succeeds on a DC x Strength saving throw. On a miss, the target still takes half damage from the tail attack, unless it succeeds on a DC x Dexterity saving throw.

Wing Attack (2 actions). The dragon beats its wings. Each creature within 10 feet of the dragon must succeed on a DC x Dexterity saving throw or take x bludgeoning damage and be knocked prone. The dragon can then fly up to half its flying speed.

 

[Oofta]

Dragons are only boring if you make them. Personally it would be rare that a dragon I ran would stay in one spot and do the same thing round after round. IMHO they're designed to be mobile opponents, if they do get locked down they'll use wing buffet at the earliest opportunity to get away or use it to set up a situation to get multiple target.

But most of the time? The dragon's going to come flying in, preferably from behind cover, breath/attack maybe stick around for a tail slap and then strategically retreat. Or at least the older ones will; I never assume the PCs are the first people that have ever tried to kill the dragon in question, it seems to be a popular pastime.

Dragon Legendary Actions are boring and need to be spiced up, in my opinion. Every type of dragon should not have the same copy-paste options.

That's what lair actions are for.

 

[Olrox17]

Dragons are only boring if you make them. Personally it would be rare that a dragon I ran would stay in one spot and do the same thing round after round. IMHO they're designed to be mobile opponents, if they do get locked down they'll use wing buffet at the earliest opportunity to get away or use it to set up a situation to get multiple target.

But most of the time? The dragon's going to come flying in, preferably from behind cover, breath/attack maybe stick around for a tail slap and then strategically retreat. Or at least the older ones will; I never assume the PCs are the first people that have ever tried to kill the dragon in question, it seems to be a popular pastime.

To be completely honest, a dragon that only breathes and flies away to recharge its breath is pretty boring to me, and why, as a DM, I use the "dragon's cave" trope to try and limit this otherwise incredibly effective strategy.
Completely agree on the lair actions though. There's great potential for fun in them.

 

[Warmaster Horus]

That's what lair actions are for.

And if they're not in their lair? Why do all dragons have the same stock Legendary Actions? A bit of differentiation would be nice and add more flavor to all encounters, not just those involving a lair.

 

[iserith]

The problem with legendary actions is that I'm frequently drunk and forget to use them.