Depending on party composition, taking the mounts is often the best way to soften up a party ahead of time. There's little like seeing your water supply swoop away on the back of your donkey as it's held in the talons of something you're pretty sure will be back as the vultures circle two days hence.
adding the DRAGON to dungeons and dragons!
- Thread starter eXodus
- Start date
First, consider how "mushy" you want the PCs to be before the engagement even begins. Blue dragons can destroy water, but this one only at 30' range. They can also move fast enough to attack unattended objects (mounts, campsites) and escape while the PCs are busy with other problems.
Cure Light Wounds is far too useful for out-of-combat purposes to avoid getting it.
Now, given the insane spot rolls of dragons, we can probably assume vision at least as good as a hawk. Add this to a 15 WIS, and the dragon just fly around far out of range and watch to see who prays, who casts spells, etc. Readied action: breathe to interrupt spells is just nasty, especially if you are 75' away, so that most of the warriors can't reach you with a charge.
Don't forget the frightful presence; for some reason I find it easy to forget.
Of course, a smart dragon won't land in the first place. After all, it has a powerful weapon with 80' range, presence with 120' range, and the ability to heal itself while it waits for the breath to recharge. How's your party's missile / ranged combat capability?
If the fight is not going the dragon's way, it might threaten to coup-de-grace (or just attack) a fallen PC, unless the PCs back off and allow it to escape.
. . . . . . . -- Eric
Cure Light Wounds is far too useful for out-of-combat purposes to avoid getting it.
Now, given the insane spot rolls of dragons, we can probably assume vision at least as good as a hawk. Add this to a 15 WIS, and the dragon just fly around far out of range and watch to see who prays, who casts spells, etc. Readied action: breathe to interrupt spells is just nasty, especially if you are 75' away, so that most of the warriors can't reach you with a charge.
Don't forget the frightful presence; for some reason I find it easy to forget.
Of course, a smart dragon won't land in the first place. After all, it has a powerful weapon with 80' range, presence with 120' range, and the ability to heal itself while it waits for the breath to recharge. How's your party's missile / ranged combat capability?
If the fight is not going the dragon's way, it might threaten to coup-de-grace (or just attack) a fallen PC, unless the PCs back off and allow it to escape.
. . . . . . . -- Eric
Hammerhead
Explorer
The dragon needs to split the party, so not all of them can act effectively in a round. Otherwise, it will be trading one action for 6, maybe 7 if the evoker uses haste.
An interesting trick is to land the dragon just outside (or just inside, if the dragon is in good condition) charge range. Most people won't be able to resist the opportunity to charge. With the melee characters drawn off, the dragon then flies to the spellcasters and melees them. Beating up an elven wizard isn't usually that tough. Then the fighters charge back at the dragon, but won't quite be able to reach, since he's probably behind their original positions. The dragon should attack the wizard again. If another bite proves sufficient, then the dragon takes to the air as a move. Otherwise, assuming HP and threat level allow, the dragon finishes its full attack. Then it should fly around, cast some healing spells, breathe lightning, etc. If there's another good range attacker, then try to draw off the fighters again to see if the dragon can get another few melee attacks in against some weaker people.
An interesting trick is to land the dragon just outside (or just inside, if the dragon is in good condition) charge range. Most people won't be able to resist the opportunity to charge. With the melee characters drawn off, the dragon then flies to the spellcasters and melees them. Beating up an elven wizard isn't usually that tough. Then the fighters charge back at the dragon, but won't quite be able to reach, since he's probably behind their original positions. The dragon should attack the wizard again. If another bite proves sufficient, then the dragon takes to the air as a move. Otherwise, assuming HP and threat level allow, the dragon finishes its full attack. Then it should fly around, cast some healing spells, breathe lightning, etc. If there's another good range attacker, then try to draw off the fighters again to see if the dragon can get another few melee attacks in against some weaker people.
Similar Threads
