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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Manbearcat" data-source="post: 6290682" data-attributes="member: 6696971">You're referring to the level 7 Young Red Dragon (Solo Soldier), I presume?  Level 7 standard defenses are:AC 22, NAD 20level 7 Young Red Dragon (Solo Soldier) defenses are:AC 23, Fortitude 21, Reflex 18, Will 18 The standard formula typically calls for a + 2 for Soldier AC buffing.  Any nonsoldier + 1 AC buffing asks for an offsetting of that with a - 2 to an NAD.  Any shuffling of other defenses is on a 1:1 basis but you don't want to be straying too terribly far (perhaps within 4 or so) of the mean (in this case 20).  So it looks like they gave it a nonsoldier AC buff (+ 1 ) with Reflex adjusted downward.  They buffed Fort + 1 and Will is adjusted downward (but 2 instead of 1).  The soldier AC buff was eschewed a lot toward the end, in favor of other, more interesting activatable defenses or melee control capabilities (I think most approve).They were pretty close to the mean target numbers with the Red Dragon here.  What they didn't have to do, in order to do so, was vest it with some arbitrary kludge Natural Armor bonus in order to achieve that hitting of mean target numbers for the expectant challenge it is supposed to provide for heroes of that level.  They just made him extremely physically tough but slower and more prone to attacks that may naturally impact his insatiable avarice and overwrought ego (lower Will).  He is basically immune to all of the physical impacts of attacking WIll due to the traits of Action Recovery and Instinctive Result.  He's mostly impervious to fire of attacks from that level.  He flies, breaths fire, and attacks with claws, maw, and tail with an unbridled fury.  He is a perfect Young Red Dragon and he works out that way in the fiction when you do battle with him (especially when you give him thematic lair stuff or lackeys).  The Elder and the Ancient are even moreso (as they should be).I agree with  [MENTION=42582]pemerton[/MENTION] on the 3.x dragon.  The idea of a Natural Armor extremely exceeding the most magical of plate armor is silly and not an intention of the system.  Its an ugly wart of a formula kludge to provide expectant challenge without buffing numbers they didn't want to buff (which have the consequence of making the dragon absurdly vulnerable to things like Dex poison and Shivering Touch...such that PCs are constantly looking to engage in non-thematic asymetric warfare against him to leverage that...meanwhile the dragon is engaging in very "UnRed" like behavior of being a giant flying sorcerer - because its a million times more powerful than his melee abilities).  Just like HP, you aren't meant to stare too hard at it in an effort to make sense of the nonsensical.</blockquote>

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