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(CR ratings) Could 6 level 6 characters survive and beat a Young Blue Dragon?
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<blockquote data-quote="Celtavian" data-source="post: 6629808" data-attributes="member: 5834"><p>I'll toss in my experience having fought a ton of dragons as a player. I have yet to run a dragon combat.</p><p></p><p>It depends. I'll list several factors I've seen affect combat:</p><p></p><p>1. If your players have a lot of ranged firepower and <em>bless</em>, the dragon probably going to get destroyed. Ranged power allows a party to spread out avoiding breath weapons while delivering damage regardless of mobility. This is even more pronounced in 5E because a ranged attacker can fire all his attacks, then hide behind full cover. If you have a party with ranged power and terrain to hide behind, I wouldn't give the dragon much of a chance. It should probably run if it wants to stay alive. </p><p></p><p>2. If the party has access to a <em>fly</em> spell or two, this helps a melee martial engage the dragon in combat. This could still lead to a tough fight depending on how tough your martial is. It could also lead to a quick fight if you have a martial that can output a lot of damage quickly like an Action Surging fighter or Smiting Paladin. Combine this with a lot of ranged power, your dragon is probably going down quick.</p><p></p><p>3. Terrain: In an area of difficult terrain where the party has no cover and no ability to spread out, this could be advantage dragon. In most fights the party can spread out ameliorating the breath weapon damage. If they beat the breath weapon or limit its effect, it's pretty easy to beat the dragon.</p><p></p><p>4. Skill of the players: If the players are min/maxers, your dragon is probably done. If they are fairly competent, they can still figure out how to pop up heal after sacrificing one member to the breath weapon. At 6th level it's not worth it to try to heal the breath weapon damage. Better to just let the PC drop and use <em>healing word</em> or <em>aid</em> to pop up heal the fallen party member.</p><p></p><p>5. Luck: If the dragon recharges its breath weapon a few times, it could be rough. It's the most fearsome attack they have.</p><p></p><p>We fought a CR 13 dragon at 8th level in a five man party, really four and a half considering the cleric wasn't doing anything on offense. We fought it in its lair with difficult terrain dealing with lair actions. It was a tough fight where two of us died and one was down. We had very little ranged power, but access to a <em>fly</em> spell. It was our first dragon fight. Pretty harrowing at first. After that fight, we never had a hard time with dragons. Once <em>fly</em> became useable on multiple martials, we sent them into battle with casters assaulting from range. The dragons died quickly. If we had more ranged firepower in our group, I doubt even the CR 13 dragon would have been a problem at 8th level. ACs are low in this game. One <em>bless</em> spell makes a party nearly unbeatable against enemies without <em>bless</em>, especially if using feats like Sharpshooter or GWM. </p><p></p><p>If you're not doing anything too funky, six level 6 PCs should be able to kill a young blue dragon, possibly in a surprisingly easy fight.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Celtavian, post: 6629808, member: 5834"] I'll toss in my experience having fought a ton of dragons as a player. I have yet to run a dragon combat. It depends. I'll list several factors I've seen affect combat: 1. If your players have a lot of ranged firepower and [I]bless[/I], the dragon probably going to get destroyed. Ranged power allows a party to spread out avoiding breath weapons while delivering damage regardless of mobility. This is even more pronounced in 5E because a ranged attacker can fire all his attacks, then hide behind full cover. If you have a party with ranged power and terrain to hide behind, I wouldn't give the dragon much of a chance. It should probably run if it wants to stay alive. 2. If the party has access to a [I]fly[/I] spell or two, this helps a melee martial engage the dragon in combat. This could still lead to a tough fight depending on how tough your martial is. It could also lead to a quick fight if you have a martial that can output a lot of damage quickly like an Action Surging fighter or Smiting Paladin. Combine this with a lot of ranged power, your dragon is probably going down quick. 3. Terrain: In an area of difficult terrain where the party has no cover and no ability to spread out, this could be advantage dragon. In most fights the party can spread out ameliorating the breath weapon damage. If they beat the breath weapon or limit its effect, it's pretty easy to beat the dragon. 4. Skill of the players: If the players are min/maxers, your dragon is probably done. If they are fairly competent, they can still figure out how to pop up heal after sacrificing one member to the breath weapon. At 6th level it's not worth it to try to heal the breath weapon damage. Better to just let the PC drop and use [I]healing word[/I] or [I]aid[/I] to pop up heal the fallen party member. 5. Luck: If the dragon recharges its breath weapon a few times, it could be rough. It's the most fearsome attack they have. We fought a CR 13 dragon at 8th level in a five man party, really four and a half considering the cleric wasn't doing anything on offense. We fought it in its lair with difficult terrain dealing with lair actions. It was a tough fight where two of us died and one was down. We had very little ranged power, but access to a [I]fly[/I] spell. It was our first dragon fight. Pretty harrowing at first. After that fight, we never had a hard time with dragons. Once [I]fly[/i] became useable on multiple martials, we sent them into battle with casters assaulting from range. The dragons died quickly. If we had more ranged firepower in our group, I doubt even the CR 13 dragon would have been a problem at 8th level. ACs are low in this game. One [I]bless[/I] spell makes a party nearly unbeatable against enemies without [I]bless[/I], especially if using feats like Sharpshooter or GWM. If you're not doing anything too funky, six level 6 PCs should be able to kill a young blue dragon, possibly in a surprisingly easy fight. [/QUOTE]
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(CR ratings) Could 6 level 6 characters survive and beat a Young Blue Dragon?
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