NOW LIVE! Today's the day you meet your new best friend. You don’t have to leave Wolfy behind... In 'Pets & Sidekicks' your companions level up with you!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Riastlin" data-source="post: 5729201" data-attributes="member: 94022">One thing I might add to this is make the dragon a recurring villain.  Perhaps the first time they see the dragon, the fight is an a relatively open area and well out of sight of its lair (i.e. the PCs have no idea where it lairs).  But remember that dragons are highly intelligent, so when the dragon is bloodied, it flies off to fight another day.Now, the dragon is a bit annoyed at the PCs, so it sets up an ambush some time later (i.e. this could be several sessions or even levels later -- dragons are patient after all).  Now the terrain is definitely in the dragon's favor, but the fight still isn't in its lair.  When the PCs bloody it yet again, the dragon once again takes flight and retreats.Now, the dragon realizes that the PCs are more than just typical meddling adventurers.  They actually pose a real threat to the dragon.  The dragon starts hiring mercenaries and assassins to rid it of the problem the PCs have become.  Most importantly though, the dragon realizes that it really doesn't want to get caught off guard by the PCs, so it spends more and more time in its lair -- and making sure that the lair is absolutely set up to the dragon's advantage.  Eventually, the PCs will track the dragon down.  They'll have a full on adventure getting through all the cultists and traps just to reach the lair.  When they do reach the dragon though, she is extremely ticked and desperate and likely still has body guards in her lair.  This fight becomes the knock down, drag out fight to the death the PCs have been waiting for (unless you want to be really evil and still let the dragon escape out the emergency exit).  <img src="http://www.enworld.org/forum/images/smilies/devil.png"  class="smilie" loading="lazy" alt=":devil:" title="Devil    :devil:" data-shortname=":devil:" />In short, the PCs will have to fight the dragon at least 3 times before getting the chance to carve her up.  They'll "hate" you each time she retreats, but when they do finally get the kill, it will be all the sweeter.Edit to add:  The thing that I really like about this approach is that if you space the fights out over several levels, it gives you the opportunity to level up the dragon each time.  This way, the party gets the chance to fight several versions of the Red Dragon (i.e. different age categories) without making it seem as though dragons are a dime a dozen.</blockquote>

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