maddman75 said:
Remember that the dragon is a 19th level sorcerer - this is the most important. The dragon's abilities will be enhanced by magic before the group ever gets close.
First, give him Contingency saying "If I get below 100 hit points, cast heal"
Second, open the battle with a Time Stop. During the stop, get improved invisible, take a move (so they don't know where you are at) and gate in a couple Balors.
The time stop lets off, the characters have two balors to deal with and the dragon appears to be gone. Another time stop, buff with stoneskin and haste. If you have time, summon some more demons. MIght have to use some Summon Monster VIII, only 4 9th level spells.
Now cast a harm and throw it on one of the characters - (Rule lawyers - can a dragon deliver a touch attack with a flyby attack?) If it isn't houseruled, this is harsh. Remember the dragon is invisible, they will get no dex and he gets and extra +4 to hit. If the demons don't finish them off, use a breath weapon.
If you get dispelled, imp invis again and MOVE. Dragons have a huge movement rate. Move away, buff, come at them again.
This battle should not even be remotely fair. Dragons do not get to be Great Wyrms by landing on the ground and letting adventurers cut them up.
This is what is silly about BADD. There's no reason that a 19th level sorcerer pull this off. In fact, 20th level characters are better spell casters with more relevant magic items. If it comes down to just slinging spells, then the group, probably having at least 2 spell casters plus any cohorts, can do it better. If the dragon sets up a leadersihp feat chain, then there's no reason why the PCs can't. Then it becomes 4+ leadership chains versus one. About the only Antimagic field that works is a triple enlarged one - and any smart players would drop some disjunctions to remove any buffs the dragon has, so the antimagic field should be a moot point anyway.
If the dragon acts like a wizard with more HP, then most of his abilities aren't being utilized.
The main problem that a dragon faces when going against a group of adventurers is that there's no action parity. The group will probably end up taking 4 times the actions of the dragon, until some people drop. The dragon needs to negate this advantage by
Taking measures to negate the actions of certain characters. Whether it's flying to avoid melee charaters (but only an idiot 20th level fighter won't have a way to close with flyers), or attempting to disable characters with spells (not recomended).
Getting people to waste actions. Protections and illusions can help alot. However, the group can do the same thing, if with some what reduced effect since their defenses need to be spread out more. Also, since the group has a 4-1 advantage on actions, casting the appropriate countermeasure isn't as great a sacrifice. However, if the dragon can distract PCs with illusions or something, then it's a good idea. Except it probably won't work on skilled players.
Getting more actions. Everyone will be hasted until it starts getting dispelled/slowed. Then it will probably be renewed. With haste, the actions are 8 to 2, so the dragon doesn't really gain anything. However, going 8 - 1 would be worse. However, there are other means. Simulacrum is one of the best. Interestingly, it looks like it can actually break parity - when cast by the dragon it should be much better than if cast by the PCs. Based off my reading of the spell, a GW red casting simulacrum will still produce a GW red dupe. Sure, it will be weaker, but it should keep all GW qualities but have less HP, HD, and skills. It's spells and breath weapon should be the same. On the other hand, an Simulacrumed wizard will be 11th level, with crappy equipment.
, and return when whatever trick the dragon used runs out.
