Dragon Mountain defeated without even entering it!

[James McMurray]

Well, the next session of my game is tomorrow. As some may know, I'm running Ravager of Time, so I'll have to post an update. It won't involve dragons but...

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It will involve the party being aged to venerable so that the main enemy in the adventure can create doubles of them. The doubles have all of the original powers and gear, but are totally subservient to the necromanceress. They do have one big disadvantage though: they can only live a month, at which time they'll die, along with the person they're a double of. Of course, this isn't so bad, as its due to the accelerated way in which they draw off lifeforce from their originals. It ages the original, but leaves the younger duplicate in a state of constant haste.

This should be fun. I've already spent too much of my time at work generating various strategies for them.

 

[reapersaurus]

James: I give up.
There is NO WAY for me, or anybody else over the last many weeks on at least TWO boards to convince you that you are playing your dragons too weak.

I have detailed as much as i can to you in this thread how you did your big-baddy Dragon a disservice by:
a) Adding levels of wizard to no good use. (while giving your Pc's full Experience for the kill?? No wonder they're leveling up so fast! )
b) Taking a base of a juvenile red dragon and then even making it even WEAKER stats, adding the wizard, and then making him have a background where he's GOTTA be suicidally-overconfident. Yes, suicidally-overconfident are MY words, not yours.
c) Playing the dragon so badly in combat. There's NO better way to go about saying it. It used awful tactics, which you STILL see no problem with.

I'm baffled.

 

[DWARF]

So this is what happens when a Power Gamer becomes a DM....

 

[James McMurray]

Reapersaurus: Well, then I suppose we'll have to agree to disagree so they say.

Dwarf: At least you said power-gamer and not munchkin

 

[Urklore]

Has anyone coverted Dragon Mountain to 3rd edition yet? I have been waiting for this to appear as a PDF on the wizard's store. It is so much easier to covert to 3rd when you have the files in front of you on your computer.

 

[Lothaire]

While the juvenile red might have been weak I think the Green Wyrm was a wonderful representation of how a dragon should act.

So a young dragon was played as fairly rash and foolish, and an older more experianced one was played very craftily.

I also liked the Devilish advocate!

Keep up the good work.

 

[James McMurray]

Thanks, I will!

 

[Carnifex]

Yes, this is something true - a lot of people seem to be having a go at james for 'badly' playing the red, but at the same time he seems to have been running the green in a manner which even reapersaurus couldn't argue with...

Things I'll say. I don't think the juvenile red with the levels of wizard is worth that high a CR, even if it is what you get if you go by the book. Were it to have been sorceror levels staking with the dragons innate casting, then maybe, but as it stands I don't think the dragon was that tough a being to deserve such a high CR. However, the fact it has class levels *did* mean it could make magic items...

In terms of tactics, they seem fine enough to me - and before you start ranting, reapersaurus, here's why.

Suggestion is a very, very powerful spell. Don't say 'oh, some crappy level 3 spell, why wasn't he using something more powerful'. Suggestion is very powerful for level 3, if worded correctly when cast.

Enervation too is pretty damn nasty.

Overall, it seems they just caught the dragon on the hop, as it were, and got lucky enough to bring it down so fast.

You know, not *all* dragons have to be stereotyped as insanely all-knowing, omnipotent beigns that have perfect tactics and infallible foresight.

 

[James McMurray]

For the record, he had made quite a few magic items, mostly with money stolen from the party.

 

[James McMurray]

My party has finished dividing the spoils. After all of the good stuff was gone, the Green drake said, "There's not much here of value for me anymore, therefore I propose we spped the process. You offer me one of the remaining items here and I will give up the remainder of my choices. After some discussion, they decided it was ok and added it to the contract, initialing to make if legal. Then, to their surprise, the green dragon chose the cleric's amulet of dragon warding. Reading the clause they had just signed (without even reading the first time), they realized it stipulated that she get one choice of any item remaining in the area. Their celestial lawyer had missed it, and so the green dragon got to screw them over bigtime.

Of course, had that ploy not worked, she would have simply taken it after the dividing of treasure was complete, as there's no way she could allow them to leave with it.

The party, much annoyed, but grateful for the massive loot they'd received, left to sell useless items and order magical goodies. In the meantime, they still needed to complete their jury duty, but I'll continue that story in another thread so as not to divert this one from the original topic more than it already has at times.