Dragon + snatch feat = TPK?

[Grog]

Say a party is going up against a dragon that's their CR, or at least close. The dragon dives in and picks a character up, say the party cleric, using the snatch feat. Now, instead of dropping the character, the dragon flies away with him/her, gets a good distance away from the rest of the party, then simply kills that character. The character would have no chance in a one-on-one battle with the dragon, and probably wouldn't even be able to hurt the dragon very much before they were finished off.

Then, the dragon flies back to the party and picks someone else up, flies off with them, and kills them. And repeats the tactic until the entire party is dead.

Is there any reason this tactic wouldn't work? It seems to me that the snatch feat is a very easy way for a dragon to split up a party, since it's almost impossible to break a dragon's grapple. And there's no reason a dragon wouldn't use such a brutally effective tactic.

How could a group possibly avoid a TPK when fighting a dragon?

 

[Dareoon Dalandrove]

Simply killing is an over statement. Granted that once a member of a party is by themselves they would have a much harder time. If the party is of a similar CR then they would have magic. A wizard or sorcerer might have fly or other magics that allow the rest of the party to follow.

 

[Henry]

Readied actions.

Hiding in trees or other cover that a dragon cannot pass.

tying a rope to all party members, so that when one gets snatched, they're all along for the ride.

 

[Derren]

#Rule Nr. 1 --- Snatch the mages first.

 

[D'karr]

It's important to remember the size categories of Dragons.

Unless dragons are very large they usually cannot snatch a medium-sized character.

When Dragons get that large almost anything they do will result in a TPK. So snatch doesn't make a huge difference if you are playing your Dragons as complete SOBs, which they are.

 

[Arnwyn]

I agree with you, Grog. If you meet a dragon in the outdoors, I have a very hard time seeing PCs win without mitigating circumstances (like what Henry put forth) or *loads and loads* of long-range blasting hoo-hah magic.

Otherwise it's fly, snatch, breath weapon, kill, repeat. PCs run or die.

The players IMC wimper, cry, and then have their characters run like little scared babies when they even hear *rumors* of a dragon, much less have the misfortune of seeing one. They certainly haven't fought one in a long time... (and certainly not in this edition). They'd be torn apart like wet paper towels.

 

[Grog]

#Rule Nr. 1 --- Snatch the mages first.

Actually, a mage might be able to teleport away. But a fighter or a cleric would have a much harder time.

 

[Grog]

It's important to remember the size categories of Dragons.

Unless dragons are very large they usually cannot snatch a medium-sized character.

Do they have to be large or huge to snatch a medium-sized creature? In either case, the more powerful dragons are usually huge or larger.

 

[D'karr]

That was my point. A dragon of size category Huge, is usually powerful enough to cause a TPK, even without "Snatch".

A large dragon cannot use snatch on a medium-sized creature. And as the dragon gets larger it also gets more powerful.

If a dragon is played as a total SOB, which they are, then very few parties will survive unscathed or at all.

 

[D'karr]

BTW, also remember that the CR of a dragon is usually wrong. It presupposes that the party will know that they are encountering a dragon and have prepared for it. If the party is completely unaware then they are probably doomed.

I have not had one party encounter a dragon and walk-out thinking it was a cake-walk. Usually 1-2 PCs are dead and the others badly wounded by the time the finish off the dragon or the dragon cuts his losses.