Dragons and HP

[Falling Icicle]

Am I the only one that is surprised that a young black dragon (level 4) has almost as many HP as a level 26 pit fiend? Seems a bit ridiculous to me.

 

[Yaezakura]

I don't find it's HP total odd, considering it's been mentioned that older dragons (ones closer to the Pit Fiend's level) have 1000 or more HP (considerably more than the Pit Fiend). It's also important to remember that the Pit Fiend is an Elite (worth 2 "slots" in an encounter) while dragons are Solo (worth 4 "slots").

The Dragon is meant to take a beating from all four members of a party at the same time and keep fighting back, so it's not unreasonable for it to have a seemingly very inflated HP.

 

[Falling Icicle]

One big bummer is that it means that I will never, ever be allowed to have a dragon companion, since it is as powerful as an entire party. Even this young dragon has more HP than a level 30 character!

 

[Klaus]

One big bummer is that it means that I will never, ever be allowed to have a dragon companion, since it is as powerful as an entire party. Even this young dragon has more HP than a level 30 character!

Sure you can. I'm pretty certain that you could take a wyrmling dragon and make it a "minion" and make it a sidekick for the group.

 

[Gort]

The Dragon is meant to take a beating from all four members of a party at the same time and keep fighting back, so it's not unreasonable for it to have a seemingly very inflated HP.

Five, actually.

 

[AllisterH]

Five, actually.

Exactly. As shown in the Bodak MM entry, the standard encounter is against 5 creatures of the same level as the party. Still, this is on the high end of HP since the dragon's HP basically translates to a regular monster than has 56 HP at 4th level. Compared to

4th level Rogue has 27 + Constitution Score HP
The Cavern Choker, a Level 4 Lurker has 42 HP
The Deathjump Spider, a Level 4 Skirmisher has 38 HP

the dragon does seem on the high end even if it is a Solo.

 

[Dausuul]

Note also that the pit fiend's biggest combat power is the ability to summon approximately one zillion minions to fight for him, and then push those minions around the battlefield (and blow them up). His stats have to be viewed in that context.

 

[Benimoto]

I think it may just be dragons or even just the Black Dragon. Looking at some scans of the minis cards, the White Dragon, a level 3 solo brute, has 180 HP, and the Fen Hydra, a level 12 solo brute, has only 228.

But those creatures have more attacks than the black dragon. The white dragon can attack with a bite if it hits with both claws, and the hydra starts with 4 attacks and gains more as chopped off heads grow into two heads.

Strange, definitely. I wonder how the system will account for such variance.