Dragons... has the icon been lost?

[Ridley's Cohort]

In the example dragon the big tactic was magic, and for most of them magic is a huge part of every dragon I've fought. I've been on the bad side of some pimped out Wraithstrike-Power Attack-Buffed to Redunkulous smackdowns. But I've also been on the painful side of super de dooper metabreath smackdowns, too, and magic is a gigantic part of dragons nowadays.

Examples?

I wonder how this can be true as the spellcaster level of MM dragons is rather low relative to the level of the PCs that they are likely to meet. What the heck is that dragon casting?

 

[Ridley's Cohort]

Good point, jasin.

Sometimes people overlook that the DM "cheating fair and square" is a good thing to do. What I mean by this is that the DM should always feel free to fudge the rules in ways that are overall fair to the PCs (maybe the dragon is slightly stronger is some respects while weaker in others) for the sake of making his life easier. The DM is under no obligation to adhere to the letter of the MM.

If the DM does not want to deal with carefully choosing spells and optimizing the use of the spells of a dragon with Sorceror levels, he can substitute in a few choice spell-like abilities, boost a stat here or there, and call it close enough. If the DM can blend in an interesting theme or schtick for the dragon that fits into his campaign world, so much the better.