Dragons - how often do you use them?

[JoeGKushner]

Let's see... running the Shackled City.

1. Party fights Red Dragon.

2. Party fights Black Dragon.

3. Party fights undead Green Dragon.

4. Party fights Red Dragon (bigger version!)

Yeah, I'm using 'em.

 

[Psychic Warrior]

Lots of votes but so few responses! A follow up question for those voting rarely or less - why don't you use them more often? Should dragons be the iconic foe PCs face?

 

[justinsluder]

In my homebrew many of the dragons which PC's encounter have used their magic to look like a member of the "lesser" races. Therefore, dragons are around all the time. The PC's just don't realize what they are.

One of these days I'll have to write up a little description of my world for you all to read and tear down.

Have fun,
Justin

 

[Psychic Warrior]

In my homebrew many of the dragons which PC's encounter have used their magic to look like a member of the "lesser" races. Therefore, dragons are around all the time. The PC's just don't realize what they are.

One of these days I'll have to write up a little description of my world for you all to read and tear down.

Have fun,
Justin

I have to ask - why use dragons then? If they don't reveal their true selves it's not really a dragon encounter is it?

 

[Psion]

Lots of votes but so few responses! A follow up question for those voting rarely or less - why don't you use them more often? Should dragons be the iconic foe PCs face?

I use humanoid creatures/characters as my principal villain type. Even when I don't, I prefer creatures that can lurk around and cause trouble behind the see. To me, a dragon is more about awe and majest and destruction on a mass scale. I don't picture dragons as the sort of entities that easily mingle with humanity without being noticed.

 

[Sejs]

Lots of votes but so few responses! A follow up question for those voting rarely or less - why don't you use them more often?

As a DM I try to make a point of running a given creature appropriate to its intelligence and abilities. Dragons' strengths are legion - amazing senses, very tough in melee, support spellcasting, and absolutly fantastic mobility. And they're smart, to boot. If a dragon is fighting in restricted terrain, something isn't right. It'd be like a shark coming up on shore to nab a sunbather. If it gets jumped in a situation where it can't move about, its first thoughts should be to leave.

In a situation where they can take full advantage of their mobility, it becomes an issue of grab one PC, fly off with them, kill them, come back, pick off another, repeat. If they're one of the types that can breathe underwater, then you take the fight underwater where you're unhindered, but the other guy is going to drown. So on and so forth.

So in answer to the question, I tend not to feature dragons more frequently because more often than not they tend to be extraordinarily lethal.

Should dragons be the iconic foe PCs face?

Depends on the game. My current game has a very Nature's Defenders vs Horrors from Beyond Time and Space tone to it, so the iconic foes there tend to be more aberrations, oozes, cultists, and so on. I could feature a dragon, but they don't fit as the mainstay enemy. In another game, however, they may well fit just fine.

 

[Sejs]

I have to ask - why use dragons then? If they don't reveal their true selves it's not really a dragon encounter is it?

Plot purposes, would be my guess.

Heh, besides, just because you're a huge, armored, fire-breathing engine of destruction doesn't mean you have to be unsubtle. One could argue that showing sophistication when it's not called for is a sign of superiority.

And if there's something dragons love, it's being superior.

 

[The_Gneech]

One of the patrons/mentors of my current group is a copper dragon who (the players have yet to learn yet) has just been killed by the BBEG -- the baddie's most powerful general is going to be wearing the NPC dragon when they encounter him next.

For opposition, though, I try to keep dragons rare and very very dangerous, so that when they show up the players have conniptions.

-The Gneech

 

[kigmatzomat]

IMC dragons have a very high presence, even though they don't appear that often. It is a DL-based game.

In game:
The party's mule was taken by an adolescent blue dragon in a fly-by attack at 5th level.
At 6th level they blundered into the blue dragon's lair and talked their way out
9th level a dragon dropped by to chat about the way they are irritating Takhisis (no fighting occurred)
10th level they ally themselves with the (now young-adult) blue dragon. They do some sparring to train in fighting dragons and so the blue can learn how to defend himself against armed foes.
15th party faces a relatively old "ultraviolet" dragon (basically a nerfed, sub-epic force dragon)
17th level - a mature adult red petitions the party for sanctuary; a lich the party opposes has been hunting him. In return he will help train the party half-dragon and help the party vs. the lich when the time comes.
18th level they are asked to help a gold dragon fight a green. It is, of course, a trick as the gold is a polymorphed black. Hilarity ensues.

 

[ThirdWizard]

I said often, but basing per campaign is a bit misleading since campaigns go different lengths.

I use dragons of every age category, so I tend to use a fair amount of dragons. Some believe that dragons should always be big, earth shattering, things so they only use old or older dragons. A friend of mine is like that when he DMs. That greatly reduces the amount of dragons that you'll see in a campaign, so I go the other rout. I think the earliest I've ever used a dragon was a CR 2 wyrmling chaos dragon.