Dragons

[Shin Okada]

These two years, I have read so many posts regarding CR of dragons. It seems that so many people are thinking that their CR are too low and inappropriate. If so, how are you actually handling dragons?

1) How do you determine if certain dragon (or dragons) makes appropriate encounter or not?

2) Do you adjust XP gained by defeating a dragon? If so, how?

Maybe trying to open another can of ..... wyrms?

 

[Jeremy]

If the PC's actually defeat a dragon IMC they only get it's standard XP (modified by situation, i.e. +CR if it ambushed them, -CR if they ambushed it, etc) because if they actually managed to kill the thing, it should have done pretty much everything it could to survive, pulled out every last trick, so the magical my-horde-is-carefully-hidden-somewhere-else-entirely-I-can't-monitor trick is beyond him and they get a different reward.

But they haven't killed any dragons yet. They scattered in every direction at the sight of an illusory dragon, but that's it.

 

[ruleslawyer]

IMHO, the designers' rationale for underrating dragon CRs is nonsense. Boss monsters, my foot!

IMC, I up dragon CRs by a flat +2 (except for CR 1 dragons, which if I ever used them would simply become CR 2). Even with this upgrade, the two dragons against whom I've thrown PC groups have caused TPR (total party retreat; my PCs are too teleport-happy to get killed). Some posters on the WotC boards have suggested that dragon CRs are underrated by as much as 4.

(I also up dragon sizes by one category, since I find the idea of unclassed monsters the size of humans with 10d12 HD ridiculous. But that's just IMHO...)