D&D 5E Fighting a young dragon

[jeckyllgeek]

In my campaign the main antagonists are a country run by chromatic dragons (mostly greens) and in a couple of weeks the party will be free of it's current enemy and I was thinking of throwing a young dragon at them (probably green but maybe black) the party will be 5th level at that time so I think they are finally strong enough to handle it. The question is how would you go about creating a dragon adventure? Also how would you include kobolds as antagonists for a 5th level party?

 

[Imaculata]

It all depends on the circumstances under which the players encounter this dragon. Does it go looking for them, or do the players go looking for it? Do they fight it in its lair, or outside its lair? Is killing the dragon the goal of the adventure?

As for kobolts, look no further than Tuckers Kobolts. Kobolts can be a terrifying enemy regardless of level. It all depends on how clever you want to make them. You can simply throw them at the players, as some adventures tend to do. Or you can play them to their strengths, and have the environment be entirely in their favor. Kobolts are very small, and so they can move through tunnels that the players wouldn't fit through. They can use ranged weapons, and weapons with reach, and rely on poisons and traps.

 

[jeckyllgeek]

If I am going to throw tuckers kobolds at the party pretty much means that I have to have the party fight the dragon on it's turf. I was thinking the party would have to deal with a group of kobold bandits that would plague the supply lines of an advancing army and the players are sent to deal with that.

 

[Gilladian]

If the kobolds are raiders, give them mounts ( large dogs?). Missile weapons. Nets. Tanglefoot bags. Deadfall traps are quick to build, as are things that use the local environment (flooded creek, scree slope, even just thick brambles). And of course, the dragon is their boss. Maybe have wild animals alert the pcs that some large new predator is in the area, to give them a heads up.

 

[Eltab]

The kobolds are supposed to be "bodyguards" for the dragon / lair, but he isn't really big and scary yet. So near the entrance, they fire off a volley of javelins, maybe make a 1-round stand, and then scatter in all directions. When the PCs are tangled up with the dragon, the surviving kobolds get their courage back up and jump in from behind the PCs. This would be a good time for tanglefoot bags and other special ammunition that gives the dragon an easy shot at these enemies.

I like the kobold raider idea, with the dragon showing up only after the PCs have taken out several of his tribute/hoard-collecting parties. He really does not want to draw the attention of the fighting armies, just snitch stuff that can be called "losses due to war".

 

[Quickleaf]

In my campaign the main antagonists are a country run by chromatic dragons (mostly greens) and in a couple of weeks the party will be free of it's current enemy and I was thinking of throwing a young dragon at them (probably green but maybe black) the party will be 5th level at that time so I think they are finally strong enough to handle it. The question is how would you go about creating a dragon adventure?

[MENTION=6801286]Imaculata[/MENTION] gave you great advice/questions right out of the gate.

In my experience, dragons do best when foreshadowed well. You never should, IMHO, "just throw a dragon" at the PCs like you might a handful of bugbears. Well, arguably depending on your style of game, you could make that mandate true for ALL monsters, but I think for dragons it's always true regardless of your genre/style.

Anyhow, something to consider is its age. A young dragon is probably freshly kicked out of its parent's lair (in which case, what are its parents up to?), still searching for a lair (and quite vulnerable, potentially allying with evil humanoids to protect itself), or has just found a lair of its own (possibly after displacing the previous residents who are angry/fearful/scheming).

Also how would you include kobolds as antagonists for a 5th level party?

This I can answer with confidence. Use lots of them. Fight as nasty and dirty as possible. Assemble a list of simple traps given an extra level of kobold meanness.

Also, check out the kobold 5e resources in my sig. Lots of options for diversifying kobold stat blocks and making them work better with each other and their trap-laden environment.

You might also see my Dragon Mountain conversion (even though that's for 4e, there are tons of cool ideas and tricks that you can translate - that entire boxed set was basically an exploration of "Tucker's Kobolds").

 

[Guest 6801328]

In the Tucker's kobolds story I love the assumption that readers all know that "dungeon level == monster level", and that of course you bring pack donkeys and henchmen into dungeons.

Also, I was going through old papers about a year ago and found a manuscript rejection letter from Dragon Magazine, circa 1983, signed by Roger E. Moore.