D&D 5E Give my Dragon Encounter More Bite!

[iserith]

The PCs attacked Venomfang in her home and so the next time they face off, I'd have it where she attacks them in theirs - Phandalin. Kobolds and mounted dragon cultists surge into Phandalin to pillage and burn while the dragon strafes crowds with poison gas and tears buildings to the ground.

There are (iirc) 16 "named" buildings in Phandalin, not including the ruins of Tresandar Manor (which would be a decent staging ground for Team Villain). Defeat could mean losing 12 or more of those buildings (and the NPCs associated with them). Along the way, present encounters and complications for the PCs to overcome as they race from one corner of the town to another to "put out fires." The challenge is to keep those buildings intact while dealing with the other complications and trying to drive off or slay the dragon and its minions. It's a lot of plates to keep spinning for the players and will probably be much more difficult than a straight-up fight in Thundertree. If the players have spent time in Phandalin and feel responsible for the place, odds are good that it'll be more meaningful stakes as well.

 

[Derren]

The PCs attacked Venomfang in her home and so the next time they face off, I'd have it where she attacks them in theirs - Phandalin. Kobolds and mounted dragon cultists surge into Phandalin to pillage and burn while the dragon strafes crowds with poison gas and tears buildings to the ground.

If Venomfang was that powerful, why didn't she already attack? Where was her kobold army when the PCs attacked her in her "lair"?

 

[iserith]

If Venomfang was that powerful, why didn't she already attack? Where was her kobold army when the PCs attacked her in her "lair"?

Use your imagination and tell me the answers to those questions that make sense to you.

 

[Voort]

The PCs attacked Venomfang in her home and so the next time they face off, I'd have it where she attacks them in theirs - Phandalin. Kobolds and mounted dragon cultists surge into Phandalin to pillage and burn while the dragon strafes crowds with poison gas and tears buildings to the ground.

A couple problems with that approach:

1. That kind of zero-subtlety frontal assault doesn't match the tactics or personality of green dragons in the MM at all.

2. If you plan on running this group through Horde of the Dragon Queen, a very similar event occurs.

 

[iserith]

A couple problems with that approach:

1. That kind of zero-subtlety frontal assault doesn't match the tactics or personality of green dragons in the MM at all.

2. If you plan on running this group through Horde of the Dragon Queen, a very similar event occurs.

Both of which dovetail nicely with HotDQ in any case and there are dragon cultists in Thundertree.

 

[aramis erak]

No surprise the first fight went the way it did .

Group Info
Players: 6 Level: 4
Easy: 750 exp
Medium: 1,500 exp
Hard: 2,250 exp
Deadly: 3,000 exp

Young green dragon is only 3,900 then you divide that by half since there are six or more party members, so only 1,950 xp that is just above medium.

So yeah 2 more ettercaps for added threat and crowd control, lair actions of thorn walls and stuff, plus any two spells and you got yourself a pretty damn deadly fight.

As Paraxis shows above, the green wasn't a good threat alone.

To get to the 6000 Difficulty needed for a lethal encounter at level 5...
A) you need more than just the dragon.
B) need badguys that can keep up
C) you need to maximize the advantages the dragon has

That dragon should NEVER land until it has no choice. It should come into range only while it has a breath weapon.

He should choose to do so in a place where they have no good hiding spots.

He can and should make them not want to cluster up. If they're doing well with missiles, he should concentrate on the missile firers.

His allies should be similarly mobile. Winged Kobolds work well. A bunch (say, 10 or so), staying up out of all but missile fire ranges. The kobolds damage isn't that much, but they will force the player

THat gives:
[table=1]
[tr][td]Item[/td][td]Number[/td][td]XP ea[/td][td]TXP[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Dragon[/td][td]1[/td][td]3900[/td][td]TXP[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Kobolds, Winged[/td][td]10[/td][td]50[/td][td]500[/td][/tr]
[tr][td][/td][td][/td][td][/td][td][/td][td][/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Subtotal[/td][td]11[/td][td]x2.5[/td][td]11000[/td][/tr]
[/table]
Almost assuredly a killing fight against the 6600 DV.

Toning it down,
[table=1]
[tr][td]Item[/td][td]Number[/td][td]XP ea[/td][td]TXP[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Dragon[/td][td]1[/td][td]3900[/td][td]TXP[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Kobolds, Winged[/td][td]5[/td][td]50[/td][td]250[/td][/tr]
[tr][td][/td][td][/td][td][/td][td][/td][td][/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Subtotal[/td][td]6[/td][td]x1.5[/td][td]6225[/td][/tr]
[/table]

 

[miniaturehoarder]

Bring some siblings or go get mommy.

 

[Tormyr]

To elaborate on what some others have brought up:

A solo CR8 dragon is a deadly encounter for 4 level 4 PCs. For 6 however, it is only a hard encounter. To have been a deadly encounter of the same magnitude for the 6 character party, the dragon would have had to be equivalent to a CR12 creature. However, you want the increase to be solely through increasing its hp. Increasing the dragon's hp to 289 will adjust the dragon to CR12. At that point, the PCs can attack as much as they want and the dragon will give as good as it gets.

However, now that the solo encounter is over, there are all the other good suggestions that people have put forth.

 

[PnPgamer]

The dragon deals with the devil to get 2 extra heads.

More bite for you that way.

 

[bmcdaniel]

Dragon scouts the party. Dragon flies in. Dragon grapples weak caster. Dragon flies away (half speed for Large dragon, see PHB 195) and munches caster at leisure. Dragon waits until next day, then repeats.