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Message: <blockquote data-quote="DwarvenDog" data-source="post: 4162981" data-attributes="member: 40792">SPOILERS:In Mustrum's defense, this particular dragon had self-buffing magic items that should have raised its CR by 1 or 2 points.  It has:  a +5 amulet of natural armor, a +5 ring of resistance, and a ring of evasion.  If you are of the mind that a dragon should be allowed to spend its "triple-standard" treasure on self-buffing magic items, then I guess this is okay.  I can't really figure out at what point a monster with treasure becomes an NPC with equipment.  It seems kind of fuzzy to me, and is just one more way of skewing the CR system.In your particular case, you explain that you've got your three fighter-types right up in the Dragon's face trading blows.  With an AC 5 points higher than what's expected (not to mention the shield/mage armor combo suggested in the writeup) and nobody working to dispel those buffs, of COURSE things are going to get nasty.  And you are correct that CON drain in the heat of battle is a serious problem that will only get worse.  Until reading this post, I was under the impression that a HEAL spell fixed ability damage/drain.  I re-read the spell and, well, it doesn't.  So I learned something here today.  Now in the Designer's defense, your particular party seems a little sub-optimal in terms of standing up to the full attack of most CR15+ monsters, not just this one dragon. 2 multiclass warrior/rogues, a duskblade, and an uber-cleric. (with the bard and cleric as backup/followers). You appear to be lacking real battlefield control, any kind of artillery, and an actual tank.  Maybe you make up for them in other areas but it's not apparent in your post.  Can you post some of your group's strategies for taking on threats at this level?I suspect that getting out of the AP with this particular character mix was a good idea at this point, as your group had already become negatively predisposed to the modules.  But I think it would be helpful for your group to figure out exactly where the pain points were and work to fix them for your next campaign.</blockquote>

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