D&D 5E Help Me Build a Challenging Dragon Mini Boss

[mortwatcher]

yeah well dragons are meant to be scary, so make them come close to death or kill them, they are getting into a big fight

last time we fought a dragon it was on an ice lake and half of the challenge was to avoid the ice-cold water while being on the ice remnants

 

[MarkB]

Do you think it would be ok (not game breaking) to handle the breath weapon attack this way...
You automatically take half the damage on the first turn you're hit with the poison cone. Then the next round you save to avoid the other half. This way it spreads the damage between two rounds, gives a chance for healing/buffs to avoid poison/etc.
I'm most concerned about 42 damage from the breath attack. (I nearly TPKed the same group with a black dragon a few months back.)

It might help, but it also has a chance of making things worse. If the dragon breathes on an already-injured character and takes them down, the subsequent half-damage on their turn is an additional failed death save.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

There is a L5 cleric in the party. If the players get advance notice, any character with low max hp can be the recipient of Protection from Poison. Young dragons do not normally get legendary actions, and they usually don't have lairs either (although it's not impossible). My concern is that this fight will be too easy, and leave the party feeling that dragons are pushovers.

If you did give it lair actions it's Wall of Thorns ability could make it slightly dangerous. You could also give it a couple of spells. Following the MM rules, a young green could know 2 sorcerer spells up to 2nd level. Shield and Absorb Elements perhaps? Darkness would be the mean way to go since dragons get Blindsight.

 

[Imaculata]

Frankly, this encounter seems perfectly suitable for their level, if perhaps hard. But not all fights should be easy. My advise would be to do your best to try and kill them with the dragon. If they still win, they've earned their victory, and will have a story they will tell each other for years to come. But as mentioned earlier, the lair deserves a lot of thought. You might want to draw a map of it, and think hard of what kind of lay out best benefits the dragon.

 

[Leatherhead]

I'm most concerned about 42 damage from the breath attack. (I nearly TPKed the same group with a black dragon a few months back.)

If they have experience fighting dragons, they should know how to fight a dragon. All they have to do is prepare before they enter the lair:

• Quaffing a simple Antitoxin before the fight will give them advantage against poison saving throws. They are only 50g a pop, and could be made with by a player with an Alchemist kit.
• Alternatively a Potion of Resistance (Poison), as an uncommon potion, should not be too hard to secure for about 100g. That will flat out cut the poison damage in half.
• Last but not least, the Protection from Poison spell is usable by Clerics. It combines the above effects, and can be placed on a scroll for 150g. Allowing the Cleric to preserve some precious spell slots. Even the Paladin or Ranger can attempt to use them if the situation is dire enough.

All of those options should be viable for a level 5 party of five.

You could also re-skin the Young Brass Dragon, but keep the sleep breath. Throw in the Lair Actions, and give it two Green Guard Drakes (from Volo's Guide to Monsters) as backup. That would be a Deadly encounter with slightly less chance to insta-TPK the entire group at once.

 

[aco175]

You could make it 2 level 5 challenges instead of a 7. If there are 2 smaller dragons, the players may thing a mother dragon is about, or coming later in the adventure.

You can also give the dragon the shadow template. I had a red shadow dragon that the party fled from rather than be killed. They never went back to the lair.

 

[Mistwell]

I am just not sure how much of a boss monster you can make out of a dragon mini. I mean...even if the mini is made of lead, and can fly, and rams into you repeatedly, it's going to take a direct hit to the eye to do much damage.

 

[Nebulous]

Unless they are tactically inept or very unlucky, a party of five 5th level characters should win an encounter with a CR 8 green dragon. I wouldn't change anything. Hell, I'd add more kobold minions to make it a little more interesting. That 136 hit points is going to get whittled down really fast. As soon as the dragon is at half I would have it retreat.

 

[Quickleaf]

My 5th level party is preparing to run into a green dragon laired in the ruins of an elven city. The party consists of a paladin, monk, ranger, wizard, and cleric. This is sort of the lieutenant under the BBEG of this portion of the campaign (think the Horned King from "The Black Cauldron.")
Anyway, I'm wanting something memorable and challenging, but I think the CR 7 green dragon in the Monster Manual won't work - it will do too much damage too quickly with the breath weapon, but will otherwise not be able to hit or damage the party enough. Really the breath weapon seems to be the only reliable attack, and it's damage potential is too high.
Does anyone have any suggestions about a better version of a 5E dragon? Or a similar monster I can re-skin?
Thanks!

I actually think a CR 8 young green dragon – if played smart befitting its intelligence – could be a great challenge for your party of five 5th-level characters. Combined with a maze-like forest/elven ruin lair & lair actions from the MM, it presents a nice tension: Don't cluster together (or you risk the party getting wiped by its poison breath), but don't get separated in the maze-like forest ruins (or you risk getting lost/trapped/attacked by minions/grappled by dragon).

So instead of everyone lining up for a "balanced" fight, slugging it out till they beat the dragon down, embrace it as an asymmetrical challenge. If the party can protect themselves from its poison with magic or antitoxin, they'll have a great advantage. If they can avoid its poison breath altogether (e.g. sneaking or clever use of cover), or create a decoy to cause the dragon to expend its breath, or give it some kind of tainted food which temporarily negates its breath, they can further tip the confrontation in their favor.