UngeheuerLich
Legend
yeah 100 hp go down really fast in a nova turn
How are melee characters expected to deal with flying creatures?
- Thread starter Hejdun
- Start date
Actually, he might have. The MM states that that Blue Dragons prefer to attack from the air at range and the Draconomicon states that they not only want to attack from long range, but also prefer to hit and run minutes and even hours later, over and over again. It's even cheesier if the Dragon attacks later when the PCs are in a different encounter.
Dr_Ruminahui
First Post
Well, from my own DMing experience, its plenty fun if you give the advantage to the players - I used a leveled down version instead of the white in the Kobold Hall delve in the DMG, and the palyers had a great time.
That said, that put it in a small room where it couldn't get away from my melee focused party.
So I guess in this case its fun based on how you play it - that said, it seems that running the dragon intelligently falls under the "not fun" category, which is certainly a problem for some players/DMs.
That said, that put it in a small room where it couldn't get away from my melee focused party.
So I guess in this case its fun based on how you play it - that said, it seems that running the dragon intelligently falls under the "not fun" category, which is certainly a problem for some players/DMs.
keterys
First Post
Yeah, its design is that it hovers out of range and bombards the party with big area effects. This is fairly low damage output and combined with its vast hp and range can make it a dreadfully slow and boring combat, or even an impossible one...
Once you get past that and have it start clawing and goring, breathing on people up near it, etc it's not so bad...
At least until higher level when it gets a close burst stun at-will. Then it's dreadful again
Once you get past that and have it start clawing and goring, breathing on people up near it, etc it's not so bad...
At least until higher level when it gets a close burst stun at-will. Then it's dreadful again
Dr_Ruminahui
First Post
Ugh... That's ugly. I haven't looked at the higher level dragons (my party just hit level 6) - I think its a good thing dragons don't play a prominent role in my campaign. 8)
Well, the Ashen Crown adventure includes an encounter with a blue dragon while the party's travelling on an airship. In this encounter the dragon has to land on the airship since he isn't able to fly as fast as the airship...
I think everything is situationally dependent.
Like Jhaelen's example, the DM has to adjust the encounter so that the unfun part is less of an issue.
I could see a running attack by a Blue Dragon where the PCs have to go from shelter point to shelter point over many sessions as a lot of fun. It would be a challenge that once accomplished by the players would be remembered for years, just because of how difficult it was at the time. If the DM runs it straight up without helping the PCs at all, then it would be great fun. The DM has to be careful in such a scenario. For example, if the PCs get attacked by other foes, they have to be less threatening than normal and are only a major threat because the Dragon comes in and strafes the PCs for a half a dozen rounds. And have the Dragon attack both PCs and NPCs, just to get to the PCs is also fun. Ending this up with the PCs chasing the Dragon back to it's lair in order to finish it off (PCs have a lot more ways to heal than Dragons, especially between encounters, so eventually, they would wear it down) and looting it's massive treasure is the heart of DND.
The major thing about the Blue Dragon, I think, is that it's not designed for a more typical encounter straight out of the box. The DM has to put some thought into it so as to make the Dragon seem alive and not yet another same ole same ole encounter.
"Blue Dragon, yup, killed one of those in a mine where it couldn't get away."
The DM should avoid that. It's just not written in the Monster Manual, so many DMs, until they come to various forums, might not figure that out ahead of time.
In fact, that's the great thing about these forums. I now have a Blue Dragon encounter in my head that I will be springing on the PCs early next year. I never would have thought of it if wasn't for this thread.
keterys
First Post
Yep! Though I'm not sure I'd even want to try on the high level one without changing its burst stun at-will.
I'm not entirely sure the players would agree... until they finally kill it, anyways, then they'd exult a bit
Excellent!
I'm not entirely sure the players would agree... until they finally kill it, anyways, then they'd exult a bit
It depends on the players. Some like the DM to throw curve balls, stuff they've never seen before. Others are content to do the status quo. I personally think the status quo gets a bit boring after a while, so I like to mix it up a bit.
I also run with house rules such as standard action ritual scrolls, and power scrolls that allow the players to mix it up as well. Retreat, make some scrolls, surprise the heck out of the Dragon next time. 19 times out of 20, the players would probably not use these types of options. But, they are there for when challenges are too unusual or difficult.
