How do we prepare to fight a dragon about which we know nothing?

[Joshua Randall]

In my current game (as a player), we're facing a difficult situation: we have to fight a dragon about which we know nothing. I will spare you the lengthy setup and just present the salient facts.

• It's nominally a female red dragon, but ...
• ... the DM has strongly hinted that it is not straight from the Monster Manual, and ...
• ... he owns the Draconomicon and has declared it his favorite book, so ...
• ... all bets are off when it comes to breath weapon energy type and dragon's energy vulnerability.
• As a best guess, the dragon's age category is at least Adult (CR 15, size Huge, SR 21, caster level 7th).
• The party is larger than normal (7 PCs) and averages 10th/11th level (more details below).

All attempts to gather intelligence -- mundane and magical -- have failed.

For example, we came up with some specific commune questions, but got useless answers, as follows. (Note that we know the dragon's exact name, so there should be no chance of mix-up on which dragon we're asking about.)

• Q: Is the red dragon vulnerable to a particular type of energy? A: Unknown.
• Q: Is the red dragon extraordinarily resistant to spells? (i.e., does it have SR) A: Unknown.
• Q: Is the red dragon capable of casting the spell unholy blight? A: Unknown. (The purpose of this question was to verify its caster level and/or to confirm that it can cast cleric spells from the Evil domain the way a normal red dragon can.)

Here are some of the mundane attempts we have made to gather intelligence, and the again useless results.

• Bardic knowledge check by an 8th level bard (cohort). No legends, stories, or even hints about the red dragon.
• Asked some neutral-to-friendly wizards and sages to research the red dragon. They didn't know jack squat.
• Befriended a bronze dragon which has actually seen the red dragon. But the bronze didn't know anything else about her.

Before everyone says it, yes, we are frustrated that the DM is utterly refusing to give up any information. It's possible that the red dragon is somehow magically protected from information gathering and divination spells, but I think the DM is just being stubborn. However, we can only play the hand we're dealt.

Information on the PCs:

• 11th level fighter with Combat Expertise feats
• 11th level fighter with Power Attack feats
• 11th level ranger with archery combat style
• 10th level paladin (my character)
• 11th level wizard
• 10th level psion / shaper
• 9th level cleric (actually also has 1 level of barbarian -- don't ask me why)

It's also important to note that we are severely underequipped for our levels -- roughly 40% expected gear value. Our magic weapons are vanilla +1, no one has any stat-boosting items (!), and even potions are hard to come by.

So, what can we do? How do we fight this thing? Will we survive? Can we survive?

 

[Quasqueton]

Do you trust your DM?

If so, stop thinking that the DM is screwing you, and think that maybe all the lack of info is actually clues to the truth.

Maybe all your assumptions/knowledge is wrong, so further investigation into those assumptions/knowledge will result in "unknown". Maybe there is no real dragon? Or something similarly twisted.

Quasqueton

 

[Mark]

Well, you know it is red. Surely the bronze took note of its size? (Need you only guess at the size?) A Large (juvenile, CR 10) dragon with minions in a heavily trapped grotto might be considered an appropriate challenge by your DM, especially if it is also hopped up on Draconomicon-ness. However, the next age up is Huge (young adult, CR 13) is what I would think would be closer to the mark for your group. But, again, your DM might even feel that a Huge (adult, CR 15) is fair considering details not given in this thread.

 

[Rackhir]

Try a Recon in Force. Buff up as much as possible (concentrating on resistances, con buffs and save enhancements), prepare to run away (tport), draw the dragon's attention, fight it just long enough to get an idea of what it can do, Run Away!

 

[Jdvn1]

The Fighters, Ranger, and Paladin can't do a lot to prepare, except stock up on buffing potions and whatnot that come in handy in any big encounter.

For the casters--make sure you have plenty of dispel magics. There are also a few spells that let you drop the dragon's SR by a lot. Make sure you have two or three of those prepared. Flip through the Draconomicon. If your GM can use it, so can you. There are spells to lower any dragon's natural armor, and some to make it unable to fly.

That partly assumes you have a bit of spending money for the fighter-types to buy potions and the casters to buy spells. If not, hopefully your Wizard and Psion have a good selection of spells/powers to choose from, and the Cleric can choose any spell in any book for any day. So that just makes the Cleric a bit more important.

 

[Shemeska]

Ok, now before I actually opened the thread and read the first post, the following was all I noticed from just a quick pause of the mouse over the thread title...

It's nominally a female red dragon, but ...
... the DM has strongly hinted that it is not straight

And here I was all ready to go 'Best thread ever!'... and then context rears its ugly head and takes away all the fun. Drat.

 

[Allandaros]

Are you guys raiding its lair? Or defending against it? Or what?

Also, just figure out what maximizes your chances of doing damage. Is it better for the fighters to go toe to toe with it while the distance guys distract it? Or is your main punch going to come from your longrange attacks and the fighters are merely meatshields? Will it be lured somewhere with a really purty lookin' illusion?

Can a small ballista or catapult be prepared for providing more of an oomph to attacks? (if for whatever reason a mage can't cast, they can always fire the siegeweapon). OTOH, this will be problematic to set up, seeing as how these are large and cumbersome and dragons don't always operate on the timeframe the PCs would prefer.

 

[Psion]

You can start by having your character make out his will.

 

[thompgc]

Have the psion shaper send an astral construct in - hopefully the dragon will use its breath weapon so you can learn what type it is (and perhaps any special breath weapon related stuff, such as clinging breath)
Then the Cleric can cast mass resist energy on the party

 

[Barak]

Flip through the Draconomicon. If your GM can use it, so can you. There are spells to lower any dragon's natural armor, and some to make it unable to fly.

That's not necessarly true. Unless your DM stated that taking spells/whatever from the Draconomicon was A-OK, I suggest asking him. Also, flipping through the book in order to learn what the dragon -might- be able to do/be would be pretty poor play, IMHO.

In the past, as the DM ever been blatantly unfair? Unless he has, I suggest trusting his handling of spells/research instead of calling it "being stubborn". If he has.. Well, nothing we say will help you, really.

Why do you need to fight the dragon? Is it really something you cannot, at this time, avoid or delay? I sure would avoid doing it without knowing more/being higher level, giving what you do know.