How to kill a blue dragon?

[Doctor Proctor]

How to defeat that monster: Head for nearest cover. Run if you must. Force it into situations where its flying is no advantage. From cover and concealment, have ranged attacker take potshots. Your fighters and paladins should have them, it's called a bow. Every character should have a ranged attack, even if it's 'suboptimal.' Having NO ranged attack is truly suboptimal, because of situations like this. Force the dragon to fight on -your- terms.

As I mentioned above, the consensus before seemed to be that a DM unleashing an encounter like this wouldn't let you run and hide easily. Additionally, why should my Fighter carry a Bow unless he knows that he's going to be facing something that can hit from 20 squares away? I don't really have any points in Dex, and neither does our Paladin. So not only would we be operating at a -4 when compared to our Ranger, but we'd be at range to boot. I suppose we might hit the thing 10% of the time or something...

Plus, I usually have Handaxes as it fits my character better. They're heavy thrown, so I can use Strength, and I've got a high Con and usually only use Axes as my melee weapon of choice. So again, unless I knew ahead of time what we were facing (Which would either break the 4th wall, or allow us to make sure that the Dragon wasn't in the open when we went after it) I wouldn't do anything different.

 

[Victim]

It seems like a good idea to have a bow for the rare long range encounter AND a heavy thrown weapon for most ranged attacks. It's not like carrying an extra weapon will be too much weight.

 

[MadLordOfMilk]

As I mentioned above, the consensus before seemed to be that a DM unleashing an encounter like this wouldn't let you run and hide easily.

I don't get it. Now, if they're NOT attacking from that sort of range, there's no incentive to run and hide. Unleashing an encounter like that would be the simplest way TO accomplish trying to make your PCs run and hide. If anything, that might be their goal, to try to encourage people to think outside of the box rather than strictly by what's on the character sheet.

...I might try this idea some time, if only to see the result.

 

[MrMyth]

It seems like a good idea to have a bow for the rare long range encounter AND a heavy thrown weapon for most ranged attacks. It's not like carrying an extra weapon will be too much weight.

Yeah - even if you don't know specifically you will be in a fight like this, a basic bow (by level 4) is cheap enough to simply have around for any supremely long range fight (whether it is a flying dragon, combat between two boats two hundred feet apart, taking some shots at enemies fleeing through a nearby canyon, etc.) Will you use it often? No. Is it possible you will never use it? Quite possibly. But having it instead of, say, one more healing potion is a pretty easy sacrifice for having it around if you do need it.

 

[Danceofmasks]

That blue dragon sounds like a cakewalk compared to a green dragon perched on a roost.

 

[DracoSuave]

Also regarding the illusory chasm:

What is the point of the spell? Is it the chasm, or the illusion that the target is falling? People seem to be hung up on the visual of the effect rather than what the spell is actually trying to accomplish: The illusion that the target is falling, causing him to actually fall.

Now, with a flying monster, that's easier to attain than with a ground-borne creature. Flying things are -more- vulnerable to falling, not less, due to the fact they -know- there is no ground beneath them.

So the illusion can simply become that of a sense of vertigo complete with a loss of flight. Overcompensation than turns that into a very real loss of flight, forcing the target to glide down. You don't need to create an illusion of groundlessness beneath them to accompany the vertigo the spell provides.

 

[Orcus Porkus]

Wow I'm amazed to see all the responses to my original posting.

I just got the Draconomicon, and it confirms that the Blue Dragon indeed is as dangerous as discussed here. "Blue dragons rarely land", "consider combat a long-term engagement", "fly near enough to their opponents to unleash a few barrages, then vanish, and then return - sometimes minutes or hours later".

But, they are vain and prideful - it's their weakness: "... it reacts with rage to any insinuation that it is weak or inferior".

So next time you see a blue dragon, either run, or yell at him: "You coward! You are too weak to stand your ground when you are not hiding in the clouds! I bet you fight like a pigeon when you hobble on those wobbly legs of yours."

 

[DracoSuave]

Additionally, why should my Fighter carry a Bow

Combat Challenge their artillery guy so he's not pummeling the ranger who -can- plug him with ease?

Our Paladin has a sling -solely- for the purpose of Divine Challenge when moving isn't an optimal option.

-Every- character should have a ranged attack. Fighters can use it to mark foes they can't reach. Will you use it all the time? No. But you want the option, and it's really cheap to implement.

 

[Doctor Proctor]

Wow I'm amazed to see all the responses to my original posting.

I just got the Draconomicon, and it confirms that the Blue Dragon indeed is as dangerous as discussed here. "Blue dragons rarely land", "consider combat a long-term engagement", "fly near enough to their opponents to unleash a few barrages, then vanish, and then return - sometimes minutes or hours later".

But, they are vain and prideful - it's their weakness: "... it reacts with rage to any insinuation that it is weak or inferior".

So next time you see a blue dragon, either run, or yell at him: "You coward! You are too weak to stand your ground when you are not hiding in the clouds! I bet you fight like a pigeon when you hobble on those wobbly legs of yours."

Or you could take the opposite approach. Deal with the initial attack, then run in apparent fear. The Blue Dragon's ego will be satisfied and he will return perhaps minutes, or hours later. What he wouldn't do is what was described, and that's hover 20 squares up for a significant amount of time engaging in a long term sniping battle with the party ranger.

 

[Doctor Proctor]

Combat Challenge their artillery guy so he's not pummeling the ranger who -can- plug him with ease?

Our Paladin has a sling -solely- for the purpose of Divine Challenge when moving isn't an optimal option.

-Every- character should have a ranged attack. Fighters can use it to mark foes they can't reach. Will you use it all the time? No. But you want the option, and it's really cheap to implement.

I didn't say I don't have a ranged weapon, just that I don't carry a bow. I carry handaxes, because that makes more sense. Even at long range I have a better chance to hit than I do with a bow at short range. Additionally, a Paladin can do a better job with Divine Challenge at range than a Fighter can with a mark. All my mark will do if the Artillery guy was attacking the Ranger would be to give him a -2 to hit, the Paladin will actually cause some damage.

That being said though, if the Ranger was in that much danger I would probably double move and burn an action point if I thought marking him would help. The Ranger could also use Total Defense for essentially the same bonus to his defense, or burn his Second Wind if he still had it.