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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Iosue" data-source="post: 6390662" data-attributes="member: 6680772">No, it's not.  But that's not what you said.  You said, "First level PCs should really not go anywhere near a blue dragon or a town filled with bad guys."  That's metagaming.Inexperienced adventurers not engaging in a straight-up fight with a dragon is not the problem.  Inexperienced adventurers totally throwing in the towel and not doing anything because there's a dragon overhead and first level characters don't have the hitpoints to withstand its breath weapon, yeah, that strikes me as metagaming.As I've said repeatedly, PCs are not expected to want to fight a dragon head on, but neither are they expected to completely avoid danger.  Nor are they expected to think "dragon = impossible to defeat".No contradiction.  Neither module expects the PCs to fight the dragons toe-to-toe and defeat them by killing them.  Both provide opportunities for the PCs to attack indirectly and drive the dragons off by doing a certain amount of damage.Neither module expects the players to "know what to do".  They give them a problem and expect them to figure out a way to solve it.The module does not encourage the players to "attack" the dragon.  It consistently says, "chase off" and "drive off", with one instance of "slay or drive off" in the Folk Hero's Personal Goal (which is entitled "Drive Off the Dragon").  The module includes one way this can be accomplished (reduce to half hit points).  It also includes Cultists who just happen to want to recruit the dragon to their cause.  Nor does it suggest that the dragon attacks on sight, and it speaks Common, so negotiation is on the table.Does it really make sense for PCs to approach the dragon so that they get hit full on with a breath weapon right off the bat?  I mean, it's not exactly like they stumble across it without meaning to.  Reidoth tells them about it and the Folk Hero knows where it is.  Why are the PCs making a suicidal frontal charge, instead of planning ahead, approaching stealthily, and laying traps for the dragon?  Or any number of possible strategies?  Maybe he does.  Maybe he runs anyway for any number of reasons (maybe without even fighting the PCs!).  There's nothing hard coded here.  The module provides some characterization, that's it.The dragon isn't attacking PCs or NPCs.  It's the Dante Hicks of dragons.  It's simply strafing the tower with lightning.  It doesn't know PCs from NPCs.  Why would it suddenly pick out the specific characters from the dozens of men firing arrows at it?  The encounter is set up like a skill challenge (prevent 10 soldiers from dying), but that doesn't mean the characters or the DM can't change the stakes.No, my entire premise about it being ok to attack the dragon is based on the fact that I expect the players to mitigate a TPK.They don't know jack until they try.  Hey, something I never said!  Would you mind cutting that crap out?See, there you go again.  Did I ever say PCs didn't know dragon's were deadly?  No.  So what did I say?  I'll quote it for you.Please argue with what I say, not what you want me to be saying, or we can end the discussion right here.Because abstracted combat is a useful tool in encounter design.</blockquote>

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