Oakhurst Dragon replacement?

[Baumi]

I want to try the Oakhurst Adventure a second time (first one went very well but the group had to flee against the Dragon) but with an Enemy that is not so much overkill for a 4 Player 1st Level Party.

I thought about using the Young White Dragon (lvl 3 Solo Brute) instead of the black one but I still think it is still too hard and also not as interesting as the black Solo Lurker.

So I'm seeking some suggestions for a cool endfight that stands out to the Kobolds and Hobgoblins they will fight before and work well for the Story...

Many thanks in Advance & ..

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

4 player 1st level? Pick a monster worth between 400 and 600 XP.

 

[Voss]

I tossed the standard Chuul (level 10) into a test run. It went down both times I tried it out (though the first was to a lucky sleep spell, which had me rolling my eyes). The second , the paladin tied it up kept it distracted playing whack-a-mole with him. The very high AC is a problem for the fighter and the paladin, but the much lower hit points and the defenses are managable for the party, and it doesn't turn into the long, drawn out and boring grind that the dragon fight turns into. (in my experience, anyway)

Use it as the pet of a whatever you've designated the leader and you've got a fairly interesting final encounter.

Ah. I missed the 4 character thing, so that might be a bit hard. I'd use one of the higher level gnoll brutes. Brutes seem to be a bit easier than other monster types. Some can do decent damage, but their defenses are lower than average, so the party can thwack them fairly effectively. The daemonic scourge with a few lower level mooks can make a satisfying boss fight.

I was pretty amazed at how well first level characters handle fights that are worth about 700 xp, even with creatures that are significantly higher level.

 

[Xorn]

4 player 1st level? Pick a monster worth between 400 and 600 XP.

Olgar is dead on. 400 is the baseline encounter, challenging but manageable. For four 1st level, and you want an epic fight? 600 xp. Seems like if you go over 50% of the party xp level, you start dancing around with TPKs. At 600 xp there's a good chance one of them will drop, maybe even two of them--but they'll probably win, though good or bad tactics can sway that massively.

That solo white is what... 750 xp? (Guessing by math, don't have the stats handy.) A level 3 = 150 xp x5 for solo = 750. That should be a likely chance for a TPK. With a 5th it would be a perfect "hard" fight. Meh, throw it at them anyway. You're supposed to be teaching them the Death & Dying rules! Besides, there's a good chance they'll blow a round of action points and dailies in the first round, and your dragon will be hurting.

One advantage of the TPK, no one asks if you have the rules to level up!

 

[jtrowell]

Note that a young white dragoin would be appropriate with Meepo, as in the original module, the sunless citadel, Meepo was the keeper of the tribe's dragon, a white wymling named Calcryx, that the PCs had to capture alive to gain the trust of Meepo and his tribe (ensuring a fun fight with 2nd level adventurers trying to catch a very small white dragon while running on ice )

Maybe keep the young dragon brute as an older Calcryx, but as you only have 4 players lower the numbers a bit (maybe -1 or -2 to its defences, and less HP)

 

[Kirnon_Bhale]

Sorry - I have not seen the stats for the young white. Can anybody direct me there?

 

[Baumi]

The Stats were in the Flicker-Pictures of the Mini-Cards (alternative link: http://www.mediafire.com/?sehxn3rgyur).

I like the Idea with the weakened White Dragon ... maybe he is sick (lesser Stats) and that's the reason the Kobolds are harrasing the locals (looking for a cure). I just don't want to have him at full strength because these players had their share of player-deaths in the past and I want to go easy on them.

An alternative is having another encounter with Hobgoblins ... a Warcaster on the Isle who is conjuring a Bonehard Skeleton a Solider near the entrance and a Archer on the Ledge. That would make ~650xp (a bit harder through good positioning of the hobgoblins but easier because the Warcaster and the Skeleton will not act in the first round).

 

[FitzTheRuke]

I've run the White against 5 of the pregens. It was pretty tough and the Figher & Wizard were down, but not dead, at the end. (They didn't have the cleric, so that might have made a huge difference.)

They were rolling pretty badly, but then, so did I, later on.

I'd use the white, give him -1 to defenses and only 160 HP and you should be FINE.

Fitz

 

[keterys]

Fwiw, the white is already down a lot of hp that he should have... but yeah, I'd lower his defense a little. I ran him against a group of 5 level 1s, and I would have killed one and probably taken down a second, but I pulled a punch slightly - specifically, on its claw/claw/bite routine, I took someone down with both claws... which gives a free bite, but they were already down, so I didn't finish them off.

I just posted an ice dragon in my thread, but it would probably be tough for 4 level 1s. Easy to hit and damage, but a lot of control with freezes and such. Still, it's there if you want to try it.