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<blockquote data-quote="MrMyth" data-source="post: 5294060" data-attributes="member: 61155">Just ran a few more tests with this guy. The one change I made was to not use Shroud and the Breath Weapon on the same turn. &nbsp;I threw a level 2 unoptimized party against him, and they were victorious, though they lost half the party. I tried the same group at level 4, and they were victorious with only 1 death. And I tried a group of optimized level 2 PCs, and they won without any casualties. &nbsp;Each time, I assumed the Black Dragon got surprise and was in range to instinctive charge during the surprise round. (Typically followed by Breath Weapon.) That was really the scariest part of him. Once PCs get through that initial shock, he's pretty reasonable. &nbsp;The Shroud remains tricky. Even just using it, then AP for a Bite, followed by a free Instinct Bite... thats 20 damage to anyone even if both attacks miss. Honestly, I'd be tempted to change the Shroud so that instead of making someone vulnerable to acid, it instead just did 5 Acid up front, and negated any Acid Resistance. I think that would hit the same thematic approach, and avoid having the 'stacking' problem it causes when paired with a flurry of other attacks, or dragon breath, etc.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="MrMyth, post: 5294060, member: 61155"] Just ran a few more tests with this guy. The one change I made was to not use Shroud and the Breath Weapon on the same turn. I threw a level 2 unoptimized party against him, and they were victorious, though they lost half the party. I tried the same group at level 4, and they were victorious with only 1 death. And I tried a group of optimized level 2 PCs, and they won without any casualties. Each time, I assumed the Black Dragon got surprise and was in range to instinctive charge during the surprise round. (Typically followed by Breath Weapon.) That was really the scariest part of him. Once PCs get through that initial shock, he's pretty reasonable. The Shroud remains tricky. Even just using it, then AP for a Bite, followed by a free Instinct Bite... thats 20 damage to anyone even if both attacks miss. Honestly, I'd be tempted to change the Shroud so that instead of making someone vulnerable to acid, it instead just did 5 Acid up front, and negated any Acid Resistance. I think that would hit the same thematic approach, and avoid having the 'stacking' problem it causes when paired with a flurry of other attacks, or dragon breath, etc. [/QUOTE]

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