D&D General Running a Monster Hunter style protracted hunt and staged battle against a dragon

[RangerWickett]

I want to have a dungeon crawl with a series of encounters against a singular dragon, where the party first spots evidence of its presence and its powers, then encounters it somewhere they have the option to flee because it's mostly invulnerable to their attacks initially, but then they find a tool overcome its resistances and then lures it into an ambush.
Got any suggestions for what those various elements could entail?
The setting is my own Sumerian inspired one, and the dragon is a Mušḫuššu - Wikipedia - which basically just means I can give it whatever stats I want. I'm thinking it's more cunning beast than talking and thinking.

The party is 7th level. Ancestral barbarian, mastermind rogue, straight up fighter, fey ranger, and an alchemist. I figure the dungeon should have stuff the alchemist can use to make traps or to neutralize the breath weapon. Maybe there are some native critters the dragon loves to eat that they'd need to catch as bait.

Maybe there's a ghost of the guy who last tried to kill it (and whose spear in its gut is why the party came here).


I'm just brainstorming. Thanks for any help or inspiration you have.

 

[Quickleaf]

Oooo, I have rough draft un-tested stats for a mushussu dragon I wrote up that you can pillage ideas from...

Spoiler: stats image

"Initially invulnerable" sounds a lot like a "trick monster" where the players need to puzzle out the trick / weakness / strategy to harming the monster.

Maybe the Mastermind Rogue needs to help others be able to spot/target the dragon with a mirror or magical device, otherwise it cannot be targeted. For example, shifting between various iconography and bas reliefs of dragons throughout the dungeon. The Fey Ranger's primeval awareness and hunter's mark are useful for figuring out where the dragon is or has moved to. The Ancestral Barbarian can smash statues to give it fewer "hiding" places, and might be able to release a helpful ghost/spirit to give them a clue or support. The Alchemist uses the dungeon environs to create the lure / trap, which might be cockatrice blood that the dragon craves and/or a series of rotating walls controlled by a special key. The Fighter stabs and grapples.

 

[Charlaquin]

Might consider checking out Heliana’s Guide to Monster Hunting, which is specifically designed for running Monster Hunter style D&D campaigns.

 

[Shadowdweller00]

Perhaps the dragon lairs in the ruined temple of an ancient deity or set of spirits. Entities that once considered the beast sacred and warded it against attacks from most weapons. At various places in the temple lie broken tablets and monoliths that give clues to how the ancient warding can be dispelled or bypassed once translated, couched in the form of prayers. Perhaps the weapons used to fight the thing need to be specially consecrated through a ritual prayer to the old god(s). Or the timeworn altar in one particular room needs to be destroyed and/or reconsecrated to a different deity. Or maybe some particular substance or concept that is symbolically anathema to the old god(s) can be used to pierce the warding - such as water to a desert god, light to a god of darkness, mongooses or mongoose blood to a god of serpents, etc.

 

[RangerWickett]

Ideas!

Those are amazing. Hiding in carvings is awesome!

Okay. Now how to design the battle map? Hmm.