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Message: <blockquote data-quote="CapnZapp" data-source="post: 4924498" data-attributes="member: 12731">Sorry, but you're thinking too hard.Yes, a level-appropriate Dragon would, if run "correctly", be a major pain, and it would have no incentive whatsoever of providing the party with a nice climactic satisfying combat encounter (in which it starts out overconfident and scary, but in the end dies like a good little critter).But this is D&D. Your job as the DM is to entertain.So I'd make a few token additions to show off how smart and cunning the Dragon is, while in the end have it just stand there and be butchered. (If you can't like this, then I'm afraid D&D simply isn't the game for you.)Perhaps it can attack with hit-n-run tactics once, and then make a stand at its lair? (As a Dragon is a Solo, this is actually good advice in general: Solos usually have more hit points than what a heroic tier party can kill off without resorting to at-wills; splitting the fight into two encounters solves that issue)Perhaps it starts out using sound hit-n-run tactics, but as soon as a player runs over to its treasure, the idea of looters stealing its stuff makes it go berserk and losing all tactical ability?Perhaps the adventurers, mighty heroes as they are, can Intimidate or Bluff the dragon into abandoning its successful sniping strategies?Perhaps you can give the party an item with the Earth-Binder ability (look it up), thus allowing them to feel successful in thwarting the dragon's strategy?Yes, in all cases, there is some element of suspending make-belief, but if you're willing to work inside the game's premises, there are a lot of ways of making the encounter play out the way it needs to without straining credulity too far! <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /></blockquote>

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