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<blockquote data-quote="Olgar Shiverstone" data-source="post: 2721837" data-attributes="member: 5868">Dragons are underemployed.&nbsp; Their usage, as a result of their stat blocks, tends to emphasize brawn over brains.&nbsp; Look at their tactics -- most often advertised is breath weapon to soften up followed by leap in the middle of the PCs and full attack.Now while that's sufficiently devastating -- and it makes sense for the younger dragons -- it really doesn't play dragons entirely to their strengths.&nbsp; At their age and intelligence, older dragons should be much more cunning and subtle.&nbsp; Traps, minions, magic ... all should take a toll on the party before the dragon makes its appearance.they best-played dragon to me isn't a &quot;brute force and ignorance&quot; sort of dragon -- read Smaug in The Hobbit -- but instead a cunning, beguiling dragon.&nbsp; The vampire Strahd, the xenomorphs in Aliens, the Predator in Predator ... all have traits that should be brought to the table when playing a dragon.&nbsp; IMO, the party should be terrified of the dragon, and seeing him around every corner, long before he makes his actual appearance on stage.Dragons may typically be a climactic encounter ... but how often are they actually the movers &amp; shakers, the sinister, unseen power-behind-the-throne of the campaign.&nbsp; Given their age, intelligence, and capabilities, we should see a lot more of the latter.But even if you don't use dragons that way, no game session of D&amp;D that includes a dragon is a bad thing.&nbsp; They're like, iconic, y'know?</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Olgar Shiverstone, post: 2721837, member: 5868"] Dragons are underemployed. Their usage, as a result of their stat blocks, tends to emphasize brawn over brains. Look at their tactics -- most often advertised is breath weapon to soften up followed by leap in the middle of the PCs and full attack. Now while that's sufficiently devastating -- and it makes sense for the younger dragons -- it really doesn't play dragons entirely to their strengths. At their age and intelligence, older dragons should be much more cunning and subtle. Traps, minions, magic ... all should take a toll on the party before the dragon makes its appearance. they best-played dragon to me isn't a "brute force and ignorance" sort of dragon -- read Smaug in [i]The Hobbit[/i] -- but instead a cunning, beguiling dragon. The vampire Strahd, the xenomorphs in [i]Aliens[/i], the Predator in [i]Predator[/i] ... all have traits that should be brought to the table when playing a dragon. IMO, the party should be terrified of the dragon, and seeing him around every corner, long before he makes his actual appearance on stage. Dragons may typically be a climactic encounter ... but how often are they actually the movers & shakers, the sinister, unseen power-behind-the-throne of the campaign. Given their age, intelligence, and capabilities, we should see a lot more of the latter. But even if you don't use dragons that way, no game session of D&D that includes a dragon is a bad thing. They're like, iconic, y'know? [/QUOTE]

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