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Message: <blockquote data-quote="JediSoth" data-source="post: 2722444" data-attributes="member: 13882">I’ve played in one dragon fight. It was a 2nd edition AD&D game and I was playing a dwarf fighter named Balthazar Bouldercrusher. It was over ten years ago, so details are sketchy, but I remember us kind of stumbling into his lair, and though we were looking for him, everyone was so surprised at actually finding this dragon that they all ran…except for Balthazar. I was a little tired of my character being picked on by some of the other players, so I did what any dwarf would do when faced with a dragon: I charged it. Leaping onto the beast’s back, I rained blow after blow upon him with my mighty magical battle axe (it may have been a vorpal axe). We didn’t kill the dragon, but neither did it kill us, and I was proud to have been the only character not to flee like a girly-man.I have DMed two dragon fights that I can remember. The first one, I don’t remember any details except that I had the dragon (a green) burst out of a forest, puffing himself up and snapping trees as he revealed himself to the PCs. The second one, just over a week ago in the World’s Largest Dungeon, was also a green (I don’t have a fetish for green dragons, honest). He was investigating the intrusion of the PCs upon his territory, but was going to let them be as long as they stayed in the areas into which he could not fit. Well, several of the party members were stricken permanently insane by a trap and they were making a huge ruckus, so he flew up to the door, blew his breath weapon in (killing one of the PCs) and then engaged the PCs foolish enough (or insane enough, in this case) to attack him. He crushed the pseudodragon rogue against the wall, smashing him into a viscous jelly-like substance and bit the half-orc barbarian in half.A good battle against a dragon has several features. One, I think the dragon needs to utilize all of its abilities, especially ones that take into account its sheer size (like the crush attack and the tail slap). Two, it’s important that the dragon-ness of the creature is emphasized in the descriptions. Descriptions are key to making the dragon stand out against all the other encounters. I try to make sure the players understand that this is an extremely large, belligerent, and intelligent creature and it will use its size to its advantage. The PCs have to feel like they’re in real danger of losing their lives to this creature and it regards them as insignificant insects (until they prove otherwise).The dragon is significant compared to other monsters because it’s THE iconic monster of the game. It’s not called Dungeons & Kobolds, or Dungeons & Rust Monsters, it’s Dungeons & Dragons. The game just wouldn’t be the same without them (say what you will about Tunnels and Trolls or Castles and Crusades, fine as they may be, they’re just not Dungeons and Dragons). Not only that, but dragons have been part of human legends since the beginning of history, I doubt you’ll find anyone living today in the civilized world who hasn’t heard some sort of story from their culture’s past that deals with a dragon, or a creature that is very close to a dragon (a rose by any other name…). I don’t recall too many stories in myth or legend about rust monsters or beholders.JediSoth...who thinks the PDF of Everyone Else would be a mighty prize.</blockquote>

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