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Message: <blockquote data-quote="ravenheart" data-source="post: 4963489" data-attributes="member: 72088">Thanks for all the replies, guys!D'oh! <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f61b.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":p" title="Stick out tongue    :p"  data-smilie="7"data-shortname=":p" />Yeah, this is what I thought as well, cool to have a REAL flying dragon for once. And for the record, I'm not convinced that immobilizing a flying creature (that has hover) causes it to fall, but......knocking it prone does on the other hand. Which makes for quite a funny mental image!I guess I better give you the lowdown on the encounter I was planning. The party (5th level, going on 6th after this encounter) consists of an elven beastmaster ranger (with a little ranged capability), a genasi trickster rogue (throwing dagger/shuriken), a half-elf bravura warlord (dilettante: cutting words, but can you pull a flying creature?) and an eladrin illusionist wizard (phantom chasm, grasp of the grave). Two members of their party, a goliath earthstrength warden and a human artificer, are not present. Thus they lack a defender, eeek!The party are on a covert hunt after a group of kenku assassins, and have just reached the city of the kenkus base of operations when they are spotted. The kenkus, alarmed at the adventurers rapid and secret approach have organized a haphazard ambush along an old cliff-road near their nest, hoping to take care of the pursuers once and for all at the risk of losing everything. The kenku have set up boulder-traps and rock-slides from a higher ledge that they trigger at the PC's arrival, trapping them on the road below while raining death from above. The encounter should be moderately difficult, considering the PC's have nearly all of their resources available to them (some loss of healing surges due to the arduous journey etc.).The party shouldn't get to arrogant though, as the leader of the flock, a young copper dragon, joins the battle some rounds later with a wave of kenku reinforcements (minions). The boulders and debris on the road can provide some cover, but the mobility of the dragon will be difficult to counter. A couple of design note's: - The road is relatively broad, but a it is flanked by a roaring river below and a crumbling cliffside above, so it should offer a sense of both open and closed terrain.- Since they are lacking party members and a defender, I think I'll introduce a seemingly benevolent NPC that fights at their side. I actually came up with an interesting concept (swordmage/warlock hybrid) that I could slip in. I might even give him a flying mount, perhaps a hippogriff?- The real gamebreaker here is how fast the party go through their resources, especially dailys. There will be some form of Perception checks to notice the approaching creature. I'll probably set the dragons arrival as a milestone, granting them an action point and refreshing their second winds at the same time. I honestly don't want to slaughter the PC's!- The terrain should preferably be disadvantageous to the PC's at first, but be more helpful as the battle continues and changes dynamically (reflecting the unpreparedness of the kenku and a lack of communication with the dragon). Perhaps a ballista on a higher ledge, which can be used to take down the dragon?- I'm actually adjusting the dragon to present a greater threat, putting it somewhere between young and adult in terms of power, and adding abilities that sync with the kenku. Secretly I don't want to kill the dragon so I'll have it broker a truce at 1/4 hp, and supply the characters with the information they need in exchange for it's life. Hopefully at least one of the PC's are standing at this point!What do you think?</blockquote>

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