Comments on: Powerhouse Dragons

By: Vanifae

Vanifae — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 05:28:25 +0000

Amazing stuff I am definitely stealing this for my future dragon encounters… or even solo encounters.

By: Joseph

Joseph — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 21:56:28 +0000

Another important thing to remember about solo encounters is that the solo does not have to be the only enemy on the board. On its own a solo, even a higher level solo, tends to get stunlocked, debufffed, marked, cursed, quarried, oathed, etc, becuase its drawing all the fire from every character. Rather than a level +3 solo by itself, a good boss fight is an even level solo with some minions and guards, enough to pull the encounter back to that level +3 range. Things get much more challenging when the defenders have to choose between tanking the dragon and pulling the lurker off the squishies, or the strikers have to choose between focus fire on the dragon or trying to take out some skirmishers/artillery that are scoring serious damage. Tactical comlpexity grows as you add more enemies to the board.

By: Esspkay

Esspkay — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 06:41:59 +0000

Really great article. I love customizing my monsters to unique needs, and this post has some great ideas! Much appreciated.

By: Doug

Doug — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 17:15:52 +0000

I’m looking at reactive strikes when the dragon is stunned/dazed. You daze the dragon, you get a free back hand.

Also, I am looking at ways to draw the characters in closer. Any ranged character is going to sit outside the aura zone of the dragon and plink away. Fine for the party, but bad for the dragon (who is supposed to threaten the entire party).

So the following concept: Imagine a hurricane of fire around the dragon with a relative calm immediately about the dragon. Use both auras in conjunction.

Firestorm
Aura 10
Any creature in the aura takes 5 fire damage (adjust by tier)

Eye of the Storm
Aura 5
Any creature in the aura in not affected by firestorm. Eye of the storm must be active if Firestorm is active.

By: Sc8rpi8n

Sc8rpi8n — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 08:13:11 +0000

You can find it on page 185 of the DMG1, bottom page, right columm.
On the same page you can find also advice on elites (giving them an additional attack).
As I said, for me it has worked great.

By: Rook

Rook — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 02:00:57 +0000

I love this post! Dragons are truly iconic creatures, so I’m up for anything that can make them more deadly. They deserve it. And I give kudos to Mark/Anlath for playing dragons, IMHO, the way they should be played. As a rule, a dragon encounter should never be ordinary or lackluster.

By: Mike Shea

Mike Shea — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 01:32:41 +0000

Where in the DMG1 does it talk about giving creatures an extra standard action? I must have missed it but it’s a great tip and very simple to add in.

By: Etherrider

Etherrider — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 00:03:21 +0000

Great article! The iconic dragons have always been there and at some level become so “Blah!” to the powerful party of adventurers….your post shows great ways to re-direct the dragon into a great challenge!

I think something like this would make a great add to a future Monster Manual for an easy up to dragon entries…perhaps 4 each entries for heroic, paragon and epic or link them to (…”is more commonly found among blue, red, and silver dragons”)

I could see this easily being applied to giants, demons, and devils….but dragons really need something like this as a good option!

I applaud your efforts and great thinking!!!

By: Sc8rpi8n

Sc8rpi8n — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 23:31:58 +0000

Great article Mike.
When trying to empower a dragon, I use these simple tricks:

- Give them an extra standard action. This makes the dragon more versatile, and consistently ups its damage per turn. This is advice from the DMG 1. This method has the advantage of letting you use the dragon as is, without changing the statblock. A variant of this is giving the extra standard action only while bloodied.
- Give the dragon a minor action attack that does less damage than its claws but creates an effect, such as pushing away that pesky defender. It can be a wing or tail slam, for example.
- change the breath weapon recharge to 4,5,6. More than once I have ended using breath only twice during an encounter.
- Change the double attack so the dragon can make a bite attack in addition to the claws. In my experience, I have rarely used the bite because attacking twice is always better, and opportunity attacks are not that common.
- When bloodied, give it an action point.

The best way (IMHO) to create an interesting encounter with a dragon is to customize it to your needs.

By: Brett

Brett — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 22:11:42 +0000

I like the ideas here, I still struggle with the idea that it is hard to make a single villain that can challenge a party in 4e. I don’t want to rob the players of their cool toys, but they have so many that any solo can feel weak at times. Great ideas here to pull some of that back.