Discussion:Need help estimating a dragon

Need help estimating a dragon

Aarnott 14:05, 25 February 2008 (MST)

I have made a Green Dragon for the campaign I am running (right now since they are only level 5-6 it tends to be a plot device), but I want to make sure it is not underpowered or overpowered for its CR. The dragon is Ophion. She is a religious follower of Tiamat and is Ancient. I tried to pick her spells to suit a really tough boss battle style and I am hoping to have her hold her own against 6-8 ECL 20 PCs.

I have tried to think through her tactics pretty well, though I'm sure there could be a lot improved. Right now the basic idea is that she casts spells that really screw the party no matter what they do to fight her. If they stay on land shooting at her, she throws a 2 round Earthquake spell (which is basically 2 level 8 spells for the price of a level 9). She also gets an insane grapple, which she can use to kill enemy mages and the like. She casts Greater Command using the "fall" option if they fly causing them to take lots of fall damage (and go prone).

I'm not sure if her "low" SR (27 unbuffed, 31 buffed) will be a big weakness though. I was thinking of using the feat Awaken Spell Resistance from Draconomicon. If I remember correctly if gives 2+HD spell resistance if they already have it, which ends up being 40. That, of course, screws a lot of casters, which is probably the best way of beating her.

My players don't optimize much, so you won't expect characters with all the Power Attack based feats doing 600 damage (for example). You can expect just power attack for an extra 40 damage.

Sledged-20080226153540

Sledged (talk) 2008 February 26 15:35 (MDT)

Awaken Spell Resistance grants SR equal to racial HD or existing SR + 2, whichever is greater. Since here HD is more than her existing SR + 2, she'll have an SR of 32. Be sure to equip her with stuff from there treasure.

There's no better laugh than the one that you're ashamed to share with your mother. —Stephen Notley, creator of Bob the Angry Flower A common mistake that people make when trying to design something completely foolproof was to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools. —Ford Prefect in "Mostly Harmless" by Douglas Adams

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