I have a plan for the players to fight against a green dragon, a young dragon seems to be an even math for them but i don't know how to feel about them fighting a young one. What are young one capable outside of combat? Is it okay to have them kill one?
It’s quite alright for them to kill one. Per the Monster Manual young dragons are from 6-100 years old. Putting it at the older range will give it a decent amount of treasure. If it’s the one from Lost Mines, it should be fairly hard for a level 3 group, level 4 should kill Venomfang
How to feel about it depends in part on how dragons fit into the world. Are they personalities and people, NPCs with claws, wings and scales? Or are the they ravening monsters, threats to civilization to be slain by heroes? Smaug from The Hobbit and Vermithrax from Dragonslayer would both be red dragons in D&D terms, but they were very different creatures.
Even wyrmlings have enough mental stats to be on par with your average commoner, I don't think you need to worry too much about moral problems with killing dragons except possibly in the case of eggs.
It’s quite alright for them to kill one. Per the Monster Manual young dragons are from 6-100 years old. Putting it at the older range will give it a decent amount of treasure. If it’s the one from Lost Mines, it should be fairly hard for a level 3 group, level 4 should kill Venomfang
I have a hard time imagining a group of 4-5 PC's killing Venomfang whether they are 3rd or 4th. I suppose if the dragon is unaware and surprised they would have a chance. Otherwise one puff of dragon breath is a cool 12d6 for the party. Should be enough to drop any PC at that level if they fail their save. Maybe even if they make it. After it breathes the dragon should zip away with it's 80ft move and find cover from the party. Now its a deadly game of hide and seek with a dragon. Not the best situation to be in. Of course, in LMoP the idea is just to drive Venomfang off which should happen if the PC's land a few good blows and manage to not die from the first use of the breath weapon.
I have a plan for the players to fight against a green dragon, a young dragon seems to be an even math for them but i don't know how to feel about them fighting a young one. What are young one capable outside of combat? Is it okay to have them kill one?
You can play your dragons however you like. It's really up to the DM on how much strategy a monster uses and whether it is morally acceptable to kill an intelligent creature like a dragon. As a rule of thumb, the chromatic dragons (black, blue, green, red and white) are all widely known to be evil and extremely dangerous. Coupled with the greed of dragons it is safe to say that most adventurers would consider killing a green dragon an opportunity to do some good while getting rich at the same time.
As for talking to one outside of combat...absolutely! Most every dragon enjoys flattery and considers itself superior to other creatures. This can mean that a dragon is approachable and can be conversed with. If the players manage a good conversation with a dragon instead of attacking it then I would give them full xp for the encounter. It's not all about swinging a sword after all.
What I would not do is have the fight go easy for the PC's. Sure, if a young green dragon just stood still on the ground while the players beat on it then it won't last long but that should almost never happen in a dragon encounter. The dragon should use it's 80ft fly speed to every advantage. It should be staying 40ft in the air and moving in, attacking, then moving out. With a 10ft reach on its bite the dragon should be able to do that without provoking an attack of opportunity. Even if it wanted to risk a AoO that is better than sitting still for a round of pounding by the PC's. The link that Matthias posted is full of ideas on how dragon encounters can play out. Give it a look. Maybe your players would be better off fighting a couple of green dragon wyrmlings?
It’s quite alright for them to kill one. Per the Monster Manual young dragons are from 6-100 years old. Putting it at the older range will give it a decent amount of treasure. If it’s the one from Lost Mines, it should be fairly hard for a level 3 group, level 4 should kill Venomfang
I have a hard time imagining a group of 4-5 PC's killing Venomfang whether they are 3rd or 4th. I suppose if the dragon is unaware and surprised they would have a chance. Otherwise one puff of dragon breath is a cool 12d6 for the party. Should be enough to drop any PC at that level if they fail their save. Maybe even if they make it. After it breathes the dragon should zip away with it's 80ft move and find cover from the party. Now its a deadly game of hide and seek with a dragon. Not the best situation to be in. Of course, in LMoP the idea is just to drive Venomfang off which should happen if the PC's land a few good blows and manage to not die from the first use of the breath weapon.
The issue is that the encounter starts in an enclosed space and if they get the jump on him and/or move out of the way of any opportunity for the dragon to use his breath, plus if Venomfang tries to fly, he's going to just get away. There really isn't anyway for the dragon to use flying to his advantage in the tower.
The tower is missing a roof so, yeah, the dragon has a easy escape. The PC's need to do 68 damage to it to drive it off. Possible but no small task for low level PCs against a 18 AC. With a 17 passive perception and 30ft blindsight surprise is also unlikely. With the dragon's +4 stealth it actually has a chance to surprise the party.
Tower. The dragon lives in the tower — a single room with a 40-foot-high ceiling. A 5-foot-wide staircase circles the interior, rising to the now-opened rooftop that allows the dragon easy access to its new home. Heavy wooden beams and stair supports crisscross the tower interior.
I have a plan for the players to fight against a green dragon, a young dragon seems to be an even math for them but i don't know how to feel about them fighting a young one. What are young one capable outside of combat? Is it okay to have them kill one?
It’s quite alright for them to kill one. Per the Monster Manual young dragons are from 6-100 years old. Putting it at the older range will give it a decent amount of treasure. If it’s the one from Lost Mines, it should be fairly hard for a level 3 group, level 4 should kill Venomfang
How to feel about it depends in part on how dragons fit into the world. Are they personalities and people, NPCs with claws, wings and scales? Or are the they ravening monsters, threats to civilization to be slain by heroes? Smaug from The Hobbit and Vermithrax from Dragonslayer would both be red dragons in D&D terms, but they were very different creatures.
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Even wyrmlings have enough mental stats to be on par with your average commoner, I don't think you need to worry too much about moral problems with killing dragons except possibly in the case of eggs.
I have a hard time imagining a group of 4-5 PC's killing Venomfang whether they are 3rd or 4th. I suppose if the dragon is unaware and surprised they would have a chance. Otherwise one puff of dragon breath is a cool 12d6 for the party. Should be enough to drop any PC at that level if they fail their save. Maybe even if they make it. After it breathes the dragon should zip away with it's 80ft move and find cover from the party. Now its a deadly game of hide and seek with a dragon. Not the best situation to be in. Of course, in LMoP the idea is just to drive Venomfang off which should happen if the PC's land a few good blows and manage to not die from the first use of the breath weapon.
You can play your dragons however you like. It's really up to the DM on how much strategy a monster uses and whether it is morally acceptable to kill an intelligent creature like a dragon. As a rule of thumb, the chromatic dragons (black, blue, green, red and white) are all widely known to be evil and extremely dangerous. Coupled with the greed of dragons it is safe to say that most adventurers would consider killing a green dragon an opportunity to do some good while getting rich at the same time.
As for talking to one outside of combat...absolutely! Most every dragon enjoys flattery and considers itself superior to other creatures. This can mean that a dragon is approachable and can be conversed with. If the players manage a good conversation with a dragon instead of attacking it then I would give them full xp for the encounter. It's not all about swinging a sword after all.
What I would not do is have the fight go easy for the PC's. Sure, if a young green dragon just stood still on the ground while the players beat on it then it won't last long but that should almost never happen in a dragon encounter. The dragon should use it's 80ft fly speed to every advantage. It should be staying 40ft in the air and moving in, attacking, then moving out. With a 10ft reach on its bite the dragon should be able to do that without provoking an attack of opportunity. Even if it wanted to risk a AoO that is better than sitting still for a round of pounding by the PC's. The link that Matthias posted is full of ideas on how dragon encounters can play out. Give it a look. Maybe your players would be better off fighting a couple of green dragon wyrmlings?
Current Characters I am playing: Dr Konstantin van Wulf | Taegen Willowrun | Mad Magnar
Check out my homebrew: Items | Monsters | Spells | Subclasses | Feats
The issue is that the encounter starts in an enclosed space and if they get the jump on him and/or move out of the way of any opportunity for the dragon to use his breath, plus if Venomfang tries to fly, he's going to just get away. There really isn't anyway for the dragon to use flying to his advantage in the tower.
The tower is missing a roof so, yeah, the dragon has a easy escape. The PC's need to do 68 damage to it to drive it off. Possible but no small task for low level PCs against a 18 AC. With a 17 passive perception and 30ft blindsight surprise is also unlikely. With the dragon's +4 stealth it actually has a chance to surprise the party.
Tower. The dragon lives in the tower — a single room with a 40-foot-high ceiling. A 5-foot-wide staircase circles the interior, rising to the now-opened rooftop that allows the dragon easy access to its new home. Heavy wooden beams and stair supports crisscross the tower interior.
Current Characters I am playing: Dr Konstantin van Wulf | Taegen Willowrun | Mad Magnar
Check out my homebrew: Items | Monsters | Spells | Subclasses | Feats