Hi! New preparations for the actual final fight of my campaign ~
So, final fight in DiP, Cryovain. Big bad dragon. Buuut. A young white dragon is quite weak, for a full party of level 5, especially without a dungeon beforehand. So, I'm buffing the crap out of it, mainly by making it a legendary creature with lair actions. But I know my zeal probably got the better of me and it might be a bit OP. So, asking for advice! Linking the statblock: https://ibb.co/cxLfdZS
Info about the context: Planning on having them fight a white Abishai right after this, although I will nerf the base abishai. Additionally, the fight will take place in a dome-like cavern, so the dragon can't fly all that high.
Party will have Dragonslayer, Dragonguard, a longsword Flametongue, and an Amulet of health, for the main magic items. Party will be 4 lvl 5, path of the beast barbarian, twilight cleric, shadow sorcerer 3/beauty cleric 2, and fiend warlock 2/artillerist artificer 3.
So, how bad is this? Note that I do want it to feel like an uphill battle!
I think it's powerful, may be even a little too much, especially withLegendary and Lair Actions, such as Rime's Binding Ice and the freezing fog. Even an Adult or Ancient White Dragon don't have a Dragon Breath as Legendary Action.
If you want to know how deadly the encounter can be, you can always, run a white room playtest.
I think it's powerful, may be even a little too much, especially withLegendary and Lair Actions, such as Rime's Binding Ice and the freezing fog. Even an Adult or Ancient White Dragon don't have a Dragon Breath as Legendary Action.
If you want to know how deadly the encounter can be, you can always, run a white room playtest.
What if it lost access to Rime once the second phase starts? Showing some weakness?
Looking at the link - 260 hit points and AC 18, DC17 11d8 cold breath cone (recharge 5-6), frightful presence+3 attacks/turn - that is pretty powerful right there - but then you have lair actions and legendary actions.
When I ran it, I just upgraded Cryovain to a young blue dragon from white, since I had a party of 5 x level 6 (if I recall correctly - which would make it a hard encounter). If your party is particularly powerful then maybe add a bit to that as a basis. However, your version seems a bit too nasty to me. Adding legendary actions is a good way to help the imbalance of the action economy against the dragon.
I gave Cryovain max hit points (it was just under 200hp if I remember right), an aura that did like 3 or 4 cold damage to anyone who starts their turn within 15 feet, and instead of legendary actions i just gave him different reactions based on if there was anyone behind him or on his sides. I also had 2 ice mephits there at the start, and about 5 or 6 come in when Cryovain hit half hit points.
When I ran it I made him into a young blue dragon with significantly buffed stats.
18 AC, 200 HP, buffed attacks (both to hit and damage), 1 Legendary Resistance, Frightful Presence, Lightning breath (DC 16 dex saving throw or 10d10 lightning damage), 3 Legendary Actions, and a Lair Action.
Based on a calculator I found, his CR would have been about 11. I only had 3 PC's but they were level 6, one had the Dragon Slayer, and they had a couple lightning resist potions. Turned out really well. Fight was just about the right difficulty. I think they might have been in some trouble without the resist potions, with only 3 of them.
You can always add minions for flavor. When I ran this I added a bunch of kobolds that serve Cryovain and they had traps they tried to spring as well as ballista they could fire at the party. I also updated the stats of Cryovain to add in some lair effects.
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Hi! New preparations for the actual final fight of my campaign ~
So, final fight in DiP, Cryovain. Big bad dragon. Buuut. A young white dragon is quite weak, for a full party of level 5, especially without a dungeon beforehand. So, I'm buffing the crap out of it, mainly by making it a legendary creature with lair actions. But I know my zeal probably got the better of me and it might be a bit OP. So, asking for advice! Linking the statblock: https://ibb.co/cxLfdZS
Info about the context: Planning on having them fight a white Abishai right after this, although I will nerf the base abishai. Additionally, the fight will take place in a dome-like cavern, so the dragon can't fly all that high.
Party will have Dragonslayer, Dragonguard, a longsword Flametongue, and an Amulet of health, for the main magic items. Party will be 4 lvl 5, path of the beast barbarian, twilight cleric, shadow sorcerer 3/beauty cleric 2, and fiend warlock 2/artillerist artificer 3.
So, how bad is this? Note that I do want it to feel like an uphill battle!
I think it's powerful, may be even a little too much, especially withLegendary and Lair Actions, such as Rime's Binding Ice and the freezing fog. Even an Adult or Ancient White Dragon don't have a Dragon Breath as Legendary Action.
If you want to know how deadly the encounter can be, you can always, run a white room playtest.
What if it lost access to Rime once the second phase starts? Showing some weakness?
Looking at the link - 260 hit points and AC 18, DC17 11d8 cold breath cone (recharge 5-6), frightful presence+3 attacks/turn - that is pretty powerful right there - but then you have lair actions and legendary actions.
When I ran it, I just upgraded Cryovain to a young blue dragon from white, since I had a party of 5 x level 6 (if I recall correctly - which would make it a hard encounter). If your party is particularly powerful then maybe add a bit to that as a basis. However, your version seems a bit too nasty to me. Adding legendary actions is a good way to help the imbalance of the action economy against the dragon.
So, first changes in: https://ibb.co/Tgs09Lg
TL;DR: Less damage on tail attack, - 1 AC, - 20 hp, no Rime's Binding Ice after first health pool depletion.
Oh, and of note, the barbarian DOES have resistance to cold damage.
I gave Cryovain max hit points (it was just under 200hp if I remember right), an aura that did like 3 or 4 cold damage to anyone who starts their turn within 15 feet, and instead of legendary actions i just gave him different reactions based on if there was anyone behind him or on his sides. I also had 2 ice mephits there at the start, and about 5 or 6 come in when Cryovain hit half hit points.
When I ran it I made him into a young blue dragon with significantly buffed stats.
18 AC, 200 HP, buffed attacks (both to hit and damage), 1 Legendary Resistance, Frightful Presence, Lightning breath (DC 16 dex saving throw or 10d10 lightning damage), 3 Legendary Actions, and a Lair Action.
Based on a calculator I found, his CR would have been about 11. I only had 3 PC's but they were level 6, one had the Dragon Slayer, and they had a couple lightning resist potions. Turned out really well. Fight was just about the right difficulty. I think they might have been in some trouble without the resist potions, with only 3 of them.
Hope this helps.
You can always add minions for flavor. When I ran this I added a bunch of kobolds that serve Cryovain and they had traps they tried to spring as well as ballista they could fire at the party. I also updated the stats of Cryovain to add in some lair effects.