First - because apparently I have to say this twelve times - roll a Wisdom saving throw. DC 19. Your 14 Wisdom gives you an 80% chance of failing that save.
Did you fail to notice proficiency in wisdom saves (level 10 samurai feature)?
In practice a party of 6 is likely to have a paladin (aura of courage is fear immunity, aura of protection can be used to help people out of fear), and may well have a twilight cleric, or a bard or cleric with calm emotions, or items that provide bonuses to saves, or... and then, being frightened has absolutely no effect on spells that don't have an attack roll; sure, the dragon has good saves but it still takes half damage. Or you can just magic missile it to death.
First - because apparently I have to say this twelve times - roll a Wisdom saving throw. DC 19. Your 14 Wisdom gives you an 80% chance of failing that save.
Did you fail to notice proficiency in wisdom saves (level 10 samurai feature)?
In practice a party of 6 is likely to have a paladin (aura of courage is fear immunity, aura of protection can be used to help people out of fear), and may well have a twilight cleric, or a bard or cleric with calm emotions, or items that provide bonuses to saves, or... and then, being frightened has absolutely no effect on spells that don't have an attack roll; sure, the dragon has good saves but it still takes half damage. Or you can just magic missile it to death.
Why are they likely to have a paladin?
They're a pretty common class.
In fact, I'd estimate that there's an 100% chance of a paladin. :)
Because they're trying to answer my question, and they're saying that, if it comes to a straight-up fight, the dragon's likely getting spanked.
Long story short: the dragon gets spanked if you let it; it TPKs if you let it.
Personally, I agree with much of what AnzioFaro said, and I would say you should not let it get spanked. I tend to believe that dragons should be completely apex and played in such a way as to engender significant respect. But that's me.
Obviously you're free to do as you wish at your table, but the lore on black dragons suggests that they prefer to pop up, destroy the single weakest party member and then leave. Return and repeat at their leisure. So for this ancient wyrm to be doing something else, there must be something extraordinary going on.
So as I said before, whatever your reasons, the dragon doesn't want a fight, so don't let there be one. Have the dragon stage the encounter somewhere with multiple lines of retreat. If the dragon tries to talk and the players attack it, have it flee.
Also think about the hoards this dragon would possess. Roll some of those up. See some magic items? Why wouldn't a dragon use that item? Or bring it along as a precaution? Potion of Invulnerability is on the Magic Item C table. A young dragon might be expected to take that precaution before seeking out a party of adventurers for whatever reason. Having a dragon use any item in its hoard is no different from having a boss villain use a magic sword.
In short: the dragon gets spanked if you let it; the dragon TPKs if you let it.
Because they're trying to answer my question, and they're saying that, if it comes to a straight-up fight, the dragon's likely getting spanked.
Long story short: the dragon gets spanked if you let it; it TPKs if you let it.
Personally, I agree with much of what AnzioFaro said, and I would say you should not let it get spanked. I tend to believe that dragons should be completely apex and played in such a way as to engender significant respect. But that's me.
The thing is, the straight-up fight is the baseline. If the dragon could bat the party around like a cat with a jingle ball, that requires a completely different type of calibration than if it has to consider them a threat.
Obviously you're free to do as you wish at your table, but the lore on black dragons suggests that they prefer to pop up, destroy the single weakest party member and then leave. Return and repeat at their leisure. So for this ancient wyrm to be doing something else, there must be something extraordinary going on.
Or possibly the lore is too reductive, and dragons ought to have their own individual personalities. Or, of course, both.
Long story short: the dragon gets spanked if you let it; it TPKs if you let it.
Long story short: the dragon probably gets spanked in a toe to toe brawl (there's fairly high variance in party power by level 10, so 'probably' is all you can say).
Now, will fighting the dragon actually be a toe to toe brawl? That depends on the DM and players. It sounds like this is a diplomatic situation so both sides are going to take precautions against random hotheads (aka PCs), but that's not terribly germane to the original question.
Because they're trying to answer my question, and they're saying that, if it comes to a straight-up fight, the dragon's likely getting spanked.
Long story short: the dragon gets spanked if you let it; it TPKs if you let it.
Personally, I agree with much of what AnzioFaro said, and I would say you should not let it get spanked. I tend to believe that dragons should be completely apex and played in such a way as to engender significant respect. But that's me.
The thing is, the straight-up fight is the baseline. If the dragon could bat the party around like a cat with a jingle ball, that requires a completely different type of calibration than if it has to consider them a threat.
Obviously you're free to do as you wish at your table, but the lore on black dragons suggests that they prefer to pop up, destroy the single weakest party member and then leave. Return and repeat at their leisure. So for this ancient wyrm to be doing something else, there must be something extraordinary going on.
Or possibly the lore is too reductive, and dragons ought to have their own individual personalities. Or, of course, both.
That is why we have DMs and this isn't a video game, it's a role-playing game, with a DM who has the capability to take the stats of a monster and play it as needed. My party just went up against a twisted archdruid. I could have played him as the straight-up archdruid from the MM, but I changed his spells out to reflect his corruption, etc. Point is, you make the encounter what you want it to be.
Dragons are innately magical creatures that can master a few spells as they age, using this variant.
A young or older dragon can innately cast a number of spells equal to its Charisma modifier. Each spell can be cast once per day, requiring no material components, and the spell’s level can be no higher than one-third the dragon’s challenge rating (rounded down). The dragon’s bonus to hit with spell attacks is equal to its proficiency bonus + its Charisma bonus. The dragon’s spell save DC equals 8 + its proficiency bonus + its Charisma modifier.
............................................
Ancient Black Dragon. Cr21. Cha 19(+4)
This dragon knows 4 up to 7th level spells each he can cast once.
The goal is to make this a social encounter and the dragon feels safe and confident enough to just be close to a party of 6 10th level PCs. Why?
Well, because he knows he can simply dip out of there is things go sideways. Give him Teleport. Also Counterspell. So if they draw steel he says something vaguely ominous like "you've made the wrong enemy today" and them retreats 80ft well out of counterspell range and teleports home.
Much successful.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
I'm probably laughing.
It is apparently so hard to program Aberrant Mind and Clockwork Soul spell-swapping into dndbeyond they had to remake the game without it rather than implement it.
Why are they likely to have a paladin?
They're a pretty common class.
In fact, I'd estimate that there's an 100% chance of a paladin. :)
Long story short: the dragon gets spanked if you let it; it TPKs if you let it.
Personally, I agree with much of what AnzioFaro said, and I would say you should not let it get spanked. I tend to believe that dragons should be completely apex and played in such a way as to engender significant respect. But that's me.
Obviously you're free to do as you wish at your table, but the lore on black dragons suggests that they prefer to pop up, destroy the single weakest party member and then leave. Return and repeat at their leisure. So for this ancient wyrm to be doing something else, there must be something extraordinary going on.
So as I said before, whatever your reasons, the dragon doesn't want a fight, so don't let there be one. Have the dragon stage the encounter somewhere with multiple lines of retreat. If the dragon tries to talk and the players attack it, have it flee.
Also think about the hoards this dragon would possess. Roll some of those up. See some magic items? Why wouldn't a dragon use that item? Or bring it along as a precaution? Potion of Invulnerability is on the Magic Item C table. A young dragon might be expected to take that precaution before seeking out a party of adventurers for whatever reason. Having a dragon use any item in its hoard is no different from having a boss villain use a magic sword.
In short: the dragon gets spanked if you let it; the dragon TPKs if you let it.
The thing is, the straight-up fight is the baseline. If the dragon could bat the party around like a cat with a jingle ball, that requires a completely different type of calibration than if it has to consider them a threat.
Or possibly the lore is too reductive, and dragons ought to have their own individual personalities. Or, of course, both.
Long story short: the dragon probably gets spanked in a toe to toe brawl (there's fairly high variance in party power by level 10, so 'probably' is all you can say).
Now, will fighting the dragon actually be a toe to toe brawl? That depends on the DM and players. It sounds like this is a diplomatic situation so both sides are going to take precautions against random hotheads (aka PCs), but that's not terribly germane to the original question.
That is why we have DMs and this isn't a video game, it's a role-playing game, with a DM who has the capability to take the stats of a monster and play it as needed. My party just went up against a twisted archdruid. I could have played him as the straight-up archdruid from the MM, but I changed his spells out to reflect his corruption, etc. Point is, you make the encounter what you want it to be.
VARIANT: DRAGONS AS INNATE SPELLCASTERS
Dragons are innately magical creatures that can master a few spells as they age, using this variant.
A young or older dragon can innately cast a number of spells equal to its Charisma modifier. Each spell can be cast once per day, requiring no material components, and the spell’s level can be no higher than one-third the dragon’s challenge rating (rounded down). The dragon’s bonus to hit with spell attacks is equal to its proficiency bonus + its Charisma bonus. The dragon’s spell save DC equals 8 + its proficiency bonus + its Charisma modifier.
............................................
Ancient Black Dragon. Cr21. Cha 19(+4)
This dragon knows 4 up to 7th level spells each he can cast once.
The goal is to make this a social encounter and the dragon feels safe and confident enough to just be close to a party of 6 10th level PCs. Why?
Well, because he knows he can simply dip out of there is things go sideways. Give him Teleport. Also Counterspell. So if they draw steel he says something vaguely ominous like "you've made the wrong enemy today" and them retreats 80ft well out of counterspell range and teleports home.
Much successful.
I'm probably laughing.
It is apparently so hard to program Aberrant Mind and Clockwork Soul spell-swapping into dndbeyond they had to remake the game without it rather than implement it.
100% sure it's a tpk.