I am doing a campaign where one of my players has turned into an Adult Silver Dragon. So I figured as a last boss, the party fights his rivaled enemy in an Adult red dragon. But I soon realized at the pace they lvl he might be an easy fight. So I've been building that this red dragon is a killer of good dragons and commands an army of goblins, fire giants, and other creatures. Maybe he wears armor and uses magic items...... I'm a new dm and really want to make this fight special so I could really use some help with this.
Can the rest of the party fly? If no, have the dragon never get near the ground. This will force a one-on-one fight between the dragons, and leave the rest to [insert henchmen here]. Such henchman should also be badass. Given your worry about PC level, I wouldn't make it about it sheer numbers (several fireballs later ...) but about also being difficult. The red dragon's majordomo, for instance, and his elite dragon-guard. Also, beef up the lair actions.
All monsters have stats. If a fight is too easy, then give them more stats. Sometimes, when I feel I need the fight to drag itself out a bit, I don't assign HP till the players play out a round. Then gauge a HP pool based on how much their dishing out.
Or don't use an Adult Red Dragon. Use the stats of an ANCIENT Red Dragon.
But remember, an Ancient Red Dragon is very powerful and will have the advantage of being in it's lair if you set it up that way. So you'll have those additional free environmental effect in addition to just a lot of outgoing damage from the dragon itself.
Just play the Dragon very aggressively and try to kill the party. I think you'll be surprised what they can take and how much they'll enjoy either winning barely, some of them dying, or even everyone dying (as long as it serve the party's goal in the greater narrative).
Then have the beastie die when something AWESOME happens - to hell with the HP counter. A Critical happens to sever his jugular leaving your 3 hit point remaining silver as the victor.
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I do not like the word... prisoner. It implies a helpless state, and I assure you, I am never helpless.
--Artemis Entreri
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I am doing a campaign where one of my players has turned into an Adult Silver Dragon. So I figured as a last boss, the party fights his rivaled enemy in an Adult red dragon. But I soon realized at the pace they lvl he might be an easy fight. So I've been building that this red dragon is a killer of good dragons and commands an army of goblins, fire giants, and other creatures. Maybe he wears armor and uses magic items...... I'm a new dm and really want to make this fight special so I could really use some help with this.
Can the rest of the party fly? If no, have the dragon never get near the ground. This will force a one-on-one fight between the dragons, and leave the rest to [insert henchmen here]. Such henchman should also be badass. Given your worry about PC level, I wouldn't make it about it sheer numbers (several fireballs later ...) but about also being difficult. The red dragon's majordomo, for instance, and his elite dragon-guard. Also, beef up the lair actions.
All monsters have stats. If a fight is too easy, then give them more stats. Sometimes, when I feel I need the fight to drag itself out a bit, I don't assign HP till the players play out a round. Then gauge a HP pool based on how much their dishing out.
Or don't use an Adult Red Dragon. Use the stats of an ANCIENT Red Dragon.
But remember, an Ancient Red Dragon is very powerful and will have the advantage of being in it's lair if you set it up that way. So you'll have those additional free environmental effect in addition to just a lot of outgoing damage from the dragon itself.
Just play the Dragon very aggressively and try to kill the party. I think you'll be surprised what they can take and how much they'll enjoy either winning barely, some of them dying, or even everyone dying (as long as it serve the party's goal in the greater narrative).
My party will be lvl 15 by the time they fight him. I'm not sure if they could handle an ancient though....
Then have the beastie die when something AWESOME happens - to hell with the HP counter. A Critical happens to sever his jugular leaving your 3 hit point remaining silver as the victor.
I do not like the word... prisoner. It implies a helpless state, and I assure you, I am never helpless.
--Artemis Entreri