Monstrous Compendium Vol. 1: Spelljammer Creatures
Frozen Sick
D&D Beyond Basic Rules
Basic Rules (2014)
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Monstrous Compendium Vol. 1: Spelljammer CreaturesFrozen SickD&D Beyond Basic RulesBasic Rules (2014)Sign in to view your library & saved favorites.
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So I'm new to DM and feel I have a pretty compelling first encounter to learn the ropes with. Long story short a magic amulet is stolen by some rogue apprentice wizards and the players are tasked with returning it to the school from which it came. The rogue wizards believe it can be used to bind a young dragon and attempt to do so. They quickly lose control and the amulet actually causes the dragon to grow to a size thats large even for a fully grown dragon and not bind it.
This is where my question comes in. The players will already encounter a powerful (to them) boss wizard in the final room and uncover a hidden room. This is the room the dragon will be. I'm not sure how to run this part of the encounter though. I want them to be able to defeat the dragon by removing/ destroying the amulet at which point the dragon shrinks down to a very small size, like that of a small dog. completely harmless at that point. However, if they try to fight it in it's current form I'm almost positive they will be wiped. How would you navigate this? I don't want to make it overly obvious they remove the amulet, but I also want them to figure it out. At the same time I don't want the dragon to straight up slaughter them. Any ideas? brainstorming?
EDIT:
Woah woah woah, this is your planned FIRST encounter, so players can learn the ropes? I would recommend starting them off with an actual low-level encounter to learn the ropes. Show them an adult dragon and they might think you're trying to kill them.
The idea is good, but not for the very first fight. Ease players into it first.
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When describing things, our subconscious pays the most attention to the first and last things you describe. Describe the amulet glowing brightly while the transformation is in effect. Calling attention to it is a clue. If the players are slow to recognize the clue, you can repeat it or mention it again alongside other information. Also, you can tell the players that this shouldn't be treated like a straight-up fight by saying "You all recognize that this foe is beyond your ability to defeat with force of arms."
As for not killing he players, give the dragon the HP of a fully grown adult, but because it's not actually an adult, don't give it all the strength and abilities of one. Basically, it has the HP of an adult, but the attack power of a very young dragon. At level 3, that should be enough for the dragon to win by attrition.
A fully grown dragon is gargantuan in size. So you want something bigger than that?
Maybe instead of a dragon, per se, it’s a drake. Most of them are medium, so you can size it up to large, and it will be of a CR appropriate for the party level.
You still talk it up like it’s going to be this gigantic dragon, but turns out those rogue wizards just didn’t know what they wee talking about. Or they were embarrassed that a drake got the better of them and they’d inflated it in their minds.
A blue dragon wyrmling is CR 3.
Making a creature grow larger does not affect it's hitpoints, etc, normally.
All you need to do is to create the atmosphere of oh my god it's an adult dragon! rather than actually give it massive powers.
Maybe rule the amulet also gives it some temp hitpoints and or some illusory damage.
ok ok ok, maybe you guys are right that it's a bit much. I guess I really like the idea if it could play out the way I want it to. I also don't want to railroad the party which I think is where I'm getting hung up. The idea is for them to not actually fight the dragon but to disarm the amulet which essentially defeats the dragon.
Well, one problem is the rules for removing a worn item are a bit lax. There’s no called shots, so it’s tough to go. And if you introduce a way to do it, they expect to be able to in every fight.
Also, players rarely realize this kind of thing. Mostly it’s just try to smash the bag of hit points In front of them. Unless you really, really telegraph that they can remove it for an easier fight. But then you’re still back to the first issue.
yeah that's what I was worried about. I figured they would try to go toe to toe and unless I made it mind numbingly obvious. This is why I came here in case somebody has done something at all similar and had a decent solution. I figured the rule for removing the amulet can be bent to my will being the DM. Doing so without breaking the emersion by making it stupidly obvious was my bigger concern. I might need to get creative on how I can keep my concept, while ditching the actual combat attached to the dragon. Maybe focus more on rp dialogue or something instead. Especially since they already fought the actual boss in the room prior to the dragon engagement, so they won't be lacking action. If I come up with any new ideas i'll post here and see what ya'll think. I appreciate the feedback