I've been trying to create some more interesting monster stat blocks for iconic monsters like dragons, giants etc. with a focus on really leaning into the fantasy of that monster & giving them more abilities / options, but without messing with the math too much when it comes to damage per round etc.
One idea I really like is giving dragons an undead fortitude-like ability as follows:
Con save when reduced to zero hp, DC = damage taken, on a success they drop to 1. Auto fail on a critical hit or when hit by a melee attack from a adamantine / dragon slaying / +3 weapon
(my dragons are resistant / immune to non-adamantine weaponry anyway due to their tough scales)
I really like this as a mechanic on zombies, but it becomes particularly interesting on a dragon with a high con save because it essentially gives it immunity to weak attacks. An adult dragon with +13 on it's save requires a minimum of 15 damage to stand a chance of killing it, or a crit, with the latter having much higher odds because it doesn't allow for a save.
This makes for a really cinematic end to the fight, because instead of the dragon just being a bag of hitpoints, you need to reduce it to zero just to have *a chance* of downing it. Once there you still need to pull off either a big hit from a heavy hitting spell or very high damage roll, or hit it with a critical. It also satisfies the fantasy of the dragons scales simply deflecting regular arrows & cantrips, instead requiring either a big ballista bolt to do enough damage to finish it, or an incredibly well placed (critical hit / sharpshooter) arrow to find the right gap in the scales to take it down.
I also combine this with a slight hp buff and a mythic action which causes the dragon to crash land Skyrim style after about 60% of it's hp is removed, but with all it's legendary actions, resistances & breath weapon restored, which gives the martials a brief window to close in for smites & things but also makes it incredibly dangerous to do so.
Haven't tested this yet but I'm looking forward to seeing if this helps turn the dragon stat block into a truly unstoppable juggernaut of a monster. Mostly posting to share ideas but I'd welcome any thoughts :)
I've been trying to create some more interesting monster stat blocks for iconic monsters like dragons, giants etc. with a focus on really leaning into the fantasy of that monster & giving them more abilities / options, but without messing with the math too much when it comes to damage per round etc.
One idea I really like is giving dragons an undead fortitude-like ability as follows:
Con save when reduced to zero hp, DC = damage taken, on a success they drop to 1. Auto fail on a critical hit or when hit by a melee attack from a adamantine / dragon slaying / +3 weapon
(my dragons are resistant / immune to non-adamantine weaponry anyway due to their tough scales)
I really like this as a mechanic on zombies, but it becomes particularly interesting on a dragon with a high con save because it essentially gives it immunity to weak attacks. An adult dragon with +13 on it's save requires a minimum of 15 damage to stand a chance of killing it, or a crit, with the latter having much higher odds because it doesn't allow for a save.
This makes for a really cinematic end to the fight, because instead of the dragon just being a bag of hitpoints, you need to reduce it to zero just to have *a chance* of downing it. Once there you still need to pull off either a big hit from a heavy hitting spell or very high damage roll, or hit it with a critical. It also satisfies the fantasy of the dragons scales simply deflecting regular arrows & cantrips, instead requiring either a big ballista bolt to do enough damage to finish it, or an incredibly well placed (critical hit / sharpshooter) arrow to find the right gap in the scales to take it down.
I also combine this with a slight hp buff and a mythic action which causes the dragon to crash land Skyrim style after about 60% of it's hp is removed, but with all it's legendary actions, resistances & breath weapon restored, which gives the martials a brief window to close in for smites & things but also makes it incredibly dangerous to do so.
Haven't tested this yet but I'm looking forward to seeing if this helps turn the dragon stat block into a truly unstoppable juggernaut of a monster. Mostly posting to share ideas but I'd welcome any thoughts :)