Strongest Creature in D&D

Venomfang killed my first character (Fireslayer the wizard... my namesake). May he die pathetically at the just hands of a storm giant!

I mean, seriously. A CR 8 creature versus level 2 players? How is that fair in any universe?

Quote from Kont >>

Potato

 I believe it's pronounced potato

It isn't, but it is fun

Your DM must've been stingy on Lv ups. Should be LV 3 by the time you get to thundertree. Still a deadly encounter though. From what I've read about other DMs opinions on this encounter is that it is to teach the players that fighting isn't the only option. Run/problem solve until you can better handle the situation. 

People seem confused, unless otherwise stated, only creatures with a L after their name have lair actions.

Quote from Musitoro >>

People seem confused, unless otherwise stated, only creatures with a L after their name have lair actions.

 ...I'll be damned. 

I ate a green dragon.

I got poisened from the meat

When my players first met Venomfang they thought fight is best. Then my dragon born started talking to the dragon. Two minutes later, a new non-human NPC!

Why is this in LMoP? It can one/two-shot my entire party. How do most parties tackle Venomfang?

Quote from thisbejacob >>

Why is this in LMoP? It can one/two-shot my entire party. How do most parties tackle Venomfang?

LMoP is the introductory module so if you didn't have a Dungeon and a Dragon in it you might feel cheated :)
By the time you get to Venomfang, the party 'should' be level 3 unless you have a tight DM.

If Venomfang is brought down to half hit-points then he's supposed to flee, breaking out of the tower by any means necessary.
There's a really great Reddit thread on how you can play Venomfang off of the players.

What makes the Green Dragon work in Lost Mines of Phandelver?

me and my friends are going up against one soon and we are SO no ready

Quote from Cybersanz >>

IMO it's not clear that young dragons do not have lair actions.
As someone stated, "If a specific rule contradicts a general rule, the specific rule wins."
General: MM p11"If a legendary creature has lair actions,..."
Specific: MM section on each dragon list Lair Actions without reference to legendary status.

So can a Young Dragon use Lair Actions?

Consider this:
1) 2018 - Tweet from Jeremy Crawford u/JeremyECrawford ·May 6, 2018 Lair actions and regional effects belong to legendary creatures that spend a lot of time in their lairs. For more information, see "A Legendary Creature's Lair" in the "Monster Manual" (p. 11). Young dragons and wyrmlings aren't legendary creatures. #DnD https://twitter.com/dropbear8mybaby/status/993369022040190976

2) 2021 - A young bronze dragon has lair actions in this 2021 Candlekeep Mysteries adventure called 'Zikran’s Zephyrean Tome' and it was developed & edited by Chris Perkins w/Jeremy as the project lead/Executive Producer/Rules Development.

 

 

Beyond 20

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Beyond 20

 

 

 

 

 

I think none of it was intended to be "rules specific".  All of us as players, DM's, and the like get into the rules as written, rules as intended, and homebrew discussions from time to time.  The modules/adventures references and resources listed were meant to keep it simple, so we could implement things on the fly, as needed, or even in long game preparation.  If there is anything I've learned from this game over the decades of playing it's this; nothing is forbidden, everything is permitted, and everyone is having a good time!

As a general, um, let's call it suggestion, young dragons don't commonly have lair actions...however, it's not to say they can't.  A narrative or roleplaying point to this could be maybe it takes the dragon say at least 1/2 a century or more to attune to the environment without disruption (i.e. has to be their lair the entire time) to start to cause the effects associated with lair actions and environmental effects...this could arguably be near the end of its young phase transitioning to its adult phase.  As a DM, I would say that a young dragon that is still looking or hasn't quite established a presence, such as Venomfang in Phandelver, would not yet get lair actions, but Ashgarlyth in the description from Zikran's sounds like it may have been imprisoned like the other denizens for an unknown extended period of time and therefore is likely to have the lair actions as described by the author.  It's not so much as a rule as it is making the narrative reasonably believable.

IMO, if it sounds plausible to the narrative, throw the lair actions in there.  Keep in mind, you don't have to use all of them either.  You can always decide, because of your narrative, to limit which ones they have access, if any, as part of the dragon's "learning" to affect it's environment.  It's ultimately your story to tell.  Cheers!

Why are you even at Vemonfang at Level 2???,  i am playing my first campaign LMOP and we are just under L4 and cleared thundertree we avoided him and come back when we hit L4

Sack you DM  should not have let you go there at L2

Why wouldn’t they they leave their parents very young and the first thing they do is find a lair?

They also hate black dragons!

Running this guy in a (somewhat heavily modified, this is my first time running a module) LMOP and I looked at this guy's breath weapon. Looked at his intelligence score (which practically begs me to use my most brutal tactics). Looked at my party of exclusively d8 classes, including a rogue with a 10 in constitution.

...Yeah, they're not fighting this guy at level 3. Instead, I'm planning on running him as an environmental hazard, patrolling the area on the regular and forcing the party to stealth, maybe even mid-battle. I'm replacing many of the smaller enemies with plant monsters, and adding a poisonous green haze to the area (the general feeling I want is sort of chernobyl fallout zone, except with toxic plants instead of radiation). Venomfang, as they will learn, was driven out of his old lair by a stronger dragon, and has found a nice new location to settle down in, already complete with poisonous defenses and a jungle of threats to any who might try to oust him.

Dragons should overshadow all other monsters the party has faced so far. This is all their first time playing D&D, and I want their first experience with dragons to be memorable, tense, and terrifying. They should not be able to fight Venomfang. There is no reason for them to fight Venomfang, unless it is to escape him. They should have to sneak, hide, and avoid him to complete their objective in the area, and breathe a sigh of relief when they leave his territory.

When the party is stronger, they might choose to face him. When this happens, I will run him exactly like a green dragon should be run: tricky, cunning, and always subtly angling for the upper hand (I believe someone in the comments linked a reddit post with some very good ideas). They might still be forced to flee. They might force him to flee. Or they might keep him grounded long enough to kill him. Either way, their experience with him as level 3 adventurers will make that fight all the better, because they will know this dragon's power, and know how far they've come to be able to match it.

I used this in a custom campaign. Their fear about it after the elf King told them about it made it so much fun and dramatic after the encounter. (They got turned into squirrel sized races of themselves.)