Facing off against a dragon should be an epic and terrifying battle against a savage, unstoppable force of nature. But, all too often, a dragon can be undermined by players in combat. If you're looking for tips before running an encounter with a dragon or are trying to find out where your dragon encounter went wrong, we've got the article for you.

• Play your dragon like a fearsome apex predator
• A dragon's tactical advantages

Pit Your Players Against Dragons

If you're looking to introduce your characters to the concept of dragons but don't feel like overpowering them right off the bat, Dragons of Stormwreck Isle is the perfect introduction to the power these monsters possess. Dragonlance: Shadow of the Dragon Queen, on the other hand, allows you to execute these vicious tactics as your players face off against the draconic forces of Takhisis the Dragon Queen.

Play Your Dragon Like a Fearsome Apex Predator

Dragons can be deceptively hard to run. You might think that if their breath weapon doesn't destroy the party in one go, they should close in and finish them off with their razor sharp claws and teeth, right? Wrong. Below, we'll explore how to strategically use a dragon's strengths to give your party the fight of their life.

Surprise the Party With a Breath Weapon

A dragon's breath weapon is almost always at its most powerful when unleashed on unaware victims. While massive dragons may not seem like they could catch characters off their guard, they do have proficiency in Stealth. With a bit of creativity, a dragon could remain unseen until it's ready to strike. For example, a white dragon could swoop in on the party during a blizzard, or a blue dragon could use a lightning storm as cover during its descent. Meanwhile, red and black dragons could be lying in wait submerged in lava or acid, respectively.

Once the party has been caught in one breath weapon attack, they'll definitely spread out to avoid getting caught in another. But, strategic dragons won't chase their prey with reckless abandon. Most dragons would not have reached adulthood without knowing that some adventurers, particularly magic users, are the biggest threat to them and are vulnerable when singled out. 

Exploit the Party's Weaknesses

Every party has a weak link. For every fighter in full plate mail, there's an unarmored wizard or Constitution-challenged rogue. When encountering an adventuring party, devious dragons will pick a target to focus on once the party breaks formation.

Typical first targets for dragons include:

• Clerics, who can keep party members alive
• Wizards, because of their potent spellcasting abilities
• Rogues and rangers, who have better-than-average ranged capabilities

While a dragon's claws and teeth could make short work of these vulnerable party members, it usually won't have the opportunity to tear its target to shreds without a plate mail-wearing paladin getting involved. That's why calculating dragons will use their superior mobility and size advantage to isolate the party's vulnerable members.

Grapple, Fly, Kill, and Repeat

Once the party has spread out to avoid getting caught in another breath weapon attack, the targeted party member will be ripe for the picking—literally. Depending on the age of the dragon, this could be approached in a couple of different ways:

Adult and Ancient Dragons

Dragons rarely want to be on the ground, as it opens them up to attacks from martial damage dealers. But, when they're flying around, the only option they have is their breath weapon, which can only be used one-third of the time, and their lair actions, which don't always deal damage. To keep their distance from melee combatants and make the most of their evasive flight speed, dragons should close the distance on their determined prey, grapple them, and then use their remaining movement to fly into the air. If they're short on movement, a dragon could use its Wing Attack legendary action to fly 40 feet into the air at the end of the following creature's turn.

Once in the air, any party member without a flying speed or ranged attacks will be useless against the dragon. The dragon, meanwhile, can use its attacks to make short work of the grappled creature. Once the dragon's prey is rolling death saving throws, it can finish the character off or drop them, if you want to give them a chance at survival. The cruelest dragons will drop the downed party member near one of their allies, then hit them both with a breath weapon when the ally attempts to revive their comrade.

If a dragon misses its grapple, it doesn't want to stick around to let melee enemies close in. Instead, it will take off and use its lair actions and breath weapon to create another opportunity for grappling a singled-out target.

Grappling With Monsters

Monsters can take any of the special actions available to players, so they can use the Attack action to attempt to grapple. But, having access to the Multiattack action does not give monsters more than one shot at grappling per turn. Multiattack is a special action and does not qualify as an Attack action, which means it does not grant multiple attempts to grapple a target.

Young Dragons

Young dragons can still grapple effectively with a minimum Strength modifier of +4 and a carrying capacity of over 500 lbs. However, unless they grapple a Small target, their speed will be halved when moving the grappled creature. They also don't have access to the Wing Attack legendary action and have even fewer ranged options due to their lack of lair actions.

They can still follow the game plan of breath weapon, single out a target, grapple, and fly, but if they miss their grapple or run out of movement speed while on the ground, they can be left high and dry. Because of this, young dragons usually stay closer to the ground, just out of the reach of their enemies. They only pounce on creatures within 40 feet, enabling them to take off and get out of range whether they land the grapple or not.

A Dragon's Tactical Advantages

Most dragons have a litany of resources at their disposal to outmaneuver their enemies. So when it comes to planning an encounter with one of these mythological creatures, it's essential to consider how these will impact the party's journey to and eventual battle with the dragon.

Use Its Environment

All dragons have a unique movement speed that can aid them in battle. Most dragons don't often travel far from their lair, so they should be able to use the advantageous landscape to shape the battle.

• Green and black dragons have a swim speed, so instead of grappling a creature and flying away, they could instead dive into a swamp and drown their prey at their leisure. 
• White and blue dragons have burrow speeds, allowing them to effectively ambush unsuspecting adventurers.
• Red dragons have a climb speed which can help them maintain distance when the party's Battle Master uses their Trip Attack maneuver or a spellcaster uses earthbind to knock them prone from flying.

Recruit Minions

Due to their intelligence, fearsome power, and sense of superiority, dragons thrive off being followed and worshipped. This means that most dragons will have an entourage of expendable cannon fodder at hand to manipulate the battlefield strategically.

Beyond soaking damage in combat, minions can harry party members by getting up close to ranged characters, thereby invoking disadvantage on ranged attacks. They can also target spellcasters concentrating on a spell to disrupt the effect.

While the most straightforward choice for dragon minions would be kobolds, there are plenty of other creatures that would find themselves in servitude to a dragon:

• Due to their propensity to make their lairs in caverns and caves, darkmantles can serve as excellent minions for dragons. These creatures look indistinguishable from stone, so they can get the drop on creatures that venture into the dragon's lair. When they land a hit, darkmantles blind their foes by engulfing their heads, making them easy targets for the dragon. Even if they miss their initial ambush, the darkmantle's Darkness Aura ability is wickedly combined with the dragon's blindsight. 
• Mimics are an excellent trap for a dragon's lair, and dragons know it. Because they can take on the form of anything, a dragon could place numerous mimics around its hoard disguised as treasure. Then, when intruders get greedy and attempt to steal from the dragon, they're instead restrained by the mimic's Adhesive. From there, the dragon is free to use its breath weapon on the trapped, would-be thieves. 
• What happens when the party makes their way into a dragon's lair, only to discover a nest of wyrmlings? Will they back off from the morally grey issue of harming a mother and her young, or will they choose to fight?

Tap Its Superior Senses

Most dragons have blindsight, the innate ability to perceive their surroundings without using their eyes. When used strategically, this single ability can sway an encounter with even the most hardened adventurers. Being intelligent beings, dragons will know that most creatures rely on their sight in battle and will prepare something to obstruct their enemies' sight in their lair or surrounding region.

Adult black, blue, and white dragons already have lair actions that can heavily obscure areas. Other dragons might have to get creative. Maybe a red dragon sets up their lair in a volcanic shaft that can be filled with smoke, or a green dragon cultivates mushrooms that release obscuring spores.

Once creatures are trapped within the area and have no way to see, the dragon can swoop in and tear its prey apart with ease.

Know When to Retreat

Dragons are intelligent, self-serving creatures that know if a battle is lost. If a dragon is reduced to 40 percent of its hit points before they down one of the party members, they would retreat unless they have something significant to protect. 

In their lairs, dragons always have ways to escape with flight and usually prepare another emergency exit that plays to their strengths. For example, red dragons might have a tunnel full of lava they can flee into, whereas black dragons might have a pool of acid that leads away from their lair.

Adventurers that allow a dragon to escape need beware. Dragons are proud beasts that might plot vicious retribution upon those who defeat them. This vengeful nature combined with their intelligence means that dragons will devise new battle plans for subsequent encounters with the party. 

Tip the Scales In Your Favor

Dragons deserve to be a force of nature in a game named after them. These tips will help you create a dragon encounter bards sing of for generations! If you're looking to pit your party against dragons but don't know where to start, the upcoming Dragonlance: Shadow of the Dragon Queen is a great place to start!

Mike Bernier (@arcane_eye) is the founder of Arcane Eye, a site focused on providing useful tips and tricks to all those involved in the world of D&D. Outside of writing for Arcane Eye, Mike spends most of his time playing games, hiking with his girlfriend, and tending the veritable jungle of houseplants that have invaded his house.