Awesome advice man. I was just running hoard of the Dragon Queen for my group and believe me when a Adult Blue Dragon dive bombs the table first levels scatter like rats. I played it up by diving at the table with my huge Blue Dragon miniature and roaring =). You are so right about 3D stuff. It is very cool but can be problematic with people sitting around a table.
Baron de Ropp of Dungeon Masterpiece has an outstanding video on running dragon combat. He looked at combat techniques of animals that fly in nature (such as eagles). And he recommended a tactic that I thought is really good, and scary. The dragon uses the breath weapon to scatter the opponents, then grapples one of the weak-looking ones AND STARTS FLYING AWAY WITH HIM :-) At a certain height - the dragon drops the character, doing all kinds of fall damage. Rinse and repeat, while staying away from druids and dealing with the stronger-looking characters last. Dragons have high intelligence and a lot of experience so you aren't really going meta by hunting the rogues and wizards early. The dragon should be smart enough and experienced enough to be able to figure this out. I'm sure I'm not remembering all the details correctly, but seek out the video. It was a real eye-opener on how to potentially run a dragon in a way that would really be frightening and is also based upon real-life animal behavior.
I saw a tip somewhere that I use for boss monsters... at checkpoints in their HP, use an "enrage" to amp up their combat. +1 attack bonus, +d4 damage, etc. Something like a dragon may have 4 "enrage"s. If the boss is going to fight to the death, I might add an additional attack per round and go max damage... also, instead of going multiple attacks on their "turn" you may inject an additional turn on the 20, 10 or 0 of the round in initiative order to spread out their actions/damage.
I tend make encounters to soft and go too easy on players. What I need is a shot of deadly demon or dragon blood. A bit of dangerous killingness. Willingness to let sh&*&t happen to the PC's.
Great stuff Hankerin'. I am big on scripting the more complex of foes, including dragons. I had to press pause and grab the notebook of doom. During LMoP, I scripted Venomfang and the encounter is remembered, as any run in with a dragon should be!
But *WHY* was the human torch denied a bank loan, and what does it say about the current state of relative interest rate risk and the continuing practice of predatory lending in an economy still barely recovering from a serious depression?
Your first mistake was having the dragons be on the ground. They should stay as far as possible casting spells, using it's breath weapon, and swooping in sometimes to do 3 attacks against 3 different enemies at once.
that hammer you have there looks exactly like the magic bell hammer that my players are looking for. it's called Sunder and is the only object strong enough to ring the bell because it's made of the heaviest matter possible, but looks like a normal brass bell.
Glorious as always. It's an expected thing, the epic battle with the dragon. Yet somehow as this video is shown it's often under-sold by the DM. It's a freakin' dragon. It has lived for possibly thousands of years. But somehow we treat it like some glorified ogre, that just wades into battle and swats at things. It's good to know I'm not alone in messing it up. There's a certain pang of guilt you get after your dragon was slain with relative ease, and you want so badly to say "I want a do-over!", or as my group says, "Groundhog it". Because you played the dragon so poorly you just feel disgusted with yourself.
An interesting suggestion I intend to put into an adventure: a dragon or similarly gargantuan piece of winged death not as an adversary, but an environmental hazard. Instead of fighting the dragon (or in my case an ice phoenix), have the adventure happen around its lair, with the PCs dealing with a completely different threat while the dragon is breathing fire and casting magic at both sides, forcing the combatants to hide behind various objects to avoid damage on two fronts.
In the current campaign I'm running, The chromatic and metallic dragons are in the middle of a heated war, and the general populace are considered 'collateral damage'. There will be instances were two dragons are deep in combat over a town, and the PC's have to fight the fires, save the civilians and avoid falling debris while the battle goes on overtop. Hope it'll be epic!
sgste I like that. With what I'm planning, which I've dubbed "Aerie of the Ice Phoenix," the PCs have to get to the top of an ancient temple to stop a cult from doing the same, since the cult wants a special ice crystal that can only be found in the ice phoenix's next (which is actually its egg) that can be used for a major ritual. The PCs arrive, but the cult is ahead of them, and it's a race to the top, with several fights between the two, during which the ice phoenix will be attacking both sides for being so close to its nest. Also if either group takes the crystal, not even killing the phoenix will stop it from hunting them down.
My DM decided to send the group in the dragon campaign a troll-blooded red dragoness who always does a ninja trick of sorts when she'd be dealt the final blow, switching out for a red herring dragon.
Drunkens & Dragons: Play D&D Like a Badass Careful! The one rule my group has, no matter the campaign, is not to say that word! The DM usually messes with wishes; I would often act like the literal genie when it comes to wishes. Best word your wish-away the heavily-injured tarrasque carefully.
Great video. as a DM for years on end (because apparently nobody in the vaccinity wants to DM except me) i have learned not to be dumb as well. people often think its a tactic game made for players to win it. but on the contrary you have to think that th egame is tactical for the players and it can be for the DM as well. focussing fire on one character is a good thing if you have multiple players. its not just good for the players. it works for the DM as well. so you have no choice but to act based on what your players do. being brainless may works for zombies and undead creatures with no wisdoms and intellect. but for brilliant creatures... you should abusve their techniques and use those tech at the right time. they fought a baby dragon once... heck even baby dragons are intelligent enough to know how to fight. that baby never dropped once. it just breathed flew away and breathed again. then after the players have noticed how to not be close to each others... he flew close enough to the side to actually fight head to head with one of the player trying to snatch it away. so my players were forced to back out and find another way of doing this. because for now the only one doing real damage was the warlock with eldritch blast cantrip. the others were stuck. in the end as they fought the baby dragon just flew away, too much damage. it was an insane game where both parties had to switch up strategies here and there. it was an awesome game. so yeah dont be too technical either depending on your monster, but dont be dumb. there is no aggro tables like in video games, so dont stick to the tank just because hes the tank, if hes too hard to kill chances are your monster will change target. if your target can get out of range by flying, why would it stay there and fight if it can back off. why would your monster be forced to fight underwater if it can go deep and enslave. yeah dont play dumb, change strategies if soemthing doesn't work out.
i love your videos me and my friends started playing d&d i always reference your videos to my friends keep up the AMAZING content so i can play d&d like a big ol badass!!!! :)
The best kind. I also love to have some sort of creeping doomsday element going on in the background, I think it adds to the sense of urgency in the game.
Damn I wish I would've found this video BEFORE my PCs raped me... They're really getting into Dragons at this point, and I think I will take the addage "Blow them up to shit" to heart.
Well my Character found a book that told him how to make an amulet then a spell apeared in the book i found that lets me turn into a chromatic dragon of my level once a day for as long as i want 1-4 Black Dragon, 5-8 Ice (poison got skipped because of the nature of the spell book and player choices I'll elaborate in a reply to this comment.), 9-12 Electric, 13-16 Thorn, and 17-20 fire dragon (again with a little twist upon turning lvl 20)
The DM made up 7 tomes that first describe how to make an amulet (they all have this) then you'll be told how turn into and reverse a second form. It also teleports you to the area where the most of your kind is so it teleported me to high mountain where hundreds of dragons live and I was mentored by the elder dragon how to control my dragon form. My sister turned into a demon and my friend turned undead. The twist upon turning lvl 20 i can become a deity dragon on the level of Tiamat, and my sister will turn to a max level demon, and my friend will turn into a lich (highest level undead). After we become lvl 20 and achieve deity status we'll have to kill the current god for control our kind so upon me turning lvl 20 I'll fight Tiamat with enough power to take her on head to head.
Talking about the terrain being too big and causing issues...I have a fix I'm going to try. I'm building a turntable to set my board on. I'm using a bearing out of an old hay-baler and sandwiching it in between two plywood discs. I'm thinking that when it's a player's turn, they can spin (gently) the board around for optimal viewing. Might work, might not...gonna give it a shot and see what happens.
Nice video! Twin dragons--fun indeed. Have you seen Level 10 of The Emerald Spire, where there is a set of two identical dragons (except one is missing an eye, if the PCs notice)? It looks like the same dragon keeps diving into the lava and reemerging, fully healed...good times!
so my party is in the feydark, i have written that their is a small pinhole sized gate to the far realms there, and there will be a void dragon to be fought, who must be killed and will inevitably blow the strange almost maddening, yet captivating stonewall that seperates the feydark from the far realms. because when the void dragon dies its collapsing star trait will activate and destroy the magical barriers holding the gnarly fucked up horrors of the far realms and release upon the planes to do what they will. my PC's are only 2 lvl 10 and 2 lvl 12 characters. i have come up with a plan however. i have made a dragonborn sorcerer, that is secretly a shapechanged gold dragon. who's lair was built here on purpose, to help keep the gate safe and well guarded. the sorcerer is only level 14 as to not raise to much suspicion, i am letting one of the players run the sorcerer, until he needs to change back into his beautiful gold dragon self to help the party defeat the void dragon trying to rip a hole in the multiverse. my question is this: should i stop now and do something else or do you think that with the gold dragons help, my under leveled pcs will survive, or am i being a bad DM and building encounters that are too rough?
i would like to add that there are still a few sessions between then and now, and they have more than enough opportunity to gain atleast 1 level maybe 2. party is lvl 10 Ranger Monster slayer, lvl 10 Druid circle of the moon, lvl 12 Druid circle of spores/wild soul barbarian 6 lvl's of each (UA), and a lvl 12 Barbarian totem of the chicken hawk XD
if they are level 10 nothing is beyond them. always build over-power, never nerf or provide flimsy npc aid. let the story change... let the players go around or be destroyed... you shouldnt have 'plans' they should
HINT.... Go to Dungeon World 2 Drinkin Review at 25: 58 before you watch this video...or after... because he talks about combining Dungeon World text nuggets with D&D statistics in order to create a cool ass dragon AI thingamabob to use as a tool to role-play your favorite dragon...
how would you play a death tyrant that has recently taken over a palace in the heart of a metropolis, whose undead minions are being beaten back and the party is coming up from beneath the palace like you did.
Some groups might also deal with 3d a bit better than others as well. If players have been around that kind of thing more, they might take it a bit more easily. Either way, I do kind of like it. Better in my opinion than a very bland 2d map sometimes. I would say, keep it for the epic/ boss battles.
When I used a dragon for the first time (Pathfinder) as a big boss in my campaign I purposely setup the encounter in an armory warehouse style building. The dragon was disguised as the queen and I wanted to flavor the encounter so that the party felt like they had caught her out of her element. So flight was ignored, this was also part of the balancing I was using to throw an adult dragon at my level 4 or 5 adventurers. It worked out okay, but I could see how including those flight tactics would really amp up the energy of the encounter. One question I ran into was knowing how many breath attacks to use, if they needed to recharge, etc. What I did in the moment was just decided the dragon had 4 breath attacks, but I have also heard of a recharge system where you have to roll a 5 or 6 on a d6 to recharge the breath weapon to use it again. What are your thoughts on that?
I really like your videos they are very informative, If i were to make one suggestion, you dont need backround music, your voice, body language, humor, and intelligent ideas are enough to hold my attention.
Have you tried Viking Blod mead? Comes in a clay bottle and is about 19%. It's good for what ails ya... ...if what ails you is sobriety. Great dragon video! I'm getting Red Hand of Doom going and therefore have dragons on the brain. Good stuff.
Man I wish I heard this before my party killed my drake in 4 rounds.. Poor Serinox he will be avenged by his brother one day thanks to this video, his much stronger Brother Named Strabo
So... do you ignore the recharge on the breath weapon? How well that AI strategy would work would depend on rolling the right number for the recharge. NOt that I would blame you for ignoring it, I'm just asking.
5:47 HA! ("cue bad ass battle music...'grrrrr. i'll kill ya! i'll kill ya!'...totally awesome but crippled my whole strategy")...i think it would be cool as a DM if the players outsmarted me or surprised me somehow... 6:55 The video-gamey AI chart...I like that idea...it reminds me of something like the "tactics" on the monster cards in the D&D board games (Legend of Drizzt, Castle Ravenloft, Wrath of Ashardalon & Temple of Elemental Evil)...but not quite...on those cards, there is no battle rhythm but the action is based upon their relationship to the PCs in physical space...things like, if too far away then move closer to nearest PC, if next to PC then bite, etc...Those games need that because there is no DM...But AI still can be useful... 8:58 PC counter-dragon tactics...spread out when you know breath weapon coming...contract when you think a claw-claw-bite (old school) coming. 12:57 I like the transparent dragon elevator riser thingamabob, but those rust maggots sound yucky...so, i don't like them...but it is kinda neat how when the dragon flies over them they fall off and give them one more thing to deal with... 13:10 Narrative stuff inspired by Dungeon World combined with the D&D numbers... (i.e., step 3 in the summary below) 15:40 The summary, how to play a dragon: (1) make your AI, (2) improve your AI so it rocks, (3) write down your dragon with a set of semi-narrative moves, (first 4th tip) make it scary by threatening death or even a TPK, and (second 4th tip) use flight because that is how dragons would fight -- dragons will use flight to elude melee attacks and really harass the players...but if they enrage the beastoid, then bring the dragon on the ground and go double duty live gonzo with the role-play threats (e.g., "I want your blood on my fingernails").... 19:40 thank goodness for Melf, right? freakin' genius. i'll bet he wrote when he read.
+Violet Deliriums One more thing....I'll bet you could apply this strategy for just about any big big boss...I mean, my big big boss is kind of predictable when he comes down and leaps through levels of the hierarchy and engages me on this high priority project that he is impatient about...He has sort of an AI or something...but it could also maybe apply to some sort of flea-infested vampire with bad breath...right? you could go (1) flap wings and fleas fall off in the players hair and start making them itch causing disadvantage, and vampire goes up in air, (2) swoop down do a flying claw attack then fly back up in the darkness, (3) land behind some party member and when they turn around say "bluh bluh, i vant to drink your blood" and breathe that stinky gingivitis-cigar breath on someone so they puke if they don't save vs. constitution, (4) bite attack, suck blood....then repeat.... it would be like going to work or something...
After the first melee, did you just take attacks of opportunity as the dragon flew up to do the sleep gas? Also, this video, like almost all your videos, is awesome. You should do more "How to play [monster]". And does it say "DM battle TTIP" at the beginning? Are you promoting some New World Order shit? :)
This is still too soft. Something like a Dragon or a Lich is smarter than you and puts a lot of thought into not dying. In your case maybe the dragons subconsciously wanted to die to make the pain stop, but in general the most likely outcome of challenging a Dragon should be TPK. Dragons live long and are patient. They don't even have to land and melee (and certainly not do it again after trying and getting hit for 50+ HP). They can just circle strafe, use breath weapon as often as possible and use spells or even staves and wands. A lot of murderhobos only have one melee weapon and no ranged weapon at all, so in the air the Dragon mostly needs to worry about the magic user and one guy with a bow. Pinning the PCs for a few hours or days, while telepathically commanding minions to come and fight is a more reasonable option than landing and going into melee. Mind control / suggestion on the biggest warrior type (with poor will save) is a great idea, especially if the instructions are to grab the magic user or run into the open. A Dragon would have minions (Kobolds, etc.), alarm spells and other means to detect intruders early and would fight them on his terms and not just wait until they get in his lair. If the PCs are winning, the Dragon should teleport away, heal up and return with a few family members to get vengeance. If the PCs kill a Dragon, other Dragons in the area would learn about it and want to divide the hoard among themselves, and not let these audacious humans keep it. Oh yeah, and if you see a juvenile Dragon, run like hell. You don't want to face the fury of his mother.
Awesome advice man. I was just running hoard of the Dragon Queen for my group and believe me when a Adult Blue Dragon dive bombs the table first levels scatter like rats. I played it up by diving at the table with my huge Blue Dragon miniature and roaring =). You are so right about 3D stuff. It is very cool but can be problematic with people sitting around a table.
Scotty I just realized he trolls you with 2.6d tiles but youve been trolling him with Roderick all along! (The resemblance is uncanny )
Baron de Ropp of Dungeon Masterpiece has an outstanding video on running dragon combat. He looked at combat techniques of animals that fly in nature (such as eagles). And he recommended a tactic that I thought is really good, and scary.
The dragon uses the breath weapon to scatter the opponents, then grapples one of the weak-looking ones AND STARTS FLYING AWAY WITH HIM :-)
At a certain height - the dragon drops the character, doing all kinds of fall damage.
Rinse and repeat, while staying away from druids and dealing with the stronger-looking characters last. Dragons have high intelligence and a lot of experience so you aren't really going meta by hunting the rogues and wizards early. The dragon should be smart enough and experienced enough to be able to figure this out.
I'm sure I'm not remembering all the details correctly, but seek out the video. It was a real eye-opener on how to potentially run a dragon in a way that would really be frightening and is also based upon real-life animal behavior.
>pours Jaeger into wine
I physically cringed, my mind can't wrap itself around that.
I saw a tip somewhere that I use for boss monsters... at checkpoints in their HP, use an "enrage" to amp up their combat. +1 attack bonus, +d4 damage, etc. Something like a dragon may have 4 "enrage"s. If the boss is going to fight to the death, I might add an additional attack per round and go max damage... also, instead of going multiple attacks on their "turn" you may inject an additional turn on the 20, 10 or 0 of the round in initiative order to spread out their actions/damage.
I tend make encounters to soft and go too easy on players. What I need is a shot of deadly demon or dragon blood. A bit of dangerous killingness. Willingness to let sh&*&t happen to the PC's.
Great stuff Hankerin'. I am big on scripting the more complex of foes, including dragons. I had to press pause and grab the notebook of doom. During LMoP, I scripted Venomfang and the encounter is remembered, as any run in with a dragon should be!
All my monsters will from now on scream "I want your blood on my fingernaaaails *bwarghghlhglgh'"
But *WHY* was the human torch denied a bank loan, and what does it say about the current state of relative interest rate risk and the continuing practice of predatory lending in an economy still barely recovering from a serious depression?
+JustOneAsbesto Superhero credit is just terrible
Drunkens & Dragons: Play D&D Like a Badass
Imagine how hard it must be for them to get insurance.
Or friends
They have each other.
Your first mistake was having the dragons be on the ground. They should stay as far as possible casting spells, using it's breath weapon, and swooping in sometimes to do 3 attacks against 3 different enemies at once.
actually red dragons and a few others are stronger on the ground and prefer to fight on it
Really interesting concept on this channel! I really like it. Subbed!
Something about your little set pieces on the shelf give me a serious Dragon Age Origins vibe. I dig it; keep up the good work.
that hammer you have there looks exactly like the magic bell hammer that my players are looking for. it's called Sunder and is the only object strong enough to ring the bell because it's made of the heaviest matter possible, but looks like a normal brass bell.
absolute top quality D&D as always...wish I could play with you and your group!
This is Fantastic.
I can't wait to listen to all your other vids!
Thanks for this work you put in.
@Runehammer What's the awesome background music here?
stuff I made waay back when
Glorious as always. It's an expected thing, the epic battle with the dragon. Yet somehow as this video is shown it's often under-sold by the DM. It's a freakin' dragon. It has lived for possibly thousands of years. But somehow we treat it like some glorified ogre, that just wades into battle and swats at things.
It's good to know I'm not alone in messing it up. There's a certain pang of guilt you get after your dragon was slain with relative ease, and you want so badly to say "I want a do-over!", or as my group says, "Groundhog it". Because you played the dragon so poorly you just feel disgusted with yourself.
+OnyxZephyr333 as long as you learn, mistakes are good!
Love this. Especially the AI nodes
More room design, please?!
That sounds like it was a truly epic showdown!
HAHAHAH I never laugh at chipmunk voices, but damn that numb singing at the end hahah
Awesome! Great tips again as always, thanks for sharing.
I didn't skip the commercial so you get that monetized appreciation...30 seconds of my life
+James Wagner lol
An interesting suggestion I intend to put into an adventure: a dragon or similarly gargantuan piece of winged death not as an adversary, but an environmental hazard. Instead of fighting the dragon (or in my case an ice phoenix), have the adventure happen around its lair, with the PCs dealing with a completely different threat while the dragon is breathing fire and casting magic at both sides, forcing the combatants to hide behind various objects to avoid damage on two fronts.
yisss!
In the current campaign I'm running, The chromatic and metallic dragons are in the middle of a heated war, and the general populace are considered 'collateral damage'. There will be instances were two dragons are deep in combat over a town, and the PC's have to fight the fires, save the civilians and avoid falling debris while the battle goes on overtop. Hope it'll be epic!
sgste I like that. With what I'm planning, which I've dubbed "Aerie of the Ice Phoenix," the PCs have to get to the top of an ancient temple to stop a cult from doing the same, since the cult wants a special ice crystal that can only be found in the ice phoenix's next (which is actually its egg) that can be used for a major ritual. The PCs arrive, but the cult is ahead of them, and it's a race to the top, with several fights between the two, during which the ice phoenix will be attacking both sides for being so close to its nest.
Also if either group takes the crystal, not even killing the phoenix will stop it from hunting them down.
This is pretty epic, man! Dungeon World should handle this without a hitch.
Another great Episode, Thanks for sharing!
My DM decided to send the group in the dragon campaign a troll-blooded red dragoness who always does a ninja trick of sorts when she'd be dealt the final blow, switching out for a red herring dragon.
ouch..that works once..but hell my group chained a dragon down to keep it from escaping cuz escaping is ew
The dragon, the DM decided, always escapes somehow, even with dimensional anchor.
i wish!
Drunkens & Dragons: Play D&D Like a Badass
Careful! The one rule my group has, no matter the campaign, is not to say that word! The DM usually messes with wishes; I would often act like the literal genie when it comes to wishes. Best word your wish-away the heavily-injured tarrasque carefully.
Great video. as a DM for years on end (because apparently nobody in the vaccinity wants to DM except me) i have learned not to be dumb as well. people often think its a tactic game made for players to win it. but on the contrary you have to think that th egame is tactical for the players and it can be for the DM as well. focussing fire on one character is a good thing if you have multiple players. its not just good for the players. it works for the DM as well. so you have no choice but to act based on what your players do. being brainless may works for zombies and undead creatures with no wisdoms and intellect. but for brilliant creatures... you should abusve their techniques and use those tech at the right time.
they fought a baby dragon once... heck even baby dragons are intelligent enough to know how to fight. that baby never dropped once. it just breathed flew away and breathed again. then after the players have noticed how to not be close to each others... he flew close enough to the side to actually fight head to head with one of the player trying to snatch it away. so my players were forced to back out and find another way of doing this. because for now the only one doing real damage was the warlock with eldritch blast cantrip. the others were stuck. in the end as they fought the baby dragon just flew away, too much damage.
it was an insane game where both parties had to switch up strategies here and there. it was an awesome game. so yeah dont be too technical either depending on your monster, but dont be dumb. there is no aggro tables like in video games, so dont stick to the tank just because hes the tank, if hes too hard to kill chances are your monster will change target. if your target can get out of range by flying, why would it stay there and fight if it can back off. why would your monster be forced to fight underwater if it can go deep and enslave. yeah dont play dumb, change strategies if soemthing doesn't work out.
I love the fucking AI chart. That is totally bad ass. I will definitely incorporate that in my campaigns.
i love your videos me and my friends started playing d&d i always reference your videos to my friends keep up the AMAZING content so i can play d&d like a big ol badass!!!! :)
Watched this video and MASHED the SUB button!
Dude.. your campaign sounds awesome!
+AJ Pickett (The Mighty Gluestick) an awesome mess lol
The best kind. I also love to have some sort of creeping doomsday element going on in the background, I think it adds to the sense of urgency in the game.
we have a few of those...there are 9 plotlines called "the 9 winds"
Damn I wish I would've found this video BEFORE my PCs raped me... They're really getting into Dragons at this point, and I think I will take the addage "Blow them up to shit" to heart.
Well my Character found a book that told him how to make an amulet then a spell apeared in the book i found that lets me turn into a chromatic dragon of my level once a day for as long as i want 1-4 Black Dragon, 5-8 Ice (poison got skipped because of the nature of the spell book and player choices I'll elaborate in a reply to this comment.), 9-12 Electric, 13-16 Thorn, and 17-20 fire dragon (again with a little twist upon turning lvl 20)
The DM made up 7 tomes that first describe how to make an amulet (they all have this) then you'll be told how turn into and reverse a second form. It also teleports you to the area where the most of your kind is so it teleported me to high mountain where hundreds of dragons live and I was mentored by the elder dragon how to control my dragon form. My sister turned into a demon and my friend turned undead. The twist upon turning lvl 20 i can become a deity dragon on the level of Tiamat, and my sister will turn to a max level demon, and my friend will turn into a lich (highest level undead). After we become lvl 20 and achieve deity status we'll have to kill the current god for control our kind so upon me turning lvl 20 I'll fight Tiamat with enough power to take her on head to head.
That fucking ending omg lmao!
You just got yourself a subscriber.
Talking about the terrain being too big and causing issues...I have a fix I'm going to try. I'm building a turntable to set my board on. I'm using a bearing out of an old hay-baler and sandwiching it in between two plywood discs. I'm thinking that when it's a player's turn, they can spin (gently) the board around for optimal viewing. Might work, might not...gonna give it a shot and see what happens.
This was very helpful. Especially the Ai chart. Thanks alot
I love that fire painting, I want one lol
Very good as always.
Great advice, I'm writing a book, may steal some of your material.
lol
Nice video! Twin dragons--fun indeed. Have you seen Level 10 of The Emerald Spire, where there is a set of two identical dragons (except one is missing an eye, if the PCs notice)? It looks like the same dragon keeps diving into the lava and reemerging, fully healed...good times!
Another great video ---very cool ideas.
so my party is in the feydark, i have written that their is a small pinhole sized gate to the far realms there, and there will be a void dragon to be fought, who must be killed and will inevitably blow the strange almost maddening, yet captivating stonewall that seperates the feydark from the far realms. because when the void dragon dies its collapsing star trait will activate and destroy the magical barriers holding the gnarly fucked up horrors of the far realms and release upon the planes to do what they will. my PC's are only 2 lvl 10 and 2 lvl 12 characters. i have come up with a plan however. i have made a dragonborn sorcerer, that is secretly a shapechanged gold dragon. who's lair was built here on purpose, to help keep the gate safe and well guarded. the sorcerer is only level 14 as to not raise to much suspicion, i am letting one of the players run the sorcerer, until he needs to change back into his beautiful gold dragon self to help the party defeat the void dragon trying to rip a hole in the multiverse. my question is this: should i stop now and do something else or do you think that with the gold dragons help, my under leveled pcs will survive, or am i being a bad DM and building encounters that are too rough?
i would like to add that there are still a few sessions between then and now, and they have more than enough opportunity to gain atleast 1 level maybe 2. party is lvl 10 Ranger Monster slayer, lvl 10 Druid circle of the moon, lvl 12 Druid circle of spores/wild soul barbarian 6 lvl's of each (UA), and a lvl 12 Barbarian totem of the chicken hawk XD
if they are level 10 nothing is beyond them. always build over-power, never nerf or provide flimsy npc aid. let the story change... let the players go around or be destroyed... you shouldnt have 'plans' they should
HINT.... Go to Dungeon World 2 Drinkin Review at 25: 58 before you watch this video...or after... because he talks about combining Dungeon World text nuggets with D&D statistics in order to create a cool ass dragon AI thingamabob to use as a tool to role-play your favorite dragon...
how would you play a death tyrant that has recently taken over a palace in the heart of a metropolis, whose undead minions are being beaten back and the party is coming up from beneath the palace like you did.
lol... i would do anything NOT to directly engage, but be within viewing distance as my minions pecked at them..
How the hell this has so few views '-' this is amazing
Just subscribed today, good stuff man.
Some groups might also deal with 3d a bit better than others as well. If players have been around that kind of thing more, they might take it a bit more easily. Either way, I do kind of like it. Better in my opinion than a very bland 2d map sometimes. I would say, keep it for the epic/ boss battles.
Great video.
Awesome stuff.
When I used a dragon for the first time (Pathfinder) as a big boss in my campaign I purposely setup the encounter in an armory warehouse style building. The dragon was disguised as the queen and I wanted to flavor the encounter so that the party felt like they had caught her out of her element. So flight was ignored, this was also part of the balancing I was using to throw an adult dragon at my level 4 or 5 adventurers. It worked out okay, but I could see how including those flight tactics would really amp up the energy of the encounter. One question I ran into was knowing how many breath attacks to use, if they needed to recharge, etc. What I did in the moment was just decided the dragon had 4 breath attacks, but I have also heard of a recharge system where you have to roll a 5 or 6 on a d6 to recharge the breath weapon to use it again. What are your thoughts on that?
f the rules. DRAGONS BREATHE FIRE...unleash hell
I really like your videos they are very informative, If i were to make one suggestion, you dont need backround music, your voice, body language, humor, and intelligent ideas are enough to hold my attention.
Great vid. Awesome advice.
Have you tried Viking Blod mead? Comes in a clay bottle and is about 19%. It's good for what ails ya... ...if what ails you is sobriety. Great dragon video! I'm getting Red Hand of Doom going and therefore have dragons on the brain. Good stuff.
+Joshua Watson yeh that stuff si great...but a bit thick
What an awesome battle! :D By the way, did you ditch the recharge mechanism? (It could affect the AI/combos)
yep...
Runehammer Making Dragon battles AWESOME! They way they were meant to be! 😀
what kind of schnapps was that? edit: oh, Jager. but man its so sweet
Great tips! Thanks.
What sort of Schnapps did you say to get? I am a dwarf me self and want to drink dwarven wine while DMing!! :D
+lzrdkng jaeger!
Sleeping Gas.. what was the DC and how long were they asleep for?
is this in the dungeon master guide?
yehp...i think 15, 1 round
Man I wish I heard this before my party killed my drake in 4 rounds.. Poor Serinox he will be avenged by his brother one day thanks to this video, his much stronger Brother Named Strabo
+Seth Weber bend the rules! make him undead/regenerative/remote controlled or some crazy
Where did you get that sword for your cavern?
So... do you ignore the recharge on the breath weapon? How well that AI strategy would work would depend on rolling the right number for the recharge. NOt that I would blame you for ignoring it, I'm just asking.
+Christian Oliver IGNORE in exchange for NOT doing legendary actions.
Sounds like a good trade!
I'd probably go back to the way 2E did it and have it recharge once every three rounds. The other way is quite interesting too though.
dragons breathe fire.
5:47 HA! ("cue bad ass battle music...'grrrrr. i'll kill ya! i'll kill ya!'...totally awesome but crippled my whole strategy")...i think it would be cool as a DM if the players outsmarted me or surprised me somehow...
6:55 The video-gamey AI chart...I like that idea...it reminds me of something like the "tactics" on the monster cards in the D&D board games (Legend of Drizzt, Castle Ravenloft, Wrath of Ashardalon & Temple of Elemental Evil)...but not quite...on those cards, there is no battle rhythm but the action is based upon their relationship to the PCs in physical space...things like, if too far away then move closer to nearest PC, if next to PC then bite, etc...Those games need that because there is no DM...But AI still can be useful...
8:58 PC counter-dragon tactics...spread out when you know breath weapon coming...contract when you think a claw-claw-bite (old school) coming.
12:57 I like the transparent dragon elevator riser thingamabob, but those rust maggots sound yucky...so, i don't like them...but it is kinda neat how when the dragon flies over them they fall off and give them one more thing to deal with...
13:10 Narrative stuff inspired by Dungeon World combined with the D&D numbers... (i.e., step 3 in the summary below)
15:40 The summary, how to play a dragon: (1) make your AI, (2) improve your AI so it rocks, (3) write down your dragon with a set of semi-narrative moves, (first 4th tip) make it scary by threatening death or even a TPK, and (second 4th tip) use flight because that is how dragons would fight -- dragons will use flight to elude melee attacks and really harass the players...but if they enrage the beastoid, then bring the dragon on the ground and go double duty live gonzo with the role-play threats (e.g., "I want your blood on my fingernails")....
19:40 thank goodness for Melf, right? freakin' genius. i'll bet he wrote when he read.
+Violet Deliriums One more thing....I'll bet you could apply this strategy for just about any big big boss...I mean, my big big boss is kind of predictable when he comes down and leaps through levels of the hierarchy and engages me on this high priority project that he is impatient about...He has sort of an AI or something...but it could also maybe apply to some sort of flea-infested vampire with bad breath...right? you could go (1) flap wings and fleas fall off in the players hair and start making them itch causing disadvantage, and vampire goes up in air, (2) swoop down do a flying claw attack then fly back up in the darkness, (3) land behind some party member and when they turn around say "bluh bluh, i vant to drink your blood" and breathe that stinky gingivitis-cigar breath on someone so they puke if they don't save vs. constitution, (4) bite attack, suck blood....then repeat.... it would be like going to work or something...
Love your tattoos I forget the language it is but it looks dwarvish 😂
Subscribed!
First! Haha! Wait...dragons! Arrhhhhggg, last, last, last
How do you record your audio? I don't see any mics.
+Porco Dragão i have a rode on the camera
After the first melee, did you just take attacks of opportunity as the dragon flew up to do the sleep gas?
Also, this video, like almost all your videos, is awesome. You should do more "How to play [monster]".
And does it say "DM battle TTIP" at the beginning? Are you promoting some New World Order shit? :)
+ah1785 lol my damn spelling errors. and YES on AOO's on taking flight..that's why I started just hovering!
Who disliked this?
dude, 5 minutes in please give me the tips that I came for
The man has to gets his brew first.
This is still too soft. Something like a Dragon or a Lich is smarter than you and puts a lot of thought into not dying. In your case maybe the dragons subconsciously wanted to die to make the pain stop, but in general the most likely outcome of challenging a Dragon should be TPK.
Dragons live long and are patient. They don't even have to land and melee (and certainly not do it again after trying and getting hit for 50+ HP). They can just circle strafe, use breath weapon as often as possible and use spells or even staves and wands. A lot of murderhobos only have one melee weapon and no ranged weapon at all, so in the air the Dragon mostly needs to worry about the magic user and one guy with a bow. Pinning the PCs for a few hours or days, while telepathically commanding minions to come and fight is a more reasonable option than landing and going into melee.
Mind control / suggestion on the biggest warrior type (with poor will save) is a great idea, especially if the instructions are to grab the magic user or run into the open.
A Dragon would have minions (Kobolds, etc.), alarm spells and other means to detect intruders early and would fight them on his terms and not just wait until they get in his lair.
If the PCs are winning, the Dragon should teleport away, heal up and return with a few family members to get vengeance.
If the PCs kill a Dragon, other Dragons in the area would learn about it and want to divide the hoard among themselves, and not let these audacious humans keep it.
Oh yeah, and if you see a juvenile Dragon, run like hell. You don't want to face the fury of his mother.