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DRACOLICH: How to Use Immortality as an Unfair Cheat
How to Use – Dracolich “Suicide” Tactics Fighting back isn’t the only way a villain can respond to the heroes’ aggression. Another way is to go after a city, or other civilians, forcing the heroes to either risk themselves in order to save the civilians, or to suffer the effects of massive unpopularity. [See below].… Continue reading
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DRIDER: How to Use Darkness and Range in Combat
Three Ways of Running DnD’s Drider: The Temporary Parley Trap, Tactics of the Darkness Spell, and the Drider’s devastating sniper range tactic. How to Use – DnD’s Drider Parley Tactic Advantage of Knowledge of the Drow The drider is the ideal monster with which to set up a drow campaign. As a being who was… Continue reading
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DRAGON TURTLE: Battle of the Living Island
How to Use Combat Encounters Ideas 1 (difficulty 18): Dragon Turtle Island Legends tell of islands that are actually giant sea beasts. This likely inspired D&D’s dragon turtle, and this is my first combat encounter. When setting this up, we’ll immediately run into two problems. The first is that the dragon turtle doesn’t have… Continue reading
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SILVER DRAGON WYRMLING: Climbing for Survival and Chasing Down Caverns
Dnd’s silver dragon wyrmling is weak, but can really hamper movement. Here are four separate encounters built around that. How to Use – Silver Dragon Wyrmling Tactics The best way to use any wyrmling, tactically, is for it to hit them with its breath weapon when available, then use its movement speed to get around… Continue reading
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ANCIENT SILVER DRAGON: Perils of the Fogbound Lair
The silver dragon has a lair that seems simple, but is actually a deadly maze to its enemies. Let’s explore why that is. How to Use – The Silver Dragon’s Lair (difficulty 24) Unlike with the other dragons, the silver dragon’s lair actions are actually better suited for the path to the dragon, as… Continue reading
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2024/2014 Monster Manuals, and What Now?
This is just a brief update to address the issue of the new Monster Manual(2024), and to set blog policy for the way forward. For at least the next year (dating from the release of the Monster Manual 2024), I plan to treat both Monster Manuals as authentic. What will that mean? Changes to Monsters: All… Continue reading
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ADULT SILVER DRAGON: Daring Escapes and Visiting Neglected Areas
D&D’s silver dragons rule the sky. These mountain-top and midair encounters let your players ride beside—or battle—the sky king himself. How to Use & How to Not Use DnD’s Adult Silver Dragon Reasons For the Dragon to Refuse to Help As I’ve already discussed, bringing powerful friendly NPCs into D&D raises the problem of why… Continue reading
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YOUNG SILVER DRAGON: The Race to Freedom
Silver dragons are nearly unbeatable on their home turf—but what if one’s being controlled? In this D&D encounter, your players fight to break the spell. How to Use – Battle Among The Mountain Peaks Combat Encounter (difficulty 12) Silver Dragon Mountain Tactics: Of all possible terrains to fight an intelligent dragon in, mountain is definitely… Continue reading
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GOLD DRAGON WYRMLING: A Garden of Beautiful Traps
D&D’s gold dragons live in splendor, with gardens of stunning color. But don’t mistake beauty for weakness—they know evil all too well. How to Use – A Gold Wyrmling and its Outdoor Defenses Combat Encounter (difficulty 4) Gold dragons live in splendor, with the outer part of their lair scenic gardens, with gently flowing streams… Continue reading
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ANCIENT GOLD DRAGON: Life That is Like a Dream
Let’s look at enchantments the ancient gold dragon can have on its lair, and how they and the lair actions can make the fight unforgettable. How to Use – The Lair of a Gold Dragon Combat Encounters (difficulty 27) This article will be a look at some enchantments the gold dragon might have on its… Continue reading
About Me
I’ve been a DM since I was about 10 years old. (Not of D&D, admittedly, but still.) After growing bored of fights that were all the same, dungeons heavily populated by one monster type, and a general shortage of ideas, I figured I’d embark on my own trip through the Monster Manual, one monster at a time. Feel free to join the quest.