Dragon Encounters

I already discussed in the last article how to use and not use the copper dragon’s sense of humor. I also mentioned that this dragon is closer to neutral than good, and that therefore there is probably no need to find reasons for the dragon not to join the party when you don’t want it to. It won’t help unless it sees doing so to be in its own self-interest.

How to Use – Combat Encounters, basic

The copper dragon has two lair actions, and they both restrict movement, as does the dragon’s breath weapon. This seems to suggest that the dragon will adopt a strategy of moving about and evading the players’ reach.

There are two ways this can play out:

1.  The dragon goes after the spellcasters, using its lair actions (and perhaps also its breath weapon. You have to decide if it’s worth the action) to prevent the melee from coming to the rescue and preventing the spellcasters from fleeing.
2. The dragon evades the PCs for as long as possible, ducking from spot to spot, and attacks with its acid breath whenever it becomes available. As it needs to see in order to use its lair actions, you can give it obstacles to hide behind that come with narrow slits for it to look through, or you can place a number of mirrors on the walls.

You can also combine the two ways. Start with option 2, then switch to option 1 once the PCs are more spread out, and probably also low on HP as a result of the acid breath.

Combat encounters, complex

The lair actions also allow for a number of interesting combat situations, as will be seen.

Pillars: (difficulty 15)

 Place a number of decorative pillars within a large room inside the lair. As the pillars aren’t fixed to the roof, the dragon can topple them just by putting its weight against them.

(Depending on the difficulty you want for the encounter, this can take an entire action, this can be achieved with a swipe of its claws or tail as a single attack or legendary action, or the dragon can do this by leaning heavily on the pillar, only costing it movement, not even an attack.)

Being restrained by the mud will obviously interfere with the players’ ability to dodge the falling pillars. Logically, being trapped in a spike growth effect, or being slowed, should also affect that, but as it isn’t said outright it will be homebrew to do so.

Another effect of the pillars falling is that they’re going to remain on the battlefield, cluttering up movement. You can decide between thin, ornate pillars, that the dragon will step over but that will turn their area into difficult terrain for the players, or thick massive pillars, that the dragon will treat as difficult terrain and that the players might need a skill check (athletics/acrobatics, DC 10) to climb onto.

The strategy of the fight with the pillars messing up the battlefield will be the same as the basic fight above, but the lair effects and breath weapon will be all the nastier as the battlefield becomes increasingly cluttered.

In addition to that, you could have decorative balls on top of the pillars. When the pillars are toppled the balls will become a rolling boulder trap. If the dragon aims the pillars before toppling them, that will mean that one or more players will need to make DEX saves to avoid being knocked prone and crushed.

Alternatively, have the pillars be holding up a “Decorative” net on the ceiling. When enough pillars are toppled, the net will fall. Of course, there will be a space at one edge of the room set aside where the net won’t fall, and the dragon will be standing there. The dragon has the intelligence to know when the net is going to fall.

Acid Waterfall: (difficulty 15)

The cavern where the battle takes place is split in two by a thin waterfall of acid, possibly triggered by the dragon at the beginning of the combat. The dragon can move and attack through it as he likes, either using its longer reach to attack or accepting the occasional opportunity attack.

In addition, any time the dragon uses its wing attack, the falling acid will spray out and hit any PCs standing opposite. If they’re knocked prone, they won’t even get to make a saving throw.

Damage wise, the acid won’t be as strong as the dragon’s breath weapon. I’d suggest about a third of the damage.

This idea will combine well with the next idea, if you’re sufficiently sadistic.

(Logically, the dragon could use pumps to cycle the acid back up. Pumps existed since the times of the ancient Greeks, although ancient pumps would need to be operated by manual labor, or in D&D world, by magic.)

Sinking Platform: (difficulty 16)

The entrance to the dragon’s lair, and the area where the combat takes place, is a large circular platform held up by long stilt-like pillars. The area below the pillars is a pit, with walls that are slightly larger than the platform.

As the adventurers enter, the dragon triggers a flood of acid that comes down onto the platform and run down into the pit. Style wise, the dragon can have the acid wash over itself as a demonstration of might, it can be a trap or multiple trats to hurt the PCs, or you can use the acid waterfall mentioned above. 

The acid will naturally flow off the edges of the platform and into the pit below, where it will eat away at the pillars. Assuming sufficiently strong acid, you could have the pillars collapse within a round or two. You could also wait for later in the battle, if you prefer.

Because the pit walls are next to the platform, it won’t flip over. (I rejected that scenario, as it seemed more automatic death than an interesting challenge). Even with the pillars being identical, they won’t fall at an identical rate. Most likely, the side with the most weight will give way first, I.E. whichever side the dragon is on.

The short-term consequence is that the floor tilting unexpectedly could cause them the PCs to lose their balance. (Have them make a DEX save.) If they fall, they might end up rolling toward the dragon, as the ground is now tilted.

The fact that falling prone can cause them to start to roll might also apply later in the combat when the dragon uses its wing attack, especially if the dragon moves to occupy the high ground. This time it will drive them away from the dragon. (Once the platform starts to shift, it seems likely that it will continue to shift to the same side, even after the weight shifts.)

Finally, while the platform won’t sink into the acid at once, it will descend steadily, and the players will want to escape before that happens. If it starts sinking toward the beginning of the combat, the dragon’s frightful presence may well stop PCs escaping until doing so will require a not-insignificant climb, after which escaping before killing the dragon will be very difficult.

To start with, any attempts to climb out will be foiled quite easily with the dragon’s wing attack. Turning the earth to mud will put an end to any attempt to climb on each other’s shoulders, and spike growth will cut ropes, and do damage if they do manage to get to the top.

On the other hand, they may not be able to wait until the dragon is defeated, and if they do it will leave them with a much higher climb, and with very little time left to escape. Although the dragon could always fly up and concentrate on survival, either via dodging or by finding a safe place out of the way (remember that climb movement will let the dragon cling to a wall) and let lair actions and the acid finish them off.

P.s. You could run the encounter by having the acid appear in the area where the pillars are directly, so as to take them entirely by surprise, but that seems less sporting.

99 Barrels on the Wall (difficulty 15)

The room the battle takes place is lined with barrels full of acid, hanging from every wall. If the players use ranged attacks or spells freely, they’ll start to release the acid to spill all over. If they don’t, the dragon’s wing and breath attacks might do that anyway, and they’ll be handicapping themselves for the length of the battle.

A few barrels won’t affect the battle area all that much, of course. Therefore:

Idea 1: Put channels on the floor for the acid to flow along. As barrels break, more and more of these channels will fill up with acid, and the area will become wider. Remember that the dragon’s wing attack can knock them prone, that the lair actions also restrict movement.

Idea 2: Make the floor be a platform, like in the last encounter idea. Unlike there, this platform is square, and is held up on chains instead of pillars. The acid still flows into channels, but the channels aren’t acid proof. As the acid eats through them, parts of the platform may collapse, no longer held up on enough sides.

Idea 3: Have the floor be spongy, prone to sinking in where a weight is on them, such as where the players are standing. Of course, much more will collect around the dragon, given its greater weight, but that just means there will be a small flood whenever the dragon takes to the air and the acid is no longer weighting down the area.

Idea 4: Have the acid gather into depressions, as in bowl-like areas on the ground. Add levers, which the dragon can step on to cause the acid in a depression to be thrown in a certain direction, like pressing down on the side of a spoon

Summary – 6 Ways to Use

1. The copper dragon’s lair actions restrict movement, as does slow breath. If the players spread out, attack the spellcasters while slowing melee reinforcement. If they cluster together, snipe with acid breath while staying out of reach.
2. Have decorative pillars around the combat area. The dragon will use lair actions to trap PCs, then topple pillars onto them. In addition, the fallen pillars will restrict PC movement, making it easier for the dragon to focus its attacks on the squishier PCs.
3. Have a thin acid waterfall splitting the battlefield. The dragon can move in and out of the two sections of the battlefield and will, and the PCs can’t. In addition, any time the dragon uses wing attack, all the PCs opposite will be sprayed with acid.
4. The combat is on a large circular platform held up by pillars. At the beginning of the battle, acid washes down and off the platform. As it eats away at the pillars, the platform will tilt, and then sink. (Place walls at the side so it doesn’t flip over.)
5. The combat takes place on a platform, held up with chains connecting it to nearby walls, and with barrels of acid along the side. If the players fight rashly, the acid will spill, and the platform will fall and perhaps break into pieces.
6. The battle is in a cave, with a ceiling thick with stalactites. Between stalactites are barrels of acid hanging from ropes. The dragon will be using its climb movement to hang among the stalactites, where they can’t really see it unless they’re right below.