Dragon Encounters

Combat scenarios for every monster, allowing them to utilize their combat potential to the fullest for the first time ever.

Table of Contents

Note: When a title has the and symbol [&] it contains general advice for D&D, other titles are marked with a column [:] followed by a brief description of the main encounter.

2023

April 29 AARACOCKRA & Making Allies, Dissuading Allies, Using Allies Properly
May 4 ABOLETH: Strategies for the Masters of Enslaving
May 4 DEVA & How to Run Tests of Character In D&D
May 9 PLANATAR: Cross-Examining the Players’ Motives
May 9 SOLAR: Tactics for Outdoor and Indoor Fighting
May 11 ANIMATED ARMOR: How to Make the Mundane Special
May 15 FLYING SWORD: Having it Defend or Take Down a Bridge
May 23 RUG OF SMOTHERING: Setting the Trap
May 25 ANKHEG: Four Ways to use for Burrowing Monsters
May 28 AZER: Turning its Terrain Into a Hazard
June 1 BANSHEE: How to Combine Fear and Incorporeal Movement
June 8 BASILISK: Exploring the Consequences of Fighting Blind
June 15 BEHIR: Forcing the Players Into Making a Deadly Pursuit
June 22 BEHOLDER & Ideas For Challenging Pit Traps
June 26 DEATH TYRANT: Fighting While Defending a Crowd of People
June 29 SPECTATOR: Optimizing it With Simple Fences
July 6 NEEDLE BLIGHT & How to Homebrew a Monster in Two-Minutes
July 10 TWIG BLIGHT: Attackers That Can Come From Nowhere
July 13 VINE BLIGHT: Making Grapple More Dangerous, or More Inescapable
July 17 BUGBEAR: Ideas for Sneak Attacks
July 20 BUGBEAR CHIEFTAIN: One-Round Challenges
July 27 BULETTE: How to Use in Plot and in Combat
July 27 BULLYWUG: Making Crossing Rivers Difficult
August 3 CAMBION & How to Run Mysteries in DnD
August 10 CARRION CRAWLER: The Monster on the Ceiling
August 17 CENTAUR: Tactics of Horse Archers
August 24 CHIMERA: A Fight to the Death
August 31 CHUUL: Crazy Collecters, and a Ruined House
September 13 CLOAKER: Masters of the Tactical Ambush
September 14 Announcement
September 14 COCKATRICE: Laying Traps With Cockatrices
September 21 COUTAL: The Hidden Advisor
September 28 CRAWLING CLAW: Using These CR 0’s as Flavor and as Foes
September 28 Announcement
October 12 CYCLOPS: Using Poor Depth Perception to Make him Deadlier
October 19 DARKMANTLE: Traps and Obstacles in the Dark
October 26 DEATH KNIGHT 1: A Duel of Questionable Honor
October 29 Death knight 2: As Leader of the Conquering Army
October 31 DEMILICH: A Glass Cannon Foe, and How to Use Him
November 2 Special article 1: Trap Ideas
November 5 BALOR: Using a Volcanic Eruption in DnD
November 7 Return of the Balrog
November 9 BARLGURA: King of the Mountaintop
November 13 CHASME & How to Run Pursuit by a Large Force
November 16 DRETCH: Must be Killed Before it Gets Close
November 20 GLABREZU: Deadly as a Friend, Lethal as a Foe
November 22 A Deadly Friend: How to Play Corruption in DnD
November 23 GORISTRO: How to Use Mazes and Forced Movement
November 27 HERZOU: Trapping PCs in a Tight Spot
November 30 MANES: Using the Manes’ Unique Powers
December 4 MARALITH: Pinning Down the PCs With Attacks of Opptunity
December 5 NALFSHNEE: Talking Fancy and Fighting Dirty
December 7 QUASIT & Making Familiars and Other NPCs Interesting
December 11 SHADOW DEMON & How to Use Hiding
December 14 VROCK: A Harrying Attacker and a Treasure Raider
December 18 YOCHLOL: Dangers of the Yochlol’s Web
December 21 BARBED DEVIL: Why Devils Need to Pay for Souls
December 25 BEARDED DEVIL: Basic Tactics, and Strategic Positions
December 28 BONE DEVIL & Taking Care of a Group of Commoners

2024

January 1 CHAIN DEVIL: How to Maximise Animated Chains
January 9 ERINYES: Fighting the Furies in a Burning House
January 17 HORNED DEVIL: How to Use the Devil’s Laziness
January 18 ICE DEVIL: Making Proper Use of the Ice Wall
January 21 IMP: How to Make Really Bad Bargains
January 23 LEMURE: Monster, Obstacle, and Victim (With Flames)
January 25 PIT FIEND: Master of the Hells
January 30 SPINED DEVIL: Messenger, Sentry, and Quick-Moving Attacker
February 1 ALLOSAURUS: Hunted by a pack of dinosaurs
February 6 ANKLYOSAURUS: Using an Adversary That Just Wants to be Left Alone
February 8 PLESIOSAURUS: Trapped on the Dinosaur’s Back
February 14 PTERANODON: Watch Your Balance
February 15 TRICERATOPS: Charge of the Triceratops
February 22 TYRANNASAURES REX: A Dumb Beast, and an Epic Boss
February 29 DISPLACER BEAST: Making Full Use of the Displacment Ability
March 7 DOPPELGANGER: How to use an Impersonator in DnD
March 21 YOUNG BLACK DRAGON: The Swamp Dragon
March 28 ADULT BLACK DRAGON: 3 Ways to use the Swamp as a Deadly Trap
March 31 ANCIENT BLACK DRAGON: Fighting is the Ruins
April 4 BLACK DRAGON WYRMLING: Using Darkness and Fog as Weapons
April 15 Prisoners of a Dragon:
April 18 YOUNG BLUE DRAGON: Master of Tactical Fighting
April 18 Announcment
May 2 ADULT BLUE DRAGON: Defenses Inside and Outside the Lair
May 9 ANCIENT BLUE DRAGON: The Ultimate Boss Dragon
May 16 BLUE DRAGON WYRMLING: Ideal Terrain to Make the Dragon Deadly
May 20 Allies of an Evil Dragon
May 28 YOUNG GREEN DRAGON: How to Run Parley and Combat
May 30 ADULT GREEN DRAGON: Threats, Trickery, Minions, and Magic,
June 6 ANCIENT GREEN DRAGON: Master of the Subtle Trap
June 10 GREEN DRAGON WYRMLING: Fighting While Caught in a Trap
June 16 On a Quest for an Evil Dragon
June 23 YOUNG RED DRAGON: How to Use Brute Force Properly
June 27 ADULT RED DRAGON: Battle of the Burning City
July 4 ANCIENT RED DRAGON: HOW TO FIGHT WITH FIRE
July 11 RED DRAGON WYRMLING: Protect the Treasure, and the House
July 15 To Fight a Dragon: Part 1. Survival
July 18 To Fight a Dragon: Part 2. How to Kill a Dragon
July 25 YOUNG WHITE DRAGON: Attacks of the Master Hunter
August 1 ADULT WHITE DRAGON: Defenses of the Frozen Lair
August 8 ANCIENT WHITE DRAGON: Weapons of the Artic Cold
August 12 WHITE DRAGON WYRMLING: How to Defend a Low-Level Lair
August 15 Dragon Homebrew: Ideas to Make Each Dragon Unique
September 8 How to Run Horror in Dungeons and Dragons
September 12 SHADOW DRAGON: Unleashing terror From Amidst the Darkness
September 22 YOUNG BRASS DRAGON: Battles of Lies and Fire
September 27 ADULT BRASS DRAGON & Uses for a Powerful Non-combatant
October 6 ANCIENT BRASS DRAGON: The Hidden King and His Deadly Domain
October 10 BRASS DRAGON WYRMLING: Hostile in the Heart of Flames
October 31 YOUNG BRONZE DRAGON & How to Use Allies Without Overshadowing Players
November 17 ADULT BRONZE DRAGON & Fighting Alongside a Powerful Ally
November 24 ANCIENT BRONZE DRAGON: How to Defend an Island Lair
December 3 BRONZE DRAGON WYRMLING: Hidden in the Mist
December 5 YOUNG COPPER DRAGON: The Comedian and the Crumbling Cliff

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.

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