Combat rating 11
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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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YOUNG BRONZE DRAGON & How to Use Allies Without Overshadowing Players
How to Avoid an Overpowered Ally I already gave several reasons for why the dragon isn’t accompanying them on their quest, or fighting it for them. (Having an NPC accompany the players is generally a mistake. Even more so if it’s more powerful than the players, an thereby stealing the spotlight. [The young bronze dragon… Continue reading
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YOUNG BRASS DRAGON: Battles of Lies and Fire
How to Use – Avoiding an Overpowered Ally And so, after twenty-seven articles, we come to the good dragons. As is my typical style for good-alignment monsters, we’ll start with the reasons why the PCs are the ones getting sent on the quest, and why the much more powerful good monster isn’t doing it for… Continue reading
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YOUNG WHITE DRAGON: Attacks of the Master Hunter
How to Use: Combat Encounters for the White Dragon (difficulty 8) As mentioned in the Monster Manual, what the white dragon lacks in size, strength, and intelligence, he makes up for in natural instincts. He is a master hunter, especially in its already deadly terrain. Here’s how to use that terrain to the nastiest advantage.… Continue reading
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YOUNG GREEN DRAGON: How to Run Parley and Combat
With the green dragon, we have a unique type of dragon, in that it will try to avoid fighting when it can. Continue reading
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YOUNG BLUE DRAGON: Master of Tactical Fighting
How to Use a Blue Dragon: Combat Encounter Tactics (difficulty 10) The blue dragon is a strategist. It will take note of any weaknesses in its opponents, and fight accordingly. This means that against a group of melee PCs, if will strafe them with its breath, and forgo attacking on the rounds that it can’t… Continue reading
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TYRANNASAURES REX: A Dumb Beast, and an Epic Boss
The tyrannosaurus rex is an exciting boss to face, given its rep. In fact, it’s one of those rare monsters that will be exciting encounter just on the strength of their name, or reputation. With other monsters, there are various ways to make them exciting, but they won’t measure up to the reputation that the… Continue reading
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TRICERATOPS: Charge of the Triceratops
Have the players enter a clearing, ringed about by dead thorns, possibly as high as their waists, possibly higher than their heads. 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.