Combat rating 14

June 23, 2024

YOUNG RED DRAGON: How to Use Brute Force Properly

The red dragon is of the worldview that strength (meaning might) is the only important attribute, and that clever approaches are the methods of weaklings. This means that any interesting encounters with them will require either the use of homebrew, or convenient terrain. Continue reading

attacker (CR 8-10), independent

Combat rating 12, Combat rating 14, Combat rating 17, Combat rating 20, difficulty 11, dragons, homebrew
May 28, 2024

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

guardian (CR 8-10), independent

Combat rating 10, Combat rating 11, Combat rating 14, Combat rating 16, difficulty 10, dragons, social encounter
March 21, 2024

YOUNG BLACK DRAGON: The Swamp Dragon

(Yes, I am going to write a separate article for every single dragon in the Monster Manual.) For the first time ever, I am letting myself change the order of the monsters in the Monster Manual slightly. I see the young dragon of each type as the dragon’s most basic, the adult with its extra… Continue reading

guardian (CR 5-7), independent

battlemap, Combat rating 10, Combat rating 12, Combat rating 14, Combat rating 8, difficulty 8
February 22, 2024

TYRANNASAURES REX: A Dumb Beast, and an Epic Boss

The tyrannosaurus rex is 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 T. Rex already has. I can’t name ten monsters in the… Continue reading

animal, boss battle (8-10)

Combat rating 10, Combat rating 11, Combat rating 14, Combat rating 16, difficulty 6, difficulty 7, difficulty varies, dinosaurs
January 17, 2024

HORNED DEVIL: How to Use the Devil’s Laziness

or the sake of this article, I am going to assume the horned devil was assigned to watch an entrance. It can be to a magic item, to a portal, or to anything else worth protecting. Continue reading

guardian (CR 11-16)

Combat rating 14, Combat rating 16, Combat rating 19, Combat rating 20, devils, difficulty 13
January 1, 2024

CHAIN DEVIL: How to Maximise Animated Chains

My combat encounters are going to revolve around various ways to use the animate chains ability, but before we get into that, I want to discuss his unnerving face reaction. Continue reading

guardian (CR 8-10), minion

Combat rating 10, Combat rating 11, Combat rating 14, Combat rating 16, devils, difficulty 10, difficulty 11, difficulty 9
December 18, 2023

YOCHLOL: Dangers of the Yochlol’s Web

The yochlol comes with one of the strangest abilities in D&D. It has the ability to turn into a cloud of toxic mist, with will render anyone inside it poisoned, making it harder for them to attack and easier for them to be attacked. Continue reading

guardian (CR 8-10), minion

battlemap, Combat rating 12, Combat rating 14, Combat rating 17, Combat rating 20, demons, difficulty 11, social encounter, traps
November 27, 2023

HERZOU: Trapping PCs in a Tight Spot

The hezrou actually does have an optimal fighting method, thanks to its poison effect. It wants to be as close to as many of its enemies as possible, so as to maximize the poison condition it causes. Continue reading

guardian (CR 8-10), minion

Combat rating 10, Combat rating 11, Combat rating 14, Combat rating 16, demons, difficulty 9, puzzle
September 13, 2023

CLOAKER: Masters of the Tactical Ambush

Scenario: Cloakers depend of taking their prey by surprise. They are also fairly intelligent. One way of taking their prey by surprise is to creep along behind them, as suggested here. Another way that they might fight is by taking advantage of the fact that they look like cloaks. Continue reading

ally (CR 8-10), attacker (CR 8-10), guardian (CR 8-10), independent

Combat rating 10, Combat rating 11, Combat rating 14, Combat rating 16, difficulty 10, difficulty 6, difficulty 9, puzzle
June 15, 2023

BEHIR: Forcing the Players Into Making a Deadly Pursuit

The behir’s strategy is simple. It will ambush the PCs, constrict one of them the first turn, drag them to a safe[er] area if possible, and swallow during the second turn. After that, it will flee through a tunnel. Continue reading

animal, attacker (CR 11-16)

Combat rating 14, Combat rating 16, Combat rating 19, Combat rating 20, difficulty 10

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.

Dragon Encounters

Combat rating 14

YOUNG RED DRAGON: How to Use Brute Force Properly

YOUNG BLACK DRAGON: The Swamp Dragon

TYRANNASAURES REX: A Dumb Beast, and an Epic Boss

HORNED DEVIL: How to Use the Devil’s Laziness

CHAIN DEVIL: How to Maximise Animated Chains

HERZOU: Trapping PCs in a Tight Spot

CLOAKER: Masters of the Tactical Ambush

BEHIR: Forcing the Players Into Making a Deadly Pursuit

About Me

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