DM Help Only Encounter of the Day - Increasing CR to compensate? (D&D 3.5) [Archive]

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NapazTrix

2016-02-22, 09:34 AM

Lv 12s - Dragon Shaman | Duskblade/Kensai
Lv 11s - Barbarian/Warrior/Bear Warrior | Warblade
Party level = 11.5
- While they lack a "healer" they do have healing belts each on top of potions etc.

Black Dragon Adult is CR 11
Black Dragon Mature Adult is CR 14

So the party have just finished a major battle, got a very over-priced weapon and decided to trade it in for better Magic Items, enchanting their own weapons with some Scrolls and potions to boot.

They are fully healed and stocked for battle and they are heading off to meet with a Dragon as the Dragonborn of the party has been falling to his Human side too much and is pretty much an outcast in the Dragon-Kin society.

Side note: The Bear Warrior is capable of around 65(magic mouthpick greatsword)30(natural) min damage per turn since they are a glass cannon.

My question is, again like most times a judgement call, should I increase the CR of the Dragon they meet to compensate for them being at full resources, recently buffed up and having it be the only battle of the day? Knowing the Dragonborn he will most likely attack it on sight.
I've already accounted for RP reasons a the Dragon is meant to be old (in comparison) to other dragons.

Knowing the XP and effort taken to fight the "older" dragon I believe the party would enjoy that fight a lot more, but without actually facing them against it, it is hard to know if it's too powerful.

Also I hear a lot about Dragons being overused or underplayed so it's more of a sensitive matter rather than your everyday Goblin or Orc.

waccio

2016-02-22, 10:55 AM

+3 above APL is beatable.
Remember that any dragon standing on the ground is no CR at all vs +8 attacks/round.

Flickerdart

2016-02-22, 11:00 AM

Andreaz

2016-02-22, 11:06 AM

I would recommend using more monsters, rather than single stronger monsters. You risk having the dragon fall off the RNG, or get crushed by action disadvantage, and it's hard to reliably find the middle ground. Give the dragon some kobold minions with PC levels, children (half-dragons, dragonspawn, or younger black dragons) or just use a pair of adult dragon mates.

I have done all three and can vouch for its quality. Pitted an apl 8 group against a cr 10 dragon and cr 6 and cr 2 minions enough to fill a cr 12 quota. They had the time of their lives.

NapazTrix

2016-02-22, 11:36 AM

I'm liking the idea of several monsters, though due to RP and area I would think Naga are better suiting to the situation.

So an Adult Dragon(cr11) and 3 Water Naga(cr7) making the encounter level 13.

Unless there are better water-based enemies to throw at them.

AnachroNinja

2016-02-22, 07:20 PM

It's worthwhile to remember, even if the characters are only going to have a single encounter with this enemy, be sure that an alliance between the dragon and it's minions seems plausible. They don't need to know that there's a centuries long pact between the dragon and Naga clans, but it's easy to break verisimilitude with quirky monster combos.

That said, I fully agree with the minion concept on the whole. Consider a mid level caster who can throw out some BFC or debuffs so that way you can have a little in game control of the pace of combat. It's very easy to have a varied spell list that you can adapt if they are doing to well or to poorly. Good luck!

Flickerdart

2016-02-23, 10:20 AM

It's very easy to have a varied spell list that you can adapt if they are doing to well or to poorly. Good luck!
This is an excellent point, and a good way to adapt Schroedinger's Wizard into a game. The wizzo cast a spell that turns out to have crippled half the party? What a shame, I guess he didn't prepare a second one so he can't finish the job. Instead, all he has is this Fort-negates spell, and the only target in range is the fighter.