Need: A huge dragon!

[evisiron]

Hi all.

Basically, I have been GMing a pretty epic DnD game for a while now, and the heroes are almost at the end of the road. Basically the entire game has been about getting access to the Vault of the Gods and using the equipment from it to defeat a Col. red dragon who is about to summon an entirely new dark god into the world (which will destroy most of the planet).

However, I suck at making good monsters, and I really don't want the final battle to be an anti-climax. So I was hoping I could gain help from the forums! (not sure if this is right place for it, will move as necessary).

Basically, the Dragon should be around CR30 with some kind of cleric vibe. The players will have passed level 20 and the armour from the Vault will be really powerful (armour with DR/-, Spell resist etc), and will have defeated a tarrasque on route.

If anyone can either post a build for something like this (such as what spells to prepare) or can link to an existing one, please do.

So basically, how would you build up this dragon?

[Caewil]

Well, you start with a great wyrm, then tack on levels of cleric. They're non-associated class levels, so they won't bump the CR up too much. Then top it all off with some nice templates.

As for spells? Go divine metacheese I suppose.

[TheLogman]

Does he have to be alone? I figure at that level, a solo dragon isn't as cool as a dragon and a ton of monsters. He could be a cleric of Tiamat, in which case, he could have all the elements as minions. A gang of fire enemies, that's easy. A gang of every element ever? That's harder. 2 Elder Elementals of each element, plus a few thematically appropriate monsters, a few Huge Black dragons, a some of those nice elemental monsters in the end of MM.

[evisiron]

I was considering a bucketload of minions. Literally. I have a kill of minis that would work nicely for little daemonic imps, backed up with a few of the bigger ones.

Oh, and as a warm up/distraction, the party will be fighting the undead tarrasque they killed before!

[Xefas]

I'll take a swing at statting up the whole thing if you want. It might take a day or two, and it might not be as good as some others on here could do, but I'll put in my best effort.

Any particular venue for this fight? Does it have to be in a big cave, or in a forest, or through the city streets, or on a giant iceberg or something?

[Vhaidara]

Great Wyrm Red Dragon cleric of Tiamat, with minions in the form of younger dragons of all chromatic types! The variety of immunities would make it a little harder.

[Ivius]

Have you considered Psion -> Thrallherd? Sure, it doesn't have a cleric vibe, but maybe a Fiendish or Half-Fiend template template would help.

[Anxe]

Yeah definitely throw the Half-fiend template on to a Great Red Wyrm. To give it a cleric vibe just make it's sorcerer levels Favored soul levels instead. Thats a CR 29 creature right there. I'll start making the stats for it right away.

[Xefas]

Alright, I think I covered everything. The dragon uses the class Unholy Ravager of Tiamat from the Draconomicon to convert all his sorcerer levels into cleric levels to get that clericy feel you wanted. He also has several feats from the Draconomicon, a Domain, and a couple spells.

Now that I think about it, I feel like I should have asked if you owned the Draconomicon beforehand...

Well, the gist of it is that he's a beast with Devastating Critical in close range, and he has a selective aura of silence, and lots of buffing spells (I assume he knows the heroes are coming so he can use these all before the fight starts), and the ability to heal loads. I wrote out both the hit points he'd have as a standard monster, and the maximum possible hit points he could have if you'd like it to be slightly more difficult to wear the thing down. If he's got his horde on hand, feel free to outfit him with magic items for more power.

Its a lot of numbers to keep up with, so if I made a mistake, I'm sorry.

Big World-Ending Dragon
Colossal Dragon (Fire)
HD 40d12+1d8+3d10+572 (853hp [average]) (1090hp [max])
Speed 40 ft.; Fly 200 ft (Clumsy)
Init: +0
AC 41; touch 2; flat-footed 41
(-8 Size, +39 Natural)
BAB +43; Grp +75
Attack Bite +49 (4d8+19)
Full-Attack Bite +49 (4d8+19), 1 Claws +50 (4d6+9, 19-20), 1 Claw +50/+45/+40/+35 (4d6+9, 19-20), 2 Wings +49 (2d8+9), Tail Slap +49 (4d8+28)
Space 30 ft.; Reach 20 ft. (30 ft with Bite)
Special Attacks Breath Weapon, Crush, Frightful Presence, Spell-like Abilities, Spells, Tail Sweep, Rebuke Undead, Aura of Despair
Special Qualities Blindsense 60 ft, DR 20/magic, Darkvision 120 ft, immunity to fire, sleep effects, and paralysis, low-light vision, SR 32, vulnerability to cold
Saves Fort +40 Ref +23 Will +38
Abilities Str 48, Dex 10, Con 36, Int 24, Wis 34, Cha 33
Skills Spot +55, Listen +55, Concentration +59, Intimidate +55, Bluff +54, Use Magic Device +54, Sense Motive +55, Knowledge (History) +51, Knowledge (Arcana) +52, Spellcraft +36, Knowledge (Religion) +52, Knowledge (The Planes) +51, Knowledge (Local) +50
Feats Power Attack, Cleave, Great Cleave, Weapon Focus (Claw), Improved Critical (Claw), Maximize Breath, Recover Breath, Tempest Breath, Overwhelming Critical (Claw), Devastating Critical (Claw), Rapidstrike, Improved Rapidstrike, Spell Penetration, Greater Spell Penetration, Permanent Emanation (Unhallow [Silence])
Challenge Rating 30
Alignment Neutral Evil

Breath Weapon (Su): 70ft cone, 24d10 fire, Reflex 43 half, every 1d4-1 rounds
Maximized Tempest Breath (Su): 70ft cone, 240 fire damage, Reflex 43 half, also causes Tornado force winds (page 95 of the DMG) within the cone of effect, every 1d4+3 rounds
Permanent Emanation (Sp): The Big World-Ending Dragon projects an area of Unhallow 40ft in every direction. In addition, the spell Silence is bound to the Unhallow spell, but it only affects enemies of the Dragon.
Crush (Ex): Area 30ft by 30ft; Large or smaller opponents take 4d8+28 points of bludgeoning damage, and must succeed on a DC 43 Reflex save or be pinned.
Frightful Presence (Ex): 360 ft. radius, HD 39 or fewer, Will DC 41 negates
Aura of Despair (Su): All creatures within the area of the Big World Ending Dragon’s frightful presence also take a -2 penalty on all saving throws. This penalty occurs before the Frightful Presence effect.
Spell-like Abilities: At will- Breath Weapon Substitution; 12/day- Locate Object; 3/day- Suggestion; 1/day- Discern Location, find the path. CL 19th; save DC 21+ spell level
Spells: As 22nd level Cleric
Tail Sweep (Ex): Half-circle 40ft. in diameter, Small or smaller opponents take 2d8+28 points of bludgeoning damage, Reflex DC 43 half
Permanent Effects: The Big World Ending Dragon, possessing of much wealth and knowledge, has acquired and read a Tome of Leadership and Influence +5, and Tome of Understanding +5 during his long life. In addition, he has, through various means, had wizards cast a number of permanency spells for him. The following spells are permanently in effect on the Big World Ending Dragon: Tongues, See Invisibility, Read Magic, Arcane Sight
Cleric Spells per Day: 8+1/8+1/8+1/7+1/7+1/6+1/6+1/5+1/5+1 Destruction and Dragon domains. DC 21 + spell level

Typical Spells Prepared: 1st- Shield of Faith, Protection from Good, Divine Favor, Command, Magic Fang, Entropic Shield, Obscuring Mist, Sanctuary, Doom. 2nd- Shatter, Resist Energy, Bear’s Endurance, Bull’s Strength, Eagle’s Splendor, Zone of Truth, Desecrate, Owl’s Wisdom, Hold Person. 3rd- Greater Magic Fang, Wind Wall, Protection from Energy, Magic Circle Against Good, Dispel Magic, Deeper Darkness, Glyph of Warding, Blindness/Deafness, Animate Dead. 4th- Voice of the Dragon, Death Ward, Dismissal, Spell Immunity, Restoration, Divination, Divine Power. 5th- True Seeing, Break Enchantment, Greater Command, Righteous Might, Plane Shift, Slay Living, Symbol of Pain, Commune. 6th- Stoneskin, Greater Dispel Magic, Blade Barrier, Heal x3, Forbiddance. 7th- Blasphemy, Disintegrate, Regenerate, Greater Scrying, Ethereal Jaunt, Greater Restoration, Destruction. 8th- Mass Suggestion, Unholy Aura, Summon Monster VIII, Dimension Lock, Greater Planar Ally, Greater Spell Immunity. 9th- Dominate Monster, Implosion, Gate, Storm of Vengeance, Miracle, Energy Drain

[Anxe]

Alright guess I don't need to do stats. I'm still working on the hoard though.

[Anxe]

29,138 GP, 1,145 PP, +1 Shadow Adamantite Breastplate, +2 Longsword, 2 Fly Potions, Metamagic Rod of Lesser Extend, Viper Rod, +4 Ghost Touch Light Fortification Improved Electricity and Acid Resistance Heavy Steel Shield, +5 Hide Armor, +3 Moderate Fortification Improved Cold Resistance Heavy Steel Shield, +3 Greataxe, +4 Light Crossbow, +4 Greatsword, +5 Longsword, Remove Blindness/Deafness Potion, Ring of Protection +4, Major Ring of Spell Storing, Ring of Djinni Calling, Wizardy IV Ring, Wizardy III Ring, Wizardy II Ring, Cancellation Rod, Enemy Detection Rod, Arcane Scroll of telekinesis, veil, summon monster VII, vision, Staff of Frost, Staff of Illumination, Staff of Divination, Staff of Power, Staff of Evocation, Wand of Cure Critical Wounds, Wand of Suggestion (4th level), 2 Wands of Polymorph, Wand of Ice Storm, Robe of Stars, Mantle of Faith, Manual of Gainful Exercise +5, Manual of Quickness in Action +3, Apparatus of Kwalish, Gem Prices: (5, 6, 8, 9, 9, 10, 10, 11, 14, 20, 40, 60, 60, 60, 70, 80, 80, 90, 90, 90, 110, 120, 200, 400, 400, 500, 600, 600, 900), Art Prices: (20, 50, 60, 70, 80, 80, 80, 90, 90, 90, 100, 100, 100, 100, 100, 100, 110, 130, 130, 200, 200, 300, 300, 400, 400, 400, 500, 500, 500, 500, 600, 600, 800, 800, 900, 900, 1000, 1000, 1100, 1100, 1300, 1300, 1300, 1300, 1400, 1500, 1500, 1500, 2000, 2000, 4000, 4000, 6000, 6000, 7000)

There's the hoard I rolled up.

[Callix]

If the statted dragon has read tomes, wouldn't he have read the manuals in his hoard? Maybe swap them for equivalent value goodies (like Wings of Flying :smallsmile: a melee guy's best friend).

[Triaxx]

Don't forget that you can increase difficulty by making this a multiple phase battle. Fighting a Collosal dragon on the ground is fun and all, but you can also take the battle to the air, as well as adding Wyverns, and some smaller dragons, blue's and whites, into the mix.

Perhaps prepare two seperate battlegrounds, one in the dragon's lair, then one where the actual temple of the dark god is. Seperate the two with a long running aerial battle. Maybe cover a mile or so, unless you have winged mounts.

[Anxe]

If the statted dragon has read tomes, wouldn't he have read the manuals in his hoard? Maybe swap them for equivalent value goodies (like Wings of Flying :smallsmile: a melee guy's best friend).I would assume he's read the tomes, is wearing a few of the rings, and will use the staff of power, but it's up to the DM to put that stuff in.

[evisiron]

Alright, I think I covered everything. The dragon uses the class Unholy Ravager of Tiamat from the Draconomicon to convert all his sorcerer levels into cleric levels to get that clericy feel you wanted. He also has several feats from the Draconomicon, a Domain, and a couple spells.

Now that I think about it, I feel like I should have asked if you owned the Draconomicon beforehand...

Well, the gist of it is that he's a beast with Devastating Critical in close range, and he has a selective aura of silence, and lots of buffing spells (I assume he knows the heroes are coming so he can use these all before the fight starts), and the ability to heal loads. I wrote out both the hit points he'd have as a standard monster, and the maximum possible hit points he could have if you'd like it to be slightly more difficult to wear the thing down. If he's got his horde on hand, feel free to outfit him with magic items for more power.

Its a lot of numbers to keep up with, so if I made a mistake, I'm sorry.

Big World-Ending Dragon
Colossal Dragon (Fire)
HD 40d12+1d8+3d10+572 (853hp [average]) (1090hp [max])
Speed 40 ft.; Fly 200 ft (Clumsy)
Init: +0
AC 41; touch 2; flat-footed 41
(-8 Size, +39 Natural)
BAB +43; Grp +75
Attack Bite +49 (4d8+19)
Full-Attack Bite +49 (4d8+19), 1 Claws +50 (4d6+9, 19-20), 1 Claw +50/+45/+40/+35 (4d6+9, 19-20), 2 Wings +49 (2d8+9), Tail Slap +49 (4d8+28)
Space 30 ft.; Reach 20 ft. (30 ft with Bite)
Special Attacks Breath Weapon, Crush, Frightful Presence, Spell-like Abilities, Spells, Tail Sweep, Rebuke Undead, Aura of Despair
Special Qualities Blindsense 60 ft, DR 20/magic, Darkvision 120 ft, immunity to fire, sleep effects, and paralysis, low-light vision, SR 32, vulnerability to cold
Saves Fort +40 Ref +23 Will +38
Abilities Str 48, Dex 10, Con 36, Int 24, Wis 34, Cha 33
Skills Spot +55, Listen +55, Concentration +59, Intimidate +55, Bluff +54, Use Magic Device +54, Sense Motive +55, Knowledge (History) +51, Knowledge (Arcana) +52, Spellcraft +36, Knowledge (Religion) +52, Knowledge (The Planes) +51, Knowledge (Local) +50
Feats Power Attack, Cleave, Great Cleave, Weapon Focus (Claw), Improved Critical (Claw), Maximize Breath, Recover Breath, Tempest Breath, Overwhelming Critical (Claw), Devastating Critical (Claw), Rapidstrike, Improved Rapidstrike, Spell Penetration, Greater Spell Penetration, Permanent Emanation (Unhallow [Silence])
Challenge Rating 30
Alignment Neutral Evil

Breath Weapon (Su): 70ft cone, 24d10 fire, Reflex 43 half, every 1d4-1 rounds
Maximized Tempest Breath (Su): 70ft cone, 240 fire damage, Reflex 43 half, also causes Tornado force winds (page 95 of the DMG) within the cone of effect, every 1d4+3 rounds
Permanent Emanation (Sp): The Big World-Ending Dragon projects an area of Unhallow 40ft in every direction. In addition, the spell Silence is bound to the Unhallow spell, but it only affects enemies of the Dragon.
Crush (Ex): Area 30ft by 30ft; Large or smaller opponents take 4d8+28 points of bludgeoning damage, and must succeed on a DC 43 Reflex save or be pinned.
Frightful Presence (Ex): 360 ft. radius, HD 39 or fewer, Will DC 41 negates
Aura of Despair (Su): All creatures within the area of the Big World Ending Dragon’s frightful presence also take a -2 penalty on all saving throws. This penalty occurs before the Frightful Presence effect.
Spell-like Abilities: At will- Breath Weapon Substitution; 12/day- Locate Object; 3/day- Suggestion; 1/day- Discern Location, find the path. CL 19th; save DC 21+ spell level
Spells: As 22nd level Cleric
Tail Sweep (Ex): Half-circle 40ft. in diameter, Small or smaller opponents take 2d8+28 points of bludgeoning damage, Reflex DC 43 half
Permanent Effects: The Big World Ending Dragon, possessing of much wealth and knowledge, has acquired and read a Tome of Leadership and Influence +5, and Tome of Understanding +5 during his long life. In addition, he has, through various means, had wizards cast a number of permanency spells for him. The following spells are permanently in effect on the Big World Ending Dragon: Tongues, See Invisibility, Read Magic, Arcane Sight
Cleric Spells per Day: 8+1/8+1/8+1/7+1/7+1/6+1/6+1/5+1/5+1 Destruction and Dragon domains. DC 21 + spell level

Typical Spells Prepared: 1st- Shield of Faith, Protection from Good, Divine Favor, Command, Magic Fang, Entropic Shield, Obscuring Mist, Sanctuary, Doom. 2nd- Shatter, Resist Energy, Bear’s Endurance, Bull’s Strength, Eagle’s Splendor, Zone of Truth, Desecrate, Owl’s Wisdom, Hold Person. 3rd- Greater Magic Fang, Wind Wall, Protection from Energy, Magic Circle Against Good, Dispel Magic, Deeper Darkness, Glyph of Warding, Blindness/Deafness, Animate Dead. 4th- Voice of the Dragon, Death Ward, Dismissal, Spell Immunity, Restoration, Divination, Divine Power. 5th- True Seeing, Break Enchantment, Greater Command, Righteous Might, Plane Shift, Slay Living, Symbol of Pain, Commune. 6th- Stoneskin, Greater Dispel Magic, Blade Barrier, Heal x3, Forbiddance. 7th- Blasphemy, Disintegrate, Regenerate, Greater Scrying, Ethereal Jaunt, Greater Restoration, Destruction. 8th- Mass Suggestion, Unholy Aura, Summon Monster VIII, Dimension Lock, Greater Planar Ally, Greater Spell Immunity. 9th- Dominate Monster, Implosion, Gate, Storm of Vengeance, Miracle, Energy Drain

Just to say, wow! Thanks for all the effort in this.

Today was the 2nd last session, with the party beating the last of the final dungeon, seeing their favourite NPC brutally murdered by THIS dragon, got the stuff from the vault and faced the tarrasque. It went pretty well. Considering that after they kill the dragon (make that if..) they will become gods, the stuff they got was some awsome gear. I mean, the armour was basically +10, granted Flight, DR5/-, Prot from all energy types 10, stacked with existing armour,+6 all stats and had individual things specific to each character. The weapons are from Weapons of legacy, but personalised touches and now +10.

Before you say it, yes the gear is silly, but this is a stepping stone to god-hood and this is the last chance to run an epic-y game for quite some time.

Just so you know, the characters (20th level) are as follows:
-Samurai (rules from 'net, not the crappy one everyone talks about). Deals between 200/300 damage a round with full attack, and can jump up AC. This is the smart player, so good item selection on him. He currently carries a +10 Frost Keen Dragon Bane Adamantine greatsword, so is the big DPS-er for the dragon.
-Druid, beastmaster build. The healer, but spends most of the time blasting things with spells or summoning loads and loads of monsters.
-Ranger/rogue - Many shot and other such feats mean good ranged DPS.

They also have several res potions (I know, I know...) and the druid gets 1 instant True Res, so I do not mind killing of the players once or twice, as long as there is always one standing.


My plan of attack was as follows:
-They enter giant volcano lair (cliche, but a justified one)
-Dragon sends minions. Dragon is trying to summon this dark god, so will focus on ritual, maybe toss in a few spells. Loads of small imp things backed up with some tougher ones. Relatively easy fight.
-Dragon calls in Undead Tarrasque.
-Final battle with Dragon.
-Dragon ressed by dark god into a DracoLich
-Dies again.

I am guessing the players will wade through the little guys, and if the players try to fly past, an antimagic field will slow them down. I was considering having an illusion of the dragon, but am uncertain.

Any ideas, comments or improvements?
-Minions keep on coming

[Callix]

This sounds thoroughly WoW isnpired... I like it! How about the end of the Dragon phase triggers a minor eruption, random lava splashes, which clear out most of the minions and reshape the battlefield. Then have the dracolich fear them into the lava. With all their HP and resists, they should survive long enough to get out. It's just a fun flavour thing. In combat.

Also, how about the Dracolich rips off an Animate Dead-ish SLA (specifically added if you want) that raises a bunch of dead minions as zombies. Again, just the once.

[Poppatomus]

Then have the dracolich fear them into the lava. With all their HP and resists, they should survive long enough to get out. It's just a fun flavour thing. In combat.


Should only happen if they don't have enough DoTs.

[Xefas]

Glad you like it! =)

A nice twist to the opening minion fights might be that, while the dragon is indeed enthralled with this ritual of his, once he sees one of the PC's getting low, he takes a small break, readying an action for "If that guy dies, I cast Create Undead on his corpse." (just swap out 1 6th level spell) Its slightly more difficult to make someone chug a potion of ressurection when he's a Mohrg. They'd have to kill their buddy first, and if they can't do it in time the Dragon could easily burn the Mohrg to cinders via its maximized breath weapon (Mohrgs have 91hp), ordering it to intentionally fail its save, so that the Druid must burn his True Ressurection getting the ally back (because they have no body to use normal rez on).

You could also do this with Soul Bind (just swap out 1 9th level spell), as it makes any ressurection impossible unless one of the party members destroys the gem containing their buddy's soul (and I'm sure the dragon has places he can shove stuff where the PCs wouldn't want to go).

I'm not entirely sure how the dimensions of this volcanoe are, but others suggestions might be making sure the Ranger's position is always behind a Windwall (which will make his ranged attacks useless) via clever placement of other baddies and land features (stalagmites and such). Making sure Undead are situated near the Dragon to benefit from his Unhallow aura. When the Dragon does finally close into melee, go for the Druid first, as the Silence aura will plague his spells, and if he isn't shapechanged already, it'll be tough to survive the Devastating Critical DCs.

Oh, and his Gate Spell can summon anything that has 44 HD or less. Thats enough for almost anything, including an Archduke of the Nine Hells...including Asmodeus. ...just saying. He'll be under no obligation to answer, but if the lord of evil stands to gain something from a new evil god tipping the balance, I don't see why not...

Nothing says "My power level is improportionate to my Challange Rating!" like summoning something whos CR is 6 higher and who possesses a Major Artifact.

[evisiron]

Hehe...nice stuff.

Basic dimensions to the cave is 'Freakin' Huge' in cinematic terms.

Just to say, while I appreciate the ways to get around the Ress-ing, I dont particularly (sp?) want to kill the PC's I want to give them a good hard fight. This is the Apocalypse! Lose some HP, dammit!

Just with the high Ac's and saves (not to mention all 3 have evasion) it is hard to really hurt them. Even the tarrasque didn't do too much damage, let alone drop anyone. I was considering a buch of rogue based fiends flying about dropping sneak attack damage everywhere, or some explod-ey spells.

I was even considering some magma dragon style high ranked minions (just to mention, was able to borrow Draconomicon from friend).

Any other good cinematic ways of making the PC's worry about their HP?

[TheLogman]

Do you have access to the MM 3? If so, please use the Omnimental, it is basically 4 Elder Elementals put together that go into 4 actual Elder Elementals once it is killed. Also, if you have undead in your minion thing, consider the Shadesteel Golem from the MM 3 as well, it can deal great damage to PC's, and at the same time heal Undead. In fact, put lots of Golems in there, they are immune to most spells, so even a few Iron Golems would put off the players.

[Xefas]

Ah, okay...just thinking you might want one to die tragically (and permanently) in the climactic battle. In fact, you might have one die towards the end, and his afterlife self in the outerplanes can go kick the dark god in the shins from the other side while he's getting pulled through.

But a good way to do some unavoidable damage is via a lot of mid level casters spamming metamagiced magic missiles. If the PCs have SR, give them spell penetration and greater spell penetration, because thats the only way to stop the missiles. I believe there's a metamagic feat that increates SR penetration as well.

I think theres a PrC in one of the Forgotten Realms books that boosts metamagic feats too...not sure, though.

[Anxe]

Once the Dragon dies and comes back as a Dracolich have one of it's abilities be that no one can be healed when within 30' of it. That'd make em worry about their HP.

[Callix]

Everyone has Evasion? Cast Horrid Wilting! Fort save based AoE damage, with constructs/undead immune as a bonus. If you're really evil, pick up the Missile Storm spells from FR. There's three of them. It's not totally broken against 3 people.... Unless you aim it right. No save for 40d6 (if it caps) or 2d6/cl if it doesn't... cheesy gold.

EDIT: How about Inflict spells/effects? Circle of Doom or whatever it has now become is a mid-level cleric spell that does AoE damage on a Fort save. Or chuck Enervation at them.

[Triaxx]

Do we still have Earthquake as a Cleric spell? Cast that in a Volcano layer, and let them spend a round or three dodging falling stalactites. Activate an ice storm, and generate a massive fog cloud. Cast meteor swarm, and start splashing them with Lava. Scour a trench or two in the floor to make them have to jump, and risk falling in. Or wade right through.

Maybe a few Cold Iron Golems. Incredibly expensive, but hurts like the (evil creature) when it hits you. Perhaps some undead Illithid? Or even a Kraken. Fun if you can swing it. Spend a lot of time flying through the air.

[evisiron]

Aw man! You guys are great at this. Ideas for way too much stuff. As it stands I will have (as an initial layout):

-Dragon on throne on far side. While he works on stuff, a group of casters are keeping guard. Likely to use Counter and Wind Wall later on.
-A line of minions between entrance and dragon. Every ten feet there are a pair of casters with Antimagic Field. The first has it on, and will drop it when the dragon yells "now" so he can toss spells in. The second caster has a readied action to cast AM field as soon as the spell has passed. This will stop ranged spells, teleportation attempts unless the players punch a hole through first.
Defensive guards to prevent easy kill, and a "no magic" kill zone for the players to kill through.
-Fiend archers flying around supported by flying platforms with mages tossing magic missles about.
-Horde of ground minions to be horribly butchered.
-Scattering of elementals led by the omni-mentel (thanks thelogman)
-When bulk is dead, "Bring in the Tarrasque!"
-Final clatter of elementals and dragon fight, with explosion based transformation into becoming a dracolich.

[evisiron]

Just ran the final session last night. It went really well!

So, just saying a big thanks to everyone who chipped in advice (Especially about the Horrid Wilting spell, the players were yelling curses at that by the end of it.).

It ended up with the players really hitting the ropes healing wise by the time they were finishing off the Tarrasque. This made for a really dramatic and exciting battle with the dragon. Even more so when it came back as a dracolich! And when taken down to literally 10hp from over a thousand, it decides to blast someone with a disintegrate spell. Randomed target, ranger failed the save. *poof*. Characters yelling vengeful battle cries for the final attack.

Final scene is the appearance of their relative gods, who offer them godhood itself, or a portal back to their homeland. Ranger and samurai go home, druid becomes a god. Credits roll, everyone happy. Overall, this one battle took over 6 hours!

[Anxe]

Awesome way to end a campaign. And I can't believe 3 players took down all that. Even with all that extra loot you gave 'em. They'll remember it forever.

[Triaxx]

Sounds fantastically epic. You didn't happen to record it did you? Someone always records an audio file of our sessions so we can transcribe if it's interesting enough. None of them have been unfortunately.

[evisiron]

Blast. Should have recorded it. Ah well, ideas for next time.

Oh, just to mention, one of the players did work out the encounter level of the battle. It was 690.

Admittedly a fair chunk of this was low level minions (who got destroyed in large quantities by the druids AOE spells. Damn firestorm!), and most of the big ones fought one or two at a time. Still, there were points were things looked grim, Such as fighting the undead tarraque, an omnimental, 4 CR10 elemental/giant things while the dragon tossed Horrid Withering at them. They were starting to worry at that point...

Anyway, thanks again everyone who helped!

[Triaxx]

Very nice. Of course you know, next time you'll be expected to improve upon it.

[Armads]

My plan of attack was as follows:
-They enter giant volcano lair (cliche, but a justified one)
-Dragon sends minions. Dragon is trying to summon this dark god, so will focus on ritual, maybe toss in a few spells. Loads of small imp things backed up with some tougher ones. Relatively easy fight.
-Dragon calls in Undead Tarrasque
-Final battle with Dragon.
-Dragon ressed by dark god into a DracoLich
-Dies again.

Wait, Undead Tarrasque. Undead Tarrasque's are indestructable except by turning. All damage that goes to them becomes nonlethal due to their unique regeneration, and it's negated due to them being undead. Can they turn it or something?

You might want to give the dragon Heighten Breath to raise the DC to obscene amounts, and have it cast energy immunity (cold) prior to the fight. Maybe the dark god warned him of the dangers of the Fighter.

[Green Bean]

The undead templates tend to make the base creature lose its special qualities (such as regeneration), so it wouldn't be totally invulnerable.

[Mr._Blinky]

Yeah, the Tarrasque would lose most if not all of its special qualities, so it'd actually be a far easier fight. It'd basically be a ginormous mound of HP that can deal a lot of damage. So a big annoying tank, but nothing special if they've got the HP, time, and weapons to wear it down with. This is of course assuming it's a zombie or skeleton, as any other template would potentially give it a whole new set of abilities to mess around with.

However, the way to make the Tarrasque challenging is to have it use its brute strength against the PCs. Rather than have it just attack them like a normal Tarrasque, have its main tactic to be bullrushing. If it can bullrush a PC into the lava, even with their insane equipment it should still hurt if they can't get immediately back to shore (especially if they sink :smallamused: ).

One idea that might be fun is what you can do with the dracolich's phylactery. For instance, maybe the dragon makes the altar with which it's trying to summon this dark god its phylactery, and allow the altar to regenerate the dragon after a few rounds when it dies. The PCs have to not only kill the dragon, but find some way to destroy the altar before the dark god regenerates it. Meanwhile, the volcano is collapsing and all the dragons minions (say a bunch of fire elementals) are on the assault.