Forge of Fury, how Nightscale should be used - Spoilers

[MarkVIIIMarc]

A party I run is nearing the end of Forge of Fury and should encounter the dragon this week or next. As the DM i'm wondering how you all have used Nightscale in combat or even socially?

For combat:
Nightscale is alone but has some terrain advantages over the party. I'm wondering if the dragon should essentially hide in the water completely except when making an attack.

The book makes a reference to Nightscale having 3/4 cover....is that because she would want to stay close enough to the surface to maintain line of sight on the party?

Socially:
Should there be any chance of the party intimidating Nightstcale? Or any other way to barter with her? There is a chance the party could overpay her for any of the magic items she has. I really want this fight to go down but also don't want to be unfair.

Save:
Some of the party members created backgrounds indicating they were in the same 13th Legion military unit. The party knows I have a squad of that unit headed their way with an angry drill sergeant type in the lead. I've used it as a way to put a little urgency into the situation by somewhat limiting their long rests, the party does not want to share the spoils. In the back of my mind I'm thinking if Nightscale kills one or two of the party that's fine, they have enough gold and treasure to pay for a Reincarnate spell. I prefer to avoid a TPK but at least if the squad of the 13th Legion shows up I can ask the party if they think the angry drill sergeant would trade their gold and magic items in for Reincarnation.

[Unoriginal]

We're talking about a Dragon, defending her hoard, who has been hoarding really, really successfully without getting defeated in quite a while.

Intimidation is not going to work, by all logic.

As for out-buying her: she's Richer than You(TM). You'd need to pay her a pile of gold just for allowing you to live.

[MarkVIIIMarc]

We're talking about a Dragon, defending her hoard, who has been hoarding really, really successfully without getting defeated in quite a while.

Intimidation is not going to work, by all logic.

As for out-buying her: she's Richer than You(TM). You'd need to pay her a pile of gold just for allowing you to live.

I like that. So it would be proper to play her as super confident and not willing to trade magic axe's & 500gp for magic swords or whatever.

The party has a couple somethings of waterbreathing. I'll have to be up on the water combat rules.

My inclination is to keep Nightscale in cover in the water until there is a darned fine reason to get out.

Oh, the party's Sorcerer has Witchbolt or something similar. How should I treat that with something in water? I suspect they'll want double damage or similar.

[ImproperJustice]

When we fought her we had to overcome the problem of how to spot a black dragon underwater in an underground lake.

Thankfully Driftglobes work underwater.

I remember she decimated us initially by making ise of her breath while we were bottled up on the bridges.

Then it became a running battle of attrition in and out of the water.

Expeditous retreat, light, and the healer feat saved the day while brave warriors spread about to attack her in the water and on the land. It was really, really tough.

[Unoriginal]

Oh, the party's Sorcerer has Witchbolt or something similar. How should I treat that with something in water? I suspect they'll want double damage or similar.

You should just tell them "electricity created by spells is not conducted by water or anything else unless explicitly specified. It is not actual electricity, it's evoked. The same way that Firebolt deals normal damages on underwater targets."

[Theodoxus]

The one time I played FoF, we had a water genasi monk who managed to cling to the dragon and beat it to death, literally. The rest of us were taking potshots at her, and healing the monk.. but really, that monk did 90% of the damage, and managed to make every save against being brushed off.

Were I to run it, I would have Nightscale dive and fly about the cavern to keep out of melee reach as much as possible, and use her breath on anyone who is carrying a light, in the hopes of melting them into goo and taking the light out.

[Unoriginal]

The one time I played FoF, we had a water genasi monk who managed to cling to the dragon and beat it to death, literally. The rest of us were taking potshots at her, and healing the monk.. but really, that monk did 90% of the damage, and managed to make every save against being brushed off.

Were I to run it, I would have Nightscale dive and fly about the cavern to keep out of melee reach as much as possible, and use her breath on anyone who is carrying a light, in the hopes of melting them into goo and taking the light out.

Couldn't she just kill the monk in a few hits?

[Contrast]

You should just tell them "electricity created by spells is not conducted by water or anything else unless explicitly specified. It is not actual electricity, it's evoked. The same way that Firebolt deals normal damages on underwater targets."

...that's not actually true.


Creatures and objects that are fully immersed in water have resistance to fire damage.

I know that because we did the Nightscale fight the other day :smalltongue:

[Unoriginal]

...that's not actually true.


You're right, I mixed up things, It's if you're underwater when you cast Firebolt and hit someone on the surface that nothing changes, despite fire moving through water.

Point was, magicked element don't work like the real thing most of the time. You can use Fire Shielf in a library without burning anything but the enemy, and you can use Lightning in a pool without frying everyone in it.

[Foxhound438]

As for out-buying her: she's Richer than You(TM). You'd need to pay her a pile of gold just for allowing you to live.

the way I ran it was something to the effect of "hey, thanks for bringing all your gear down here. Go ahead and leave everything you own and I'll consider letting some of you live"

[Catullus64]

A party I run is nearing the end of Forge of Fury and should encounter the dragon this week or next. As the DM i'm wondering how you all have used Nightscale in combat or even socially?

For combat:
Nightscale is alone but has some terrain advantages over the party. I'm wondering if the dragon should essentially hide in the water completely except when making an attack.

The book makes a reference to Nightscale having 3/4 cover....is that because she would want to stay close enough to the surface to maintain line of sight on the party?

Socially:
Should there be any chance of the party intimidating Nightstcale? Or any other way to barter with her? There is a chance the party could overpay her for any of the magic items she has. I really want this fight to go down but also don't want to be unfair.


To me, the Nightscale fight seems to be an example of smart tactics on the part of the enemy not actually making for a fun fight. Nightscale has such a terrain advantage that she has no incentive to give the players any chance to fight her directly; she can just kite endlessly, giving the player little chance to retaliate, which was kind of boring. I would recommend having her use the efficient hit-and-run strategy for the first few rounds, but eventually have her get bored or frustrated and leap out of the water to fight them on the ground.

As for social interaction, I wouldn't think intimidation or bribery would work, but they could always bank on amusing the dragon with their antics or fooling it with some crazy story. Maybe distract the beast long enough for a sneaky character to make off with some of the treasure.

[Randy_Cockwitt]

My players managed to "suggest" that she leave them alone and go play in the lake all day. I kind of wanted to put the enchanter's dice in the toaster.

[Unoriginal]

My players managed to "suggest" that she leave them alone and go play in the lake all day. I kind of wanted to put the enchanter's dice in the toaster.

You can't use Suggestion to make a Dragon abandon their hoard to looters.

[MarkVIIIMarc]

You can't use Suggestion to make a Dragon abandon their hoard to looters.
Are dragons immune to being charmed?

I'm thinking of combining a round 1 "hex" and a round 2 "suggestion" now for my personal pc in another game!

[ImproperJustice]

The course of action has to sound reasonable.

[Kuulvheysoon]

Are dragons immune to being charmed?

I'm thinking of combining a round 1 "hex" and a round 2 "suggestion" now for my personal pc in another game!

Hex has absolutely zero effect on saving throws, so I have no idea why you'd suggest that.