Giving players temporary powers

[Resileaf]

Hello everyone, I come today with a question related to a quickly-approaching moment in my current Pathfinder campaign. My players, all lvl 5, are about to fight an ancient red dragon with the expectation that the creature is heavily weakened by a recent magical cataclysm, only to realize upon arrival that the dragon is healthy and as strong as ever. However, the questgiver, a silver dragon, knowing this but being unwilling to divulge this information in order to test the characters' willingness to go into danger against overwhelming odds, has given them an item that he pretends will protect them from the red's firey breath, but is instead going to massively empower them to be a match for the dragon.

I was wondering, what would be the best shape this power could take? Temporary levels, where the players get to give themselves abilities and spells they cannot have access to, being empowered by the spirits of past champions, giving them a fully leveled different character with a similar class, or transforming them into a different, much stronger creature like a dragon, themselves?
Or perhaps a different idea altogether? Or would it be a bad idea to have it happen at all?

[King of Nowhere]

personally, I think it will be a bad idea.

defeating the dragon would be basically a deus ex machina. it's almost as if a random npc came to defeat the dragon while they watch. just because you tell themn that they were empowered by the spirit of an ancient warrior and handed them control of said npc, doesn't change it.

also, if the purpose is to "test the willingness of the characters to go against overwhelming oddds", then you clearly expect the party to attack the dragon even after they discover that it wasn't weakened. Which 1) is not granted, 2) it's utterly stupid on their part, 3) it would encourage them to attack everything in the future, as they expected deus-ex-machina help.

I'd say, have the red dragon actually be weakened

[noob]

Idea for temporary power: the ability to cast protection against fire.
Unless your dragon have a lot of mooks it will have a massive disadvantage in action economy so the players will be able to bring it down with spells and/or ranged attacks + maneuverability.

[ngilop]

Yeah.. keep the dragon weakened and make the item give them immunity to fire for 3 or 4 rounds. A lot better than randomly giving them like 10 bonus levels out of nowhere.

[noob]

Even with the dragon at full power if it is alone it would die to fire immune adventurers because it will have way less actions than the adventurers.
Unless that team forgot to pack up a scroll of dimensional anchor.(and the varied battlefield control spells you get at level 5 to make sure the dragon will lose turn after turn being peppered by attacks)

[Rynjin]

Fourthed; the best way to do this is basically making it a powerful consumable. Feel free to stack a few extra effects; maybe it's a Party Wide: Resist Energy (and/or Protection From Energy), combined with something like a Heroism, Good Hope, Blessing of Fervor, Divine Favor, Ironskin cocktail.

This will let the party punch significantly above their weight class without feeling too much like a cheat; Silver Dragons can cast all of those spells, and it gives them a taste of what they can do when buffed to the gills at higher levels without feeling like you're taking the power away after the fight...the buff durations wore off, and it was a one-shot item.

It also keeps bookkeeping to minimum, which will also reduce frustration. Making the party create a 15th level character sheet for only one fight is a huge time expenditure.


Even with the dragon at full power if it is alone it would die to fire immune adventurers because it will have way less actions than the adventurers.
Unless that team forgot to pack up a scroll of dimensional anchor.(and the varied battlefield control spells you get at level 5 to make sure the dragon will lose turn after turn being peppered by attacks)

The disparity between an Ancient Red Dragon and a party of 5th level adventurers is too big for that to make a difference. Even without the breath weapon it's sitting pretty at 38 AC (well into "only hits him on a 20" for 5th level adventurers), while he has a +35 attack (well into "only kmisses on a 1" for any of them) and deals enough damage to kill two PCs per round.

They'd need HUGE buffs to AC, attack rolls, and damage (even if they hit every round, their heavy hitter is swinging 1 attack for ~20 damage per turn; 362 HP takes a bit to whittle down).

both the buffing of the party AND nerfing of the dragon will be necessary for them to even have a chance.

[noob]

Fourthed; the best way to do this is basically making it a powerful consumable. Feel free to stack a few extra effects; maybe it's a Party Wide: Resist Energy (and/or Protection From Energy), combined with something like a Heroism, Good Hope, Blessing of Fervor, Divine Favor, Ironskin cocktail.

This will let the party punch significantly above their weight class without feeling too much like a cheat; Silver Dragons can cast all of those spells, and it gives them a taste of what they can do when buffed to the gills at higher levels without feeling like you're taking the power away after the fight...the buff durations wore off, and it was a one-shot item.

It also keeps bookkeeping to minimum, which will also reduce frustration. Making the party create a 15th level character sheet for only one fight is a huge time expenditure.



The disparity between an Ancient Red Dragon and a party of 5th level adventurers is too big for that to make a difference. Even without the breath weapon it's sitting pretty at 38 AC (well into "only hits him on a 20" for 5th level adventurers), while he has a +35 attack (well into "only kmisses on a 1" for any of them) and deals enough damage to kill two PCs per round.

They'd need HUGE buffs to AC, attack rolls, and damage (even if they hit every round, their heavy hitter is swinging 1 attack for ~20 damage per turn; 362 HP takes a bit to whittle down).

both the buffing of the party AND nerfing of the dragon will be necessary for them to even have a chance.

Stuff like sleet storm(blocks all sight) ,web(the dragon can burn it but it takes an action from it so you still won at action economy for that turn and the dragon have long cooldown on his breath) and other similar spells can put the dragon at a major disadvantage thus forcing it to flee.
And if you used dimensional anchor and trapped the dragon in a web and start shooting many times at it and cast web over and over the dragon will have huge trouble.
And if the dragon gets within short range of the wizard the fight ends after one shivering touch.

[Geddy2112]

I'll add in my vote that single use magical items are the best way to do this. Something that hands out a myriad of buffs and is spent afterwards. The object can still remain as a cool trinket without magical powers vs a potion or scroll which is consumed entirely. A drinking horn, trumpet, cameo(the jewelry not the acting role) or ceremonial weapon are good picks.

As others have said, the encounter probably needs to be nerfed from the enemy side, and the one use mcguffin can do this as well. Akin to a debuff scroll or staff.

[16bearswutIdo]

Stuff like sleet storm(blocks all sight) ,web(the dragon can burn it but it takes an action from it so you still won at action economy for that turn and the dragon have long cooldown on his breath) and other similar spells can put the dragon at a major disadvantage thus forcing it to flee.
And if you used dimensional anchor and trapped the dragon in a web and start shooting many times at it and cast web over and over the dragon will have huge trouble.
And if the dragon gets within short range of the wizard the fight ends after one shivering touch.

The party is level 5. They do not have any of those spells other than Web. The dragon can also just break the Web, considering that it's a DC 20 check and it's an ancient red dragon. If the dragon gets within short range of the wizard, the wizard is probably going to die.

The dragon definitely has to still be weakened AND the PCs need a massive buff. At level 5, even a young adult red dragon would be too strong for them.

[noob]

The party is level 5. They do not have any of those spells other than Web. The dragon can also just break the Web, considering that it's a DC 20 check and it's an ancient red dragon. If the dragon gets within short range of the wizard, the wizard is probably going to die.

The dragon definitely has to still be weakened AND the PCs need a massive buff. At level 5, even a young adult red dragon would be too strong for them.


Once loose (either by making the initial Reflex save or a later Strength check or Escape Artist check), a creature remains entangled, but may move through the web very slowly. Each round devoted to moving allows the creature to make a new Strength check or Escape Artist check. The creature moves 5 feet for each full 5 points by which the check result exceeds 10.

So basically the dragon will need an entire turn to move on average 15 foot through the web(it does move 15 feet on a 11 on anything less it moves less and it can move up to 20 foot on a 16+).
But since the dragon is really huge it will need two turns if it wants to go from one side of the web to the other and if it wants only to circumvent the web it stills needs two turns of movement.
so basically if you can place a web at the right spot you can make the dragon lose two turns(unless it decides to burn the web but it still is a wasted turn and the dragon that do that only every time the cooldown refresh).
The reason why web is so good is that even succeeding against that spell takes a lot of time so a wand of web can be a definitively really awesome thing against a lone target.
shivering touch is a level 3 spell so a level 5 wizard can cast it.
sleet storm is level 3 too so a level 5 wizard can cast it too
I mentioned using a scroll for dimensional anchor because I am quite sure the adventurers did not go "we are going to fight a caster able to cast teleport without any way to shunt that down".
I mean if the adventurers are all thinking "we are going to fight an ancient dragon" they had the idea to get countermeasures to teleportation.

[Rynjin]

Stuff like sleet storm(blocks all sight)
So it misses 50% of the time. It still, on average, kills 1 PC per round.


web(the dragon can burn it but it takes an action from it so you still won at action economy for that turn and the dragon have long cooldown on his breath) and other similar spells can put the dragon at a major disadvantage thus forcing it to flee.

It is inconvenienced, not disadvantaged. Its AC drops to 36, still putting it in "only gets hit on a 1" range. The PCs flail at it for one round, it gets free, nothing was accomplished.

This is assuming it even fails its save. You're looking at a roughly DC 17 Reflex save on a creature with a +13 Reflex save modifier. Only DC 13 from a wand.


And if you used dimensional anchor and trapped the dragon in a web and start shooting many times at it and cast web over and over the dragon will have huge trouble.

A.) the Wizard does not have access to Dimensional Anchor, he only has 3rd level spells. From a scroll, maybe, but it doesn't really matter; it has no need or reason to flee this fight.


And if the dragon gets within short range of the wizard the fight ends after one shivering touch.

Not a Pathfinder spell. Even if it was, Shivering Touch is SR: Yes. I am hard pressed to think of how a 5th level Pathfinder Wizard defeats SR 30.

All of this is moot in any case. The simplest solution is for the dragon to simply cast Antimagic Field and kill everyone while they flail helplessly at its 38 AC, 362 HP, and DR 15/Magic that their 5% chance of hitting plinks off of.

[16bearswutIdo]

So basically the dragon will need an entire turn to move on average 15 foot through the web(it does move 15 feet on a 11 on anything less it moves less and it can move up to 20 foot on a 16+).
But since the dragon is really huge it will need two turns if it wants to go from one side of the web to the other and if it wants only to circumvent the web it stills needs two turns of movement.
so basically if you can place a web at the right spot you can make the dragon lose two turns(unless it decides to burn the web but it still is a wasted turn and the dragon that do that only every time the cooldown refresh).
The reason why web is so good is that even succeeding against that spell takes a lot of time so a wand of web can be a definitively really awesome thing against a lone target.
shivering touch is a level 3 spell so a level 5 wizard can cast it.
sleet storm is level 3 too so a level 5 wizard can cast it too
I mentioned using a scroll for dimensional anchor because I am quite sure the adventurers did not go "we are going to fight a caster able to cast teleport without any way to shunt that down".
I mean if the adventurers are all thinking "we are going to fight an ancient dragon" they had the idea to get countermeasures to teleportation.


These masses must be anchored to two or more solid and diametrically opposed points—floor and ceiling, opposite walls, or the like—or else the web collapses upon itself and disappears.

Web also requires the dragon to be fighting within an area that has two opposing walls 40 feet away from each other. Presumably this ancient red dragon isn't brain damaged, so he won't be fighting them within the confines of a normal adventuring dungeon room.

Shivering Touch does not exist in Pathfinder.

Sleet Storm gives him a 50% miss chance, but he will literally always hit (other than the 5% of the time that he would auto miss.) so it's only 1 dead PC per round instead of 2.

The Dragon will also just cast AMF and be untouchable. The only way the PCs beat this ancient red dragon is either through INSANE buffs to their PCs to the point where it's barely their characters anymore, or nerfs to the dragon where this ancient red dragon is basically just a juvenile dragon. Or I guess some middle ground between both of those.

[noob]

Web also requires the dragon to be fighting within an area that has two opposing walls 40 feet away from each other. Presumably this ancient red dragon isn't brain damaged, so he won't be fighting them within the confines of a normal adventuring dungeon room.

Shivering Touch does not exist in Pathfinder.

Sleet Storm gives him a 50% miss chance, but he will literally always hit (other than the 5% of the time that he would auto miss.) so it's only 1 dead PC per round instead of 2.

The Dragon will also just cast AMF and be untouchable. The only way the PCs beat this ancient red dragon is either through INSANE buffs to their PCs to the point where it's barely their characters anymore, or nerfs to the dragon where this ancient red dragon is basically just a juvenile dragon. Or I guess some middle ground between both of those.
The dragon will have no idea in which square the adventurers are and without knowing the right square it is not 50% chance of hitting: it is insanely lower.


The Dragon will also just cast AMF and be untouchable. The only way the PCs beat this ancient red dragon is either through INSANE buffs to their PCs to the point where it's barely their characters anymore, or nerfs to the dragon where this ancient red dragon is basically just a juvenile dragon. Or I guess some middle ground between both of those.
No dragon is dumb enough to cast amf: for all the dragon knows those adventurers are sent so that it casts amf then gets killed by skilled fighters that are not there yet but that will teleport close right when it casts amf.

And web does not delays of only one turn even when you were not caught or if you broke free you still need to spend full turn actions to move at a slow rate given in the spell description.
Oh sorry it seems pathfinder nerfed web really hard.

And if the dragon was truly smart it would cast teleport to flee the adventurers because it knows that one of the major death rate is from dragons underestimating adventurers.

[J-H]

Can the ancient red dragon actually be a medium-sized juvenile?

I do not understand the purpose of trivializing what should be one of the most iconic and memorable encounters of the game.

In four running games, I have had one dragon encounter. They didn't realize she was a dragon (as opposed to an arrogant and boastful sorceress) until later.

[Darth Ultron]

I would also add this fight is very unbalanced. Fifth level characters vs an ancient red dragon?

You REALLY might want to drop the dragon to like Young Adult at most.

Otherwise, temporary powers are a good idea.

In general, it's often best to stick to things in the rules. So just give them a simple spell effect. That makes it less confusing all around.

[JNAProductions]

The dragon will have no idea in which square the adventurers are and without knowing the right square it is not 50% chance of hitting: it is insanely lower.

No dragon is dumb enough to cast amf: for all the dragon knows those adventurers are sent so that it casts amf then gets killed by skilled fighters that are not there yet but that will teleport close right when it casts amf.

And web does not delays of only one turn even when you were not caught or if you broke free you still need to spend full turn actions to move at a slow rate given in the spell description.
Oh sorry it seems pathfinder nerfed web really hard.

And if the dragon was truly smart it would cast teleport to flee the adventurers because it knows that one of the major death rate is from dragons underestimating adventurers.

Don’t dragons have blindsight?

[noob]

Don’t dragons have blindsight?

Only with 60 foot range so it can not charge toward the adventurers before getting within 60 foot range of them unless the dragon charge a square that might have or not have an adventurer.
Also for all the dragon knows the adventurers might have placed a dozen of magical traps since its blindsense works only on creatures.
People who stay alive a long time are those who does not charge in areas where they can not see anything but creatures.
I mean the adventurers could have been sent only to trap the dragon by making it think "I can charge because they are weakling" or "I can cast amf" then get killed by people and/or magical traps which were ready for this occasion.

[Rynjin]

The dragon will have no idea in which square the adventurers are and without knowing the right square it is not 50% chance of hitting: it is insanely lower.

They have Blindsense. If the PCs are within 60 feet, it knows their precise location. If they are not, it has a +33 Perception, and can find them without fail if they are within any conceivable distance one of them would be a threat tpo it.


No dragon is dumb enough to cast amf: for all the dragon knows those adventurers are sent so that it casts amf then gets killed by skilled fighters that are not there yet but that will teleport close right when it casts amf.

AMF is dismissible. And Occam's Razor is a thing. Assuming the least likely (and dumb) plan is the one in action is just silly.


And if the dragon was truly smart it would cast teleport to flee the adventurers because it knows that one of the major death rate is from dragons underestimating adventurers.

This is stupid.

By your logic, no dragon would ever fight anyone, anywhere, any time.

Some 5th level adventurers (which it will be able to tell in the first round of combat by their relative skill and the strength of any magic cast; it has a +33 Spellcraft) invading its home are a joke, not a threat.

You're just arguing for the sake of argument at this point. You know you're wrong and are shifting the argument from "The PCs could win" to "All PCs win by default because dragons are stupid cowards, obviously". Just move on.


Only with 60 foot range so it can not charge toward the adventurers before getting within 60 foot range of them unless the dragon charge a square that might have or not have an adventurer.
Also for all the dragon knows the adventurers might have placed a dozen of magical traps since its blindsense works only on creatures.
People who stay alive a long time are those who does not charge in areas where they can not see anything but creatures.
I mean the adventurers could have been sent only to trap the dragon by making it think "I can charge because they are weakling" or "I can cast amf" then get killed by people and/or magical traps which were ready for this occasion.


Like seriously, this is what I mean. You're assuming the PCs have somehow seeded the DRAGON'S LAIR with traps while it...was asleep for a dozen rounds in front of them I guess, AND conveniently glossing over the fact that charging into a magical trap while wreathed in an AMF...nullifies the trap, because it's MAGIC.

I'm baffled why the statement "an APL 5 party will find it nigh, if not completely impossible to defeat a CR 19 creature" is a hill you want to die on.

[Psyren]

This is pretty much exactly what Mythic was designed for. They can either FIND the Objects of Legend that belonged to the Heroes of Legend or BE them, reincarnated, and that can be their ascension event.

Having said that, and as others have said, the amount of fiddling you'll have to do to make an ARD challenging but not punishing for a level 5 party is going to be ridiculous. I would definitely either drop the dragon a few age categories or else nerf it heavily with a template too, or some other long-term debuff like a curse.

[noob]

They have Blindsense. If the PCs are within 60 feet, it knows their precise location. If they are not, it has a +33 Perception, and can find them without fail if they are within any conceivable distance one of them would be a threat tpo it.



AMF is dismissible. And Occam's Razor is a thing. Assuming the least likely (and dumb) plan is the one in action is just silly.



This is stupid.

By your logic, no dragon would ever fight anyone, anywhere, any time.

Some 5th level adventurers (which it will be able to tell in the first round of combat by their relative skill and the strength of any magic cast; it has a +33 Spellcraft) invading its home are a joke, not a threat.

You're just arguing for the sake of argument at this point. You know you're wrong and are shifting the argument from "The PCs could win" to "All PCs win by default because dragons are stupid cowards, obviously". Just move on.
Well you do not live 1200 years by fighting.
Teleporting away then sending a swarm of painted chtulus swarm apocalypse swarm is way more reliable than fighting.

Also Antimagic Field is impossible to dismiss because you can not cast spells once you are in it and dismissing is a rule that says that you always succeed at dispelling your own spells when you cast dispell magic but you can not when antimagic prevents the dispell magic from working.
Read antimagic zone: there is no clause saying it lets you dismiss it and it suppress spells cast in it.

So it is in fact a really good idea to make a dragon cast antimagic then bring in skilled people and kill the dragon because then it is trapped by its own spell: you only have risks for adventurers you do not care about when you are the one plotting the assassination of the dragon.

Oh and also at level 5 a wizard can paint an apocalypse swarm of chtulus for only 750 gp and two days of work(of course it needs some hd reduction in the middle of your template stacking) which then becomes two such swarms after being damaged so as far as the dragon knows the adventurer team is having fun fighting it until their swarm comes in and casting antimagic field is the dumbest possible answer to that: if the dragon knows he fights level 5 adventurers he should bring his own swarm and teleport away in the first turn.

[JNAProductions]

I think we’re assuming a typical table, not the tippy verse.

[Rynjin]

Well you do not live 1200 years by fighting.
Teleporting away then sending a swarm of painted chtulus swarm apocalypse swarm is way more reliable than fighting.

Also Antimagic Field is impossible to dismiss because you can not cast spells once you are in it and dismissing is a rule that says that you always succeed at dispelling your own spells when you cast dispell magic but you can not when antimagic prevents the dispell magic from working.
Read antimagic zone: there is no clause saying it lets you dismiss it and it suppress spells cast in it.

So it is in fact a really good idea to make a dragon cast antimagic then bring in skilled people and kill the dragon because then it is trapped by its own spell: you only have risks for adventurers you do not care about when you are the one plotting the assassination of the dragon.

Oh and also at level 5 a wizard can paint an apocalypse swarm of chtulus for only 750 gp and two days of work(of course it needs some hd reduction in the middle of your template stacking) which then becomes two such swarms after being damaged so as far as the dragon knows the adventurer team is having fun fighting it until their swarm comes in and casting antimagic field is the dumbest possible answer to that: if the dragon knows he fights level 5 adventurers he should bring his own swarm and teleport away in the first turn.

Maybe read at least the Core Rulebook before participating in this discussion? That's not how Dismissible spells work.

Disregarding whatever other nonsense you're talking about.

[King of Nowhere]

Well you do not live 1200 years by fighting.
Teleporting away then sending a swarm of painted chtulus swarm apocalypse swarm is way more reliable than fighting.

Also Antimagic Field is impossible to dismiss because you can not cast spells once you are in it and dismissing is a rule that says that you always succeed at dispelling your own spells when you cast dispell magic but you can not when antimagic prevents the dispell magic from working.
Read antimagic zone: there is no clause saying it lets you dismiss it and it suppress spells cast in it.

So it is in fact a really good idea to make a dragon cast antimagic then bring in skilled people and kill the dragon because then it is trapped by its own spell: you only have risks for adventurers you do not care about when you are the one plotting the assassination of the dragon.

Oh and also at level 5 a wizard can paint an apocalypse swarm of chtulus for only 750 gp and two days of work(of course it needs some hd reduction in the middle of your template stacking) which then becomes two such swarms after being damaged so as far as the dragon knows the adventurer team is having fun fighting it until their swarm comes in and casting antimagic field is the dumbest possible answer to that: if the dragon knows he fights level 5 adventurers he should bring his own swarm and teleport away in the first turn.
Diismissable means you can stop it when you want, as a standard action. you can dismiss your own antimagic field, otherwise what would be the point of writing a (D) in its duration?
Anyway, even assuming this rather convoluted plan (though I agree that an ancient red dragon would be wary of 5th level people charging him, because who would be so dumb to do so without a good plan?), if the dragon had an AMF it could not dismiss, and he was engaged by high level fighters, the dragon could still fly away. None of the fighters could follow in antimagic. Not to mention that even high level fighters aren't worth much if an antimagic field suppresses all their gear.

And as for web, using 3.5 version, ok, let's assume the pcs have trapped the dragon in a web and cast dimensional anchor and that fog spell... then what? how are they going to actually hurt a dragon they can't see, can't hit, and whose spell resistance they can't bypass? The we even provides cover. the dragon can fully well burn all the 50 webs of the wand. Or wait the spell to expire.

Now, I am fully convinced that some very high optimization 5th level party, with enough preparation, could actually take an ancient red dragon. But nothing you see at 99% of tables will work

[Rynjin]

There's plenty of cheese that can let any party easily defeat even (or especially) a Great Wyrm Red Dragon if they win Initiative (see: Dust of Choking and Sneezing, Cockatrice Grit, etc.) but none any sane DM would allow, and certainly not the tactics noob is suggesting.

@OP: Have you considered a paradigm shift on the nature of the quest?

ask yourself: why does the Silver Dragon need the PCs to handle such a powerful foe themselves? Your current answer is "secret test of character", but that kind of thing only goes so fgar, and as you can see has required you to try and figureout a convoluted means for the PCs to rise to the occasion.

Rather than that, why not have the PCs there as backup; to take on the dragon's minions (including his offspring, a pair of Very young red dragons) while the silver dragon take son the papa?

This gives them a less contrived reason to be there (fighting multiple foes is to the Silver's disadvantage, and would require him to burn resources he may well not be able to afford) and will be more satisfying to the party. They will have overcome a SIGNIFICANT challenge on their own (a CR 9 or so encounter is no small feat for a 5th level party) with only a little help (a nice Resist Energy 30 from the Silver).

[noob]

Diismissable means you can stop it when you want, as a standard action. you can dismiss your own antimagic field, otherwise what would be the point of writing a (D) in its duration?
Anyway, even assuming this rather convoluted plan (though I agree that an ancient red dragon would be wary of 5th level people charging him, because who would be so dumb to do so without a good plan?), if the dragon had an AMF it could not dismiss, and he was engaged by high level fighters, the dragon could still fly away. None of the fighters could follow in antimagic. Not to mention that even high level fighters aren't worth much if an antimagic field suppresses all their gear.

And as for web, using 3.5 version, ok, let's assume the pcs have trapped the dragon in a web and cast dimensional anchor and that fog spell... then what? how are they going to actually hurt a dragon they can't see, can't hit, and whose spell resistance they can't bypass? The we even provides cover. the dragon can fully well burn all the 50 webs of the wand. Or wait the spell to expire.

Now, I am fully convinced that some very high optimization 5th level party, with enough preparation, could actually take an ancient red dragon. But nothing you see at 99% of tables will work


And as for web, using 3.5 version, ok, let's assume the pcs have trapped the dragon in a web and cast dimensional anchor and that fog spell... then what? how are they going to actually hurt a dragon they can't see, can't hit, and whose spell resistance they can't bypass? The we even provides cover. the dragon can fully well burn all the 50 webs of the wand. Or wait the spell to expire.

why would you cast sleet storm on the position of the dragon?
You are supposed to cast it at an intermediary area(neither on you nor on the dragon) to prevent the dragon from charging and have some more time to do stuff for example the dragon plays first(and decide for example to try its breath on the adventurers) then the wizard plays and decide "I am going to delay my turn until the rogue use his dimensional anchor scroll and then cast sleet storm to make charging toward us impossible for a turn"(so that the rest of the party have more time to set up the walls to cast web on the next turns and stuff like that).

Also since the dragon is bigger than the webbed area it does not gets cover(since there is always most of the body out of the webbed area) but is still entangled and so it nets a -4 to the ac of the dragon.
Then you can use no sr no save spells such as melf acid arrow(which also does not needs an attack roll) to lower the hit points of the dragon slowly.

[Mystral]

Hello everyone, I come today with a question related to a quickly-approaching moment in my current Pathfinder campaign. My players, all lvl 5, are about to fight an ancient red dragon with the expectation that the creature is heavily weakened by a recent magical cataclysm, only to realize upon arrival that the dragon is healthy and as strong as ever. However, the questgiver, a silver dragon, knowing this but being unwilling to divulge this information in order to test the characters' willingness to go into danger against overwhelming odds, has given them an item that he pretends will protect them from the red's firey breath, but is instead going to massively empower them to be a match for the dragon.

I was wondering, what would be the best shape this power could take? Temporary levels, where the players get to give themselves abilities and spells they cannot have access to, being empowered by the spirits of past champions, giving them a fully leveled different character with a similar class, or transforming them into a different, much stronger creature like a dragon, themselves?
Or perhaps a different idea altogether? Or would it be a bad idea to have it happen at all?

Just have the item slap a bunch of negative levels on the dragon to bring it down into "difficult, but doable".

But don't be surprised if the PCs say "screw this, a bit of fire resistance ain't gonna save us from this dragon" and leg it without using the item.

[Jay R]

I agree with some of the posters that this could be a bad idea. But that isn't what you asked.

When I want to give high powers for a very short time, it's usually in the form of a staff with very few charges left.

Of course, the iconic one-time-only great power is a wish.

[Resileaf]

Well, I did not expect things to get so... Heated. I'll try to answer some questions that were brought up, give a bit of context to the situation.

The reason I expect the players to agree to fight the dragon is because they're following a prophecy. Not one that states that they are the chosen ones, but the kind of prophecy that they want to insert themselves into to become the chosen ones (think the Neravarine prophecy in the Elder Scrolls: Morrowind). They had the option to not follow it, but decided to, and the reason the silver dragon is testing them so is because he wants to be sure they're worthy of this prophecy in the first place (one of the characters is a fallen paladin, one is an ex-convict, the last one is a witch servant of a trickster spirit). He does not intend to leave them to hang dry, he will give them help from behind the scenes to make the kill possible. But his intention is for the characters to make the decision to participate to that fight.

In any case, as suggested by most people, I'll keep the dragon crippled from the cataclysm I mentionned in my first post, but looking like he's healthy from an illusion he set up to make anyone who sees him think he's not weakened.