Is langdedrosa From HotDQ suppose to have a fighting style?

[Huskergamer]

The title says it all. I rebuilt him using character creation rules as a champion fighter using average hp, and his hp and other stats all came out to be exactly the same with one diference, he has no fighting style that i can tell. Did i miss something? Splint armor gives 17 so no Protection style, hes not using archery, and he doesnt use dueling style from what i can tell. The only one that would fit is Great weapon fighting but i dont see that style anywhere on his stat block. Am i missing something? or was that purposely omitted?

[GlenSmash!]

NPCs aren't necessarily built with character creation rules in mind.

If the designers of HotDQ felt that adding a fighting style would make him too high of a CR for the average party at that level they may have not put it on there on purpose.

That said, HotDQ is famous for being published before the DMG and it's known for having more than a few problems.

[Huskergamer]

Should i play him as having that style or not? ive heard that this adventure has had problems and i have a pdf of other errata so its easier, but i have no idea how tought this guy is for lvl 1 characters.

[GlenSmash!]

Should i play him as having that style or not? ive heard that this adventure has had problems and i have a pdf of other errata so its easier, but i have no idea how tought this guy is for lvl 1 characters.

I've heard it's extremely tough the way it is. I think he is entire expected to trounce one of the players or an npc in single combat. Thus setting him up as a hated bad guy for later on.

I've seen lots of posts for toning down HotDQ but never one for making it harder.

[Dungeon-noob]

He's an NPC, not a PC. If he doesn't have the feature in his statblock, he doesn't have it, and it's not like he needs one. He's strong enough as is, and NPCs generally get less features anyway, makes things easier for you to track. NPCs aren't built like PCs after all.

[ProsecutorGodot]

I've heard it's extremely tough the way it is. I think he is entire expected to trounce one of the players or an npc in single combat. Thus setting him up as a hated bad guy for later on.

I've seen lots of posts for toning down HotDQ but never one for making it harder.

That's quite literally what he is intended for.
It's written so that if none of the players volunteer, an NPC will do so and ends up killed in the fight (barring extraordinary luck). Any PC that volunteers is first knocked out (assuming they aren't killed outright) and then struck again, gaining 1 failed death save (another indication that this adventure was written with incomplete/out of date rules as reference).

Even if the PC or volunteer soldier manages to win the fight, the Kobold retinue jumps immediately to his aid and whisks him away where he recovers from the wounds inflicted. If by some miracle the fight is won AND the half dragon is killed, the PC's are rewarded with nothing as the Half Dragons spot later in the campaign is replaced with an unnamed Half Dragon.

If a PC volunteers and doesn't endanger the hostages, the party receives medical care (funny that these healers were absent during the razing of the city) and two healing potions (also suspiciously absent)

If a PC does not volunteer (which is perfectly reasonable, as it is literally certain death) they are also awarded nothing. No potions, no experience and no reward for the 8 hours spent saving Greenest.
The beginning of Hoard of the Dragon Queen is the best example of a terrible adventure start.

This is a cr 5 creature that is written to be challenged by a level 1 adventurer after 8 hours of killing Kobolds and Cultists. He doesn't need help to defeat the party. The situation is bad enough as presented without thinking that a fighting style should be added.

This isn't even the worst part of the chapter. Anyone who doesn't roleplay their character as if they are already a seasoned adventurer wouldn't reasonably make it even halfway through the night. I could go on at length about how poor the experience of this chapter of the adventure is.

[Morollan]

In my game Langdedrosa Cyanwrath challenged the party and a paladin accepted. They rolled initiative, Cyanwrath won, rolled a 1 for his first attack and a 20 on his second. One mortally wounded paladin! This caused the party to be genuinely scared of Cyanwrath and that actually made for a fun game when I reintroduced him as a recurring villain for a few levels.

[Ruebin Rybnik]

That's quite literally what he is intended for.
It's written so that if none of the players volunteer, an NPC will do so and ends up killed in the fight (barring extraordinary luck). Any PC that volunteers is first knocked out (assuming they aren't killed outright) and then struck again, gaining 1 failed death save (another indication that this adventure was written with incomplete/out of date rules as reference).

Even if the PC or volunteer soldier manages to win the fight, the Kobold retinue jumps immediately to his aid and whisks him away where he recovers from the wounds inflicted. If by some miracle the fight is won AND the half dragon is killed, the PC's are rewarded with nothing as the Half Dragons spot later in the campaign is replaced with an unnamed Half Dragon.

If a PC volunteers and doesn't endanger the hostages, the party receives medical care (funny that these healers were absent during the razing of the city) and two healing potions (also suspiciously absent)

If a PC does not volunteer (which is perfectly reasonable, as it is literally certain death) they are also awarded nothing. No potions, no experience and no reward for the 8 hours spent saving Greenest.
The beginning of Hoard of the Dragon Queen is the best example of a terrible adventure start.

This is a cr 5 creature that is written to be challenged by a level 1 adventurer after 8 hours of killing Kobolds and Cultists. He doesn't need help to defeat the party. The situation is bad enough as presented without thinking that a fighting style should be added.

This isn't even the worst part of the chapter. Anyone who doesn't roleplay their character as if they are already a seasoned adventurer wouldn't reasonably make it even halfway through the night. I could go on at length about how poor the experience of this chapter of the adventure is.

I have run HotDQ a for a couple groups now and completely agree with you. It's not just the CR 5 solo fight at the end, but almost all the encounter in the first session are deadly to level 1 PCs as they're barely stronger the NPCs. The last time I ran this module I started the group at 2nd lvl and it seemed much better. I feel this allowed the group the ability to last the night while actually rescuing the town. As for the end, well the fighter of the group was actually able to put up a decent fight before falling. Overall if find starting at 2nd level, progressing 1 level per chapter wont drastically effect the CR. Plus his will put the party at 17th level in the final chapter, giving them great power but also making it so much better when they still have to fight Tiamat.

[Kurt Kurageous]

Just for the fun of it, the group went into HotDQ after Lost Mines when we were 5th level.

I fought Big C with a devotion paly at full hits with PAM AAAAAND a warding bond ring from the cleric.

Still lost. Not great dice rolling.

As they say in baseball, he's a tough out.

The other thing that's ridiculous about Greenest is trying to get hits or a crit on the Big Blue...