Dragon-based sorc defence advice

[Falcos]

Hi all!

I have an interesting conundrum in front of me, and I'd like to consult the wiser and cheese-familiar minds here at the playground.

An NPC in my campaign is a very very old red dragon, who has been cursed by a god to be stuck in human form. That sucks for him.

He does still retain all of his dragonly spells, though. And he's a little anxious about his personal safety at the moment, being a fleshy human and not a scalebound Dragon.

So, for a great wyrm red dragon, assuming a wealth befitting his age and stature (functionally infinite), and bearing in mind that he doesn't want to transform into anything non-Dragon and he **can't** transform into a dragon again (divinely cursed), how many things can he become immune to, highly resistant to, or well-defended against, using wealth, tactics, the magic he has, and anything else I haven't thought of?

Please and thank you in advance.

[Anthrowhale]

Start with Persistent Strength of the True Form to get the natural armor, damage reduction, and physical ability scores of a great wyrm red dragon. Add in Persistent Scintillating Scales to convert the natural armor bonus into a deflection bonus. Pay for a Psychic Reformation as necessary to get access to these. Buy +6 stat boosting items and a Monk's Belt. Buy the tomes for +5 inherent bonuses. At this point you have a touch AC of 68, DR 20/magic, Str 56, Dex 21, Con 42, Int 37, Wis 38, Cha 37 based on a generic GW red dragon.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

1. Get every category covered from the Necessary Magic Items (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?187851-3-5-Lists-of-Necessary-Magic-Items).

2. Use MIC p234 to add flat bonuses to existing items of the appropriate slot for the same price as a standalone item of the same bonus. Use that for +8 armor bonus, +5 deflection bonus, +5 enhancement to natural armor, +6 enhancement to each physical ability score and Cha, etc.

3. Every day cast Superior Resistance once and (Rod of) Extended Energy Immunity twice. Take Practiced Spellcaster.

4. Dragons aren't proficient with armor, but they're proficient with simple weapons and any weapons mentioned in its entry. (https://www.d20srd.org/srd/typesSubtypes.htm#dragonType) I guess technically if you list a martial or exotic weapon among its treasure in the monster's description that means it's proficient with it (since it would have sufficient time to practice with it). It also has a +40 BAB, so give it Power Attack and Leap Attack and some kind of cool two-handed weapon with Valorous and Sudden Stunning and Spell Storing. Put Wrathful Healing from Enemies & Allies on that, it costs a +3 and heals the wielder for half the total damage dealt by the weapon.


He's a powerful martial combatant. He has Sorcerer 19 spellcasting. He has an absurdly high a Cha and potentially 43 ranks in skills like Diplomacy, Bluff, and Intimidate. He could hire an army of mercenaries and personally lead them in conquering a region and become a powerful warlord. He could start rumors about how the god who cursed him isn't what he seems and convince his followers to turn away from him, and hire ruffians to attack his priests and burn his temples.

[Telonius]

Will he be able to level up at all? He probably qualifies for Warshaper already, which can get you immunity to Stunning and Critical Hits at level 1.

[Falcos]

I wasn't intending to give him any class levels, but now I'm pondering if I should. These other ideas, though, are great. I really want him to give off the "hopeless boss" vibe for as long as I can before my players find a way through his defences, so I'm always listening for more ways to do so.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

Abjurant Champion 5 is pretty good, considering it fixes his caster level.

[Xervous]

Abjurant Champion 5 is pretty good, considering it fixes his caster level.

I’ll just chime in that Reds get the Evil domain spells as arcane options. Boosted CL blasphemy isn’t the easiest conundrum for some groups to handle.

[satorian]

I really want him to give off the "hopeless boss" vibe for as long as I can before my players find a way through his defences, so I'm always listening for more ways to do so.

This does seem fun. It's worth considering, though, that an intelligently played great wyrm red with full hoard, even in human form, is a threat to a level 20 party. This is especially true with Strength of the True Form and Scintillating Scales, among other buffs. Add class levels, and your party may need to be Epic to ever beat him.

With that said, don't forget Wings of Cover (and Wings of Flurry for offense).

[Falcos]

The party is rapidly approaching 20 and they're pretty high power, at least in my estimation. This Dragon is the final boss of the whole campaign and so I'm really wanting to not pull my punches.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

The party is rapidly approaching 20 and they're pretty high power, at least in my estimation. This Dragon is the final boss of the whole campaign and so I'm really wanting to not pull my punches.

Will he be alone, or have minions/guards? Even in humanoid form he should retain the fire subtype and thus be completely immune to fire, so maybe a volcano lair? This red dragon lair (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?322346-Volcanic-mountain-cavern-style-dungeon-as-red-dragon-lair#2) (replace www.wizards with archive.wizards in old links) could give you some ideas.

Figure out some tactics and spell combos for him to use. This encounter (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?353631-Sorcerer-BBEG-fight-help-for-my-game-tonight#3) isn't all that high of a level and has some pretty solid strategy for defending against a party of adventurers who kick in the door. Definitely give him spells like Wings of Cover and Wings of Flurry, the latter will do 46d6 damage (average 161) if he has Abjurant Champion 5. Maybe even include a custom Runestaff (MIC p234) for choice all-day buffs like Primal Hunter/Instinct/Senses/Speed, Superior Resistance, and Heart of Air/Water/Earth/Fire.

Decide if he'll have minions and if so, what kind of minions (humanoids? monsters? what type of monsters? what target CR?), and figure out some strategies that work with those.

[Falcos]

Lots of details about the boss fight are still undecided, but so far I have determined that:

He is convinced of draconic superiority, and as such, has decided to use mental magics (Dominate, etc) on dragons who oppose him to use as tools, to strike down the do-gooder party that is trying to stop his plans. As such, he has a number of Gold Dragons under Dominate spells to use as combatants.

He is willing to recruit and use dragon-worshippers from other races as minions. He himself cannot grant divine spells, as he is not a god, but he is perfectly capable of giving them what are to him mere trinkets, but are to them powerful magical items.

When he was cursed by the forge-god of my setting, he immediately lay siege to the holiest site of said god and claimed it for his own. He now claims Watchman's Peak, a dormant volcano with a god's forge at the summit, as his lair, and he very, VERY rarely leaves it, as he is rather paranoid about both his personal safety and afraid of the forge-god reclaiming the Peak if he ever vacates it.

He has, however, been keeping track of the party with a suite of divination spells and paid-off minions, naturally. The party are tracking down why powerful casters and artefacts are going missing across the continent, with the reason of which they are presently unaware being "This dragon needs them to conduct a ritual to try to break the curse".

I will be making use of all of the spells and tactics listed so far, and am open to any more tactical, strategical, or any other recommendations that people may have.

[ixrisor]

I’d just like to point out that clerics don’t have to worship a god, so it’s possible that a cleric could worship “dragons” as an ideal, and therefore see this guy as an exemplar of the power and nobility of dragonkind.

[Falcos]

This is true, and slightly amusing that a cleric could hold this opinion while serving at the whims of, functionally, a gigantic bigot against non-dragons.

"He is the exemplar of the majesty of dragonkind each time I hear him curse his fragile fleshy body!"

[Xervous]

This is true, and slightly amusing that a cleric could hold this opinion while serving at the whims of, functionally, a gigantic bigot against non-dragons.

"He is the exemplar of the majesty of dragonkind each time I hear him curse his fragile fleshy body!"

I don’t even have to squint to picture this right hand minion in a Saturday morning cartoon.

[Falcos]

"When he lights me aflame for failing to catch the party, I feel wrapped in the glory of dragonkind! Praise dragon-sama!"

... Yeah, you're right.