The Adult Blue Dragon Was Never Standing Still
The number that ends encounters is 66. That is the average of 12d10 lightning damage from the Adult Blue Dragon’s Lightning Breath, thrown down a 90-foot line, 5 feet wide, Dexterity save for half. It recharges on a 5 or 6, which is a one-in-three chance every round. Line everyone up in a corridor and you have volunteered the whole marching order for the same saving throw.
The mistake underneath the damage is geography. This dragon has a 40-foot walk speed, an 80-foot fly speed, and a 40-foot burrow speed. It does not hold ground. It surfaces, breathes down a rank, and is airborne or underground before your melee closes. Players who plan around a visible, grounded target spend their turns walking toward empty desert.
Terrain is the only reliable counter. Ceilings, tunnels, and enclosed spaces cost the dragon its greatest advantage, which is the freedom to reposition faster than the party can respond. Fight it in the open and it dictates every exchange.
At the table: After it breathes, have the dragon burrow 40 feet and resurface behind the back line next round, forcing the front rank to spend a full turn just relocating.
Related
- The Comic Relief That Bites: Seeding Ancient Dragon Encounters
- Spells Are Verbs, Not Damage Rolls
- The Myth at the Table
Daily field notes, weekly Issues. Follow @ItsAlrdyWritten or subscribe via RSS.