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I just got finished reading The Farthest Shore again, and one thing is obvious, at least in that universe: wizard < dragon
So, that got me thinking: what would be a good class build (martial or caster) be that could do something, by him/her/itself, about a dragon? Like, you know, a big scary one. Offense, defense, special abilities, you name it, please consider it.
I already know how to explore a dungeon. Not really sure what to do if it came to a fight with a dragon, however.
It was a while back and I was just on the sidelines watching for a bit at the local gaming store, so I don't have the stats, but I watched a dragon hunting party (home brew campaign), and clearly number one was the Trophy Hunter Ranger. I don't recall everything, but he did have dragons as his highest favored enemy, and big game hunter as a trait. Touch attacks out to two range increments vs dragons? Yes please.
Well there is the Oath Against Dragons Paladin.
I hear Gunslingers work well for targeting touch AC and not being magic dependent.
Straight up blaster casters could work.
Edit: Semi Ninja'd
Bow specialist ranger with favoured enemy Dragon seems like a good start.
Mesmerist with the Sapped Magic, Disorientation and Timidity stares plus Spell Focus: Enchantment and Spell Penetration. The dragon is at -3 to hit and takes another -3 hp off every damage roll against you. Meanwhile you get +5 to overcome its SR, and it gets an effective -4 against your enchantments. If you have wealth, you throw everything into Cha boosting items and stuff that helps punch through SR.
Turns into a contest based on a few rolls: can the dragon deliver enough damage to kill you before it fails a save against a Dominate or some such? If you're facing a dragon whose CR is equal to your level, the odds are probably well in your favor.
Doug M.
Archer paladin definitely smite +rapid/many shot =dead dragon
...for the Mesmerist, throw in some tricks. Above all, Cursed Sanction (dragon gets -4 on attack rolls and saves as soon as it hits the mesmerist). Also Astounding Avoidance (greater evasion, once) and Compel Alacrity (5' step turns into a 20' or more step), but it's that first one that really counts. At that point the dragon is effectively -7 on Will saves, and the Mesmerist's chance of nailing it with a Dominate get pretty good.
Doug M.
A wyrmscourged dwarf dragon hunter ranger seems to be pretty good.
Oath against the wyrm paladin archer could work, assuming the dragon can't get wind wall or fickle winds going.
Alchemists, grenadier alchemists specifically, can throw a lot of splash weapons (and certain dragons have vulnerabilities to them for double damage) as touch attacks.
I like Paladins & Rangers for this. Even without archetypes.
ohako wrote: I just got finished reading The Farthest Shore again, and one thing is obvious, at least in that universe: wizard < dragon Earthsea is like Asimov's Foundation books: viz., the author went back 30 years later and wrote more stuff in that universe, but really shouldn't have. Stick with the original trilogy plus the stories in _The Wind's Twelve Quarters_, and all will be well.
Anyway.
Quote: I already know how to explore a dungeon. Not really sure what to do if it came to a fight with a dragon, however. It's an interesting exercise, because dragons are designed to be boss monsters that can fight a whole party -- lots of attacks, spells, special abilities, you name it.
For a party, once battle is joined the general tactic is to spread out and smother it with action economy. Insofar as dragons have a weak spot it's their touch AC, which is almost always very bad... for instance, an ancient green dragon is CR 17, but has a touch AC of 5. So, they're really vulnerable to ranged touch attacks. Their spell resistance gives them some protection there, but if you know in advance that a dragon is on the menu, there are a lot of items you can pick up to help with that.
For casters, the classic anti-dragon tactic is to spam it with Enervations and Disintegrates. The way the math works, you'll kill pretty much any equal-CR dragon if you can lay two unsaved Disintegrates on it. (If you're an Order of the Stick fan, you'll recall that Varsuvius kills the young black dragon in exactly this way.) Enervations won't kill it quite as fast, but they don't allow saves either -- overcome the thing's SR, make your to-hit roll (pretty much automatic) and pow, d4 negative levels. A dragon that has taken a couple of Enervations to the face is a dragon that's probably -5 or worse on all attacks and saves, which is to say a dragon that's probably in a world of trouble.
Against a single PC, now... yeah, that gets interesting. I'm inclined to agree with most of the other posters: specialized ranged-melee guy, paladin with ranged smite or ranger, is probably the way to go here.
Doug M.
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