Given his age & the fact that he was a former consort to Tiamat, should Dragotha be a great wyrm?
Sure, it makes him CR 29, but them's the breaks. Give the PCs a little more help if need be.
No. Tiamat likes 'em young.
Creative Director
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I considered making Dragotha a Great Wyrm, but that not only increases his CR by 2, but it also makes him Colossal which would have unfortunately meant rebuilding the shape and size and layout of the Tabernacle of Worms significantly.
Anyway, Tiamat has lots and lots of consorts. They don't all have to be as powerful as they can be.
Anyway, Tiamat has lots and lots of consorts. They don't all have to be as powerful as they can be.
Only the editor could call Tiamat loose and get away with it ;)
And remember, of course, that you don't age after you become undead. So it's quite possible that Dragotha was made into a Dracolich as a Wyrm, and then amassed his immense power and wealth. In my opinion, it makes him a bit cooler.
Anyway, Tiamat has lots and lots of consorts. They don't all have to be as powerful as they can be.Only the editor could call Tiamat loose and get away with it ;)
She's a committed feminist and a liberated woman--no longer fettered by the ridiculous labels that mortal moralists place upon her behavior! ;)
I might add that I was delighted to see wyrm instead of great wyrm. I expected great wyrm. I was glad for the surprise. That also leaves room for the future, where bigger and badder dragons await. ;-)
I am pretty sure that there is only one more dragon left in the campaign. As to bigger and badder? That remains to be seen. Oh how I wait for the climax, uh, conclusion I mean.
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Creative Director
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Keep in mind as well that Dragotha didn't decide to become a lich. He hooked up with Kyuss, who promised him eternal life, and that made Dragotha brave enough to start going against Tiamat, who then killed him. Kyuss then transformed him into an undead dragon (Dragotha thus did not become a dracolich via the standard method of drinking the crazy dracolich potion.) Dragotha was still a wyrm at this point, which is why he's a wyrm now.
That said, feel free to make him a great wyrm. But keep in mind that also makes him Colossal, which causes as many problems as does increasing his CR by +2.
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Creative Director
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Brilliant energy weapons can't hurt undead; they only hurt living flesh. And even if it could, it doesn't bypass natural armor; only regular armor and shields. It's one of the lamest weapon qualities, in my opinion.
An undead-bane weapon would do pretty good against Dragotha, though.
As would the spell find the gap.
Brilliant energy weapons can't hurt undead; they only hurt living flesh. And even if it could, it doesn't bypass natural armor; only regular armor and shields. It's one of the lamest weapon qualities, in my opinion.
I so totally agree. It also does jack against constructs, and anything that is completely useless against a golem is, IMO, not worth the gold.
The monk in our party had some special handwraps made specifically to bypass enemies damage reduction... a silvered +1 Undead Bane wrap, a byesh +1 Aberration bane wrap, a cold iron and good-aligned +1 wrap, etc. It makes his hands so much more deadly when they take on wormspawn.
When Sexi Golem came over to my house and reviewed the stats for Dragotha, he just couldn't stop saying, "They shouldn't win... They shouldn't win." I love looking at a foe sometimes and thinking that.
But then I read the whole adventure and saw the helpt hey get from Balakarde, and I have to say I'm a little miffed! It just seems like Deus ex Machina to me. Either make Draotha weaker to begin with, or give the party a non-combat option here. I now you can't, what's done is done, but I remember from the AoW Overload a mention of an option to negotiate a treaty with the dragon, rather than fight him. I'm guessing you just ran out of room and time. I, however, plan on nerfing Balakarde's help somewhat and adding in the "treaty" option. The party can also get a major leg-up if they grab some of the awesome treasure in his horde, which I think would be cool to see them racing around trying to do.
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Creative Director
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You can still negotiate a treaty with Dragotha, and doing so would definately help in places in "Dawn of a New Age." But the vast majority of players are going to want to kill him by the time they reach him, which is why the adventure skews toward this solution.
I wouldn't call it a Deus ex Machina at all, since gathering Balakarde's aid is the point of the adventure, really. If the PCs just showed up to fight Dragotha and Balakarde showed up out of the blue to help without them first having to rescue him (3 times), THAT would be a deus ex machina.
And even with Balakarde's aid, Dragotha won't be a pushover.