Well, My fight with Dragotha went extraordinarily well. My PCs included the following:
Human Cleric 18/Fighter 2, Gnome Druid 19, Half-Orc Ghost (from Ghostwalker book) Spirit Shaman 20, Human Paladin 20, Human Bard 10 Fighter 9, and Half Elf Ranger 13 Deepwood Sniper 7.
Cohorts and Companions include Drow Hexblade 8 Rogue 8, Paladin’s Gold Dragon Mount, a Gated in Solar Ranger 5, and Zulshyn for one fight.
Yep, No arcane…not since level 6. Anyways, assume that everyone in this fight has Deathward and Freedom of Movement cast, which they did. This alone stops Dragotha’s major player-killer effects, which without he would be death incarnate.
They had a pretty hard encounter against the Wormdrake earlier, losing three PCs and an NPC, Thanks to prepared Resurrections and Revivify, lives were restored for the final fight. While The could have rested after the Wormdrake,but I kind of hinted that Dragotha would have time to summon additional minions in the area such as one of the other five Wormdrakes in the world and some Wormcrawl creepy crawlies. I kind of didn’t want them doing the uber-buff on Dragotha, so pressed them up the hole. At the top of the hole was my substituted Favored Spawn of Kyuss Crawling Head and Favored Spawn of Kyuss Flesh Jelly, both with horrificly intimidating names like Wormshrieker and Kyuss’s Hunger,but little to really stop the players other than freaking them out with words like Vorpal, Quickened Wail of the Banshee, Utter Absorbtion, and other save or die effects that they were all immune to. Thanks to their spells, some of which were conserved in the Wormdrake fight, the fight wasn’t hard, but the head’s shrieking gave me justification to have Dragotha fully buffed and having a readied action to breath on the first ones who opened the wormdoor connecting to his main chambers.
Aside from substituting some of his spells for Metabreath spells, I gave him Venk and Zyrith as well as 4 28 HD unique Kyuss knights that I detailed on another thread. They did their job well. On the “surprise” readied action, Dragotha breathes while using Dispeling Breath on the party. I was hoping to get some DeathWards but didn’t. Oh well, because this killed the Drow cohort outright. The party advances, Healing themselves, while the Drow gets Revivified by the Priest. The druid of course casts Shapechange…what an absolutely broken spell (worse than Gate in my opinion) and goes Green Great Wyrm on him, while the Solar eradicates my cool dwarf Kyuss Knight with Slaying arrows. Dragotha gets a 4 on the breath/round roll, his feats lessen this to 1. The Kyuss Knights and Dragotha advance, with Zyrith severely missing the only one out of the tunnel, the Paladin on the Dragon. The Paladin proceeds to chase the Wyvern, possessing greater speed and Smiting it for lots of damage. Zulshyn readies an action to Greater Dispel the first spell Dragotha casts. Dragotha and undead gets hit with Sunburst (Zyrith evades, Venk goes blind for a round even on a made save.0
Round 2, Dragotha attempts Horrid Wilting as is Dispelled by Zulshyn. Kyuss Knights begin engaging, shocking characters with their gifts and prowess. I hit 2 out of every three strikes with their swords, and probably drained 13 intelligence the whole fight…Not bad. I ended up blinding the Spirit Shaman for a round (he had to Heal himself, and stopped him from using a mass cure spell) Zulshyn heals herself and others while the Paladin chases Zyrith behind Dragotha., still getting caught due to slower speed. Evasion surprises Dragon as Wyvern avoids breath weapon and flamestrike. Bard buffs party and advances on Knights with silver, Undead Bane weapons. Party is still stuck in cone formation at tunnel entrance, with Wormdoor reforming. Another Sunburst hits Undead, while Druid changes to Wyrm Red and covers Knights in flames.
Round 3. Dragotha hit multiple times by Ranger with Bk. Buffs. Dragotha causes party to groan by casting Harm on himself, going to full and perching back on treasure Horde. Paladin’s chase comes full circle as Zyrith attempts Strafe and misses every attack. Venk is still blind, but the Kyuss Knights are wailing away. Zulshyn readies again to Greater Dispel, while party finally all advance out of hole to meet Kyuss Knights (hopefully discouraging the FlameBreath). The Knights had cast protection from fire previously cast but most is eroded by Druid’s flamebreath. The Cleric continues using Heal spells, is dismayed when his Domain Bigsby spells fail to grapple due to Tabernacle’s protective spells, while Druid shapechanges to Green Wyrm and covers knights in breath (I guess this is legal…shifting from one color to another and not having to roll for rounds between breath).
Round 4) Kyuss Knight gets Polymorph any Object’d into a toad by Zulshyn, fails save. Dragotha lands back near clustered party and full attacks, delivering one blow to everyone in reach. This surprises the party, due to the sheer damage output. The Paladin and Druid are base to base with Dragotha, with the Ranger and Fighter still tied up with their respective Kyuss Knights. Venk is finally not blind, misses his Hideous Blow with his trident throw. Spirit Shaman begins pegging Dragotha with Sunbeams and Kyuss knights with Quickened FlameStrikes, while Druid decides to even odds with Finger of Death on Venk, assuming her Fortitude sucks. It doesn’t, and she lives.
Round 5) Kyuss knights finally fall thanks to Solar and Rangers, but Dragotha unleashes a nasty trick, a Metabreath spell called Breath Weapon Substitution, which turns his Fire beath to a cone of freezing cone. This brings many already injured near death, such as Zulshyn, the Priest, and the Druid while again flat-out killing the Drow. The Paladin full attacks, smiting on every hit possible. This gets the Dracolich’s attention. Zyrith is targeted by the Solar’s implosion but makes the save, while Venk tries to disrupt a Heal being cast by Spirit Shaman and fails to do so.
Round 6) Dragotha full attacks Paladin. Paladin dies at –89.Zyrith finally subcumbs to repeated arrow shots from Dragon hating ranger and residual damage from Shapechanged druid breath weapons. Druid breathes on Dragotha, doing some 70 damage after resistances. BK’s slayer essence gets passed like a hot potato as everyone tries to use the buffs. Venk flees the scene. Zulshyn uses Wish to heal herself, while Spiritshaman continues pelting Dragotha with Sunbeam. He does this every round until Dragotha is dead.
Round 7) Dragotha full attacks then uses Quickened, Clinging Breath on his DeathWind, Killing Druid by claws(even in Great Wyrm form)and severely wounding Fighter/Bard. Cleric uses Mass Heal, while Zulshyn hits Dragotha with MDJ, dropping his AC by 5 and his attacks bonuses significantly. (He makes saves against items) Fighter/Bard, who is designed for multiple attacks, hits Dragotha everytime with silver, bludgeoning undead bane weapons, doing over 125 damage. Ranger shoots as well, overcoming DR with bane weaponry.
Round 8) Dragotha is losing life at 200 a round, and despite his one kill a round rate, he can’t keep up. He casts Harm on himself (He’s at about 210/825 at this point), and retreats to his horde, preparing to go for the staff of the Magi. Sensing weakness, the party hits him with everything they have, again swapping the essence back and forth like mad. Dragotha was wishing for Combat Reflexes since everyone came swarming in at that point, with the Fighter/Bard scoring the killing blow (It was his cohort who was one of the Kyuss Knights). What a fight!!
2 out of 6 PCs dead, 1 out of 3 cohorts. Fight time (not including pre-buffing): 3 hours
Overall: 1 out of every 3 PCs in our group died against Dragotha. I think this qualifies for a successful fight, and everyone seemed to completely enjoy it…Cries of “We’re all gonna die!” and “We might do it…Holy crap!” were uttered.
My only suggestions for other DMs with Dragotha are mainly Metabreath spells and minions. It lets him slightly equalize the number of player actions against him, making for a more even , exciting fight. Also, don't be afraid to full attack a single PC. It seems mean, but Dragotha has to even the odds to have a chance. Thanks, Mr. Jacobs for an awesome module. I can’t wait to run the final chapter. (I’m honestly more afraid of the Lashonna fight. She’s just as tough as Dragotha and the party doesn’t get “help” against her…Mw
Excellent post and fight! I'm right behind you in running the AOW and your posts are much appreciated. I must say I'm pretty worried about my PC's fate during this battle, I think I could very well be looking at a TPK. My players just don't like to buff - too complicated for them (Oh those pesky words, how they hate to have to actually read them!)
Just curious -- how did your druid Shapechange into a 38 HD Great Wyrm green dragon? Isn't there a limit of 25 HD on Shapechange forms?
I would love to have players who didn't use buff spells. Then I wouldn't have to use them on the bad guys and everything would be a heck of a lot simpler.
Just curious -- how did your druid Shapechange into a 38 HD Great Wyrm green dragon? Isn't there a limit of 25 HD on Shapechange forms?
Whoops...Oh well, hard to catch every detail in a fight as big as that. WOuldn't have made a lot of difference, probably would have knocked about 20-25 damage of the breath weapons of the druid. (Dragotha rolled natural 1 on the one he failed).
I'm actually a lot cooler with him turning into a Wyrm than turning into a Titan and casting Gate or getting Wish as a spell-like ability as a Solar. Getting a breath weapon seems more balanced than getting free 9th level spells a druid should never have.
Whoops...Oh well, hard to catch every detail in a fight as big as that. WOuldn't have made a lot of difference, probably would have knocked about 20-25 damage of the breath weapons of the druid. (Dragotha rolled natural 1 on the one he failed).
I'm actually a lot cooler with him turning into a Wyrm than turning into a Titan and casting Gate or getting Wish as a spell-like ability as a Solar. Getting a breath weapon seems more balanced than getting free 9th level spells a druid should never have.
Shapechange doesn't give spell-like abilities, only extraordinary and supernatural abilities. Don't get me wrong: it's one of the most powerful spells in the game, but it doesn't do everything you're attributing to it.
I've been looking forward to this fight, myself. I'm gonna go the "Dire Charge" route. That is, Dragotha will charge the PCs, make a full attack (with Arcane Strike no less--substituted Maximize spell for it), and eat the players alive. I haven't decided whether to toss out Flyby Attack (as it is redundant with the charge) or Recover Breath for Dire Charge, as I still believe the fight might only go a few rounds in the end. He'll follow with a quickened, clinging death wind breath weapon, centered on his space. (As negative energy damage, I think this will heal him as well, if it matters.)
From this point, I believe I will have intimidated my players so thoroughly, that Dragotha will have a definite psychological edge. Of course, this is only conjecture. While Balakarde's spirit fragments will provide the party--for the most part--with immunity to fire, paralysis, and fear, etc., they are likely to go in with the spell mass death ward up. Well, out comes greater dispel. I'd disjoin them, but since Dragotha can't cast it anyway, that would be a little much.
Nevertheless, I feel it's important for any party to try to at least engage in the buff vs. debuff tug-o-war that comes up before and during combat. Unless the spell is silent, I offer Listen checks (Dragotha, alone, has a +48, not to mention his blindsense, detect thoughts, etc). So, unless those spells are done stealthily, the PCs may be given away, and forced to try to keep up with Dragotha's own preparations. Finally, with sending and teleport spells in the hands of Dragotha's minions, there's almost no way Dragotha should be taken aback that his lair is being invaded when the time to throw down comes. While lacking buffs himself, Dragotha might want to create some greater undead. I haven't thought this one too thoroughly, but its preparatory altogether.
Congrats Rakshaka. It's such a great feeling to plan for a great and climactic encounter and actually pull it off so that everyone has fun and feels like they really did something. I mean, they beat Dragotha man! They should be breathing a little hard with sweat on their brows. It sounds like you pulled it off in fine style. Nice job!
Thank you very much for your thorough description as well. I love reading about other people's fights. Fun AND educational!
The lesson seems to be that Dragotha is vastly aided by a few hardy mooks to soak up some of the liberal damage offered by the pc's. Does anyone feel that the benefit from Balakarde is too much? I mean folks seem to be scheming about how to make Dragotha more powerful or at least last a little longer. How about reducing the benefit of BK's fragments? Just wondering if anyone had gone that route and how it worked out.
Does anyone feel that the benefit from Balakarde is too much? I mean folks seem to be scheming about how to make Dragotha more powerful or at least last a little longer. How about reducing the benefit of BK's fragments? Just wondering if anyone had gone that route and how it worked out.
While Balakarde's bonuses are absolutely stunning, I think they level the playing field. Dragotha is still a CR 27, at least, and if he is accompanied by allies, the EL can also increase. I think due to the very specific bonuses, and the need for the allies to group closely to maximize the benefits, they are fair. I couldn't believe it when I saw Dragotha's AC for the first time, a serious 58. But with Balakarde's Slayer soul fragment, it's effectively a 38, which is far more reasonable.
While I consider the immunity to fear superfluous--as I believe it would only result in the shaken condition--the immunity to paralysis is practically requisite, as Dragotha's save DCs on his paralysis-oriented attacks are so high, it would take a character with an obscene Fort save to even make them.
But, I am glad the fragments don't confer any AC bonuses, though. I want Dragotha to sink his teeth into my PCs, real juicy like...mwahaha.
Shapechange, Shapechange…(Finally reads it with microscope like I did with Gate). Oh well, like I said, it mattered little in the end since the Druid really only damaged the knights and the Zyrith/Venk and ended up dying horribly. It’s tough to run fights like that with thirty or so simultaneous effects, and honestly its impossible for anyone to have every spell memorized (yes, even the 9th level ones). I took it on good faith from one of my players that Shapechange functioned as he ran it. Really, the spell made him the biggest target. Sure he was doing lots of damage with the breath weapons, but he would have been doing a similar amount with spells like Fire Storm and some of the non-energy crap out of the Spell Compendium (Deadfall comes to mind). Sorry to defend myself, I like to think of myself as a good DM and hate it when I miss something.
Anyways, I agree with Hierophantsm in that the Slayer buff is essential to even dream of fighting Dragotha. Even Dysjunctioned (assuming his magic items save), he has an AC of 53 (I had to calculate it) which is nigh unhittable by all but the most buffed fighter-class. I think the paralysis immunity is superfluous since every PC who’s smart will have Freedom of Movement cast on themselves anyways. In my fight, I never even told them the paralysis DC. It might have been more nerve-wracking to have it reliant on their spell, with Balakarde’s essence giving a +20 on paralysis rolls instead of immunity(still dicey for some)The interesting tactical advantage the buffs provide to Dragotha is that they force the PCs to cluster 30 feet together, perfect setup for his 60’ breath cone; I think this is why the Metabreath spells were so effective as I almost always hit the entire party with each of them. The bonus to reflex I also think is essential, as even with it many PCs failed rolls against the breath. One thing I almost did but didn’t was to half the buffs until they killed Balakardes former friends, the kyuss knights. This might have made it last a little longer, but it might have just killed them all in two rounds instead.
I agree that there is no reason that Dragotha should be caught unaware, especially with the amount of minions and means at his disposal. I forced my PCs to conserve their spells as they fought through the tabernacle, and they faced Dragotha after dealing with three previous fights, character deaths, dispels, and dysjucntions. They did not mega-buff and just waltz in and hand him his ass, and if they had, I would have attacked them while they sat there with as many Overworms it took to get them to move. I discouraged resting before Dragotha, knowing that an hour of game time would be wasted rememorizing spells and mega-buffing if they did so. (I hinted that with their Knowledge Arcana checks, they knew that there were five other Wormdrakes in the world, and that if they rested, Dragotha was powerful enough to procure additional minions. I also gave them a fake timeclock, telling them they had until the night they fought him to slay him before he reconstructed a new phylactery and became invincible.)
I also agree with Eltanin that Dragotha needs minions. Mathematically, he cannot keep up with the number of actions taken against him by even four PCs in a round. He needs “Mooks” to soak up hits, more importantly player actions. I wish Venk and Zyrith could have done more; they’re so cool! Although they caused about 40 points of damage combined the whole fight, they did something more important; they ate up the mega-damage dealing paladin and rangers for a few rounds while they chased and shot at them.
The Kyuss Knights will also forever be remembered by my PCs, even the ones that died from a single spell or arrow of slaying because of their symbolism as icons of mockery and doom, doom that awaits each party member if they fail. I recommend every DM running Age of Worms to keep track of the most memorable PCs you’ve killed off during the path, and then do what Dragotha and I did. Turn them into unholy mockeries of all they once stood for as Kyuss Knights guarding Dragotha. I think the encounter with Maralee will have more meaning now that they’ve seen a friend turned into one of those things.
Oh, there's also nothing that can stop Dragotha from killing a single PC flat out in a round. His full attack routine (coupled with haste) will kill anyone with less than 250 hp before even rolling damage dice, and if he misses, just power attack for less. Every PC knew on Dragotha's turn that of those within his reach knew that one of them would die, no questions. It seems mean, but I recommend this tactic. In order for the fight to be fair, he has to level the playing field slightly...
Wow! Good job with this one Rakshaka, minor errors notwithstanding. If only I can do as well as you, when I get there.
The ex-PC death knights are a cool added touch. Yoink!
Sorry to defend myself, I like to think of myself as a good DM and hate it when I miss something.
Ha! Defend away Rakshaka. Based on what you've shared from your campaign, I don't think you need have any worries about your DMing. Heck, you should be proud that more people haven't found much to pick apart from the fight (yet). These summaries seem to generate a lot of that kind of rule discussion which I find fascinating and so helpful, but I can only imagine is a little bit difficult to take as the one being scrutinized. It's kind of like a peer review process. Publish a round by round description of your Dragotha and Kyuss fights, submit to the analysis, and come out with your Age of Worms PhD! We'll call you Dr. Wormy soon enough Rakshaka.
Anyway, thanks for the perspective on Balakarde's help. This seems like such a fun fight (potentially). I can't wait to get into the driver's seat of a Dragotha and see what havoc I can wreak.
I know I stated this on another thread, but I'm gonna give Dragotha a whole bunch of wraiths and dread wraiths, the victims of his death wind breath weapon. Maybe a dread wraith swarm...that would be fun.