Our GM is running our party through a hella-hard series of modules. We are a 10th-level party of four made with 25-point buy who make use of the Hero Point optional rules. Some of us are over geared.
These modules have a reoccurring villain: a CR 19 ancient red dragon. The dragon is systematically hunting us all down.
In v3.5, it broke down a wall, won initiative and killed everyone in our party with its opening breath weapon except for my wizard (polymorphed into a fire-immune hellhound at the time), our cleric (delay death), and the party druid (protection from energy from the cleric). We escaped by the skin of our teeth. The druid reincarnated the party ranger later on, leaving only one party fighter permanently killed (the spirit refused to return).
The cleric later retired, we gained a wear-rabbit monk (no joke) and wizard/fighter eldritch knight, and our party "upgraded" to the Pathfinder rules.
We encountered the dragon's "rider" and slew him in one on four combat. Now the dragon wants revenge for his (master's?) death.
He ambushed us at a castle a few weeks ago, with us only surviving because we all used hero points to act out of turn, jump off the castle wall simultaneously (out of the area of the dragon's killing breath weapon), and teleport away to safety.
Tonight he ambushed us on the open plain, using invisibility, Flyby Attack, and his breath weapon to put half the party in the hurt locker before we could even respond. Luckily, we all passed our saves and we weren't killed outright. Furthermore, the monk and and eldritch knight had evasion (the latter from a ring) and took no damage. The dragon took his time mauling us with Greater Vital Strike/Power Attack melee attacks.
My spells bounce off this guy like I'm shooting spit balls. We've only been able to hit him with the ranger's favored enemy (dragon) dragonbane bow on a natural 20. We are SO outmatched it's not even funny.
Tonight my wizard escaped (via teleportation) as did the wearbunny monk (disappearing into knee high grass as a bunny at high speed). Everyone else is dead. Again.
My wizard is the ONLY original character from the start of the adventure.
HOW CAN WE POSSIBLY KILL THIS THING? WE NEED HELP! The GM is not to blame. The F****** dragon is actually in the module, and the module ACTUALLY expects us to kill it! (At worst, my GM can be accused of picking a highly unbalanced module.)
Help us come up with a plan. Despite my suggestion for a pair of paladins, it looks like the players will be statting up a dwarven magus (playtest) and a half-vampire (Bestiary II) ninja (playtest). We are all tenth level at this point and, due to character deaths, some of us are way over-geared. Any advice at all is appreciated.
No imagination here. These are real games actually taking place.
Lotion yourselves up with barbecue sauce? Ask if it prefers a dry rub?
Our GM is running our party through a hella-hard series of modules. We are a 10th-level party of four made with 25-point buy who make use of the Hero Point optional rules. Some of us are over geared.
These modules have a reoccurring villain: a CR 19 ancient red dragon. The dragon is systematically hunting us all down.
In v3.5, it broke down a wall, won initiative and killed everyone in our party with its opening breath weapon except for my wizard (polymorphed into a fire-immune hellhound at the time), our cleric (delay death), and the party druid (protection from energy from the cleric). We escaped by the skin of our teeth. The druid reincarnated the party ranger later on, leaving only one party fighter permanently killed (the spirit refused to return).
The cleric later retired, we gained a wear-rabbit monk (no joke) and wizard/fighter eldritch knight, and our party "upgraded" to the Pathfinder rules.
We encountered the dragon's "rider" and slew him in one on four combat. Now the dragon wants revenge for his (master's?) death.
He ambushed us at a castle a few weeks ago, with us only surviving because we all used hero points to act out of turn, jump off the castle wall simultaneously (out of the area of the dragon's killing breath weapon), and teleport away to safety.
Tonight he ambushed us on the open plain, using invisibility, Flyby Attack, and his breath weapon to put half the party in the hurt locker before we could even respond. Luckily, we all passed our saves and we weren't killed outright. Furthermore, the monk and and eldritch knight had evasion (the latter from a ring) and took no damage. The dragon took his time mauling us with Greater Vital Strike/Power Attack melee attacks.
My spells bounce off this guy like I'm shooting spit balls. We've only been able to hit him with the ranger's favored enemy (dragon) dragonbane bow on a natural 20. We are SO outmatched it's not even funny.
Tonight my wizard escaped (via teleportation) as did the wearbunny monk (disappearing into knee high...
What is the module name? Yes, I am going to metagame, but in order to help. :)
TOZ ninja'd me with the shivering touch idea. If you are still using 3.5 I am sure I can help you kill it with another idea.
Get Dust of Sneezing and Choking(cursed item). Buy an Elemental Gem. It is only 2250. Most dragons have a chump's initiative. You already know about the breath weapon so just in case the DM rolls high get some fire protection.
Back to the dragon killing plan. Break the gem which is a standard action. Get the bag out which is a move action. Use your free action to tell the elemental(preferably an Air Elemental) to empty the dust onto the dragon.
PRD:This fine dust appears to be dust of appearance. If cast into the air, it causes those within a 20-foot spread to fall into fits of sneezing and coughing. Those failing a DC 15 Fortitude save take 3d6 points of Constitution damage immediately. Those who succeed on this saving throw are nonetheless disabled by choking (treat as stunned) for 5d4 rounds.
Elementals are immune to stunning so the dust won't affect it. There is a feat or ability in the APG, IIRC that allows you to coup de grace stunned opponents.
PS:The cursed item was not the other idea. I have to think of one.
The module is called Dragonlance: Dragons of Winter. It is a 3rd party v3.0/v3.5 module which the GM has converted to Pathfinder. Please do not post any spoilers.
It´s following you, right? That basically calls for traps!
I know that monsters have vast amounts of HP and traps don´t hurt that much to kill the thing by the mechanical rules but it would be realistic if they did, ask your DM if you can work something out and then await the dragon with some siege weapon versions of traps, impale that thing with ballista bolts and house sized punji stakes, hide in a cave which has a guillotine build at entry and stuff
It´s following you, right? That basically calls for traps!
I know that monsters have vast amounts of HP and traps don´t hurt that much to kill the thing by the mechanical rules but it would be realistic if they did, ask your DM if you can work something out and then await the dragon with some siege weapon versions of traps, impale that thing with ballista bolts and house sized punji stakes, hide in a cave which has a guillotine build at entry and stuff
Not enough time to build traps I'm afraid. Due to the nature of the module our characters are always on the move and we are under a time constraint.
Your magic is bouncing off him, why? Because of SR presumably? I suggest buying a scroll of Gate and having someone UMD it, its reasonable to use such tactics in a silly challenge like that. Gate in a solar sit back.
I can't beat it's SR except on a natural 20.
Can't buy a scroll of gate. Half the world's been conquered by the dragon's minions (and we are quickly losing the other half) and I honestly don't think there's anyone left with that kind of spellcasting ability. Even Fizban apparently died (not that I'd want him gating anything into our reality--he'd just flumph it and we'd end up with a Cthulu on our hands).
The module is called Dragonlance: Dragons of Winter. It is a 3rd party v3.0/v3.5 module which the GM has converted to Pathfinder. Please do not post any spoilers.
I don't have that one. I will check around to see if any of my friends have it tomorrow.
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Obviously fighting it 1 on 1 should be a last resort unless you have a kill switch guaranteeing a victory.
So..
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Perhaps a combination of all-of-the-above:
..and failing that, hey, you can go loot the bases of several powerful monsters/organisations and see if their dollar dollar bling bling can help you with a final show down.
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Personally I think it's a riot - 4 on 1 brutal rider slaughter? Oh you cads! This is where the solo-challenge of ego comes into play, at least to my mind - winner gets to be the new rider!
I jest, I'm guessing you *needed 4 on 1 to take the rider of a CR 19 Dragon! :D
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THE ANGRY RED DRAGON BELONGS TO ALL MANKIND!1!
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Our GM is running our party through a hella-hard series of modules. We are a 10th-level party of four made with 25-point buy who make use of the Hero Point optional rules. Some of us are over geared.
These modules have a reoccurring villain: a CR 19 ancient red dragon. The dragon is systematically hunting us all down.
In v3.5, it broke down a wall, won initiative and killed everyone in our party with its opening breath weapon except for my wizard (polymorphed into a fire-immune hellhound at the time), our cleric (delay death), and the party druid (protection from energy from the cleric). We escaped by the skin of our teeth. The druid reincarnated the party ranger later on, leaving only one party fighter permanently killed (the spirit refused to return).
The cleric later retired, we gained a wear-rabbit monk (no joke) and wizard/fighter eldritch knight, and our party "upgraded" to the Pathfinder rules.
We encountered the dragon's "rider" and slew him in one on four combat. Now the dragon wants revenge for his (master's?) death.
He ambushed us at a castle a few weeks ago, with us only surviving because we all used hero points to act out of turn, jump off the castle wall simultaneously (out of the area of the dragon's killing breath weapon), and teleport away to safety.
Tonight he ambushed us on the open plain, using invisibility, Flyby Attack, and his breath weapon to put half the party in the hurt locker before we could even respond. Luckily, we all passed our saves and we weren't killed outright. Furthermore, the monk and and eldritch knight had evasion (the latter from a ring) and took no damage. The dragon took his time mauling us with Greater Vital Strike/Power Attack melee attacks.
My spells bounce off this guy like I'm shooting spit balls. We've only been able to hit him with the ranger's favored enemy (dragon) dragonbane bow on a natural 20. We are SO outmatched it's not even funny.
Tonight my wizard escaped (via teleportation) as did the wearbunny monk (disappearing into knee high...
Suggestions:
1. Talk to the DM. Now that the dragon has killed most of the party maybe it has some other agenda it can follow until your party goes up a few levels or something that gives the dragons presence away to you ahead of time. Such as noise, smell, Etc. Most dragons have a large ego and are probably not afraid of you. Can You buy rings of greater fire resistence.
The game is supposed to be fun and a challenge, Not impossible.
2. If your DM allows 3.5 spells I have some broken ones to suggest:
My party killed two CR19 dragons with these. Of course the party was 15th level and there were six of them (2 fighters, 2 wizards, 1 cleric and 1 monk) and the dragons were in their lair.
Any of the Orb spells (Touch spells with no SR allowed), Irresistable Dance, Some spell that gave the party a +8 to all saves for an extended amount of time. Some spell that gave The dragon a -10 on all will saves. The dragon did get a save but missed then danced until the party killed him.
3. Feat combinations: Dodge/mobility/spring attack - run up and smack him and back away. He doesn't get attack of opportunity. This of course means that you need to do a good amount of damage in a single attack and that the dragon is reachable. Spells like haste, energy immunity, displacement and stone skin are useful. If you get past the SR and the dragons misses its save baleful polymorph is nice. If you can't past the dragons SR then throw spells to enhance or protect the party.
4. Send out a challenge to the dragon but at a time and place of your choosing. Have escape routes. alarm spells, Glyths, cannon fodder (hirelings, guard dogs, undead, summoned creatures to give you time). Scrolls of higher level summoning. Dragon Bane weapons, Something to hamper the dragons movement, protection vs fire spells, protection vs damage spells. Etc.
PS. Monks and rogues generally are not super effective against big nasty things. You need fighters with defensive spells to give them survivability. Spells and range attacks are generally best if you can get past the SR and do a lot of damage.
Good Luck!
was it a hickman/weis adventure converted from a second edition adventure.
This sounds AWFULLY like an adventure I went through 20 years ago...
The object is NOT to kill the dragon actually... The object really is TO RUN. and RUN... and RUN.(as i recall)
i believe one of the FEW ways to kill it is to obtain a dragon orb at the clerist tower.
(as i remember this is an adventure path designed to take the players through the dragonlance novels as the players)...
( if that is the campaign and your DM allowed you to play other chars and moved stuff around..... sorry...)
BUT... in the actual campaign, (from 2nd ed) the way you won was to allow sturm brightblade to die on the high clerist tower while the rest of the group finds a dragon orb inside the clerist tower.
the clerist tower is actually a trap for dragons.
hope that helps..
if it is really a 3.0 - 3.5 modual. that is a 9 Level diffrence. you honestly SHOULD NOT be able to overcome up..
interesting though... I just killed a party member in a EL 15 party with an ANCIENT BLACK dragon CR 16...
this guy is putting CR 19 dragons against EL 10...
my only REAL question is..
WHY ISN"T THE PARTY DEAD????
your lucky i didn't create/design the dragon and run it...
after reading the part about fizban... let me guess...
he went up in a poof of chicken feathers??????
yup same adventure..
high clerist tower...( You should have had the nightmare dream by now which should have hinted at each char's destiny)
oh.. and whoever has raistlin... city of palanthis..(THIS IS IMPORTANT)... (THAT SHOULD HAPPEN WHILE everyone is at the high clerist tower and the other half is in the sea.... (the high clerist tower is north of palanthis as i recall the "lady" in "blue" should be there... Skie is the dragon you will have to worry about. the dragon orb takes care of the red.)
Your unformatted posting really is irritating. With that out of the way the module was remade into a 3rd edition version. I do not that that combat is supposed to be the answer though, and with your insight into the 2nd edition version I think I might be right.
Spoiler fest
Kill your post. Now. No spoilers. (And on that note, would you please edit the quotes in your post Wraithstrike.)
We are playing our own characters (not the novel characters), but otherwise it does seem like the same adventure.
I came here for help, not so you guys could ruin my fun even more by telling me part of the ending! *angry face*
EDIT: And yes, we run, run, and run some more. It's become so frustrating that I almost charged the dragon last fight hoping for a TPK and a new campaign. It was only when the GM said some other heroes would take up the mantle and that the campaign would continue even if all "the chosen" died, that I changed my mind.
What makes it worse is that the only way for us to survive these encounters is to teleport away. However, you can't really teleport to a new place you've never been before, so we almost always end up teleporting to an old town we just came from. To add salt to the wound, the module, being based on novels (which I have not read so NO SPOILERS!) does not grant XP, but instead levels up characters at predetermined points within the story. That means we can never get more powerful during our dragon encounters and eventually overcome him, nor can we progress because the damned dragon keeps pushing us further back!
I am guessing that dragon is getting alot of loot from your party, it seems a proper time/investment plan, maybe it isnt angry at all.. just greedy ;)
I am guessing that dragon is getting alot of loot from your party, it seems a proper time/investment plan, maybe it isnt angry at all.. just greedy ;)
I seriously doubt that's the case. During a knight attack I threw a jar of green slime on the dragon. He "limited wish'd" it away. I threw another. He did the same thing.
When I asked where the GM where the dragon was getting all the money for the material components he simply said "he's a dragon who has conquered half the world and taken many other dragons' hoards--he has millions of steel pieces" (the module's standard, effectively gold pieces).
So he's not only CR 19, he's CR 19 with effectively unlimited resources.
If it weren't for Pathfinder's power increase to our characters (and the dragon's power decrease) and the Hero Point system, we wouldn't have made it this far. It could literally ambush us and auto-win with it's crush ability. We'd only escape that fate by spending a Hero Point to act out of turn and get out of the way.
STILL SO SCREWED! *woeful face*
EDIT: Oh yeah, and the GM keeps telling us we are on a deadline, rushing us with metagame. Ingame, all we know is that draconian armies are sweeping across the lands and we don't want to get caught up in it.
At the rate we're going, time will run out and the world will end--making all these months and months (real time) of running a complete waste.
First KUDO's to your DM for running this correctly. Your running scared looking for a solution to this major dilemma (which is EXACTLY what the modual wants)
that being said the best thing you can do (without spoiling anything) is to try to find out what will advance the story, where do you need to go to advance the story...
think about it, your level 10. The dragon can cast limited wish as often as he wants with no repercussions. Do you really think you were meant to defeat this dragon right now???
Advancing the story will provide you with more options to deal with the dragon.
I wont ruin the REAL surprizes for you. Just be assured and have faith in your DM to run it correctly, advance the modual and the opportunity will present itself.
Kinda hard to advance the story when the story forces us to retreat backwards 50% of the time.
First KUDO's to your DM for running this correctly. Your running scared looking for a solution to this major dilemma (which is EXACTLY what the modual wants)
that being said the best thing you can do (without spoiling anything) is to try to find out what will advance the story, where do you need to go to advance the story...
think about it, your level 10. The dragon can cast limited wish as often as he wants with no repercussions. Do you really think you were meant to defeat this dragon right now???
Advancing the story will provide you with more options to deal with the dragon.
I wont ruin the REAL surprizes for you. Just be assured and have faith in your DM to run it correctly, advance the modual and the opportunity will present itself.
ALSO, after the adventures i HIGHLY recommend reading the books. and the serious DIRECTLY after the dragonlance series is AMAZING (TIME OF THE TWINS TEST OF THE TWINS) and MAGIC of KRYNN while short stories adds so much insight into the game world. (I still have these books from 1990 and re-read them every few years.)
sorry about the formatting the CTR button sticks which means sometimes the page reloads and I miss my typing...Which means to save my typing it is easier to space some stuff out, or type in word format and transfer over.
IIRC if you type in notepad the formatting thing goes away, but don't quote me on that.
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These modules have a reoccurring villain: a CR 19 ancient red dragon. The dragon is systematically hunting us all down.
Yup, it does. And it sounds like you already killed High Lord Verminaard, too.
The GM is over-reacting, btw. But I do like his spunk, just the same!
Help us come up with a plan. Despite my suggestion for a pair of paladins, it looks like the players will be statting up a dwarven magus (playtest) and a half-vampire (Bestiary II) ninja (playtest). We are all tenth level at this point and, due to character deaths, some of us are way over-geared. Any advice at all is appreciated.
It's called DragonLance for a reason. Actually finding one or three of those might be handy...
Forget the Dragon. Stay on Target in terms of the module plot. Sleep in extradimensional spaces where you cannot be scried or located (Rope Trick, Tiny Hut, etc..).
If you progress in the metaplot of the campaign, opportunities to kick its ass will most def appear. If you go off target?
You're dead.
Paladin/Knight of Solamnia was the only real plan here in terms of trying to match the dragon in battle. These magus, etc.. character class choices are just suicide but... whatever.
They'll wake up, sooner or later.
Paladin/Knight of Solamnia was the only real plan here in terms of trying to match the dragon in battle. These magus, etc.. character class choices are just suicide but... whatever.
They'll wake up, sooner or later.
I don't think it's a "they're asleep" kinda thing, but more of a "they're getting tired of this railroady module, have long since stopped taking it seriously, and have decided to test the playtest classes so that at least something good will come out of it" when we kill the dragon, not due to any good roleplaying or character talent, but because the module/GM railroaded us into that path.
LAME.
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Not necessarily lame. It is a classic- the big bad trying to get you and you are not in a position to beat it toe to toe. So you have to sneak, learn about it's weaknesses, recruit allies.
If this were Lord of the Rings you are playing Frodo and complaining that you can't beat the ringwraiths in a stand up fight while leaving the shire in book one. You will get your chance. The dragon will die. Learn about the weaknesses of dragons and find out if there are any allies you might recruit along the way.
Also- I might be wrong, but he may not be referring to your players when he says "they will wake up eventually." Then again, he may be ;)
I hated Lord of the Rings. It was boring and full of plot holes. All they did was run away, all the way to the very end. Even in the end it was never adequately explained why they didn't just fly to Mordor on the damned eagles to begin with.
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That's fine you don't have to like it. Plot holes really have no bearing here though. It is a repeated trope in every form of fantasy or sci-fi literature, movies, comics, etc. It isn't unreasonable to see it in an adventure here and there.
It seems like you are bucking against the very idea of repeatedly facing something which isn't a CR appropriate defeatable challenge and having it hound you through the campaign. You are irritated with it now. This is only going to increase your satisfaction when the pieces come together and it finally goes down.
The modules may be railroady, but that's pretty much what's going to happen when you try to convert a series of novels into a playable game. It is an epic story in the end and can be fun if you are willing to enjoy it for what it is.
About beating the dragon now- I think you are trying to find every conceivable way to put down a long running villain when you just aren't able yet. If by some mad combo you managed to succeed now, you will have left a glaring hole in the plot that the gm needs a recurring antagonist to fill. You are going to end up fighting the raised or resurrected version of the same dragon or else its older brother, mother or what have you is going to step in to keep the story together. (I don't have these mod's, I'm just speculating.)
So now you have a ninja in the group. Probably pretty good at stealth huh?
Find a way to turn him invisible, let him fly, reduce his size and let him walk right into the dragons ear and shread his brain. That should finish off any pesky colossal creatures.
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About beating the dragon now- I think you are trying to find every conceivable way to put down a long running villain when you just aren't able yet. If by some mad combo you managed to succeed now, you will have left a glaring hole in the plot that the gm needs a recurring antagonist to fill. You are going to end up fighting the raised or resurrected version of the same dragon or else its older brother, mother or what have you is going to step in to keep the story together. (I don't have these mod's, I'm just speculating.)
What you are saying sounds to me like "You can't beat the enemy until the DM says you can". This is the problem with a scripted module. Player choices don't matter. Only the choices in the script are the 'right' choices.
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Why is a dragon with unlimmited resources allowing you to escape?
Why hasn't he used dimensional anchor or antimagic field and just killed your asses already?
I would seriously consider making a party of bards with every skill enhancing feat I could muster to get Knowledge (How to Kill this MFing Dragon) skill checks in the 100s and be done with this crap. Seriously, this sounds like a frustration fetish module.
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It is what it is. I didn't write the module. It is a serious problem in trying to run modules based on iconic books. At some point you are going jump the rails and no longer be playing the novel based storyline or the dm is going to rebuild the rails around wherever you ended up (with lesser or greater success in masking what he is doing).
Personally I wouldn't want to run or play a series designed to follow the plot of novels, but if you find yourself doing so it doesn't mean that you can't have a good time. When the enemy is a CR 9 levels above the group you should not be able to beat them and it should be obvious that you are not intended to do so until you can close the gap, find the mcguffin, or whatever the case may be. If the DM or module introcuses a villain at APL +9 it isn't even a question. You aren't going to beat that particular enemy until the plot brings you to a point to make that possible. The campaign theme for a while at least is going to be "staying alive" instead of "kick ass and take names."
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Why is the ruler of half world trying to deep fry a bunch of punny pcs, if he can reencarnate his rider whenever he likes with his unlimited resources? is it on purpouse, or just a hole in the plot? think on it. Or you just should resurrect him and hold him hostage against the dragon, until you fin a suitable solution.
I'm not sure where this falls in the Dragonlance timeline, but at different points there were no clerics and no divine magic whatsoever. Later I think there were evil clerics only for a while, then finally good clerics. There are no friendly priest to go pay for a resurrection. Once they return, all clerics in the game world are low level with evil ones being slightly ahead on the level curve. This may take place after all of that so that this is not an issue, not sure.
I've never played in this module and if it's like any of the other DragonLance modules I read back in 1st and 2nd Edition, I agree with you completely. I hated the railroad style of play. I have never been a fan of adventures based completely on novels. If you don't do exactly what was done in the novel, you can't complete the adventure. If you've read the novels, you have a huge advantage. If not, you're screwed.
That being said, you aren't without options anymore. As was mentioned earlier, you should fight the dragon on your terms. I suggest having a bunch of long lasting buffs on one character and being prepared to buff the hell out of him when the dragon appears. Have him focus on fighting the dragon while everyone else is using Aid Another to boost his attack rolls or his AC.
You could also use some divinations to scry locations other than places you've been. This would give you better places to teleport to. Even if you can't do that, you have still been to more places than you think. Teleport to anywhere other than a town or city you've been to unless that is the best tactical choice. Remember that the dragon is very smart and he probably knows how predictable your tactics are becoming.
You have learned a lot about the dragon and you can probably learn a few more with some Knowledge checks. You already know how high his AC is and how high his SR is. You know that you need a 20 to hit the dragon. What is the highest attack bonus in the party? If you buff one character, you can figure out what the AC is and work from there. This is useful information. Oh, and remember that dragons have a crappy touch AC. This is where the wizard may be able to deal with some issues.
The next time there is a party wipe, you should seek out replacements that can deal with those issues. In other words, the players should make characters that are better dragon hunters. It't not metagaming since it would make sense that you are seeking them out at this point.
You might also consider setting up an ambush. Use Locate Creature to see if he's close by and which direction he is in. This could also help if he's invisible. You could then use a spell to deal with the invisibility. Yeah the dragon is smart but he doesn't know everything. When traveling, make sure you are far enough apart that his breath weapon won't get more than 2 of you in it but close enough that you can still get to each other in a round.
You can use Private Sanctum to come up with your plans so that the dragon can't divine what you are doing. Enervation may be a good spell to get in a wand. 1d4 negative levels every round can have an impact. If you can get one for everyone who can use it, you may be able to spam the dragon into submission. Even if only 2 wands are available, you could deal 2d4 negative levels each round. Using hero points to get another standard action, you could be dealing up to 4d4 negative levels.
Enervation does have spell resistance issues but with enough attacks you will start to break down his defenses. Cloudkill is another good choice for a spell. If you can keep the dragon in the cloud (walls of force or forcecage may come in handy). Even if he makes his save, he is still taking 1d2 points of Con damage each round. You may need to get a dimensional anchor spell in case he can teleport. You can also use False Vision to fool the dragon if you know he's scrying on you or suspect that he will. Give him false information so you can set up a better ambush.
If you can post as much as you know about the dragon as well as what the party is capable of doing, I may be able to give better suggestions. If only you had a holocaust cloak...
Ritual of the Fiery Heart, turn everyone into Fire Creatures and laugh at its breath weapon.
Ritual of the Frozen heart, add insult to injury and become Cold creatures, too.
Cold Orb spells. No SR, and it's got a lousy touch AC, if you want to do dmg to it.
How is it following you? Get some anti-scry stuff, jeez.
Permanent Detect Invisibility. Range is unlimited, so you'll see it coming from a mile away.
Assay Magic Resistance. Takes SR down by 10.
Squamos Pulse, does dmg to stuff based on how much Nat AC they have.
Wave of Green Slime, does dmg to stuff based on how big it is.
A War Weaver with True Strike hanging in their weave can GUARANTEE a hit to the members of their party. Likewise, Prot/Fire, on demand.
Read the Draconomicon and Complete Book of Dragons. Both have tons of things in them for killing dragons. I can see the damn thing hitting a Vassal of Bahamut and PERMANENTLY LOSING HIT POINTS.
The Dragons in the original Dragonlance module were made to fight 1E characters, who could overcome them. The toughest of dragons would fall to a decent 10th level party. They are NOT balanced for 3.5E.
Note that if you are going to level up at selected points, you can ignore xp costs. Get Permanency and use it liberally. It's not like you're spending something you won't automatically get back.
Otherwise...get some spells to make you move FAST. Horseshoes of speed, spells that double overland movement, the Mount spell or Phantom Steeds to get easily replaced mounts. Make your teleport targets your last campsite. Your job is to get to X location. well, get there faster!
And get scrying protection. Non-Detection should stop it from finding where you are, unless it's just DM fiat, in which case just stay near the treeline.
==Aelryinth
Have you considered attempting to be swallowed whole and alive by the dragon and then cutting it all up on the inside all the way down? I know this kind of sounds like madness,* but hey, your characters are dying anyway, right?
I'd kinda just like to see if it works.
*Fools! I'll show them all!! Ahahahaha!!!
... what Aelryinth wrote ...
This! Plus the extradimensional space for resting.
Wind wall and such only help against gaseous breath weapon.
On a side note: I really like the module you are in, but then again, I knew the setting at time of playing and we could deduce measures how things could be done in said setting more easily.
Ruyan.
Have you considered attempting to be swallowed whole and alive by the dragon and then cutting it all up on the inside all the way down? I know this kind of sounds like madness,* but hey, your characters are dying anyway, right?
I'd kinda just like to see if it works.
*Fools! I'll show them all!! Ahahahaha!!!
I've prepared for just such an event. I have 50+ doses of poison on my person at any one time, just in case I get eaten the others may have a chance. I've even distributed these poisons to other party members in case they get eaten.
The ranger was killed by a single greater vital strike power attack bite attack. Basically snapped him up leaving just his feet in his boots.
But since dragons don't have a swallow whole mechanic, the GM claimed that it missed swallowing the poison altogether (which not even the dragon could have withstood). The dragon flew away with the remains of the ranger's remains for who knows what reason.
apparently, druids can reencarnate people, cause he reincarnated their ranger
By the way, If you have a kind druid , then you should remind him the excellences of spells like wind wall and control winds, such an asset in the "diverting dragon's breath" bussiness. I assure you it can make wonders on pcs' health in these situations. ;)Divine magic has returned and been around for less than a month. Spontaneous magic is still unavailable in this setting.
He and his party just helped rid the town of virginity and the dragon left.
You want us to do what? <sheepish grin>
Try causing Dex damage/drain/penalties, preferably from supernatural abilities or summoning (creation) effects that lack SR.
I had an 18th level shadowcaster build for this. Maybe it can be tweaked to 10th level if Tome of Magic 3.5 stuff is allowed.
I think the problem here is that in 2e, an ancient red was only moderately challenging for a lv10 party. In PF it is murder.
Make it a CR14 adult instead, and you have a much more appropriate encounter.
I recall beating a lv16 lich as a lv6 party in 2e. Different game.
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Forgive my nublyness, but I've never played any character above 6th level so I am not familiar with dragons. (Starting d20 in PF within the last year.) Is the dragon's flying magical or mundane? If it's mundane, a gunslinger can knock it out of the air using touch AC (and no save that I know about to boot.)
Targeting (Ex): At 7th level, as a swift action, a gunslinger
can take aim for greater accuracy and effect. On the next
firearm attack she makes before the end of her turn, she
can choose part of the body to target, and gain the following
effects depending on the part of the body targeted. If a
creature does not have one of the listed body locations,
that body location cannot be targeted. This deed costs 1
grit point to perform no matter the part of the creature
you target. Creatures that are immune to sneak attack are
immune to these effects.
• Head: On a hit, the target is damaged normally,
and is also confused for 1 round. This is a mindaffecting
effect.
• Torso: Targeting the torso doubles the critical range
of the affected attack.
• Arms: On a hit, the target takes no damage from the
hit and drops one carried item of your choice, even if
the item is wielded with two hands. Items held in a
locked gauntlet are not dropped on a hit.
• Legs or Wings: On a hit, the target is damaged normally
and knocked prone. A flying creature falls. A creature
that is immune to trip attacks is immune to this effect.
Just get 2 gunslingers with muskets and a lot of initiative take turns readying actions to first knock him out of the sky, then repeatedly prone.
"But wait, Baron! He has a ton of AC!" No problem, my friend! The Far-Reaching Sight has your back!
Far-Reaching Sight
Aura faint divination; CL 3rd
Slot none (see below); Price 2,000 gp; Weight 1 lb.
Description
You can attach this sight to a single two-handed firearm.
When this is done, the sight becomes part of the weapon, but
can be removed from that weapon with a full-round action.
A firearm wielder can choose to spend a full-round action to
make a single shot with a firearm that has this sight. When he
does, he can attack the touch AC of his target regardless of
range increment.
Construction
Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, true strike; Cost 1,000 gp
Just keep knocking him prone, other folks stab the heck outta him, repeat. Your end result is a dragon who just can't seem to stand up.
This is a limited time offer, though, as they should be releasing a new playtest and will probably fix this.
EDIT: Curses! I forgot reloading! Get leadership and people to reload your guns for you.
Alkenstar, Grand Duchy of Magic-Dead Scientific Microstate!
magic cant work there better yet they have guns and cannons. I leave the rest of the plan to you.