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Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition (A5E)
My 4 level 9 PCs took out the CR 17 Emerald Dragon!
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<blockquote data-quote="lichmaster" data-source="post: 9002666" data-attributes="member: 6683330"><p>By the numbers, if we ignore the fact that the CR of the dragon is pretty much twice the average PC level, this was a medium to hard difficulty encounter (1/3 < 17/36 < 1/2).</p><p>The rule about not using monsters with CR higher than 1.5x the average PC level is mostly about swinginess of combat to the PCs disasdvantage. If they didn't surprise it and it won initiative, you would have very likely gotten a couple of PC deaths, at least.</p><p></p><p>In this case, the party was very well prepared, had an entire round worth of surprise actions, critted several times in a row, and most importantly the dragon was not flying. Basically, the odds of the dragon surviving were exceptionally low, given the circumstances, and without any additional protections I don't find it so surprising that it was defeated so easily.</p><p></p><p>Now, two considerations:</p><p>1) The party was well prepared and clevely used any and all means to deal with this encounter properly. This is something I would celebrate, and could also be a great plot point: maybe the fey lord will turn it into a dracolich who'll hunt them down, and it'll want to revenge</p><p>2) Alpha strike as currently written is broken, especially at low to mid levels. It's not the first time this has been brought up, and certainly won't be the last</p><p></p><p>Edit: I don't recall a coup du grace rule in LU.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="lichmaster, post: 9002666, member: 6683330"] By the numbers, if we ignore the fact that the CR of the dragon is pretty much twice the average PC level, this was a medium to hard difficulty encounter (1/3 < 17/36 < 1/2). The rule about not using monsters with CR higher than 1.5x the average PC level is mostly about swinginess of combat to the PCs disasdvantage. If they didn't surprise it and it won initiative, you would have very likely gotten a couple of PC deaths, at least. In this case, the party was very well prepared, had an entire round worth of surprise actions, critted several times in a row, and most importantly the dragon was not flying. Basically, the odds of the dragon surviving were exceptionally low, given the circumstances, and without any additional protections I don't find it so surprising that it was defeated so easily. Now, two considerations: 1) The party was well prepared and clevely used any and all means to deal with this encounter properly. This is something I would celebrate, and could also be a great plot point: maybe the fey lord will turn it into a dracolich who'll hunt them down, and it'll want to revenge 2) Alpha strike as currently written is broken, especially at low to mid levels. It's not the first time this has been brought up, and certainly won't be the last Edit: I don't recall a coup du grace rule in LU. [/QUOTE]
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Community
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Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition (A5E)
My 4 level 9 PCs took out the CR 17 Emerald Dragon!
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