Back in 2019, when Epic Encounters was first being mulled over, we went through a lot of drafts to try and find the right tone, and the right content. Believe me when I say a LOT of material hit the cutting room floor. Lots of it, the world is better for not seeing, trust me, but some of it was quite fun, and I enjoyed getting to come up with awesome dragon names, and creepy things for gigantic red dragons to say! And I thought you guys might enjoy a little look into an alternative universe, where Epic Encounters was very different…

Please let us know if you enjoy this, and maybe I’ll write some similar stuff for the Epic Encounter sets we created once the formula was in place. Giant spider names sounds fun, right?

GM Advice

Dragons are the iconic villain. Their name is right there, in the title of the game. So how come they’re so frequently disappointing? It's a good question. The main problem, of course, is players are expecting Dragons...they’re prepared for them. Even the newest players know that a dragon is coming at some point. They’ll be disappointed if they don’t get to face one, frankly. And they do say that familiarity breeds contempt. 

No one should be contemptuous of a dragon (except in a cool, heroic way as part of an epic narrative). Another problem is that there are so many of them! Blue, Green, Black, Undead. That’s before we get into the good, wise dragons who send players out to fight their despotic brethren. There’s nothing wrong with this, of course. But it does tend to make rendering the Dragon a memorable encounter slightly more difficult...if the first questions players ask aren’t ‘How big is it? How many teeth? How wide are its wings?’ but ‘what colour did you say?’ it can be hard to muster the enthusiasm to include them in adventures and campaigns. 

So, what you have here is both an awesome miniature sure to invoke a deal of awe at the table when you place it down, and a guide to ensuring that fighting this dragon isn’t like fighting any other. We’ve got a host of tips, tricks, ideas and new abilities which make this dragon as unique and intriguing as possible.

Now, these different techniques are going to make the character’s lives more difficult. That’s inevitable. They just are. But this isn’t about creating an unwinnable situation for the characters. It’s not about tricking them or trapping them or making them walk into a pool of lava. It’s about challenging them so that they feel they’ve earned their XP and their fistful of dollars. We still want them to win...we just want that victory to feel a little more earned. There’s still space for hacking through dozens of orcs at a single blow. That’s just not how you deal with something bigger...something like a Dragon.

So let’s get started.

The Dragon

We’ve presumed that your player characters are of high level, having hacked their way through hundreds of minions and a dozen levels to reach this point. The Dragon we see you fighting is a dangerous, toughened foe who has consumed a fair few adventurers just like you. It’s not called Epic Encounters for nothing...but you can easily substitute a less terrifying version of the Dragon for your adventure (simply adjust the DC checks and damage ratings of the Dragon’s abilities etc detailed below down), or, indeed, an entirely different type of Dragon. Hey, the Dragon can be a friend if you prefer...you don’t have to kill it at all!

Name: The first thing is to name the Dragon. Dragons may not be unique out there, but each one is unique. Virtually all Dragons are more intelligent than the average human. They almost certainly have a name. So what is it? Did they choose it themselves, and, if they did, why this name? Or was it one they were given, a moniker based on the actions and viciousness inflicted on the lands of men, dwarfs and elves? Do they wear this name as a badge of pride, revelling in their power and destruction, or do they merely like the sound of the words, or do they hate it altogether? Do they have a true name, one in Draconic, entirely unpronounceable by the human tongue? Asking yourself a few questions like this ensures that your Dragon already has a degree of character; you can begin to get a sense of how they think, and how they’d react to their home being invaded. If you’re struggling to think of a good name, you can use the table below to help generate one. The table uses the simple and reliable Dragon-naming formula:

[Interesting name] + [Cool Adjective/Noun] + [Draconic bodypart]

So, for example, Marius Gorefang. The following are tailored toward Red Dragons, but could easily be employed for other varieties.

Character: Okay, so what’s your Dragon like? Yes, it seems like an odd question. But it's a good one to ask yourself. Just like a player spends their time thinking about their character’s background in order to get an idea of how they’ll handle themselves in a fight, how they’ll relate to the other characters in their party - well, think of this boss in the same terms. You don’t need to go into anything like the same detail, but a few notes about how the Dragon is going to feel about having his home invaded is going to help dictate how he’ll behave. Is he paranoid and constantly expecting an attack and so extremely well prepared? Is she always spoiling for combat, keen to dig her claws into anyone who crosses the perimeter of her cavern? Is your Dragon more likely to let the party enter their lair and then spring a surprise attack or is there ego too enormous to allow any slight to go unpunished, immediately? 

This encounter is one your player characters are going to remember - so make the villain someone worth remembering. How do they speak - do they rage at the player characters for daring to step foot on such exalted earth? Or do they describe in calm, languid tones precisely how they’re going to disembowel the party? Again, think about it. Villains always get the best lines - so make sure yours do to. This kind of individualised thinking can also have a major impact on how the battle unfolds; does your Dragon skulk behind the stalactites and stalagmites that line its caverns? Does it wrap itself in the smoke rising from the volcanic pools it has nestled among? All of this kind of behaviour is tied up in how your Dragon thinks...an aggressive, angry Dragon is unlikely to plan a series of intricate traps and tactical withdrawals. So, be consistent. This consistency also ensures that the player characters can respond to the Dragon as a foe, and not simply as a collection of statistics. 

Below, there’s a table with a series of suggested primary characteristics for your Dragon - this should be how the Dragon behaves most of the time, with the way he treats the player characters being governed by this. If, for example, you have a louche Dragon, then they are ever so bored with having to hunt down the player characters. An angry Dragon, however, does so with great alacrity and rages the entire time they’re searching and fighting. The secondary trait is what the Dragon is like at moments of weakness; do they become timid when in pain, or become even more enraged? Have a look at some of the suggested approaches below and choose for yourself, or roll at random!

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