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Dragon Fights

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Magnaric

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« on: <07-28-20/1108:48> »
Question for the group. Have any of you actually run a Dragon fight? I recently did, so I'm curious as to everyone else's experiences. Here's mine.
PSA: Spoilers ahead for the Mercurial adventure, so avoid if you haven't run it yet and are planning to. For context, we're using 2E with some house rules, but I feel like this discussion is still relevant for any edition.

So, at the end of the adventure, the team was faced with a final battle with best in the world assassin Kyle Morgan(who the party has decided is basically John Wick), and the Dragon Perianwyr. I decided for expediency and clarification of some abilities to use the 3E Western Dragon stats from Dragons of the Sixth World, which worked well. As for Kyle Morgan, he really can't go Toe-To-Toe with a team of Runners for very long, even with his solid Firearms skill and cybered-up reflexes. However, he had a weapon for every possible range(ARES Predator, Viper Slivergun, and Ranger Arms SM3-3 Sniper Rifle). So why wouldn't he use that advantage?

I'm a firm believer that you NEVER catch a Dragon unprepared, and the same goes for someone like Kyle Morgan. So the to keep it short, the team was lured onto the rooftop, where Perianwyr had sustained Invisibility on Kyle with his Sniper Rifle out. And with mobility his main advantage, the Dragon spent a couple turns hitting the outside of the building with his Fire Breath to create an oily black smoke that helped obscure the area.

The fight was intense, with the team finally locating Kyle and suppressing him with combined fire. The team lost a rotodrone, the super strong Dwarf Street Samurai managed to actually score a hit and wound Perianwyr with a Composite Bow, multiple people learned that Sniper Rounds from concealment suck(but they lived), and in the end the team Shaman had to pull some emergency shenanigans to summon a Great Form Sky Spirit to assist them and cover their escape afterwards. But the team did win by the skin of their teeth.

So, final thoughts: Dragons, regardless of edition, aren't completely invincible as some people I've seen comment other places seem to believe. But they are tough as well, have a huge range of abilities and spells at their disposal, and honestly? Their biggest advantage is their mobility combined with just a bit of preparation. Dragons are SMART(if maybe a bit arrogant), and they know how to use their own strengths and mitigate their weaknesses. Attacking from the air, using long range spells, sustaining invisibility on allies, all of these are basic tactics that IMO should be utilised to full effect. If you manage to catch a Dragon on his/her back foot, that Dragon has massively screwed up somehow.

Anyways, just thought I'd share my experiences as a GM, since getting to actually use/see a Dragon in combat is something that happens in the lore and fluff a bit, but very rarely in most games. What are your guys' thoughts?
"Fast is fine, but accuracy is everything."
-Wyatt Earp

shadowlukas

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« Reply #1 on: <07-30-20/0732:16> »
Hi :)

So i personally donīt have this experience yet, but are looking forward to it!

Thank you for sharing your detailed insights  ;D

Magnaric

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« Reply #2 on: <07-30-20/2144:18> »
No problem. It's definitely not a situation that has or even should come up regularly, but in figured I'd lend my 2Ĩ worth after having gone through it.
"Fast is fine, but accuracy is everything."
-Wyatt Earp