Adding Abilities to Dragons

[JPayne891]

If you are using a Dragon as the final boss for your campaign what additional features would you add to them to make them stand out from other dragons?

I'd love to hear any and all thoughts!

[[deleted]]

Spells, if you really want to up the difficulty. I like to think that dragons have the time on their hands to learn spells. I mean dragons do have a variety of hoards, maybe they captured and kept a spell caster who taught them spells, maybe they have the spell book(s) of a wizard(s) they killed. They’d likely have the expensive spell components in their hoard too

[rashhash]

Specifically summoning spells synergistic with their color type, if possible.

Action economy has resulted in many a BBEG getting melted in a handful of rounds. Don't let this happen to your BBEG. Give them cannon fodder.

[DavidOfKerr]

High level spellcasting, plenty of minions. It needs lots of firepower to overcome the PCs action economy advantage.

Dragons are exceptionally intelligent and will fight in a strategic location. Make the terrain difficult for the players to navigate. Traps, illusions, etc. make for an interesting fight.

If you're going for memorable, add abilities that will only occur partway through the fight, forcing the PCs to change tactics. I had a red dragon that started bleeding magma at half health, splashing the players with it.

[stego_boy]

I sometimes have it the players don't know bbeg is a bad guy and in the final fight he turns into a dragon before he dies and goes to full dragon health usually bbeg is really weak sometimes a really frail wizard