# Dragon Encounters; Dragon Encounter Complications *Source: Fizban's Treasury of Dragons p. 53* **Dragon Encounter Complications** `dice: [](dragon-encounters-dragon-encounter-complications-ftd.md#^dragon-encounter-complications)` | dice: d20 | Complication | |-----------|--------------| | 1 | The dragon has no interest in fighting and tries to avoid the characters, until they anger the dragon through significantly injury or insult. | | 2 | The dragon is too bored to fight and offers the characters a tiny amount of treasure if they'll leave. | | 3 | The dragon hates a certain type of character (sneaky rogues, healers, or heavily armored fighters, perhaps) and directs at least one attack each round at such a character. | | 4 | The dragon tries to drive the characters off by emotionally hurting or humiliating them—threatening something they obviously care about, damaging their equipment, insulting them, or showing how ineffectual their attacks are. | | 5 | The dragon has a way to call for help hidden deep inside the lair, such as a magic horn that summons minions, an [iron flask](/Rules/Source/items/iron-flask-xdmg.md) with a powerful Fiend inside, or a magic portal to an echo's lair. The characters must prevent the dragon from summoning aid or face a new threat. | | 6 | The dragon is desperately trying to protect a particular treasure, one or more eggs, or perhaps a minion, bargaining to protect this treasure and flying into a rage if it is harmed. | | 7 | The previous occupant of the dragon's lair left behind a curse, a trap, or a lingering spirit that clever characters can turn against the dragon. | | 8 | The dragon's lair is almost impossible to navigate without access to one or more of the dragon's special movement modes (typically flight, but possibly burrowing, swimming, or climbing). | | 9 | It's been so long since anyone has dared to intrude on the dragon's lair that the dragon is more interested in showing off the lair—and impressive lair actions—than in doing serious harm to the characters. If the characters escape and spread stories of the dragon's grandeur, so much the better. | | 10 | When the dragon is agitated, the regional effects that alter the terrain around the lair create visible changes around the dragon each round. | | 11 | Factions and grudges within the ranks of the dragon's minions erupt when the characters challenge the dragon, resulting in infighting that might tip the odds in the main battle in either direction. | | 12 | A feature in the dragon's lair has an unpredictable magical effect, perhaps similar to a [wand of wonder](/Rules/Source/items/wand-of-wonder-xdmg.md), a sorcerer's [Wild Magic Surge](/Rules/Source/tables/wild-magic-surge-xphb.md), or a "dungeon trick" as described in the "Dungeon Master's Guide". The dragon avoids the feature unless the encounter is going badly, then either activates the feature or tries to goad the characters into doing so. | | 13 | Spell effects and breath weapons used inside the dragon's lair cause dramatic destruction, including chasms opening up, ceilings collapsing, pillars toppling, and other effects that can damage or hinder the characters and the dragon equally. | | 14 | The dragon has a rival who notices the characters approaching the dragon's lair and keeps tabs on the fight. This rival might step in to help the characters or the dragon, depending on the circumstances, or might ambush the characters when they leave the dragon's lair. | | 15 | The dragon takes tremendous pleasure in adopting Humanoid form and pretending to be a minion, groveling and sniveling when intruders enter the lair and claiming that the dragon is away. | | 16 | The dragon's only goal is to learn a key piece of information about the characters' larger goals and then escape. | | 17 | The dragon enjoys combat, roaring in appreciation each time the characters pull off effective attacks or flashy spells. But if seriously hurt, the dragon quickly calls for a truce. | | 18 | Each round of combat with the dragon, the characters catch an eerie glimpse of another world where one of the dragon's echoes is active. | | 19 | The dragon has a plan to feign death in case of attack—apparently being buried in a cave-in, tumbling into a deep chasm, drowning in lava, or some similarly dramatic exit. After escaping, the dragon plots revenge. | | 20 | At the same time the characters are confronting the dragon, another group of adventurers is confronting one of the dragon's echoes on another world. Halfway through the fight, either the dragons or the characters and the other adventurers switch places. | ^dragon-encounter-complications