Dungeons and Dragons: D&D Campaign Outsmarts Ancient Red Dragon by Cleverly Complying to His Challenge

Author image for Eleonora Bader
Eleonora Bader
Dec 8, 2023 1:00 PM EST

You are treading through the deep, dark woods, crossing paths with a variety of magical creatures along the way. Your suit of armor is made of interwoven rings of steel, and the metal blade of your silver sword is tucked nicely in your scabbard. You fear no one, but all fear you. That is, until you make your way into a mysteriously quiet clearing. There should be animals here, you think to yourself, as you look around and are greeted by nothing but an empty silence. No pitter-patter of small paws as they touch the dried-up dirt, no flutter of feathered wings, and no grueling howls. Strange…

It takes you less than a moment to realize that you are not, in fact, alone at all. Suddenly, a big, crimson dragon appears before you, seemingly out of nowhere, and it opens its mouth wide, baring ten rows of teeth, as if to swallow you whole. You know what you must do… Immediately, you turn to the rest of the players who are supposed to be with you on your quest, and they all nod in unison.

As shared by u/Upbeat_Cut7613, this D&D party knew just what to do to fight off a dragon that they encountered, and they did so via malicious compliance, which is our favorite type of compliance. Scroll down to read how they managed to recover an artifact that their party was on a quest to retrieve. Then check out these Harry Potter memes for brave Hogwarts students, treading through the forbidden forest… Ring a bell?

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  • 01
    How Our Wizard's Mastery of Arcane Technicalities Overcame a Dragon's Challenge M OC Our D&D group has been playing for years, and we love delving into the nitty-gritty of spell mechanics
    via u/Upbeat_Cut7613
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    and rules. This story from our latest campaign is a prime example of how a deep understanding of these mechanics led to an epic moment of malicious compliance. Background: Our party, consisting of myself (a high-level wizard), a cleric, a fighter, and a rogue, was
    via u/Upbeat_Cut7613
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    on a quest to retrieve an ancient artifact from the lair of a powerful and cunning Ancient Red Dragon, known as Pyrothraxis. This dragon, being both intelligent and devious, proposed a challenge: we could take the artifact if we could "entertain" him without resorting to direct combat or obvious
    via u/Upbeat_Cut7613
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    trickery. If we failed or fought him, he promised a fiery demise. The Setup: Knowing the dragon's penchant for riddles and technicalities, I devised a plan hinging on a very specific interpretation of the spell "Evard's Black Tentacles." This 4th-level spell
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    conjures a mass of tentacles that can restrain and damage creatures within an area. However, the damage only occurs if a creature enters the area or starts its turn there. The key here was the term "restrain," which doesn't inherently imply harm.
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    The Execution: As we entered the dragon's lair, I initiated the plan. I cast "Evard's Black Tentacles" to cover the area around the dragon, careful not to include the dragon in the spell's initial effect radius, thus avoiding direct aggression. The tentacles writhed menacingly but didn't harm the dragon. They
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    formed an intricate pattern, almost like a dance, around Pyrothraxis. Simultaneously, our bard began a performance, using his Bardic Inspiration to enhance the visual spectacle, while our rogue used his Sleight of Hand skills, augmented by the bard's performance, to
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    stealthily navigate the tentacles and retrieve the artifact. The Dragon's Reaction: Pyrothraxis, expecting a direct as It or a simple magical trick, was both amused and intrigued by this display. He realized too late that our actions, while aggressive,
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    did not directly harm him or violate his conditions. The tentacles' dance, combined with the bard's performance, was indeed "entertaining," but not in a way he anticipated.
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    The Outcome: With the artifact secured and the challenge technically met, Pyrothraxis, bound by his word, allowed us to leave. He applauded our clever use of arcane semantics, acknowledging that we had found a loophole in his challenge.
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    TL;DR: In our D&D campaign, we outsmarted an Ancient Red Dragon by using the specific mechanics of "Evard's Black Tentacles" to create a non-v ht, yet aggressive spectacle, entertaining the dragon while retrieving the artifact without direct co at, adhering to his challenge in the most unexpected way.
    via u/Upbeat_Cut7613
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    Clockwork_Kitsune 3 days ago. edited 2 days ago It's weird that your literal first sentence includes we love delving into the nitty-gritty of spell mechanics and rules. Because your whole story is about ignoring exactly that.
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    It's more like we love delving into the nitty-gritty of ignoring the RAW and implementing our own spell mechanics and rules. You changed like every aspect of Black Tentacles. It is supposed to target a solid square area. It attacks any creature that goes into it, which
    via u/Upbeat_Cut7613
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    should include the rogue. You're supposed to use Dex saving throws to avoid getting grappled by it, not Sleight of Hand. Bardic Inspiration wouldn't affect it because there's no attack or ability check when casting it. Sure, it's a fun story, and rule of cool trumps all, but don't make yourselves out to be paragons of rule lawyering with this as your example.
    via u/Upbeat_Cut7613
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    ColonelCouch. 3 days ago I agree with a lot of this but the Bardic Inspiration could be used on the Dex save while moving through the tentacles, couldn't it? Reply Share 47 7 ↓ ♡
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    Clockwork_Kitsune · 3 days ago It could! I meant Bardic Inspiration would have no effect on the initial cast of Black Tentacles. The way they describe Bardic Inspiration being used though
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    Bardic Inspiration to enhance the visual spectacle, while our rogue used his Sleight of Hand skills, augmented by the bard's performance reads like they think one use of it can inspire multiple allies. I'd probably ask for probably a Deception check, maybe Performance, with advantage
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    from the wizard to keep the dragon distracted since the bard is helping him. That way the rogue can still have the inspiration for navigating the tentacles. 47 7 Reply Share
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    ColonelCouch. 3 days ago How did you put a 20 foot square around a dragon without including them in it? 31 Reply Share
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    GuyForgotHis Password 3 days ago Like almost all these D&D stories, it falls apart as soon as someone who actually knows the spell description comes by. Either the DM didn't know or allowed it in the name of "rule of cool." Regardless, this wouldn't have worked playing rules as written. 29 Reply Share
    via u/GuyForgotHisPassword
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    fozzy_de 3 days ago reminds of the time we began a session at a tournament asking questions like "do lightning bolts bounce of walls?" :) Reply Share 9
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    As soon as we entered the dragon's lair, I cast "Evard's Black Tentacles" to cover the area around the dragon... 91 9
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