u/figgy675

Hey everyone,

I'm running Tyranny of Dragons and wasn't satisfied with how Arauthator plays as just a standard white dragon. The lore paints him as something very different. He's older, smarter, and far more calculated.

So I rebuilt him into a more tactical, ambush-focused predator rather than a brute-force boss.

In my statblock that I've attached the link to on D&DBeyond below, my design goals were as such:

• Utilize terrain, fog, and elevation to control the fight
• Prioritize isolated targets instead of charging the party
• Lean into the lore of his sorcery
• And will retreat if the fight turns against him.

What I've done to accomplish this:

• Hunter's Mark-esque bonus action
• Bonus lair actions that originate from the environment
• Spellcasting focused on control (through fog, wind, and invisibility)
• Behavior woven into the statblock (see "Calculated Predator")
• Designed to pair with the Oyaviggaton map.

I put him around CR 19, but he'll likely feel harder due to positioning and control.

Happy adventuring!

Statblock: https://www.dndbeyond.com/monsters/6424750-arauthator-the-old-white-death

Edit: forgot to ask, did anyone else run Arauthator closer to canon?? I'm curious as to how others handled him.