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T
he Blue Dragon Lair is a Fifth Edition
encounter for four characters of 5th, 11th, or
20th level. This encounter is setting and
adventure independent. It can easily be
inserted into any story that you like, or even
run as a one-shot. The document includes
rules for running the featured dragons
independently or as part of a multi-wave battle.
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The Blue Dragon Lair package includes the following
resources:
The Blue Dragon Lair battle map by Cze and Peku.
Blue dragon tokens illustrated by Nacho Lazaro (Roll20
only).
Blue dragon area of effect templates designed by
DMDave.
Monster tokens for 5th, 11th, and 20th-level multi-wave
battles (Roll20 only).
The adventure is optimized for Virtual Tabletop (VTT) play
on a platform such as Roll20. Install the map, tokens, and
area of effect templates into the platform of your choice.
Next, review the general features of the setting—these
features are present regardless of level. Once you’re ready,
choose the level of encounter that you wish to run. Your
options are 5th-level, 11th-level, and 20th-level.
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The Blue Dragon Lair is set at the center of an arid canyon.
Regardless of level, it has the following features:
Sand Falls. Sand constantly pours from the sides of the
dragon’s canyon. A non-prone character who starts their turn
within 5 feet of one of the sand falls must make a DC 15
Strength saving throw. On a failed saving throw, a character
falls prone and is restrained as the sand begins to bury them.
The character can repeat the saving throw at the end of their
next turn, freeing themself from the sand on a success.
Otherwise, the character remains restrained and the DC to
escape increases by 1 next round (to a maximum of 20).
Day or Night. As blue dragons have both blindsight and
darkvision, they can fight creatures at any time, and will likely
prefer the cover of darkness to daylight. If you run the
encounters at night, be sure to adjust your VTT’s dynamic
lighting options. The Roll20 version has both a day and night
lair. Simply navigate to the map layer, right click the map, and
choose “To Back.”
Regional Effects. Legendary blue dragons (adult and
ancient) possess regional effects detailed in the Fifth Edition
core book for monsters. Thunderstorms rage within 6 miles
of the dragon’s lair. It’s safe to assume such a storm is taking
place during the combat.
Optional: Sinkholes. As part of the dragon’s regional
effects, sinkholes might plague its lair. Any time a character
steps onto or through an area of sand instead of stone, roll a
d6. On a result of 6, there is a sinkhole there. The character
must succeed on a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw or fall 1d6 x
10 feet into the sinkhole. They can climb back out with a
successful DC 10 Strength (Athletics) check.
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The encounters presented here can be run either as a single
encounter with each dragon, or a multi-wave encounter with
the dragon as the boss. If you choose the latter, you may wish
to give the characters 1d4 rounds between each wave to
recover.
1
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5th-level encounter
An encounter with a young blue dragon is considered a
deadly encounter for a party of four 5th-level characters. Note
that the dragon itself will only pose a moderate threat to the
party if it is fully rested. A party of four 4th-level characters
might be able to take on the dragon fully rested, but the
probability of casualties is much higher. Inversely, a higher
level party will see a young blue dragon as only a hard
encounter, and if they are fully rested, they will have no
trouble at all battling the creature.
If you wish to use the young blue dragon as the final
encounter for a 5th-level multi-wave battle, use the following
creatures for the first three waves. At the end of each wave,
roll 1d4. This is the number of rounds the characters have to
prepare for the next wave.
First Wave: Lamia and Zombies. Although a chaotic evil
lamia would not normally work with a lawful evil creature
like a blue dragon, this lamia is wise enough to see the
advantages of such a union. The lamia uses its horde of six
zombies to tie up the characters. If you’re a particularly nasty
GM, you might have the zombies use their attacks to first
grapple the characters, then attempt to shove them. A
character who is prone and grappled can’t move, has
disadvantages on attack rolls, and melee attack rolls have
advantage against them. This gives the lamia the perfect
opportunity to hit them with its intoxicating touch, thereby
cursing them through the rest of the multi-wave battle.
Second Wave: Hobgoblins on Giant Vultures and Ogre
Zombies. This two-front battle sees four hobgoblins
mounted on four giant vultures while a pair of ogre zombies
tank the party below. Keep the hobgoblins 125 feet or more
from the party and sixty feet apart from each other. This
helps them avoid most of the long ranged attacks the
characters will have while granting them the short range on
their longbows. At night, their darkvision might not be able to
see the characters, so be sure to give the ogre zombies
torches on their backs or something so they shed light.
Because the zombies will be in close combat with the
characters, the hobgoblins will get their Martial Advantage on
their shots. If the vultures are in danger of dropping, have
them come in close so they can benefit from pack tactics
while granting their riders their Martial Advantage bonus.
Then, if the vulture dies, the hobgoblin won’t take falling
damage.
Third Wave: Gnolls and Lions. The penultimate wave
isn’t too complicated: a pair of lions to pounce on the
characters followed by eight gnolls. This is here to soften up
the characters before the big fight.
The Boss: Young Blue Dragon. When using this young
blue dragon, make sure to give it plenty of distance between
it and the characters. Blue dragons in particular have two
modes of movement that can keep them away from the
characters. First, they can fly. With their 60-foot line breath,
this is pretty useful. But an even better mode of transport is
their ability to burrow at 40 feet per round. This grants them
full cover and allows them to hide while recharging their
breath weapons. Will the characters hate this? Sure. But
dragons are smart. Why should they sit around and take hits
when they can hit and run?
2
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11th-level encounter
An encounter with an adult blue dragon is considered a
deadly encounter for a party of four 11th-level characters.
Note that the dragon itself will only pose a moderate threat to
the party if it is fully rested. Characters with an average party
level (APL) of 10 or less might have difficulty fighting an adult
blue dragon unless they are fully rested. Parties with APLs of
12 or higher should have no problem fighting an adult blue
dragon.
If you wish to use the adult blue dragon as the final
encounter for an 11th-level multi-wave battle, use the
following creatures for the first three waves.
First Wave: Oni and Giant Scorpions. Giant scorpions
against an 11th level party aren’t too much of a challenge.
However, when combined with an oni, they pose a major
threat. Have the oni mostly stay out of the combat, flying
above. The single oni will use its darkness to mask the
presence of the four giant scorpions who will benefit from
their blindsight. If the characters get cheeky, the oni uses its
cone of cold to cut them down. Going against a blue dragon
in the desert, it’s unlikely they’ll be prepared for cold damage.
Second Wave: Lamias and Zombies. This part of the
battle more or less plays out the same way as it does in the
5th-level encounter with the two lamias using the twenty
zombies to grapple and shove while the lamias swoop in to
curse the characters.
Third Wave: Mummy Lord. Before the characters reach
the big bad, they must face off against a creature that’s a boss
monster in its own right, a mummy lord (or lady, as it were).
At your discretion, the mummy lord might prep itself with
spells before it hits the field. You can have it armed with its
spiritual weapon ahead of time. What it does next depends
on the type of party it’s facing. Parties with long range casters
with fire magic will get hit with silence, whereas low
Constitution parties might get hit with insect plague or
contagion—the latter is especially useful for characters who
rely on concentration spells. It does everything it can to stay
away from the characters, using its long range attacks and
Whirlwind of Sand legendary action to keep its distance. If
you want to be particularly mean, you can treat the dragon’s
canyon as the mummy’s lair, too. Maybe they have an evil
timeshare?
The Boss: Adult Blue Dragon. The tactics for an adult
blue dragon are similar to those of the young blue dragon
except it’s got legendary actions it can take now as well as the
Frightful Presence action. It wants to stay out of sight while
its breath weapon recharges and uses its lair action to trip up
casters concentrating on readied spells.
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20th-level encounter
An encounter with an ancient blue dragon is considered a
deadly encounter for a party of four 20th-level characters.
Note that the dragon itself will only pose a moderate threat to
the party if it is fully rested. Characters with an average party
level (APL) of 19 or less might have difficulty fighting an
ancient blue dragon unless they are fully rested.
If you wish to use the ancient blue dragon as the final
encounter for a 20th-level multi-wave battle, use the following
creatures for the first three waves.
First Wave: Purple Worms and Efreeti. From below
come two purple worms. From above come two efreeti.
Why? Who knows. But it’s sure to waste a lot of the
characters’ good resources right from the get go. Remember
that purple worms can burrow. They should use this to their
advantage. Meanwhile, the efreetis conjure up walls of fire to
control the battlefield while they hurl flames from 120 feet in
the air.
Second Wave: Young Blue Dragons and Medusas. Next
up, the characters do battle with a pair of young blue
dragons (see their tactics above) along with four medusas.
The medusas use their bows to keep distance. Once
characters get within 30 feet, they have to contend with the
medusas’ Petrifying Gazes. The dragons can get close to the
medusas without any trouble thanks to their blindsight. You
might even have the dragons grapple the characters in
between breath weapon recharges and drag them over to the
medusas so they can do their thing.
Third Wave: Adult Blue Dragons. There’s nothing in the
rules that says more than one dragon can’t claim the same
spot as their lair. Thus, two adult blue dragons working in
tandem get some impressive action economy against the
party: two actions (with access to multiattack), a ton of speed,
six legendary actions, and two lair actions. The tactics remain
the same: they stay out of sight and use their lair actions to
slowly pick the characters apart.
The Boss: Ancient Blue Dragon. Finally, the biggest and
meanest dragon of them all, an ancient blue dragon does
what all the dragons before it did. It keeps out of range and
only appears when it’s got a recharged breath weapon. Its
breath weapon is extraordinarily deadly, dealing an average
of 44 lightning damage on a successful saving throw, let alone
a failed one. Lightning immunity and resistance isn’t
incredibly common, not even for 20th level characters. So
this big, blue meanie will be sure to keep them on their toes.

Once the dust settles and the characters defeat the blue
dragon, they can claim the dragon’s hoard as their own. Use
the treasure tables found in Chapter 7 of the DMG to
determine what the characters find. The young blue dragon
has a 5-10 Treasure Hoard, the adult blue dragon has a 11-16
Treasure Hoard, and the ancient blue dragon keeps a 17-20
Treasure Hoard. For multi-wave combats, double the value of
each treasure hoard.
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15. COPYRIGHT NOTICE Open Game License v 1.0a Copyright 2000, Wizards of the
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Authors Mike Mearls, Jeremy Crawford, Chris Perkins, Rodney Thompson, Peter Lee,
James Wyatt, Robert J. Schwalb, Bruce R. Cordell, Chris Sims, and Steve Townshend,
based on original material by E. Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. Lair of the Blue Dragon
Copyright 2020, Hamrick Brands, LLC; Authors Dave Hamrick, Nacho Lazaro, Cze &
Peku.
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