Making Iymrith harder (SKT spoilers)

[Oramac]

I'm thinking far in advance here, partially because I want to be able to foreshadow a monumentally epic fight at the end of SKT. So, I'm thinking about changing the Iymrith fight to make it both more challenging and more interesting. Here's what I've come up with. Please please please comment and critique.

Notes:
- I anticipate my players will be about 11th level when they fight Iymrith
- I have 4 players: Champion Fighter (sword/shield); Assassin Rogue; War Cleric; GOOlock
- I like giving my players stuff, so they all have some pretty nice magic items, including a few of my custom magic items.
- According to the book, the players have the help of at least one Storm Giant (Hekaton or Serissa)
- The players have Potions of Giant Size and a Claw of the Wyrm Rune (both are incredibly powerful, though I can't find a stat block to link to)

Changes/Notes about Iymrith:
- She maintains her draconic HP and AC (481 hp and 22 ac) in both dragon and Storm Giant forms.
- She can cast Counterspell 3/day, and successfully interrupting a spell causes 22 psychic damage to the target
- She knows the Shocking Grasp cantrip, it deals Tier 4 damage (4d8 or 18 damage), and she may use it in place of a claw attack
- She can cast Chromatic Orb as a 3rd level spell at will in both dragon and giant forms, dealing ONLY lightning damage. This is basically just to give her a ranged option that makes sense.

The Fight!

Phase 1:
- Iymrith starts in her Storm Giant form and taunts the players and their allies
- She fights as a normal Storm Giant with the above changes until she reaches 240 hit points.

Phase 2:
- On her first turn after being reduced to 240 hp, Iymrith transforms into her dragon form, yells "Minions! Slay these pathetic whelps!" (or something to that effect) and flies to the corner of the room furthest from the players.
- 4 Gargoyles (1 in each corner) animate and attack the party. These Gargoyles are immune to lightning damage and deal an extra 15 lightning damage on a successful attack; otherwise unchanged
- At the top of each round, narrate to the party that they notice "Iymrith flies to [location] and takes a deep breath"
- On her turn or after all the players have had the opportunity to move (whichever comes last), Iymrith exhales her breath weapon across the room. During this phase, her breath weapon recharges at the top of every round.
- This phase ends when the Gargoyles die or Iymrith is reduced to 150 hp.

Phase 3:
- Once the gargoyles die or Iymrith is reduced to 150 hit points (whichever comes first), on her next turn Iymrith lands and immediately uses her Frightful Presence ability
- During this phase, she fights as normal for an Ancient Blue Dragon, and fights to the death
- She also begins using Lair Actions in this phase

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So there you have it! Comments? Criticism? Cookies? Let me know what you think!

And to those who've played Warcraft, yes, I borrowed elements from the Onyxia fight. Only one of my players has even seen the Onyxia fight, and I know he'd think it was really cool to see elements of it in this fight.

[NecroDancer]

Be careful trying to "Script" a fight, your players may ignore the gargoyles and focus on the dragon during stage 2. The gargoyle idea is really cool maybe you can make them look like dragon statues for extra fluff?

[cotofpoffee]

You want her to be harder? Take out the Storm Giants. Just the four or so giants themselves are enough to kill her, easy.

Add back in power that's less catered to taking out a dragon that breathes lightning.

[Oramac]

Be careful trying to "Script" a fight, your players may ignore the gargoyles and focus on the dragon during stage 2. The gargoyle idea is really cool maybe you can make them look like dragon statues for extra fluff?

A valid point. I'll add that Iymrith lands and enters Phase 3 once the gargoyles are dead or she reaches 150 HP, whichever comes first.

You want her to be harder? Take out the Storm Giants. Just the four or so giants themselves are enough to kill her, easy.

Add back in power that's less catered to taking out a dragon that breathes lightning.

I thought about removing the NPC giants, but there's really no good story reason why they wouldn't be there. Iymrith did orchestrate the capture/death of those they love, depending on the way the players take the story. I just can't see the giants just saying "go get 'er!" to the players and sitting on their arses.

I might remove the Potions and Wyrm Rune. We'll see where the players are when the time comes.

[cotofpoffee]

I thought about removing the NPC giants, but there's really no good story reason why they wouldn't be there. Iymrith did orchestrate the capture/death of those they love, depending on the way the players take the story. I just can't see the giants just saying "go get 'er!" to the players and sitting on their arses.

I might remove the Potions and Wyrm Rune. We'll see where the players are when the time comes.

I wouldn't remove the powerups if you're going to keep the giants. It'll make your PCs feel weak enough that they might even start to wonder why they're there in the first place. I know when I went through the fight even with the potions and claw i was wondering why my PC was there in the first place when it was clear the giants could mop the floor with the dragon.

You could easily put in defenses in the lair and have the giants tied down disabling them so the PCs can confront the dragon. Perhaps bring in one of the major giants like Hekaton/Serissa so that they can be part of the fight and provide support. But frankly, five storm giants is an absurdly poweful force. I'm pretty sure you can take five storm giants and destroy any monster from the Monster Manual without much trouble, no less a dragon that breathes lightning.

[Oramac]

Perhaps bring in one of the major giants like Hekaton/Serissa

Yea I was planning to only have the one Giant helping them, rather than five. That seemed like a lot to me too.

If, for some reason, I need a Deus Ex Machina, I'll just have Harshnag "survive" the cave in from the Eye of the All-Father and come in to the Iymrith fight at the last second.