Adult black dragon
Huge dragon · Challenge 14
For four level 11 characters, 1 adult black dragon is a Moderate fight under the 2024 rules.
How many adult black dragons for a party of four?
The most adult black dragons that fit each difficulty. A dash means even one is too many.
| Level | 2024 rules (XP budget) | 2014 rules (stays below…) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Low | Moderate | High | Medium | Hard | Deadly | |
| 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 2 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 3 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 10 | – | – | 1 | – | – | – |
| 11 | – | 1 | 1 | – | – | 1 |
| 12 | – | 1 | 1 | – | 1 | 1 |
| 13 | – | 1 | 1 | – | 1 | 1 |
| 14 | 1 | 1 | 2 | – | 1 | 1 |
| 15 | 1 | 1 | 2 | – | 1 | 1 |
| 16 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Mixed party or different size? Use the encounter builder; it handles any combination.
Questions
What CR is a adult black dragon in 5e?
A adult black dragon is challenge rating 14, worth 11,500 XP. It is a huge dragon with an armor class of 19 and 195 hit points on average.
How many adult black dragons should I use against a level 11 party?
For four level 11 characters under the 2024 rules: up to 0 for a Low encounter, 1 for Moderate and 1 for High.
Is a adult black dragon a good fight for level 3 characters?
Not really. Even one adult black dragon (11,500 XP) is beyond the High budget of four level 3 characters (1,600 XP).
Monsters of similar challenge
Adult green dragon
CR 15 · Huge dragon · 13,000 XP
Adult white dragon
CR 13 · Huge dragon · 10,000 XP
Vampire
CR 13 · Medium undead · 10,000 XP
Storm giant
CR 13 · Huge giant · 10,000 XP
Purple worm
CR 15 · Gargantuan monstrosity · 13,000 XP
Adult blue dragon
CR 16 · Huge dragon · 15,000 XP
Statistics from the System Reference Document 5.1. Full stat block: see the SRD or your rulebook.