Does anyone think it's possible to win the 1-on-1 fight at the end of the Episode? Considering that the the breath weapon will likely kill most PCs even at full health and a failed save. The only 2 ways I could see to minimize this damage would be to be a Dragonborn with lightning resistance, or to be a variant Human with the Shield Master feat.
Now the Dragoborn will also have a breath weapon, but the 2d6 lightning damage will be pretty much useless against this foe. And even with your resistance you might be one shotted by the breath weapon with a successful save.
The Shield Master feat would completely negate the damage, though. So I see this as the only possible means of potentially wining this fight 1v1. Here's my guy with the normal stat array showing aplicable stats, saves, skills, ect...
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1st-level Barbarian
AC: 18 (scale mail, shield)
HP: 14
Str: 16 (+3)
Dex: 14 (+2)
Con: 14 (+2)
Saves: Dex: +2
Skills: Athletics: +5
Shield Master feat
1d8 + 5 (rage bonus) melee attack
1d6 + 5 (rage bonus) range attack 30/120
With some decent rolls, he might be able to pull it off. Hopefully the fight will start further than 30 ft. away. Rage, then range attack on first turn. All turns after, either range attack, or melee attack then use his bonus action to shove (getting advantage to the check) 5 ft., then move. He will now be 35 ft. away and Langdedrosa won't be able to close to melee without taking the Dash action. If he's able to evade the breath weapon, he should be able to take a couple hits with his resistance. Langdedrosa sitll has a 45% chance to hit, though, so staying out of reach is the best bet. Having Bless and/or Heroism cast on him before the fight will make things easier. Some inspiration from the DM and/or a Bard would help out a bit, too.
Anyone else have any builds that they think could pull this off?
It would take a combination of luck and careful planning to actually win it. Of course, from the player perspective, the players really shouldnt have any idea what they're walking in to. That said, as far as running the encounter goes, I think it would be fitting for him to toy around with the player for a round or two before dropping them, and not just dropping his breath weapon immediately and winning in order to make it more cinematic.
I do like how the adventure has "just in case" mentions around him with things like "If the party has managed to kill him in episode 1...." stuff.
Eerongal wrote:
how much HP does this enemy have?
silentdante wrote:
Eerongal wrote:
shivafang wrote:
Eerongal wrote:
He's got 57 of you don't roll his HP. So would be pretty hard to oneshot. The Barbarian's resistance will help take a few hits. But would rather stay out of reach. Short of "cheating" and thus getting the innocent killed it's a near impossible 1-on-1. You'd be able to pull off some subtle cheating. Healing Word, Bardic Inspiration, and maybe a few other of the more subtle spells.
hmm can the rest ofo the party save the innocent while somoene just runs around staying alive dodgeing the whole time? sorry i dont know the specifics of the encounter, just working off the info given in here, so if what i ask isn't possible just say so 
silentdante wrote:
silentdante wrote:
interesting, if they are far from the keep how do they know if the party helps the champion? or is it just a huge clearing? but yeah sounds ot me like the one person gets to be knocked unconscious in most cases (unless somehow the big bad outright kills the PC)
Inevitably, it's a battle that's not intended to be won. But just like Captain Kirk, I don't believe in no-win scenarios. 
It would be epic to be able to do it as a a legit 1v1, though.
silentdante wrote:
silentdante wrote:
We played this the other night with level 3 characters (at gencon). A paladin 1vs1'd the guy, got him to literally 1HP before losing the duel.
That was at level 3. The only way to win for a low-level character that I can see is a long kiting duel, like a wood elf (+movement) with a bow. Even then, he can action surge once to get into range then breath on you and that's game over.
I'm thinking that, by the time this encounter takes place, the party should have amassed enough XP from the other encounters to reach at least 2nd level. If a totem warrior barbarian could make it to 3rd level, he could be going into the battle with resistance to all damage types except psychic. Such a character would have a fair chance of coming out alive; moreso than the aforementioned paladin.
Leugren wrote:
thewok wrote:
The halfling paladin in my group was second level. He cast Wrathful Smite (I think that's the name of the spell) and won initiative. He scored a critical hit, Cyanwrath failed his save versus fear, and ended up running. He failed his save on his turn to come to his senses (natural 1) and continued to run away. That's how the combat ended. It was really funny and will make for some interesting roleplaying later on.
Swede1985 wrote:
Danny_Montanny wrote: