Dragon Breath Recharge Question

[Simplicity]

A silly question that I should know the answer to,
but for some reason don't.

A dragon's breath recharges in 1d4 rounds.
Now, if the recharge roll is a 1, then can a dragon
breathe two rounds in a row, or does the dragon have
to wait 1 round before the breath is available again?

 

[kreynolds]

AFAIK, it's the latter.

 

[Murrdox]

From the SRD:

Breath Weapon (Su): Using a breath weapon is a standard action. Once a dragon breathes, it can’t breathe again until 1d4 rounds later.

I've always run it the latter way as well, meaning a dragon always has at least 1 round in between using its breath weapon. However, does "1 round later" mean next round? It might, I dunno.

I'm thinking that on the dragon's next turn, since it just breathed last turn, a round would not have yet elasped, so it would have to wait at least one round. It is ABLE to breath again at the end of its next turn... but its turn is over.

 

[kreynolds]

From the SRD:

Weird. The verbage in MMII is different, though I like it better.

...it must wait 1d4 rounds to do so again.

The way it's worded there clears up any misconceptions. It's all about the wait.

 

[Simplicity]

Hmmm... I guess when you look at it that way, "waiting" 1 round is different than having 1 round elapse. Cool. That's what I thought.

 

[Murrdox]

Aye, that's much clearer.

I kinda raised my eyebrow when I read what the SRD said... it sounded way too vague to be how it was phrased in the MM.

 

[kreynolds]

I kinda raised my eyebrow when I read what the SRD said... it sounded way too vague to be how it was phrased in the MM.

The MM uses the same verbage as the SRD.

 

[demiurgeastaroth]

The MM says "Once a dragon breathes, it can't breathe again until 1d4 rounds later." If it rolls 1, the next action is 1 round later, so it can breathe.
There's a feat that allows a dragon to breathe in 1d4-1 rounds, with a specificed minimum of 1 because it cannot breath twice in the same turn.

Darren

 

[kreynolds]

If it rolls 1, the next action is 1 round later, so it can breathe.

But that only holds up with the text in the MM and MoF. The MMII says "must wait". The hellfire wyrm, from the same book, says this as well.

 

[demiurgeastaroth]

But that only holds up with the text in the MM and MoF. The MMII says "must wait". The hellfire wyrm, from the same book, says this as well.

I don't see a conflict. Before I take my next action, I must wait till my next turn.

Darren