How much damage does a dead black dragon do

[TheNovaLord]

...of medium sized, when it is picked up by a large red dragon, who casts True Strike and then throws it at the party?

This came up last session

JohnD

 

[Wavestone]

I'll be fascinated if someone can get an answer out of the rules, as this sounds like a situation the rules really weren't made to cover...

I have a vague memory somewhere of damage from falling objects - 1d6 per X weight.

My gut feeeling would be, as the black dragon isnt that much bigger than a person (medium!), damage should be something on the order of 1d6 to 2d6.

True strike just makes the Red be sure to hit, with the dead dragon (must be the strangest weapon I've heard of so far..). Unless, of course you're an "evil" DM and the Red has Power attack and Power throw..

Nevertheless, there should be a nonproficiency/improvised weapon penalty involved - typically -4 to hit?

Well, not much but some food for thought?

 

[Khuxan]

Is this the most esoteric question ever asked on ENWorld?

 

[TheNovaLord]

In the end i just used the corpse to make a party wizard shift from the minor globe of invulnerability he was using, as the red dragon was hovering 450 feet above him at the time, so never got round to calculating an attack roll.

Red Dragon has +9 ranged attack with the +20 from true strike he has a great chance to hit if he were at ground level and you gave the 'weapon' a range increment of only 10ft. He did have power attack, so i suppose could have used it as a two handed melee weapon using the power attack, darn didnt think of that....

hmm the red dragon got away in a severely battered state being chased by d3 summoned hippogriffs so maybe i can try again next time

JohnD

 

[Primitive Screwhead]

Is this the most esoteric question ever asked on ENWorld?

Nope.. this, and its ilk, have come up pretty often in House Rules.. over there I once posted my 'Throw a Kobold' rules based on this same issue...


Maybe we should do a thread asking what the most esoteric question is

 

[Nonlethal Force]

Don't forget the penalties for using an improvised weapon!

In general, It'd probably just treat it as a medium boulder through from a giant or the like. I fwe look at the hil giant entry in their MM, their rock damage does 2d6. I think that would be a fair enough value.

 

[Infiniti2000]

Red Dragon has +9 ranged attack with the +20 from true strike he has a great chance to hit if he were at ground level and you gave the 'weapon' a range increment of only 10ft.

The odd thing about range increments is that you cannot throw more than 5 x the range increment. That puts a wrinkle in this plan. Obviously, the dragon corpse doesn't stop falling, but I'm pretty sure it would make the atk bonus irrelevant (so true strike is useless). After 50ft it just becomes a falling object.

He did have power attack, so i suppose could have used it as a two handed melee weapon using the power attack, darn didnt think of that....

Picking up the body, okay. Wielding it as an improved weapon? I doubt it. How much does the dead dragon weigh?

hmm the red dragon got away in a severely battered state being chased by d3 summoned hippogriffs so maybe i can try again next time

Next time the red dragon should cast protection from good, now that he's prepared for it. Obtain a scroll if at all possible.

 

[TheNovaLord]

How much does the dead dragon weigh??

dont think this matters. large creatures have no problem at all grappling medium creatures (which is a whole other arguement), for example the hippogriffs in the combat could easily pick up the two dragons trogoldyte allies

max of 5 range increment is a very good point

I think comparing it to a giant of similars strengths boulder attack is a good idea

ta for inputs

JohnD

 

[Notmousse]

dont think this matters.

Weight matters quite a bit. Damage is calculated by weight, where every 200lbs does a d6 if dropped from 10 feet, and an additional d6 per increment above that (to 20d6). As a falling object there's effectively no range (going indirect fire route), or a 50' range increment. Then there's modifiers for not being proficient in dragons, and range penalties (assuming direct attack), penalties based on maneurverability.

'large creatures have no problem at all grappling medium creatures (which is a whole other arguement), for example the hippogriffs in the combat could easily pick up the two dragons trogoldyte allies'

Does this extend to medium and small creatures? Because I'd love to see an elf wizard picking up a couple halfling barbarians.

 

[TheNovaLord]

wasnt aware of those weight/damage rules. ta for heads up.

Does this extend to medium and small creatures? Because I'd love to see an elf wizard picking up a couple halfling barbarians.

bit of a tricky example example cos halfling is quite big for a small creature and elf quite small for a medium creature. things in a size category bigger tend to have up to 8 times the mass or thereabouts. 360lb half orc can easy carry a 30lb halfling or three according to the rules

i despise the grapple rules so i do agree elf wziard should struggle with halfling barbarians.