The Dragons Curse

[LordGraz'zt]

Not too sure if this is the correct forum for it - if not please let me know.

I am looking for assistance with my D&D campaign - which is heavily based on Chris Perkins "Iomandra" game which is a large island chain where each island is ruled by a different dragon overlord.

Anyway what I am looking for is that the dragons have a special curse on their dragonborn servants which reduce their efficiency when attacking dragons. As some of the PC's will be dragonborn this will also effect them in the few encounters they will have with dragons.

This is offset however as dragonborns are the ruling class so PC's belonging to this race will be treated a lot better and will have a lot more leeway with things.

What I am looking for is some guidance on what sort of penalties I should apply - ideally I would like two penalties (one from both Bahamut and Tiamat).

This will only effect them if a dragonborn is in an encounter with a dragon - I do not want it to be too crippling so that they can not take part in the battle but I still want it to be pretty respectable in terms of effect to drill home the power of dragons over dragonborn.

Its a Paragon level campaign for reference.

I was thinking of something along the lines of -5 to attacks and they take extra damage from dragon attacks - but thought I would throw it out there to get some ideas.

 

[Nemesis Destiny]

-5 on attacks is *huge* and you might as well be side-lining those characters in fights with dragons. -2 is significant but still manageable. Having them take extra damage from dragons (effectively Vulnerable x dragon damage) is pretty interesting, and seems very appropriate for Tiamat's Curse.

Alternately, or additionally, you could have Dragonborn get auto-hit by Dragon fear powers, and have them take a save penalty on their ongoing effects (or maybe on all saves against dragon powers). This is where a -5 wouldn't be too extreme, though you'd have to be wary of piling up too much ongoing damage, or using conditions like Stun or Unconscious.

 

[the Jester]

I agree with ND that a -5 penalty is pretty extreme.

I also think balancing a mechanical penalty with roleplaying bonuses is a bad idea, especially as the dragonborn can simply avoid the penalty by not fighting dragons and get the benefits for free.

I'd use the "vulnerable all" option, personally.

 

[LordGraz'zt]

Thankyou for the suggestion - I really like the idea of being vulnerable to dragon damage.

Autohit for the fear makes sense as well and maybe a -2 to attack or similar.

The idea is that this would not be a permanent disability, dragonborn PC's would have the ability to find an item that negates this - plus there will not be many dragon encounters.

Its more just to bring home the point to the PC's that there is reasons there have never been a dragonborn uprising and why they are so subservient to them.

 

[Will Doyle]

In my current paragon campaign, a couple of characters have been cursed by the Raven Queen, meaning that whenever one of them receives damage, the other cursed character takes half of that damage (in addition).

I thought this would be absolutely crippling, but I'm continually surprised how much damage a decent paragon party can heal up.

For these dragon fights, vulnerability sounds great, but you could also consider dealing x damage whenever they strike the dragon.

 

[Nemesis Destiny]

I'd make it psychic damage