D&D General DM Says No Powergaming?

James Gasik · Dec 30, 2022

Oh well, apparently they don't make arrows of dragonslaying the way they used to. : (

Maybe we should change the name to "arrow of dragon hurting".

Stormonu · Dec 31, 2022

James Gasik said:
Oh well, apparently they don't make arrows of dragonslaying the way they used to. : (

Maybe we should change the name to "arrow of dragon hurting".

More like "arrows of dragon enraging".

Anyways, storywise, my homebrew world has several accounts of armies facing off against dragons (the First Dragonwar), with it not ending well for the dragons.

However, what I really care about is in-game. And short of doing a modified Battlesystem scenario for 5E, commoners with bows vs. ancient dragon isn't something that will ever come up. So I'm not really worried it'll take a ream or two of peasants to take down a dragon. The PCs will be involved long before that ever becomes a concern, at best.

AbdulAlhazred · Dec 31, 2022

pemerton said:
Well Bard did.

In 4e D&D this could be a skill challenge to "minionise" the dragon.

I don't know the details of how 5e D&D would resolve it, but I assume it has a way.

Sure, you ask the GM if they will do it.

pemerton · Dec 31, 2022

UngeheuerLich said:
Urrgh... not really...

Again, I don't follow.

I mean, I GMed a fair bit of 4e, and really.

pemerton · Dec 31, 2022

AbdulAlhazred said:
Sure, you ask the GM if they will do it.

There you go!

Bill Zebub · Jan 1, 2023

UngeheuerLich said:
Extra 6d10 damage won't cut it.

Not the standard Arrow of Dragon Slaying you read about in the DMG. The Black Arrow is a sentient Artifact. You can tell because Bard spoke to it.

EDIT: I realize this reads as completely serious. Maybe I should have appended a winking smiley?

Oofta · Jan 1, 2023

Bill Zebub said:
Not the standard Arrow of Dragon Slaying you read about in the DMG. The Black Arrow is a sentient Artifact. You can tell because Bard spoke to it.

I had an old car I spoke to all the time. Mostly "Please start" or "&$^ what's wrong now!" Doesn't mean it was sentient.

James Gasik · Jan 1, 2023

Bill Zebub said:
Not the standard Arrow of Dragon Slaying you read about in the DMG. The Black Arrow is a sentient Artifact. You can tell because Bard spoke to it.

Bard also spoke to a random thrush. Lots of things have sentience in Middle Earth.

Oofta · Jan 1, 2023

When it comes to anti-dragon weapons, I assume people are inventive. I've had towns that also shot special ballista that kind of acted like harpoons on whales, barbed arrows with weights attached. In addition, they can fire nets etc. It won't kill the dragon, it's all about slowing it down and hopefully bringing it to ground. Biggest threat of course is simply well trained archers.

All of this of course is just backdrop and story. People have been figuring out how to kill every animal we've ever discovered, along with overcoming enemy equipment and tactics for that matter. I don't see why dragons would be different.