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DRAGONS, An Alternate Take on a Classic Foe
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<blockquote data-quote="MechaPilot" data-source="post: 7443445" data-attributes="member: 82779"><p>Thank you for your comments (and your compliments). I appreciate your thoughts and the effort you've taken to reply. Allow me to explain some of my decisions in designing these abilities.</p><p></p><p>The dragons from my setting are embodiments of power, wrath and greed. They were created by the goddess of war, who's also knows as the mother of dragons, and there's a certain aspect of them that represents the cycles of war and peace. The dragon settles in a territory and clears out all humanoid life within 100 miles of its lair. After a period of activity where it engages in rampant destruction and the accumulation of valuables, it slumbers for many years (often for a couple centuries or so). When it wakes, it usually finds that settlements have arisen in the 100 mile radius the dragon has claimed for itself, and it begins the cycle anew.</p><p></p><p>Magic is one of the few things that's reliably able to hurt them, and that's why they hate magic and those who use it. In any fight, the dragon is assured to begin combat by focusing on enemies from whom it can sense magic. Although Tenesian dragons are less intelligent than most typical D&D dragons, they're very cunning and capable of learning. Tenesian dragons that attack a town are generally capable of recognizing churches and libraries, and they'll attempt to destroy those things first (with smithys usually being next on their proverbial checklist). The dragon will also employ its breath weapon, and the lasting areas of harm that it creates, to pen in its victims or to wipe out a town. A dragon attacking a city with a keep, or with barracks for the town's soldiers, will often use its breath weapon to separate the innocent citizens from their defenders.</p><p></p><p></p><p><u><strong>Critical Strikes & Rend Armor</strong></u></p><p>Critical Strikes is intended to synergize with Rend Armor. The dragon gaining advantage makes it more likely to crit on future attacks against that target (it also mitigates the effects of any PC abilities that impose disadvantage on a foe).</p><p></p><p> [MENTION=6778458]bleezy[/MENTION], I get that the spikes of damage the ability creates isn't fun for you. Each person has their own style and preferences, and that's perfectly fair. To be frank, when I play a character I don't really care for having passive abilities like an increased crit range; I vastly prefer active abilities. However, for my dragons, and for the themes I want them to portray, the Critical Strikes ability (especially in synergy with Rend Armor) makes the dragons more dangerous without adding a lot of mechanical complexity.</p><p></p><p>Regarding the situation you mention where "If you are wearing light armor, you might be worse off after it gets rendered than if you were never wearing it," I think that's okay. However, your comment has made me realize I need to figure out how long it'd take a character in damaged armor to pull it off if they chose to. It doesn't seem fair to use the full don and remove times since pieces of it are already hanging in tatters from the character.</p><p></p><p><u><strong>Persistent Breath</strong></u></p><p>Persistent breath has a 10 minute duration because of its intended use. It exists to give the dragon the ability to exercise control over the battlefield. It lets the dragon separate creatures from their allies, and it lets the dragon create zones of harm to punish foes who get too close to it.</p><p></p><p><strong><u>Dragon Hide</u></strong></p><p> [MENTION=6778458]bleezy[/MENTION], the ability is a bit of work. I would've preferred something more simple, but I couldn't figure out a simpler mechanic that evoked the feel I was going for: that a dragon's hide is a cloak of destruction, and attacking it with non-magical weapons is like trying to break up a boulder by chopping at it with your sword.</p><p> [MENTION=6803337]Eltab[/MENTION], I agree with you about the damage of the weapon shattering. I'll change that.</p><p></p><p><strong><u>Dragon Resistance</u></strong></p><p>I appreciate the concerns about how this, especially combined with other abilities, really hampers non-magical characters. It's a more than fair concern. However, it also plays into my setting's concept of dragons. If a town without any magical ability is able to defend itself well from (or even defeat) a dragon (especially an adult or ancient one), the dragon isn't tough enough. It's supposed to be a living, breathing terror of wrath and destruction capable of breaking armies underfoot and wrecking castles. It's also noteworthy that my setting isn't exactly low-magic. I don't give out +X items, but magic items with other properties, or items that simply count as being magical, aren't tremendously difficult to come by. By the time a party meets an adult or ancient dragon, they each should have at least one magic weapon (even if none of them grant a +X to hit and damage).</p><p></p><p><u><strong>Devour</strong></u></p><p> [MENTION=6803337]Eltab[/MENTION], I looked at the swallow whole monster ability (specifically, those of the purple worm and the remorhaz). It doesn't look bad, but it also doesn't feel like it entirely fits the theme I'm going for. That said, I'm not 100% on which one to use. You've given me something to consider.</p><p></p><p><strong><u>Legendary</u></strong></p><p> [MENTION=6778458]bleezy[/MENTION], I agree that it doesn't make sense from a simulationist standpoint. However, I also feel that legendary resistances and legendary action uses are specifically designed with a standard party of four in mind. A creature that's supposed to be an embodiment of power and destruction shouldn't run out of resistances or actions just because the game designers assumed fewer characters in the party than are being run at my table.</p><p></p><p><strong><u>Dragon Rage</u></strong></p><p> [MENTION=6778458]bleezy[/MENTION], Thank you for the compliment.</p><p> [MENTION=6803337]Eltab[/MENTION], I appreciate your input but I'm going to disagree with you on this one. Making it a legendary action prohibits the dragon's rage from being short-circuited in cases where an effect prevents the dragon from taking a reaction (such as if shocking grasp were the attack that brought the dragon to half or less HPs, or that critically hit the dragon).</p><p></p><p><u><strong>Lair Actions</strong></u></p><p> [MENTION=6803337]Eltab[/MENTION], thanks for the suggested replacement. A frenzy does sound like it might be more evocative of the dragon being fierce because it's cornered. I'll make that change.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="MechaPilot, post: 7443445, member: 82779"] Thank you for your comments (and your compliments). I appreciate your thoughts and the effort you've taken to reply. Allow me to explain some of my decisions in designing these abilities. The dragons from my setting are embodiments of power, wrath and greed. They were created by the goddess of war, who's also knows as the mother of dragons, and there's a certain aspect of them that represents the cycles of war and peace. The dragon settles in a territory and clears out all humanoid life within 100 miles of its lair. After a period of activity where it engages in rampant destruction and the accumulation of valuables, it slumbers for many years (often for a couple centuries or so). When it wakes, it usually finds that settlements have arisen in the 100 mile radius the dragon has claimed for itself, and it begins the cycle anew. Magic is one of the few things that's reliably able to hurt them, and that's why they hate magic and those who use it. In any fight, the dragon is assured to begin combat by focusing on enemies from whom it can sense magic. Although Tenesian dragons are less intelligent than most typical D&D dragons, they're very cunning and capable of learning. Tenesian dragons that attack a town are generally capable of recognizing churches and libraries, and they'll attempt to destroy those things first (with smithys usually being next on their proverbial checklist). The dragon will also employ its breath weapon, and the lasting areas of harm that it creates, to pen in its victims or to wipe out a town. A dragon attacking a city with a keep, or with barracks for the town's soldiers, will often use its breath weapon to separate the innocent citizens from their defenders. [U][B]Critical Strikes & Rend Armor[/B][/U] Critical Strikes is intended to synergize with Rend Armor. The dragon gaining advantage makes it more likely to crit on future attacks against that target (it also mitigates the effects of any PC abilities that impose disadvantage on a foe). [MENTION=6778458]bleezy[/MENTION], I get that the spikes of damage the ability creates isn't fun for you. Each person has their own style and preferences, and that's perfectly fair. To be frank, when I play a character I don't really care for having passive abilities like an increased crit range; I vastly prefer active abilities. However, for my dragons, and for the themes I want them to portray, the Critical Strikes ability (especially in synergy with Rend Armor) makes the dragons more dangerous without adding a lot of mechanical complexity. Regarding the situation you mention where "If you are wearing light armor, you might be worse off after it gets rendered than if you were never wearing it," I think that's okay. However, your comment has made me realize I need to figure out how long it'd take a character in damaged armor to pull it off if they chose to. It doesn't seem fair to use the full don and remove times since pieces of it are already hanging in tatters from the character. [U][B]Persistent Breath[/B][/U] Persistent breath has a 10 minute duration because of its intended use. It exists to give the dragon the ability to exercise control over the battlefield. It lets the dragon separate creatures from their allies, and it lets the dragon create zones of harm to punish foes who get too close to it. [B][U]Dragon Hide[/U][/B] [MENTION=6778458]bleezy[/MENTION], the ability is a bit of work. I would've preferred something more simple, but I couldn't figure out a simpler mechanic that evoked the feel I was going for: that a dragon's hide is a cloak of destruction, and attacking it with non-magical weapons is like trying to break up a boulder by chopping at it with your sword. [MENTION=6803337]Eltab[/MENTION], I agree with you about the damage of the weapon shattering. I'll change that. [B][U]Dragon Resistance[/U][/B] I appreciate the concerns about how this, especially combined with other abilities, really hampers non-magical characters. It's a more than fair concern. However, it also plays into my setting's concept of dragons. If a town without any magical ability is able to defend itself well from (or even defeat) a dragon (especially an adult or ancient one), the dragon isn't tough enough. It's supposed to be a living, breathing terror of wrath and destruction capable of breaking armies underfoot and wrecking castles. It's also noteworthy that my setting isn't exactly low-magic. I don't give out +X items, but magic items with other properties, or items that simply count as being magical, aren't tremendously difficult to come by. By the time a party meets an adult or ancient dragon, they each should have at least one magic weapon (even if none of them grant a +X to hit and damage). [U][B]Devour[/B][/U] [MENTION=6803337]Eltab[/MENTION], I looked at the swallow whole monster ability (specifically, those of the purple worm and the remorhaz). It doesn't look bad, but it also doesn't feel like it entirely fits the theme I'm going for. That said, I'm not 100% on which one to use. You've given me something to consider. [B][U]Legendary[/U][/B] [MENTION=6778458]bleezy[/MENTION], I agree that it doesn't make sense from a simulationist standpoint. However, I also feel that legendary resistances and legendary action uses are specifically designed with a standard party of four in mind. A creature that's supposed to be an embodiment of power and destruction shouldn't run out of resistances or actions just because the game designers assumed fewer characters in the party than are being run at my table. [B][U]Dragon Rage[/U][/B] [MENTION=6778458]bleezy[/MENTION], Thank you for the compliment. [MENTION=6803337]Eltab[/MENTION], I appreciate your input but I'm going to disagree with you on this one. Making it a legendary action prohibits the dragon's rage from being short-circuited in cases where an effect prevents the dragon from taking a reaction (such as if shocking grasp were the attack that brought the dragon to half or less HPs, or that critically hit the dragon). [U][B]Lair Actions[/B][/U] [MENTION=6803337]Eltab[/MENTION], thanks for the suggested replacement. A frenzy does sound like it might be more evocative of the dragon being fierce because it's cornered. I'll make that change. [/QUOTE]
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