GOD RULES: Player's Guide (5e) Kickstarter Pre-Launch Page

[Upper_Krust]

My thoughts.

I am a fan of the compactness and clarity of the stat block.

Thank you. There is always more you want to add, but I think keeping the stats (at least) in one column means things don't get ridiculous for the GM. Typically I have a few Actions and then the Combat Reactions can be rolled randomly. Keeps it all simple to run but still has a ton of variety.

Was not expecting resistance to acid and magic, doesn’t seem to fit thematically.

That may actually be a mistake on my part - though I assume at the time I was along the lines of Sulphuric Acid if its living within a Volcano, but it probably shouldn't have Magic and Poison resistance; could be a holdover I just missed.

I really enjoy the weak spot mechanics and the risk/reward nature of it.

'Who dares, wins" Reward the bravery of fighters who go in under the dragon's legs.

Plus note the synergy between the Crush (knocks prone) and the Claw (Max. Damage vs. Prone).

I like trying to design these 'combos' - also works well with two complimentary monsters (one monster knocks prone, the other deals more damage vs. prone - to use this example).

Fire breath dealing ongoing damage and leaving burning terrain is cool.

I also upped the basic burning damage so that its 10% of the breath weapon intensity, not all flame burns at the same intensity.

I am a big fan of all of the reactions and the different control effects. I especially like that there is no mass hard control that locks people out of the fight. Also the psychic damage on roar is a great way of keeping it relevant against fear immune creatures.

I tried a few 'capstone' Combat Reactions, Terrifying Roar seemed the best. Nod to Frightful Presence. If it flies over some villagers and roars its going to cause a few heart attacks.

Compared to the cool reactions, the dragons claw and bite attacks don’t have much control potential. It is a big dragon, so I was at least expecting a grab on the bite or something of that nature.

I originally had that planned but had to cut it for space constraints - as you can see the entire column is filled (it even goes 1 line below the Column).

I like the idea of Massive Beasts biting, restraining and then either swallowing it or tossing its 'food' away (if it does not like the taste)...however, its not necessarily the main USP of a Dragon per see'.

When I do dragons in the Bestiary I will might design a basic Dragon Action 'Template' to cover the dragon's generic Actions, Flying Actions and so forth. Dragons are the type of creature that have more options than normal, but there is only so much I can fit in one stat-block and if I standardise the actions all the dragons will feel same-y.

The other thing that stood out to me is that it does not have limited wish, meaning it is vulnerable to forcecage and other effects that require spells to deal with.

The Dragon is too big for a Forcecage.

Also I allow Force Cages, Fields, Walls and so forth to be destroyed (they have the same HP as the creator with a Damage Threshold equal to half the Creator's Hit Dice).

...plus if you have Legendary Strength (STR 31+) you can just smash a Force Field by expending a use of Legendary Resistance.

Overall the dragon made a good impression.

Thanks. I was trying for something:
1. Epic PC's would respect (as in be a Hard Encounter)
2. Deals sufficient damage - rather than add a Frightful Presence, if the monster deals sufficient damage Players will fear it (not simply their PCs)
3. Reward those who go in prepared (cold vulnerability)
4. Reward those who brave getting crushed underneath it (weak spot underbelly)
5. Controls the space (persistent burning damage)
6. Has dynamic attack 'combos' (Claws and Bite deal more damage under certain situations)
7. Has enough variety (Combat Reactions) that you could fight one a few times and not experience the same fight.

All that said, its still a relatively 'vanilla' Dragon Encounter in my opinion, but expect the new epic monsters will have more crazy, unique actions and reactions.

Its a big Controller (in my opinion), using its flame to control the battlefield. Whereas Nezha is more like a Skirmisher zipping about and leaving a trail of fire.