D&D General Mike Mearls says control spells are ruining 5th Edition

[Lanefan]

True, but a Dragon can't just choose to breathe in 1E, he needs to roll a 50 or below on a 1d100, and then he needs to target the Wizard.

A big ol' Gold can get by with targeting anywhere in the Wizard's general neighbourhood, the Wiz is still going down.

That's the biggest danger of some Dragon breath attacks - not the damage they do per se, but that they do that damage to everything in a fairly big area; and in 1e, "breath weapon" is generally the hardest save category. Blues and Blacks are a little nicer in that their breath weapon is a line rather than a cone or cloud and thus doesn't usually hit as many people at once.

 

[Cruentus]

True, but a Dragon can't just choose to breathe in 1E, he needs to roll a 50 or below on a 1d100, and then he needs to target the Wizard.

Where is that rule from? Its not in the MM1 or under the Red Dragon. I know we never played with any rule like that back when we played Ad&d in the early eighties.

 

[Lanefan]

Where is that rule from? Its not in the MM1 or under the Red Dragon. I know we never played with any rule like that back when we played Ad&d in the early eighties.

I don't remember anything about having to roll 50 or under but I'm fairly sure there's a rule that says they can't breathe in consecutive rounds; maybe the 50-or-under idea is someone's houserule variant on that?

 

[pemerton]

I don't remember anything about having to roll 50 or under but I'm fairly sure there's a rule that says they can't breathe in consecutive rounds; maybe the 50-or-under idea is someone's houserule variant on that?

AD&D Monster Manual, p 30:

Dragons con attack by claw/bite or breath weapon. The latter can be used but three times per day, maximum. If a choice is possible roll percentile dice. Any score above 50% indicates the dragon will breathe.​

 

[Lanefan]

AD&D Monster Manual, p 30:

Dragons con attack by claw/bite or breath weapon. The latter can be used but three times per day, maximum. If a choice is possible roll percentile dice. Any score above 50% indicates the dragon will breathe.​

Huh. I knew about the three-times-per-day maximum but either never knew or had forgotten about rolling for which attack type it would use. I've always just had them use the attack type that seemed to make the most sense at the time, other than they can't breathe in consecutive rounds (and now I'm wondering where I got that from).

 

[SkidAce]

Huh. I knew about the three-times-per-day maximum but either never knew or had forgotten about rolling for which attack type it would use. I've always just had them use the attack type that seemed to make the most sense at the time, other than they can't breathe in consecutive rounds (and now I'm wondering where I got that from).

50 percent implies every other round statistically?

 

[Maxperson]

Where is that rule from? Its not in the MM1 or under the Red Dragon. I know we never played with any rule like that back when we played Ad&d in the early eighties.

He is misremembering it slightly. The 1e general rule under dragons, before you get to specific colors, says that if the dragon has multiple different attack options, it breathes if it rolls a 51 or higher(not lower).

 

[Maxperson]

I don't remember anything about having to roll 50 or under but I'm fairly sure there's a rule that says they can't breathe in consecutive rounds; maybe the 50-or-under idea is someone's houserule variant on that?

"Dragons con attack by claw/bite or breath weapon. The latter can be used but three times per day, maximum. If a choice is possible roll percentile dice. Any score above 50% indicates the dragon will breathe. The breath weapon causes damage equal to the dragon's hit points (half that amount if a saving throw is made) on each and every creature hit by the breath weapon. Cone shaped breath weapons are 1/2" diameter at point of origin."

I see no rule about being unable to breathe in consecutive rounds.

 

[Maxperson]

Huh. I knew about the three-times-per-day maximum but either never knew or had forgotten about rolling for which attack type it would use. I've always just had them use the attack type that seemed to make the most sense at the time, other than they can't breathe in consecutive rounds (and now I'm wondering where I got that from).

Maybe from 2e?

"Dragon Attacks: All dragons have a claw/claw/bite attack form and a breath weapon. The latter can be used once every three rounds."