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Observations and opinions after 8 levels and a dragon fight
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<blockquote data-quote="Dausuul" data-source="post: 6474387" data-attributes="member: 58197"><p>That's certainly a valid approach. To me, adventurers are never the primary threat to older dragons; they are accustomed to being able to swat any human they encounter. They are aware, intellectually, that there are humans out there who can and do kill dragons, but they seldom encounter any, and the older they get the less often it happens. Adventurers who can threaten an Adult dragon are extremely rare, and for Ancients it's all but unheard-of.</p><p></p><p>So the dragon fights intelligently--it prides itself on that--but it doesn't respect its foe. Centuries of easy victories breed arrogance. Maybe it had to worry about humans when it was young and tender, but now it is old and strong, strong, strong! The chief threat now is other dragons (which it approaches much more cautiously). It's slow to realize when it has won the dragon equivalent of the lottery* and encountered heroes that can really defeat it, instead of just surviving a bit longer than most.</p><p></p><p>Habit is a dangerous thing. Even highly intelligent people, and dragons, are vulnerable to it. When the dragon has trouble killing a human, its reaction is akin to how you feel when a mosquito keeps evading your slaps: <em>Stupid bug! Why won't you die?</em> And it has become used to the idea that it can indulge that reaction without consequence. When the mosquito starts causing real pain, it will eventually wake up to the danger, but the time that takes can make the difference.</p><p></p><p>[size=-2]*The Shirley Jackson kind.[/size]</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Dausuul, post: 6474387, member: 58197"] That's certainly a valid approach. To me, adventurers are never the primary threat to older dragons; they are accustomed to being able to swat any human they encounter. They are aware, intellectually, that there are humans out there who can and do kill dragons, but they seldom encounter any, and the older they get the less often it happens. Adventurers who can threaten an Adult dragon are extremely rare, and for Ancients it's all but unheard-of. So the dragon fights intelligently--it prides itself on that--but it doesn't respect its foe. Centuries of easy victories breed arrogance. Maybe it had to worry about humans when it was young and tender, but now it is old and strong, strong, strong! The chief threat now is other dragons (which it approaches much more cautiously). It's slow to realize when it has won the dragon equivalent of the lottery* and encountered heroes that can really defeat it, instead of just surviving a bit longer than most. Habit is a dangerous thing. Even highly intelligent people, and dragons, are vulnerable to it. When the dragon has trouble killing a human, its reaction is akin to how you feel when a mosquito keeps evading your slaps: [i]Stupid bug! Why won't you die?[/i] And it has become used to the idea that it can indulge that reaction without consequence. When the mosquito starts causing real pain, it will eventually wake up to the danger, but the time that takes can make the difference. [size=-2]*The Shirley Jackson kind.[/size] [/QUOTE]
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