Its ok if you do not want this scenario in your game. But saying "humans will invent something" can be countered with "dragons will invent something".
So, we’re also assuming dragons have opposable thumbs now?
And you still haven’t provided any reason for dragons to do any of this.
It all depends on the technology available and before the invention of gunpowder aerial defence would be quite hard, simply because of the strength required to shoot upwards, coupled with how inefficient farming is and the lack of mobility and communication for humans.
Lol not really. A longbow can shoot pretty damn high, and be fire upward from a horse.
To protect crops you would essentially need greenhouses which in turn would require high quality glass in large quantities which simply would not be available.
Why wouldn’t it? But never mind that, because no, you wouldn’t you need the ability to build a structure like a greenhouse, with locking hinges and a pulley system, and metal slats that can be locked into place via rope and pulley. All things medieval Europeans could do. Add patrols and watchtowers, and a kill sight order against dragons, and you’re solid.
Likewise putting a ballista every 200 feet and manning them day and night would not be feasible either because of the space needed for farming. We are talking miles upon miles of farmland to support a single city.
You know that modern tech isn’t required to condense farming, right? Like there are places that didn’t have as much open space so they focused on crops that didn’t take as much space. It would be wild to assume that our humans besieged by dragons would just…farm the same way that medieval Europeans did.
Having underground crops like carrots and potatoes might minimize the damage from fire as might water crops like rice, but in a typical European diet wheat will be one of the main crops and is very vulnerable to fire, same with corn.
Why would we assume a typical European diet?
No idea how you get the idea that flying higher than the range of ballistas (at best 300ft, probably even less) will be a problem for the "typical" dragon. Not to mention that there are ways to cause fires without swooping down like dropping heated rocks on the field and houses.
You’re still assuming dragons can just…fly all day. And heated rocks!? Lol come on!
This is getting well into silly territory now. So now dragons can ride the winds for days like an albatross, are immune to fire, can carry heated rocks over miles without having to land and grab them, or can pick up rocks and heat them and drop them over and over, all day, without wearing themselves out.
And we still haven’t dealt with the assumption that dragons would want to do this, that humans wouldn’t hunt them down after the first town they burn, and that dragons would organize and all agree to exterminate humans, that they’re smart enough to develop strategies like hot rocks but not smart enough to be bribable by the humans, that there are no other fantastical creatures the human can tame to help them fight dragons, like…
Why are you so stuck on this, anyway? Like…either address why on earth dragons would want to do any of this, or please stop detailing the thread with this.