"weak spot" on a dragon
- Thread starter BOZ
- Start date
James McMurray
First Post
Well, there's always Devestating Critical. Wehn you score a crit your foe has to make a fortitude save or die.
BOZ
Creature Cataloguer
Hmm, how irresponsible of me! I totally posted this thread and forgot to come back to check on it…
For the confused:
Issue #94 of Dragon came out in 1986 – this was well into first edition, and only a few years before second edition came out. So, no specific critical hit system, but I’m sure there was some sort of “called shot” system in place, as you see creatures with 2 or more AC’s from time to time (one would be if you hit the head, another might be if you hit the tail, or the arm, or whatever). Of course, this system was eliminated for 3E.
Also, another thing to keep in mind: while 1E had age categories for dragons, there were only 10 IIRC and did not yet go as high as “great wyrm”. Thus, when Roger Moore created this creature we are converting (we have renamed it to “great elder wyrm” to avoid that sort of confusion) there was no current specific definition of the term “great wyrm”, and it is therefore a completely separate creature from what we now know today as “great wyrm” dragons.
I still think we have room to include interesting “critical hits” such as this, and some of you have some pretty good ideas. We would need to, I think, remove the percentage chance of getting a crit, as there are now very few % rolls compared to the way it was in 1E/2E.
For the confused:
Issue #94 of Dragon came out in 1986 – this was well into first edition, and only a few years before second edition came out. So, no specific critical hit system, but I’m sure there was some sort of “called shot” system in place, as you see creatures with 2 or more AC’s from time to time (one would be if you hit the head, another might be if you hit the tail, or the arm, or whatever). Of course, this system was eliminated for 3E.
Also, another thing to keep in mind: while 1E had age categories for dragons, there were only 10 IIRC and did not yet go as high as “great wyrm”. Thus, when Roger Moore created this creature we are converting (we have renamed it to “great elder wyrm” to avoid that sort of confusion) there was no current specific definition of the term “great wyrm”, and it is therefore a completely separate creature from what we now know today as “great wyrm” dragons.
I still think we have room to include interesting “critical hits” such as this, and some of you have some pretty good ideas. We would need to, I think, remove the percentage chance of getting a crit, as there are now very few % rolls compared to the way it was in 1E/2E.
BOZ
Creature Cataloguer
how about this. 
Flavor text:
Every elder great wyrm has at least one vulnerable spot upon its body due to disease, combat, or the natural wear and tear that comes from great age. If struck there, a wyrm will seek to immediately retreat to find safety and recover from the wound. If a wyrm realizes that one of its weak spots has been recognized, it may sacrifice a claw attack to keep that spot covered.
Weak Spot (Ex): A confirmed critical hit with a slashing or piercing weapon allows a creature to take advantage of an elder wyrm’s weak spot (if it remains exposed), increasing the weapon’s damage multiplier by one step (for example, a longsword which has a multiplier of x2 would have a multiplier of x3 against an elder great wyrm’s weak spot).
Flavor text:
Every elder great wyrm has at least one vulnerable spot upon its body due to disease, combat, or the natural wear and tear that comes from great age. If struck there, a wyrm will seek to immediately retreat to find safety and recover from the wound. If a wyrm realizes that one of its weak spots has been recognized, it may sacrifice a claw attack to keep that spot covered.
Weak Spot (Ex): A confirmed critical hit with a slashing or piercing weapon allows a creature to take advantage of an elder wyrm’s weak spot (if it remains exposed), increasing the weapon’s damage multiplier by one step (for example, a longsword which has a multiplier of x2 would have a multiplier of x3 against an elder great wyrm’s weak spot).
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