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Old 09-11-2020, 04:56 PM   #1
phiwum
 
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Boston area
Default Two quick questions about dragonets

(1) A dragonet can both claw/bite and breathe fire in the same turn. I presume this is at no DX penalty?

(2) A dragonet attacks in the same hex as his combatant. The combatant engaged? It's not at all clear to me whether the combatant can only move one hex to disengage.

(3) I assume only one dragonet can attack a person per turn. They're small, but they're not vampire bat small. What do y'all say?

My guesses:

(1) No DX penalty.

(2) The combatant is engaged, so movement of one hex in the action phase only. Or can one also "shift" out from under a dragonet? That would change things!

(3) Well, already gave my guess. No more than one dragonet in each hex.

ETA: Agh. Added the third question, forgot to change the thread title. There are, in case you haven't noticed, three quick questions about dragonets.
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Old 09-11-2020, 05:03 PM   #2
phiwum
 
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Location: Boston area
Default Re: Two quick questions about dragonets

In adopting my usual strategy of "Post first, search later," I found this post by Skarg which says fliers can choose whether to engage or not. I didn't see that in the aerial combat rules or in the engagement rules. Closest I saw was about two fliers engaging each other.
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Old 09-11-2020, 05:49 PM   #3
Skarg
 
Join Date: May 2015
Default Re: Two quick questions about dragonets

Quote:
Originally Posted by phiwum View Post
In adopting my usual strategy of "Post first, search later," I found this post by Skarg which says fliers can choose whether to engage or not. I didn't see that in the aerial combat rules or in the engagement rules. Closest I saw was about two fliers engaging each other.
Fliers opting out of engaging figures on the ground is not mentioned in the Aerial Combat section. It's in the basic Flight section on ITL p.104.
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Old 09-11-2020, 05:58 PM   #4
larsdangly
 
Join Date: Dec 2017
Default Re: Two quick questions about dragonets

The rules about engagement and flyers are tremendously important to the tactical strengths of flying combatants. Based on forum discussions, I feel like a lot of players treat dragons like they don't have wings. Or like they use them to helicopter in and then fight on foot. But I'm not aware of rules that force you to do this. A dragon, gargoyle or wyvern who uses their ability to freely traverse the battlefield, engaging and disengaging at will, is enormously more capable than one who flops on the ground and slugs it out.
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Old 09-11-2020, 06:14 PM   #5
phiwum
 
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Location: Boston area
Default Re: Two quick questions about dragonets

Quote:
Originally Posted by Skarg View Post
Fliers opting out of engaging figures on the ground is not mentioned in the Aerial Combat section. It's in the basic Flight section on ITL p.104.
Ah, thank you!

But given that the dragonet must be in the same hex as his opponent, it seems that if the dragonet moves first, one can simply shift out of the hex and hence out of his range. Is that right?
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Old 09-11-2020, 06:20 PM   #6
Skarg
 
Join Date: May 2015
Default Re: Two quick questions about dragonets

Yeah, dragonets don't have particularly solidly-defined rules. Neither does aerial combat, as seen in the thread I posted before that you linked.

I would say:

Quote:
Originally Posted by phiwum View Post
(1) A dragonet can both claw/bite and breathe fire in the same turn. I presume this is at no DX penalty?
Yes. There's nothing that says it would be at a penalty to do both in one turn.


Quote:
Originally Posted by phiwum View Post
(2) A dragonet attacks in the same hex as his combatant. The combatant engaged? It's not at all clear to me whether the combatant can only move one hex to disengage.
That's a good question.

If playing RAW, I'd tend to say yes, the target is being engaged from "above", but isn't in HTH. (Death Test 2 actually mentions dragonet attacks aren't considered HTH because they don't land. It doesn't give any other extra dragonet rules, though.)

The dragonet, if the ceiling is high enough, can use the rule I mentioned in the previous post to fly over any need to be stopped by ground figures' Front hexes and arrive in/over the target's hex to attack.


Quote:
Originally Posted by phiwum View Post
(3) I assume only one dragonet can attack a person per turn. They're small, but they're not vampire bat small. What do y'all say?
I would say so too - probably one per hex to attack, or else they'd get in each others' way, I think.


Quote:
Originally Posted by phiwum View Post
But given that the dragonet must be in the same hex as his opponent, it seems that if the dragonet moves first, one can simply shift out of the hex and hence out of his range. Is that right?
Yes, I'd think so. So they might generally want to fly out of reach and/or Dodge on turns that they have to move first, and then swoop in on turns when they've won initiative. They may well be able to do that at little risk, since ranged attacks against a dodging dragonet would be at 4 dice versus DX -8...

Last edited by Skarg; 09-11-2020 at 06:25 PM.
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Old 09-11-2020, 06:29 PM   #7
phiwum
 
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Boston area
Default Re: Two quick questions about dragonets

As an aside, this discussion has given me an idea for a magic item. It's a bit more powerful than I like, but I'm tempted.

Two turkey wing feathers, enchanted with a levitate spell. In order to fly, the person has to hold a feather in each hand and flap like the dickens (1ST fatigue each turn).

It would be humiliating enough that I'm thinking it would be worthwhile in my campaign. Just to hear my son tell me that he's going to drop his weapon, ready the feathers and start flapping. Frankly, he may be willing to face certain death to avoid that.

Last edited by phiwum; 09-11-2020 at 06:33 PM.
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Old 09-11-2020, 06:31 PM   #8
phiwum
 
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Default Re: Two quick questions about dragonets

Quote:
Originally Posted by Skarg View Post
Yes, I'd think so. So they might generally want to fly out of reach and/or Dodge on turns that they have to move first, and then swoop in on turns when they've won initiative. They may well be able to do that at little risk, since ranged attacks against a dodging dragonet would be at 4 dice versus DX -8...
Yes, good idea.
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Old 09-13-2020, 09:46 AM   #9
hcobb
 
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Default Re: Two quick questions about dragonets

Note that wizards have several ways of dealing with nuisance creatures, such as the Blast spell. If the wizard is wearing Leather armor then the Fire spell will also work.
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Old 09-13-2020, 09:55 AM   #10
phiwum
 
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Default Re: Two quick questions about dragonets

Gosh. Wizards sound dandy.
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