Pyramid #3/72: Alternate Dungeons

[Christopher R. Rice]

So one thing I've been wanted to do for a while now is to see if I could get folks to rate the articles they like the most in Pyramid. I had a little spare time today so I created a survey for this issue and would appreciate if folk spent five or ten minutes and filled it out.

[GnomesofZurich]

I realize this is a bit of thread-o-mancy, but I just received my copy of this Pyramid from the Kickstarter rewards, and note that the Dragon template (p. 23) applies "No Fine Manipulators" to ST but not DX. Assuming this is a mistake, that gives 24 additional points to play with. As I don't think errata gets issued for Pyramid issues, any thoughts on how they should be distributed?

I'm thinking increase DR 4 (Flexible) to DR 5 (Flexible) and then purchase 45 (instead of 25) points in additional advantages.

One other thing with the template is the interesting 3Eism of Alertness as an optional advantage.

[scc]

I'd like to know how the Dragon template converts into a normal racial template, sure you probably can't afford much more then bargain Henchman template, but you probably don't need even that.

[GnomesofZurich]

Originally Posted by scc

I'd like to know how the Dragon template converts into a normal racial template, sure you probably can't afford much more then bargain Henchman template, but you probably don't need even that.

Similar to the Dwarf and Elf "Races as Professions" templates from Pyramid #3/50 (and the Blob and Unknowable Thing templates from the same article as the Dragon), it's race and profession all rolled into one. With the additional points from applying "No Fine Manipulators" to DX and some of the tricks under "Affording Racial Templates" from DF3 you could probably afford a bargain Henchman template, but they would be underwhelming.

Edit: The other thing I'm wondering is that the template has Dropping as an optional skill; how does this interact with No Fine Manipulators? Are they assumed to have sufficient grasping ability to pick up boulders and small opponents to drop, but nothing much smaller than that?

[Bruno]

Originally Posted by GnomesofZurich

Edit: The other thing I'm wondering is that the template has Dropping as an optional skill; how does this interact with No Fine Manipulators? Are they assumed to have sufficient grasping ability to pick up boulders and small opponents to drop, but nothing much smaller than that?

I think it's safe to assume they can pick up things using the "squirrel holds a nut between its toes" method. Dogs[1] and cats can, although they can't manipulate things this way.

Like squirrels, they'd need the use of both forelimbs and their teeth/tongue/belly just to turn something around while held in their forepaws; it also would take quite some time rather than the free action a human uses, and if it's smaller than the dragons head, it probably requires a DX check or they waste a bunch of extra time (on a critical failure, they drop it).

[1] We adopted a toy poodle who was a bit of a rescue. She came with the "skin" of an emptied stuffed animal, her only toy. On the first day in our house, my mother and I were sitting at the kitchen table when we saw her little black nose peeking over the top - she was standing on her toes. We ignored her, and the stuffie "skin" started flagging vigorously up and down over the top of the table.
She had it pinned between her forepaws and was standing up on her tippie tip toes to wave the stuffie at us. For some dog-logic reason.
So I figure if a dog with a brain roughly the size of two big cashews can figure that out, a dragon can.