07-07-2016, 02:54 PM | #41 |
Join Date: Mar 2008
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Re: Thoughts On Dragons
From exposure to first edition C&S after playing brown box D&D means that my default dragon is like the Chivalry & Sorcery ones. Can kill 2-3 moderately high level adventures a combat round. You treat them like a force of nature not an opponent.
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07-07-2016, 07:23 PM | #42 |
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Portland, Oregon
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Re: Thoughts On Dragons
Most dragonslayers have some kind of force multiplier like a magic weapon or divine patronage and many have divine ancestry.
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"The navy could probably win a war without coffee but would prefer not to try"-Samuel Eliot Morrison |
07-11-2016, 02:29 AM | #43 |
Join Date: Jul 2006
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Re: Thoughts On Dragons
I recall an essay somewhere (possibly in Dragon) suggesting that housecats were good model for dragon personalities ... this probably doesn't mean that you can remove them from your house with a yard broom.
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07-11-2016, 04:28 AM | #44 |
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Gothenburg, Sweden
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Re: Thoughts On Dragons
That's my preferred model as well. Being called "dragonslayer" should mean something, dammit.
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07-11-2016, 08:01 AM | #45 | |
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Portland, Oregon
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Re: Thoughts On Dragons
Quote:
I once read somewhere or other that it was fairies that were like house cats though.
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"The navy could probably win a war without coffee but would prefer not to try"-Samuel Eliot Morrison |
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07-11-2016, 10:31 AM | #46 |
Join Date: Jul 2006
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Re: Thoughts On Dragons
True, the broom to cat analogy doesn't work for mice ... although the concept of getting rid of them before they settle in if at all possible still holds. As it does for mice, come to think of it.
That would be Pratchett I suspect. |
07-11-2016, 12:51 PM | #47 |
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Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Forest Grove, Beaverton, Oregon
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Re: Thoughts On Dragons
I think it works best, because we generally want dragons to be both bestial sometimes sadistic predators but also somehow alluring. And for most humanity, the only real animal that describes is good old cats.
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07-20-2016, 07:32 AM | #48 |
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Portland, Oregon
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Re: Thoughts On Dragons
Don't a lot of predators play with captures before the coup de grasse? Including some beautiful or at least cute ones?
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"The navy could probably win a war without coffee but would prefer not to try"-Samuel Eliot Morrison |
07-23-2016, 08:57 PM | #49 | |
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Yukon, OK
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Re: Thoughts On Dragons
Quote:
The dragon actually took the women as apprentices and taught them magic in return for housekeeping duties and secrecy. In my Chalice World setting Dragons come in types but basically are elemental Angels of light or darkness (Yang/Yin to be more exact) that defend the world from Lovecraftian type monsters and act as stewards. Lesser dragons are more like spirit guardians of certain places, kind of like Kami.
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07-24-2016, 02:37 AM | #50 |
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Colorado
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Re: Thoughts On Dragons
For dragons in my D&D games, I have 3 varieties that I tend to use.
dragon - as per the monster manual description. Dragon - usually at least double the hit dice, most can cast spells as an arcane caster of their hit dice, all are very intelligent. Sometimes larger than normal. DRAGON - these start off at a very minimum of triple the hit dice, can cast arcane and divine spells as a caster of their hit dice, all are extremely intelligent. Hatchlings have been known to decimate, experienced adventurers. Sometimes larger than normal, truly powerful ones are on such a massive scale that they can be mistaken for a mountain range. Many are considered to be avatars of gods if not outright gods. dragon and Dragon, are potential fodder for the PCs to kill. DRAGON are of such a stupendous scale that for the PCs to kill one, something truly amazing needs to happen, at the very least a very difficult quest for high level adventurers. Few DRAGON are malicious killing machines, the few that are, tend to have extremely short lifespans as a much older and more powerful DRAGON tends to get annoyed and ends their "stupidity." Dragon and DRAGON also tend to have variant or extra abilities, every DRAGON is a named NPC. |
Tags |
dragon, dragons, fantasy genre, world building |
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