[MH] Dragons

[Purple Snit]

I once ran a Monster Hunters campaign where a form of Dragon was awoken in Vancouver, Canada. The legends said only a Thunderbird could kill it. So one of the players stole a Thunderbird from a car lot and drove it into the thing's mouth off the Granville Street Bridge at 100 km. It was such a wild plan that I ruled that it worked. Players are crafty buggers, it's true...

[GarenLiLorian]

Originally Posted by aesir23

I like these. Very nice.

It might be worthwhile to make your Dragon Champion template Half-Dragons. I know MH always has the PC versions of monsters less powerful than the monsterous versions, but in this case it seems particularly unjustified.

However, if they were the product of a Dragon (in human form) and a human mate, their reduced abilities (and greater connection to mankind) makes perfect sense.

Overall, I think these are very well-done. I'd use these in I were running an MH campaign, and I'll probably refer back to this is I ever need dragons for and Urban Fantasy campaign of another kind.

Thanks! There's an Inhuman-blooded sidekick template in MH 4; if someone wanted to play a Half-Dragon, I'd probably suggest they start with that template, and drop the Alternate Form from the Dragon Champion. That would give them a strong person with a breath attack and switchable claws: a decent approximation of a Dragonborn from that other game, re-skinned for urban fantasy.

Otherwise... I mean, I don't disagree. It's always weird that Inhuman PCs are completely incapable of going toe to toe with the Enemy versions; I've never once played a game with an Inhuman PC where they didn't ask "Why aren't I this Tough?" but... them's the breaks! For what it's worth, I often use the champion version for low level enemies and NPCs to help Inhuman PCs feel more like members of that race, and save the Enemy versions for important or powerful enemies.

[GarenLiLorian]

Originally Posted by AlexanderHowl

With the Insubstantiality, it requires players to be creative. A staff is better than a sword, a throwing stick is better than a pistol, and a catapult is better than a bazooka (strangely enough, early cannons are actually a threat, as they often used stone projectiles). I have found that players often think outside the box when facing threats that are resistant to their weapons. Of course, attacks with Affects Insubstantial would also be legitimate threats.

"It's a Dragon, bust out the Ghost Blasters" is probably not the standard flavor for dragons you want in a Monster Hunters game, but there is the Spirit Dragon variant, if you want insubstantial Dragons.

[Apollonian]

Originally Posted by GarenLiLorian

"It's a Dragon, bust out the Ghost Blasters" is probably not the standard flavor for dragons you want in a Monster Hunters game, but there is the Spirit Dragon variant, if you want insubstantial Dragons.

There's an adventure seed for you. The hunters have to deal with a Mad Necromancer who's trying to resurrect a dragon. Instead he gets a herd of ghost dinosaurs... You could play up the humor, or you could have the PCs stalked by incorporeal velociraptors.

[aesir23]

Originally Posted by GarenLiLorian

Thanks! There's an Inhuman-blooded sidekick template in MH 4; if someone wanted to play a Half-Dragon, I'd probably suggest they start with that template, and drop the Alternate Form from the Dragon Champion. That would give them a strong person with a breath attack and switchable claws: a decent approximation of a Dragonborn from that other game, re-skinned for urban fantasy.

Oh, yeah! It's been a while since I've broken out my MH books, so I forgot about the Side-Kicks. Now that I remember, I'm really partial to the idea of having a PC play Inhuman-Blooded with another template, rather than playing a full Inhuman who's nevertheless much less powerful than the enemy versions.

Originally Posted by GarenLiLorian

Otherwise... I mean, I don't disagree. It's always weird that Inhuman PCs are completely incapable of going toe to toe with the Enemy versions; I've never once played a game with an Inhuman PC where they didn't ask "Why aren't I this Tough?" but... them's the breaks!

As a fan of Urban Fantasy, it totally flies in the face of genre expectations. In almost every case I can think of in popular media, the monster protagonist is an exceptionally competent or powerful specimen. Look at Angel (and later Spike) from Buffy, or Thomas from Dresden Files: they never had a particularly hard time taking out evil vampires.
I can't think of an example where the good guy monster was weaker than the bad guy monsters. Much more often the Law of Conversation of Ninjitsu results in the very opposite.

Originally Posted by GarenLiLorian

For what it's worth, I often use the champion version for low level enemies and NPCs to help Inhuman PCs feel more like members of that race, and save the Enemy versions for important or powerful enemies.

This is...a pretty elegant solution. It also leaves open the possibility that with experience they could become as powerful as the monster versions.

[GarenLiLorian]

It also leaves open the possibility that with experience they could become as powerful as the monster versions.

I definitely also use the Enemy versions of monsters as upgrade paths for inhumans!