06-29-2016, 12:01 PM | #11 |
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Berkeley, CA
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Re: Thoughts On Dragons
The standard for dragons is that they're slain by single heroes, possibly with a squire, though those heroes might be demigods or gods (e.g. Tiamat being slain by Marduk, Jörmungandr being slain by Thor). This is not a lot different from other legendary monsters, though; there aren't all that many stories about heroic armies, or really even anything all that similar to a group of PCs (possibly some of the Norse myths; you have a number that involve Odin, Thor, and Loki).
In terms of RPGs, dragons can serve a few purposes, though other than draconic mounts they tend to be boss monsters of some type. Power level is hugely variable though, anywhere from the glorified lizard on up (I used the dragon of the San Andreas Fault in a game once; it was literally on the scale of terrain features). |
06-29-2016, 12:05 PM | #12 |
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Lawrence, KS
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Re: Thoughts On Dragons
But he apparently fell short of Ancalagon the Black.
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06-29-2016, 01:58 PM | #13 | |
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Austin, TX
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Re: Thoughts On Dragons
Quote:
I wrote about it here: http://noschoolgrognard.blogspot.com...ession-14.html
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06-29-2016, 04:57 PM | #14 | |
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Shropshire, uk
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Re: Thoughts On Dragons
Quote:
A stand up fight against a dragon need not be that hard, but the odds of getting your stand up fight without a lot of planning should be essentially nil. Most would be dragon slayers find themselves on the defensive almost as soon as they enter its territory as they are beaten down by repeated hit and run attacks from on high or out of cover. Dragons are ground feeders, targets are slammed and either dispatched by bite to the throat or raked with poisoned fangs and spurs before the dragon falls back. As this implies my take on dragons is as an apex preadator rather than a major force in the wider world I would rather save the role of guardian of major treasures or overthrower of kingdoms for other more subtle threats. |
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06-29-2016, 05:23 PM | #15 |
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: New England
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Re: Thoughts On Dragons
Perhaps because of the books I read in my formative years, my archetype for dragons is in the mold of Glaurung; they can be killed, but attempting to do so is perilous. They are formidable, almost elemental in nature, and highly magical. Glaurung, for instance, could cast spells and was as intelligent as he was wily. Such monsters are probably pivotal figures in a game setting, since, regardless of power level, characters need to be both in top form and lucky to defeat them. And even then, there is likely to be a life-changing awful sacrifice for the successful PC.
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06-29-2016, 05:47 PM | #16 |
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Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Forest Grove, Beaverton, Oregon
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Re: Thoughts On Dragons
My initial image of dragons is one of elemental demigods. After reading Cabal, I imagined them as elemental triplets.
Common elementals are singles, with more intelligent and powerful doubles like air-fire being genies. But super powerful triplets are dragons. Classic European versions being air-fire-earth, with Chinese being air-water-earth. Acidic burrowing wyrms being earth-fire-water. I'm not sure how to picture air-fire-water though.
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06-29-2016, 05:55 PM | #17 |
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Portland, Oregon
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Re: Thoughts On Dragons
A Kraken that breathes fire and controls the storms?
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06-29-2016, 06:03 PM | #18 |
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Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Forest Grove, Beaverton, Oregon
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Re: Thoughts On Dragons
Fir-air could work as lightning on its own. Storm kraken works nicely, I think.
I think to keep them rare without worrying about breeding populations, very high mana or wild mana regions where elements collide may birth them. Since most of earth like worlds are water, big oceans may have more than their apparant share of such sea monsters "naturally".
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06-30-2016, 05:49 AM | #19 |
Join Date: Jul 2006
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Re: Thoughts On Dragons
I like the Pratchett model of true dragons being extraplanar creatures that only intrude into the real world through powerful magic - which can also fit nicely with medieval notions of dragons being incarnations of the sins of hubris, avarice and gluttony ... they are literally a sort of demon.
This should allow a campaign world where everyone goes on about dragons - maybe even build dungeons as dragon resistant fortifications - but you never actually see one. Until some silly fornicator summons one - and then you may have more luck banishing it than killing it. Potentially such a world can also include dragon like animals, possibly precursor made, and trading on the psychological value of real dragons in warfare. |
06-30-2016, 12:08 PM | #20 |
Join Date: Dec 2014
Location: Jax, FL
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Re: Thoughts On Dragons
My dragons are people,
but with a different concept of what 'others' are people... like if it's not a dragon (or by some extension Dragon-blood) it's an animal and they believe that they were given dominion over the planet so can do with the animals as they please. You could very well enter a Dragon's territory and leave alive if you are not threatening its hunting grounds or the things (or beings) it considers precious. (I had one that was selectively breeding hares for intelligence and markings who got really PO'ed when a group of hunters came by.) "You" can 'deal' with them but like a human making a deal with an Amazon Grey (parrot) they are not going to bother 'keeping' the deal unless "you" have some leverage. "You" are a talking (sometimes amusing) toy/snack... they have learned that mobs of "you" are bothersome and will resort to scorched earth technics to steal dragon territory or hordes. My dragons are chaos magic- they don't USE it they ARE it- so any spell that requires chanting, handwaving, or items prepared in advance are basically telegraphed and super obvious to the dragon. My dragons bodies are non-existent (they go POOF) if they are actually killed but I don't tell anyone that- dragons also have good memories but often lack the drive to hunt down the troublemaking humans/others. If someone is wearing dragon scale armor- some recently revived dragon somewhere is PO'ed about the missing scales.
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Tags |
dragon, dragons, fantasy genre, world building |
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