Dragonets and breath weapons

letatcestmoi · 02-13-2021, 08:56 PM

One of my players was lucky enough to acquire a dragonet. It has largely been a minor distraction, usually forgotten, but last session it had cause to use its breath weapon.

Now they and dragons both state that using their breath weapon costs ST.

Up until this point, the one dragon they did encounter was conjured by a spell, and the dragonet has not breathed fire.

Which leads me to the following question: is the ST expended treated as fatigue or just like any other hit? I can see the argument go either way. However, I am conscious that the players will most likely eventually find themselves in a position where having a d6 of fire every 15 minutes becomes a huge headache for me.

RAW imply it’s treated like a standard ST loss and would require potions or time. I haven’t made an official ruling yet, so I have no precedent to need to pull back from.

Axly Suregrip · 02-13-2021, 09:13 PM

Hi,
Dragon's breathing has a "ST cost", not ST damage. This is fatigue.

letatcestmoi · 02-18-2021, 11:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Axly Suregrip

Hi,
Dragon's breathing has a "ST cost", not ST damage. This is fatigue.

Seems obvious. Thanks!

larsdangly · 02-19-2021, 08:37 AM

I'm not sure it is explicitly stated anywhere, but I have always treated it as a fatigue cost, like casting a spell. In fact, it never occurred to me that I might do otherwise. But now that you raise the issue I think treating it as physical damage would model the way Melnibonean dragons work in the Elric stories, where they need to rest for very long times after expending energy on flying and breathing fire. Or, in that case, you could treat it as fatigue but say it is fatigue that recovers at 1 pt per week or something.

DeadParrot · 02-19-2021, 09:07 AM

As I read it, treat as fatigue. Even so, the dragonet gets 3 one die attacks before running out of usable fatigue points. I think it would take extreme circumstances before a critter would willingly let itself do something that renders it unconscious and helpless.

Unless the fire is really needed for a specific situation, I don't see 3 one die attacks as very unbalancing. Same damage as a rapier and the rapier doesn't use fatigue. After doing these 3 attacks, the dragonet will need a minimum of 45 minutes of rest to regain the 3 expended fatigue points. If the party is on a time critical mission, they may not be able to spend 45 minutes for the dragonet to recharge, or even 15 if it breathed once.

02-13-2021, 08:56 PM	#1
letatcestmoi Join Date: May 2012 Location: Vancouver, BC	Dragonets and breath weapons One of my players was lucky enough to acquire a dragonet. It has largely been a minor distraction, usually forgotten, but last session it had cause to use its breath weapon. Now they and dragons both state that using their breath weapon costs ST. Up until this point, the one dragon they did encounter was conjured by a spell, and the dragonet has not breathed fire. Which leads me to the following question: is the ST expended treated as fatigue or just like any other hit? I can see the argument go either way. However, I am conscious that the players will most likely eventually find themselves in a position where having a d6 of fire every 15 minutes becomes a huge headache for me. RAW imply it’s treated like a standard ST loss and would require potions or time. I haven’t made an official ruling yet, so I have no precedent to need to pull back from.

02-13-2021, 09:13 PM	#2
Axly Suregrip Join Date: Jun 2018 Location: Durham, NC	Re: Dragonets and breath weapons Hi, Dragon's breathing has a "ST cost", not ST damage. This is fatigue.

02-19-2021, 08:37 AM	#4
larsdangly Join Date: Dec 2017	Re: Dragonets and breath weapons I'm not sure it is explicitly stated anywhere, but I have always treated it as a fatigue cost, like casting a spell. In fact, it never occurred to me that I might do otherwise. But now that you raise the issue I think treating it as physical damage would model the way Melnibonean dragons work in the Elric stories, where they need to rest for very long times after expending energy on flying and breathing fire. Or, in that case, you could treat it as fatigue but say it is fatigue that recovers at 1 pt per week or something.

02-19-2021, 09:07 AM	#5
DeadParrot Join Date: Apr 2012	Re: Dragonets and breath weapons As I read it, treat as fatigue. Even so, the dragonet gets 3 one die attacks before running out of usable fatigue points. I think it would take extreme circumstances before a critter would willingly let itself do something that renders it unconscious and helpless. Unless the fire is really needed for a specific situation, I don't see 3 one die attacks as very unbalancing. Same damage as a rapier and the rapier doesn't use fatigue. After doing these 3 attacks, the dragonet will need a minimum of 45 minutes of rest to regain the 3 expended fatigue points. If the party is on a time critical mission, they may not be able to spend 45 minutes for the dragonet to recharge, or even 15 if it breathed once.