GURPS Dragons

RafaelLVX · 01-25-2008, 09:43 AM

Is this book 3rd or 4th edition?

Turhan's Bey Company · 01-25-2008, 09:45 AM

A little of both. IIRC, it's largely 3e and was published before 4e came out, but since it was to come out shortly before 4e was published, it also contains some 4e stats.

nanoboy · 01-25-2008, 09:49 AM

And it is awesome. That is all.

Highland_Piper · 01-25-2008, 09:53 AM

They offer all the stats for the dragons in both 3e and 4e. Well worth it. Its a good book.

RafaelLVX · 01-25-2008, 10:01 AM

It's damn expensive :) but I'm really interested.

Does anyone who has the book know if these dragons are stronger than the usual dragon from GURPS Fantasy 3rd ed? Fantasy dragons are weaker than an elephant, which to me is just plain stupid.

demonsbane · 01-25-2008, 10:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by evilRafael

It's damn expensive :) but I'm really interested.

Does anyone who has the book know if these dragons are stronger than the usual dragon from GURPS Fantasy 3rd ed? Fantasy dragons are weaker than an elephant, which to me is just plain stupid.

Sorry, I don't have stats in mind now.

That remembers me another different question about GURPS Dragons I did want to ask:

Since all 4e sourcebooks are available in PDF format in e23, I wonder what happened with this book not having its PDF version.

nanoboy · 01-25-2008, 10:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by evilRafael

It's damn expensive :) but I'm really interested.

Does anyone who has the book know if these dragons are stronger than the usual dragon from GURPS Fantasy 3rd ed? Fantasy dragons are weaker than an elephant, which to me is just plain stupid.

It depends. If you have GURPS Undead, GURPS Spirits, GURPS Faeries, or some such, you'll have an idea of what GURPS Dragons is like. The structure of the book is one of information. Part of the book is devoted to dragons in ancient lore as well as modern fantasy. There is a section on dragons' templates, of course, but it offers numerous options. There is also a section of the book devoted to a setting, which is rather unique. It's actually based in Edwardian times (circa 1905.)

Phil Masters · 01-25-2008, 11:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by evilRafael

Does anyone who has the book know if these dragons are stronger than the usual dragon from GURPS Fantasy 3rd ed? Fantasy dragons are weaker than an elephant, which to me is just plain stupid.

The 3rd ed templates for "standard" dragons in there are based directly off the dragon stats in various 3rd ed sources - I think the Fantasy Bestiary was my primary reference, but the line was pretty consistent about such things by and large. I haven't cross-referenced any of the 4th ed numbers, but they were direct conversions of the 3rd ed versions.

However, the whole point of the book was to address and demonstrate the sheer range of possibilities for things called "dragons", from cute critters that sit on your shoulder up to gods of nature. There is absolutely nothing "stupid" about the idea of a dragon being weaker than an elephant; it depends entirely on your dragon (and for that matter, your elephant - a lot of the primary sources would have treated elephants as about as real as dragons, and with similar levels of real knowledge). A lot of mythical dragons were just big nasty snakes or lizards, perhaps with hyperactive poison glands, who could and did get stomped by oxen or horses. Anyway, once you've got a template, it's child's play to scale ST and hit points up or down to reflect your personal mythological prejudices.

RafaelLVX · 01-25-2008, 11:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Phil Masters

Anyway, once you've got a template, it's child's play to scale ST and hit points up or down to reflect your personal mythological prejudices.

My personal mythological prejudices are really inconsistent with the idea of a "monstrous dragon" (Fantasy Bestiary p.84, size 14+) having ST "70+" and an elephant (Bestiary p.15, size 10+) having ST "250-300". Before anyone points out the dragon is much lighter in comparison with the elephant, let me express that that also makes little sense to me. Of course no one has ever seen a live dragon, but I was really pursuing a more fantastic dragon. No matter what, these books show an elephant must be much more frightening than an ancient dragon. :)

Just out of curiosity, does anyone know the ST values of dragons and elephants in 4e?

~~NineDaysDead~~ · 01-25-2008, 12:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by evilRafael

Just out of curiosity, does anyone know the ST values of dragons and elephants in 4e?

Elephants ST 45; Weight 12,000+ lbs
Monstrous Dragon ST 30; Weight 3,000+ lbs

01-25-2008, 09:43 AM	#1
RafaelLVX Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Porto Alegre, Brazil	GURPS Dragons Is this book 3rd or 4th edition?

01-25-2008, 09:45 AM	#2
Turhan's Bey Company Aluminated Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: East of the moon, west of the stars, close to buses and shopping	Re: GURPS Dragons A little of both. IIRC, it's largely 3e and was published before 4e came out, but since it was to come out shortly before 4e was published, it also contains some 4e stats. __________________ I've been making pointlessly shiny things, and I've got some gaming-related stuff as well as 3d printing designs. Buy my Warehouse 23 stuff, dammit!

01-25-2008, 09:49 AM	#3
nanoboy Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Edmond, OK	Re: GURPS Dragons And it is awesome. That is all.

01-25-2008, 09:53 AM	#4
Highland_Piper Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Oxford, UK	Re: GURPS Dragons They offer all the stats for the dragons in both 3e and 4e. Well worth it. Its a good book.

01-25-2008, 10:01 AM	#5
RafaelLVX Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Porto Alegre, Brazil	Re: GURPS Dragons It's damn expensive :) but I'm really interested. Does anyone who has the book know if these dragons are stronger than the usual dragon from GURPS Fantasy 3rd ed? Fantasy dragons are weaker than an elephant, which to me is just plain stupid.