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Original D&D Discussion :: Dungeons & Dragons (1971-1978) :: Monsters & Treasure (1974) :: Alternate Dragons with 3d6

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waysoftheearth
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Alternate Dragons with 3d6
« Thread Started on Oct 1, 2011, 11:48pm »

Dragons are the Title Monster of our game, not to mention the stuff of genuine legend, but I've long felt their treatment in Monsters & Treasure assumes they are "mostly" for later parts of the game. Why save the good stuff 'til last?

Since discussions recently popped up regarding Dragons and 1st-level Characters and Dragons and Spell-Casting, I though it might be a good time to share my adjusted Dragon "generation" system...

This method is very similar to that presented in M&T, but results in more variation between the youngest and eldest Dragons. This (hopefully) provides referees with more opportunities to use Dragons. It also pleases me to use a 3d6 throw to determine Dragon statistics, since it echoes the way we generate PCs

So, here it is...

Throw 3d6.

The first die determines the Dragon's type (see Table I).

The second die determines the Dragon's age category (see Table II).

The third die determines the maximum magic-user spell-level the Dragon has access to. This die is adjusted by the results on both Tables I and II.

Table I: Dragon Type
.............Breath....Base..Base..Spell 1d6..Colour..Weapon.....HD....AC...Level ======================================== .1...White...Frost.......6.....3....-3.. .2...Black...Acid........7.....3....-2.. .3...Green...Poison......8.....2....-2.. .4...Blue....Lightning...9.....2....-1.. .5...Red.....Fire.......10.....1....-1.. .6...Gold....Sonic......11.....1.....0..

Table II: Dragon Age
.................Age....HD....AC...Spell................. 1d6..Maturity...Years..Adj...Adj...Level...Move..Sleeping ========================================================= .1...Hatchling.....3..x1/3....+4....-3....6"/12"..1.in.6. .2...Young........10..x2/3....+2....-2....9"/18"..1.in.6. .3...Adult........33.....-.....-....-1....9"/24"..2.in.6. .4...Mature......100....+1....-1.....-....9"/24"..2.in.6. .5...Old.........333....+2....-2....+1....9"/24"..3.in.6. .6...Ancient...1,000....+4....-3....+3....6"/18"..4.in.6.

I assume that all Dragons can speak and have 1d6+1 hp per HD. Hatchling and young Dragons with 1/3rd or 2/3rds of a whole HD add +1 or +2 hp, respectively.

If a Dragon is magic-using (because the adjusted third die resulted in a score of 1 or more), then it knows as many spells as it has HD, and can use them at will, one spell per round.

If a Dragon is not magic-using (because the adjusted third die resulted in a score of 0 or less) then it adds +1 hp per age category instead.

All Dragons of AC 0 or better are invulnerable to normal missiles.

If multiple Dragons are encountered, they are 5 in 6 likely to be of the same type, though they may be of any maturity.

Enough talk! Let's have a few examples...

3d6=3,1,5 :: A Hatchling Green Dragon, poisonous breath weapon, two m-u spells of up to 1st level, and a 1 in 6 chance of sleeping [MV 6"/12", AC 6, HD 2+5, hp 12].

3d6=1,3,3 :: An Adult White Dragon, frosty breath weapon, no spells, and a 2 in 6 chance of sleeping [MV 9"/24", AC 3, HD 6+9, hp 30].

3d6=6,3,4 :: An Adult Gold Dragon, sonic breath weapon, 11 m-u spells of up to 3rd level, and a 2 in 6 chance of sleeping [MV 9"/24", AC 1, HD 11+11, hp 50].

3d6=5,2,3 :: A Young Red Dragon, fiery breath weapon, no spells, and a 1 in 6 chance of sleeping [MV 9"/18", AC 3, HD 6+10, hp 31].

3d6=5,5,6 :: An Old Red Dragon, fiery breath weapon, 12 m-u spells of up to 6th level, and a 3 in 6 chance of sleeping [MV 9"/24", AC -1, HD 12+12, hp 54].

3d6=4,1,2 :: A Hatchling Blue Dragon, electric breath weapon, no spells, and a 1 in 6 chance of sleeping [MV 6"/12", AC 6, HD 3+4, hp 15].

3d6=2,4,4 :: A Mature Black Dragon, acid breath weapon, eight m-u spells of up to 2nd level, and a 2 in 6 chance of sleeping [MV 9"/24", AC 0, HD 8+8, hp 36].

3d6=1,6,3 :: An Ancient White Dragon, frosty breath weapon, ten m-u spells of up to 3rd level, and a 4 in 6 chance of sleeping [MV 9"/18", AC 0, HD 10+10, hp 45].

And so on, and so on.

So with regards to Dragons and 1st-level Characters and also to Dragons and 10th-level Characters, it seems clear that a referee can skew the kinds of dragons encountered on various dungeon levels to reflect the risk of the specific dungeon level.

This can be achieved by adjusting the dice used to "generate" a Dragon. For example...

Dungeon..D.r.a.g.o.n...D.i.c.e .Level...Type.....Age....Magic ============================== ...1......1d3.....1d3.....1d6. ...2......1d3.....1d3.....1d6. ...3......1d4.....1d4.....1d6. ...4......1d4.....1d4.....1d6. ...5......1d4.....1d6.....1d6. ...6......1d5.....1d6.....1d6. ...7......1d5....1d4+2....1d6. ...8......1d5....1d4+2....1d6. ...9......1d6....1d3+3....1d6. ..10......1d6....1d3+3....1d6.

Enjoy!

« Last Edit: Oct 1, 2011, 11:59pm by waysoftheearth »

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