Dragons

[jimlotfp]

Really dumb question... but in OD&D... how much damage does dragon breath do?

[James Maliszewski]

OD&D dragons, like their AD&D counterparts, do damage with their breath weapons equal to their hit points. At least that's how I read the text, which is admittedly somewhat ambiguous.

[jrients]

That's what I do as well, with a save for half damage.

[calithena]

Ditto here. Totally brutal in OD&D - say 66 points of damage from an ancient red kills anything, pretty much.

[kenmeister]

Heh - maximum hit points or current hit points?

[James Maliszewski]

Oct 20, 2008 12:20:45 GMT -6 kenmeister said:

Heh - maximum hit points or current hit points?

I've played it both ways, actually. I generally prefer to keep dragon breath damage equal to max hit points, but I have sometimes gone with current hit points. I think the latter introduces a degree of "realism" that I now feel uncongenial for D&D's combat system. However, I certainly wouldn't blame anyone who feels differently, since the text is vague and open to interpretation.

[makofan]

I think Dragons need to keep their full terror. A dragon at 1 hit point left may still have one last desperate puff.

[James Maliszewski]

Oct 22, 2008 7:18:18 GMT -6 makofan said:

I think Dragons need to keep their full terror. A dragon at 1 hit point left may still have one last desperate puff.

That's an important consideration too. In my younger days, I always considered dragons to be the "champagne of monsters." Beating one was a remarkable feat and it took great effort to succeed, precisely because, even when battered and beaten, they could still wipe out parties of even high-level adventurers with one blast of their breath.

[carjack]

I'd agree with James here; encountering a Dragon needs to be a big deal. These are massive creatures with massive egos, guarding equally massive piles of loot. Leaving their breath weapon at max throughout the fight makes them that much more dangerous and will make players take pause before they just rush into the lair willy nilly.
Which is as it should be.

[snorri]

Two questions on dragons :

Dragon Turttle is mentionned in U&W adventures, without stats. It seems to have apparead then in fisrt Expert set and in ADD MM. But he's far much powerful than others dragons (12-14 HD). Would you think it could fit to ODD ?

The T-Rex is 20HD, according to M&M. It could crush a dragon, I guess. Any feeling about that?

[coffee]

Oct 29, 2008 14:16:31 GMT -6 snorri said:

Two questions on dragons :

Dragon Turttle is mentionned in U&W adventures, without stats. It seems to have apparead then in fisrt Expert set and in ADD MM. But he's far much powerful than others dragons (12-14 HD). Would you think it could fit to ODD ?

The T-Rex is 20HD, according to M&M. It could crush a dragon, I guess. Any feeling about that?

Sea critters do tend to get bigger than land critters, so the Dragon Turtle is okay by me. And if you don't like the stats of later editions, then make up your own; the rules are merely guidelines.

And as for the T-Rex: It's impressive, true, but a dragon can fly and has a breath weapon -- both of which go a long way toward evening those odds.

[snorri]

Thanx. I had a look on later editions stuff. It seems wolf is 1HD in Od&d (which seems me good: an arrow can kill a wolf) and become 2+2 later. Most animals follow the same line. So even if od&d suggest 20HD for t-Rex, downsize all animals one-half of add MMI HD gives a good result for me.

Understanding the dragon turtle as an chinese style one would help me to keep it as a powerful monster too.