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Hostile V posted:Alright I won't lie, I love the idea of failing a Con check and then accidentally living out several years as a human because you shapeshifted badly and forgot you were a dragon. Just waking up one morning next to your wife and realizing "poo poo I LEFT MY HOARD ALONE FOR LIKE SEVENTEEN YEARS". Same as it ever was... Same as it ever was... Same as it ever was...
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Apr 17, 2017 10:41
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 Polaris RPG(2016) Part 15, Book 1, Chapter 1: The World of the Deep, section 1.2: Civilizations of the Deep Welcome back to the second part of the Fellowship of the Watchers table of organization and equipment. Next up are the "Civilian" Watcher ships, made by the company Gladius. Tessier has no idea what the word Civilian means. 8x Archangel-class hospital ship, 35.000 metric tons, 125 meters length. Holds 500 patients. 10x Dolphin-class rescue ships, 60 meters long and a maximum dive depth of 18.000 meters which is nice if somebody gets stranded after digging down 7 kilometers into the seabed of Challenger Deep. 2x Behemoth-class salvage ships, 120.000 tons of "hollow half pipes". I've never seen a pipe that isn't hollow, hollowness seems to be integral to an object being a pipe as opposed to a stick. 30x Korems-class sea floor APC's. "Civilian". Also this is about one battlefield taxi per 6.000 soldiers, better make it count! Finally, the Watcher's actual combat fleets. There are six fleets, four of which follow the same basic pattern: 1st squadron(interception): 5x escorts, 20x heavy fighters 2nd squadron(surveillance): 2x escorts, 40x light fighters, 1x frigate 3rd squadron(rapid intervention): 2x frigates, 1x cruiser 4th squadron(protection, stationed at equinox): 4x frigates, 1x cruiser, 1x battleship 5th squadron(intervention): 6x frigates, 2x cruisers, 1x battleships 6th squadron(flagship squadron): 20x escorts, 8x frigates, 4x cruisers, 1x battleship The 5th fleet are the underwater police, owning about 40 escorts and frigates. The 6th fleet are merchant escorts and also have 40 ships like the 5th but own a few cruisers as well. The overall flagship is custom built and named Vigilant. A second one titled Valliant(sic) has been recently launched as well. Remember that bit about each admiral commanding a big chunk of territory with the implication that they'd be in charge of one of the six fleets because of that. Umm yeah about that... Admiral #1 will control his own fleet as well as a battleship each from #2, #3 and #4 and 1/6th each of fleets #5 and #6 Admirals #2, #3 and #4 on the other hand are missing their battleships but still have the escorts from #5 and #6 Admirals #5 and #6 get no battle fleets whatsoever and only control 1/6th each of their own and the other's fleets. Comedy bonus: Because the last two fleets are mobile, who owns what ship will change every few days. Happy admiral-ing! The Geneticians  This logo can't be copied for some reason so I just had to screencap Adobe for this. It seems barely perceptible background crap was a thing even before the second apocalypse. Whoa this sub-sub-chapter actually was about more than just the Watcher's 40k wankery? I almost forgot because of just how lopsided the coverage was. These guys formed the first global empire despite there being just 24 of them, 12 creators, 6 destroyers, the latter of which are in stasis in various buried depots(Dead end metaplot reference count: 17) and depots and 6 renegades(which might include Demeter depending on who you ask. The answer is definitely no because we as omniscient observer were told his exact age of 113 which is about 450 years too young). The book only bothers naming about a third of them: Cyrull the Creator, Nellion the Designer, Masenya the Founder and Vagarem the Thinker are creators. Arisheïm the Destroyer, Galeshor the Executor, and Nisheim the Redeemer are destroyers. You can now forget about those names because aside from Cyrull, which is Tessier's online handle, none will ever show up again anywhere else. The Geneticians are rumoured to be awaiting the "Renaissance", during which they'll return or something(18). The Black Sun Fellowship  The Black Sun Fellowship are quite simply, Death Eaters from Harry Potter who wish to replace the Cult of the Trident and it's more guiding role(hahaha) with a dictatorship where an upper class wizards rule over muggle "animals". They have spies and sleeper agents everywhere all waiting for the day when they'll seize power and when they do get in open conflict they are known for their highly manoeuvrable fighter craft(spoiler from the equipment chapter: they aren't). Despite being wizard supremacists, only a tiny fraction of them actually has enough control over the Polaris Flux to do anything with it. They are led by a powerful spellcaster known as the Other and their spokesperson, Alemsh Palkrach, is a defector from Jason Helio's inner circle. Many think that the only thing separating the Cult of the Trident from the BSF is better PR. The Fellowship of the Deep  Literally fantasy ISIS. A murderous death cult who believe that the (4th) apocalypse will happen in their lifetime and only a chosen few will survive and only if they spend their time putting infidels to the sword. Former Ruins Raider pirate Ralaken Trillsak founded the cult after discovering an ancient engraving depicting the apocalypse somewhere in the Mediterranean and now his ten "archangels" recruit desperate recruits from the various slums of the world, spurring them to commit atrocities. If they survive, they travel to Trillsak's hideout somewhere among the ruins of the Mediterranean coastline before returning to act as sleeper agents and cause chaos and bloodshed when the time is right. They have tacit support from many wealthy individuals who think they can use them as a tool against their enemies and as a result most intelligence services are rather lax with operations against the FotD though if an individual is found with the cult's mark, a tattoo of a black dagger, they are typically executed on the spot. There are rumours that Trillsak is not fully human any more as a result of his discovery. The Leviathan Community No flag for these guys! Or anybody else. The book is now out of flags. A community of reclusive whale tamers who live in the Aleutian trench which Tessier claims to have a maximum depth of 18.000 meters. Outsiders are forbidden in their territory and only rarely does an emissary travel from their home to Equinox to speak with Demeter, always clad in a heavy leather coat and a face concealing mask(like everybody else). Nothing is known about them other than that their whale friends completely trashed a Polar Alliance fleet of 6 frigates, 2 cruisers and a battleship that violated their territorial waters(note from the bestiary: they can't actually harm any of these ships). Themis A group of rich Hegemony folk who politically oppose the brutal treatment of fertile Hegemonians. They also sponsor the assassinations of slave trading pirates. These sound like cool dudes to put in the Hegemony sub-sub-chapter. Thelma Tiltane and the Hegemonic Rebellion Movement Here's some people who actually were in the Hegemony section but they're repeated here with less detail anyway. Unlike Themis, TTatHRM is a lower class movement except they have their own supporters among the nobility who are apparently not with Themis? Mercenaries Not actually part of the important(hah) groups and factions sub-sub-chapter by the book's index and page layout but are written as if they were so I'm including them here(also because next post would be very short if I separated them) One in three independent communities are mercenaries(make that one in twenty if we're going with what the next section says), with the smaller ones focussed exclusively on it while larger ones might diversify into producing other goods as well. A mercenary's equipment is typically a patchwork of second hand materials barely kept running by enterprising tinkerers. The book lists a few groups: Legion: The largest group of mercenaries "ever", with a larger army and fleet than the average nation state. Their capital of Cerbera/Cerberea(depending on where in the book you look) is also the world main hub for other independent mercenaries to find contracts, some 12.800 in total(Legion included). They currently have contracts with the Hegemony, Red League and Coral Republic, mainly fighting pirates. Their leader is a 59 year old former League admiral named "One-Eye" Valerius. The Kiowas: A newcomer group who quickly established a reputation as fine and well behaved pilots fighting against pirates in the defence of Adelaide. They mainly fight with Mantas, Sleepers and sea scooters. The Gabriel Cohort: A group of 800 underwater commandos specializing boarding and sabotage. Employs various kinds of hybrids and is based in the Amirante Trench. The Mad Dogs: Another new group based in the Java Trench. They have a fearsome reputation but are typically somewhat unhinged, living only to fight and scream profanities into their communicators while doing so. Their leader is the 34 year old "Psycho" who can barely function outside battle. The Wolves of the Deep: Former Ruins Raider pirates led by the nearly two meter tall athlete Morgan Felshner and based on the Vøring Plateau(here incorrectly rendered as Voring instead of Voering). Specializes in fighting underground and on the surface. Pirates Pirates are found everywhere but most make their home in the mountainous regions of the pacific where it's easier to shake off pursuers in the constant maelstrom of whirlpools and currents. Like with mercenaries, the book tells us of the most famous ones: The Ruins Raiders: Not actually a singular pirate group(good start) but a collective term for any scavenger making a living from combing through sunken surface ruins. Life so close to the surface is often dangerous and short, with horrible living conditions and old and barely maintained equipment(somebody should tell the Coral Republic). Telkran Raljik, Pirate of the Deep: Look at this tryhard here, getting both a title and an entire entry by himself. Jokes on him though, this entry is actually about his ship, the Argonaut. It's an ultra modern heavy cruiser that many intelligence services would like to get their hands on but so far it's complement of 26 fighters, 120 power armoured commandos and schools of tame dolphin infantry has fought off every attempt to capture it. What it can't defeat, it can evade with it's exceptional maximum diving depth and many hidden supply stations. Telkran mainly busies himself skirmishing with the great nations. The Unicorn Fellowship: A newly founded group, known for the pillaging of Kathai(no such place in the book) together with Erik Left-hand and Six-toothed Andrack in 561. Their leader, Killrave, personally hates human traffickers and attacks them every chance he gets but the group suffers from being based out of badly worn out stations in constant need of repair. The Red Lions of the Carolinas: A nomadic group of barbarians travelling aboard a fleet of large Genetician cruisers. Their leader, Aragon "Emperor William" Pimoud leads them around the oceans, plundering everything that they encounter. You'd think a marauding fleet unstoppable lostech ships would've come up before. The Tubuai Assailants: A fanatical cult worshipping a mutant leader who styles himself after an ancient deity, who's statue he found among the ruins of the surface. The Predators: Operates a fleet of 300 or more cruisers all around the world and is more interested in fighting than accumulating wealth. Often spares worthy adversaries. Their leader has the title of Shaitan, which is granted to whoever bests the previous one in single combat. The Dagger Fellowship: A new pirate community led by the youngest pirate captain ever, Len, who commanded his first ship at age 15 and is now 25. United the Pirate Kingdoms in their war against the Coral Republic(This war happened 200 years ago so he might be a time traveller. Or Tessier is poo poo at consistency). Seyar the Damned: The most wanted man of the seas due many intelligence communities suspecting him to have the answer to the sterility crisis. Claims to be on a secret mission and hates Len from the previous entry. Funds many researches into the Azure Alliance with his ill-gotten fortunes. Smugglers and Bounty Hunters Listed as a separate header under pirates. Actually includes scavengers as well. Smugglers are generally individualistic and don't form groups. Bounty hunters do the same with one notable exception, the Equinox based Bloodhound company who's activities are legal in all states. Scavengers scour wrecks for useful salvage. Some groups have an uncanny ability to tell where and when a major clash will take place and often show up ahead of times to strip vessels as they sink while the battle rages on above them. Generally considered excellent technicians. Next time: That 12 pages long list of settlements.
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Apr 17, 2017 11:04
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Hostile V posted:Alright I won't lie, I love the idea of failing a Con check and then accidentally living out several years as a human because you shapeshifted badly and forgot you were a dragon. Just waking up one morning next to your wife and realizing "poo poo I LEFT MY HOARD ALONE FOR LIKE SEVENTEEN YEARS". this is not my beautiful hoard, this is not my beautiful wife
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Apr 17, 2017 11:18
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This is the place to ask, do dragons ever marry dragons? my personal take is that even good dragons have too big of an ego to share.
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Apr 17, 2017 11:59
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D&D dragons are typically solitary because of stuff like that yeah, even the goodest and most noble dragons are still riding high on an ego trip 24/7 and are greedy as hell. It's one thing to surround yourself with a multitude of submissive specimens from lesser species for social interaction but it's another thing entirely to suffer the long-term presence of something that's just as dominant and greedy as you yourself. Even Brass Dragons can't really be expected to get along in partnerships for too long because they've generally got a lot of opinions and a lot of confidence in those opinions being correct. This makes them the most social dragons when it comes to humanoids but I can't imagine they suffer each other's company for too long unless they really like each other. It's been a long time since I read any D&D stuff about it but I think evil dragons are actually more likely to cohabit than good dragons, if only because it's a very strong statement of power to have broken the ambition and will of another dragon to the level where it'll stoop to serve another. ZeroCount fucked around with this message at 12:45 on Apr 17, 2017 |
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Apr 17, 2017 12:41
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I vaguely recall that juicers shut down for a fifteen minute drug-induced nap, that they can still totally flip out of and kill everyone in the room. I've got a Council of Wyrms boxed set packed away in the basement. Several physical books, I think a map, and a stack of colour plates with dragon-oriented character sheets and such on the back. It's almost as unwieldy as the concept it's presenting.
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Apr 17, 2017 13:48
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Council of Wyrms is one of those settings that everyone bought and no one played. If anyone has an actual trip report I would love to hear it.
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Apr 17, 2017 15:29
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Council of Wyrms: Honorable and Regal Creatures Amethyst Dragons are the most powerful of the gem dragons. They live in the northern island mountains, near isolated lakes. They are born lavender and with translucent scales, which darken as they age. They tend to be detached, ignoring alignment conflicts as petty, inconsequential squabbles not worth their time. They see themselves as the leaders of the gem dragons, and mostly are. They find silvers and coppers foolish, and actively dislike reds and whites, but avoid making enemies and prefer negotiation to combat. They refuse to ambush foes or hide, and see even retreat as dishonorable, though they will flee if the only other option is death. They primarily eat fish and gems, and while they keep vassal demihumans, they let them largely do as they like. Most of them also keep an underwater cave to stay in when they feel the need to be secluded and secretive. +5 Str, -3 Dex, +3 Int, +1 Wis, +2 Cha. Sapphire Dragons live in the underground areas beneath the southern islands, mostly under the domain of the emeralds, though they own some of the surface as well. Sapphires are a beaituful blue, both light and dark, at birth, and are occasionally mistaken for blue dragons. They are the most militaristic of dragons, and are extremely territorial and distrusting of travelers. They train their vassals constantly in combat, but rarely actually conflict with the other dragons because they mostly live underground. Only the black dragons are in conflict with the regularly, and even they are hesitant. Sapphires prefer dwarves and gnomes as vassals, finding elves to be too much like their natural enemies, the drow. Dwarves are treated essentially as slaves, as they once warred on the sapphires, and gnomes have privileged positions in sapphire clans. Mostly, sapphires eat giant spiders. Alive, for preference. Despite their warlake natures, sapphires do not attack quickly, preferring to observe intruders and plan out how to deal with them...except for drow or dwarves not of the sapphire clans, who get attacked immediately. Others, at least, have time to make some gesture of parlay before being told to go away. +4 Str, -3 Dex, +3 Int, +1 Wis, +1 Cha. Emerald Dragons live in the tropical southern islands and are noted for being natural historians and lorekeepers. They are reclusive and somewhat paranoid dragons, born with translucent green scales that harden and take on many shades over time. They are obsessive in their need for privacy and defined territories. Mostly, they live near inactive volcanos, and only allow their most trusted vassals to approach their main lairs. They have many traps and alarms in those lairs, and prefer to observe intruders from hiding, conducting any diplomacy mainly through vassals. If forced to fight, the emeralds prefer stealth and ambush to disable foes quickly, retreating if the danger is too great. They are, however, very patient and always take vengeance. They can eat just about anything, but prefer lizards and giants. They get on quite well with the sapphires, and fear the greed of the reds, but mostly fight fire giants. +3 Str, -2 Dex, +2 Int, +1 Wis, -1 Cha. Topaz Dragons live in the coastal regions of the temperate islands, hiding their lair entrances underwater. They are clannish, private creatures that usually want little to do with others. They mostly keep vassals to appear prosperous, but do not want company. When born, they're a dull yellow-orange, but with age, their scales harden and become more translucent and faceted. They enjoy the smell of the sea and the feel of sea spray, but do not swim for enjoyment, though they do enjoy seafood. They are not especially malicious, but are socially unpleasant, lacking any real graces and often confusing others. They dislike visitors but avoid combat if possible. In a fight, they use tricks to distract foes before striking with claws and teeth. They are mostly indifferent to the problems of others, but dislike bronzes. Once they do decide someone is a friend, however, they are loyal unto death. +2 Str, -1 Dex, +2 Int +1 Wis. Crystal Dragons are friendly creatures that live in the northern islands and are mostly interested in studying the world. They are solitary, but welcome visitors. They are born with glossy white scales that grow translucent with age and are often dazzlingly bright in the light. They are mischevious, irresponsible dragons who rely on their vassals to run their domains. They love ice and snow castles, which are always open to the sky so they can do astronomy. The whites often prey on the crystals, and so fight them often. The giants, as well, often come for the crystals, who are the weakest of the dragons. The crystals prefer diplomacy to combat and are very charming. They prefer to eat gems and metallic ores. +1 Str, +2 Int, +1 Wis, +1 Cha. Red Dragons are greedy, covetous dragons that live in the tropical southern islands. They desire little more than to increase their territory and wealth, and all red dragons can recite to the smallest coin and youngest vassal their entire list of possessions at any time. They are born with bright scarlet scales that, while initially glossy, become duller and smoother as they age. They prefer to lair on mountain tops or other high places, to look over their domains. They consider even other reds to be competitions, but lesser reds will tend to obey their clan leaders. Their vassals are essentially slaves, with any treachery punished by death. The reds despise the golds as their greatest competition and threat, and also often compete for territory with coppers and silvers. Reds are exceptionally vain and overconfident, seeing themselves as superior to all others, and obey the Council itself only grudgingly, interpreting all laws in such a way as to benefit themselves above all else. They eat meat for the most part - particularly young maidens, sacrificed to them by their vassals. +6 Str, -3 Dex, +2 Con, +2 Int, +3 Cha. Blue Dragons live in the central deserts. They are possessive and contemplative, spending long periods in stillness and thought. They like to ambush prey and intrduers, and when not doing so, enjoy thinking about their accomplishments and admiring their domains. They are born blue and change little over time, remaining glossy even in old age. They can be just about any shade of blue. They consider anything in their domain to be their property, including their vassals. They are very territorial, always watching for spies and intruders to test their strategies on. They prefer surprise and long distance combat, avoiding diplomacy for the most part. They see themselves as brave and cavalier, enjoying challenges and tests. They store their hoards underground, and prefer collecting gems. They eat anything, but especially herd animals, and usually fight with the brass clans. +5 Str, -3 Dex, +1 Con, +1 Cha. Green Dragons live in the temperate forests, enslaving lesser beings. They are nasty, bad tempered and cruel, hating goodness in all of its forms and killing anything they can't control. They enjoy plotting intrigues and seeking power via plot and scheme. They see knowledge as power, and will gain knowledge by any means possible. At birth, they are a deep green, almost black, and grow lighter over time. Their lairs tend to be alive, made of the trees of the forest, warped by magic and other means. Evil seems to hang in the air around their lairs, and while they are cruel, they are also extremely protective of their vassals. They punish easily, but will allow no other to harm their toys. Green dragons love the taste of elf flesh, and occasionally raid the vassals of other clans just to get at it. They also enjoy frightening other beings and fighting, often toying with their prey and extending a fight or hunt as long as they can. They do, however, have honor - they will never break their given word. Besides elves, they can and will eat anything, including trees. They fight occasionally with the local giants. +4 Str, -2 Dex, +1 Cha. Black Dragons live in the southern swamps and jungles. They are angry, abusive creatures, with more cunning and malevolence than raw inellect. They are born glossy, but grow duller in sheen over time. They are chaotic evil and enjoy damp caves and caverns. They also love to swim and to collect precious metals. They are very selfish and territorial, and while they protect their vassals, they will leave them to die if a threat seems too much. They prefer ambushes over fair fights, and will use any advantage they can to win. They mostly eat fish and other seafood, and when eating land meats, they prefer to soak them for a time before eating. They are nocturnal by preference, feeling confident in darkness. +3 Str, -1 Dex, -1 Int, -1 Wis, +1 Cha. White Dragons are the smallest and weakest of the chromatics, living in the cold northern islands. They aren't very bright, but are excellent hunters who mostly leave the running of their lands to their vassals. They are impuslive and vicious, preferring to think in the short term than do any real planning. They act more like animals than most dragons, reacting in the now and living without regret. They are, however, greedy, and not to be underestimated. They are born with mirrorlike, glistening scales, but as they age, the sheen fades, and by old age they are turning a faint blue or gray. They prefer cold environments, and show little concern for actually running their lands unless danger is coming. They do, however, quite like to build ice castles, which they enjoy making as beautiful as possible. They collect gems, and while they can eat anything, they like food that has been frozen. In combat, they go full force as soon as possible, regardless of what they fight - which is mostly giants. +2 Str, -1 Dex, -3 Int, -3 Wis. Next time: Kindred.
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Apr 17, 2017 15:46
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ZeroCount posted:D&D dragons are typically solitary because of stuff like that yeah, even the goodest and most noble dragons are still riding high on an ego trip 24/7 and are greedy as hell. It's one thing to surround yourself with a multitude of submissive specimens from lesser species for social interaction but it's another thing entirely to suffer the long-term presence of something that's just as dominant and greedy as you yourself. The cover of the 3rd Edition Draconomicon is very  with a red dragon couple and several hatchlings (the mate is on the back cover bringing a war horse for dinner.
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Apr 17, 2017 15:59
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SirPhoebos posted:The cover of the 3rd Edition Draconomicon is very 
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Apr 17, 2017 16:03
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SirPhoebos posted:The cover of the 3rd Edition Draconomicon is very I want to get really mad about the biology going on here. Multiple offspring make no sense for Dragons. They're long lived, intelligent, apex predators. They should need an enormous range to support any population. Having half a dozen whelps might make sense if they were pack hunters, but they largely ignore or fight with other like cats. Also, that dragon brought back a whole horse like a cat with a mouse. But that dragon is probably hundreds of years old and as intelligent as any sapient creature. I'll grant that they just prefer not wearing clothes, and prefer living in caves, that's fine. But unless those dragons live so far from civilization that they have to butcher their own kills, that horse should be neatly packaged steaks and sausages wrapped and tied and left out weekly by the cowering locals.
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Apr 17, 2017 17:41
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ZorajitZorajit posted:I want to get really mad about the biology going on here. Multiple offspring make no sense for Dragons. They're long lived, intelligent, apex predators. They should need an enormous range to support any population. Having half a dozen whelps might make sense if they were pack hunters, but they largely ignore or fight with other like cats. If it's any consolation they're red dragon hatchlings so there's probably going to be some vicious population control coming from within the nest, if you know what I mean? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ArjlPAU_X4
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Apr 17, 2017 17:45
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Count Chocula posted:So 'Animal Man, but in WW2' is now a viable character concept? Minus the bit where he's vegetarian.
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Apr 17, 2017 18:01
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Was the thing with kobolds being draconic live-in help a third or fourth edition thing?
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Apr 17, 2017 18:02
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3rd, going back as far as the first adventure path, where an entire Kobold tribe served a white dragon hatchling.
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Apr 17, 2017 18:09
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Arguably back to 2E, with the huge-arsed Dragon Mountain boxed adventure, but not codified until 3E.
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Apr 17, 2017 18:24
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Having kobolds be more explicitly reptilian (and later, dragonkin) is largely a 3e thing. Before, they were largely just weaker goblins with a vague dog theme that later got a reputation for traps thanks to the infamous "Tucker's Kobolds" Dragon magazine article.
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Apr 17, 2017 18:54
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When exactly did kobolds go from being little horned jackal guys to little lizard guys? The first D&D product I ever owned was the NES version of Pool of Radiance, and kobolds were all about vicious traps, but they were still jackal-men. Edit: I see from purpleworm's site (basically a homemade 2e SRD) that the 2e era Monstrous Manual was deliberately confusing: quote:Kobolds are a cowardly, sadistic race of short humanoids that vigorously contest the human and demi-human races for living space and food. They especially dislike gnomes and attack them on sight. Halloween Jack fucked around with this message at 19:30 on Apr 17, 2017 |
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Apr 17, 2017 18:58
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Good question, I remember playing Suikoden and Baldur's Gate at roughly around the same time - so it's baffling to go from tiny aggro lizard trappers to cute dog-people that just want to be left alone.
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Apr 17, 2017 19:19
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They started out as just smaller goblins with little horns, and then almost every version of D&D had different descriptions of them. Most described them as having scaly skin and being hairless, with doglike faces and yipping and yapping. Moldway Basic and then BECMI D&D were the only ones where they were explicitly called dogmen. They became full-on lizards in 3rd edition.
HerraS fucked around with this message at 19:51 on Apr 17, 2017 |
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Apr 17, 2017 19:30
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I think in Japanese media, Kobolds are still pretty explicitly dogmen.
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Apr 17, 2017 19:44
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Green Intern posted:I think in Japanese media, Kobolds are still pretty explicitly dogmen. Aren't Japanese RPGs/Fantasy an evolutionary branch-off from 1e or 2e?
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Apr 17, 2017 19:50
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wdarkk posted:Aren't Japanese RPGs/Fantasy an evolutionary branch-off from 1e or 2e? with Wizardry thrown in.
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Apr 17, 2017 19:53
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Serf posted:Why the hell would a pistol be more accurate than a rifle? Evil Mastermind posted:I couldn't really tell you; I know nothing about guns so I just go by what games say. Young Freud posted:For starters, pistols only have typically one point of contact with the shooter, i.e the grip, while rifles have three points of contact if properly shouldered (two hands and a stock, providing more stability which aids in long distance shooting), plus addition points of bracing if used with a bipod, etc., plus have longer barrels (which provide for more pressure behind the bullet, increasing muzzle velocity, which provides longer ranges) and typically longer sight radii (the distance between the front and rear sights, with longer typically allowing for more accurate shots) or mount scopes.
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Apr 17, 2017 20:24
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Mors Rattus posted:half-gold, half-silver and half-bronzes. (No other half-dragons exist, apparently.) Coppers, Brasses, and the Gem Dragons can't polymorph innately in AD&D IIRC, only Golds, Silvers, Bronzes, Reds, Greens, and (maybe?) Blues could. Assuming my vague memories of looking over old AD&D monsters' manuals are correct, which they may not be. lifg posted:If anyone has an actual trip report I would love to hear it. Back in highschool we played a game of it over lunch breaks for like, 3 weeks? A friend of a friend was really obsessed with playing it. We all randomly rolled for dragons and I wound up a Copper. So I built a maze while the DM focused on whatever the two Gold Dragons were doing to the exclusion of everyone else, because the gold dragons were Important and the rest of us were meat shields. Eventually the whole thing fell apart because none of the party members had any reason to interact with each other. Years later I used that experience to run my own dragon-themed game, except I let the players run as Chromatic dragons in a world where dragons had completely disappeared (so they had two mysteries to solve: why am I here, and where did the dragons go?). Everyone split up to do their own thing (because five dragons showing up anywhere is sort-of overkill) and they wound up dividing a greenland-sized island up while they investigated (if they cared to) and otherwise amused themselves. And hoo-boy did they amuse themselves. The party's white dragon built himself an iceberg fortress/dungeon filled with specially-bred icewalking Kobolds. The thing could only be entered from the top via a frozen waterslide that wound around the inside branching and separating and recombining and dropping the riders into traps while kobold bobsled teams rode down after any intruders and tried to run them down or drive them into traps. The water was there mostly to slowly cripple any would-be invaders with fatigue and to wash their treasure into the dragon's horde chamber. The White Dragon player eventually got so rich he paid for an enchantment to let his iceberg fly and never melt, and eventually built a giant series of ice mirrors and flew around the countryside incinerating cows and peasants from his frigid death star. The party's green dragon became a pirate queen, posing as a druid with a 'dangerous sea monster' and taking ships. She built up a small island into an impregnable fortress of pirate servants and Sahuagan with undersea torpedo launchers and kept a Dragon Turtle around to take the heat for her in case the worst ever happened. All the sea-faring nations paid her tribute or else she'd absolutely take their ships (rather than simply possibly doing so). The blue dragon set up shop in the central desert between two mountain ranges and destroyed every oasis save one, becoming master of overland trade. He trained up a bunch of kobold priests to create water and worship him. Of course, he wouldn't have gotten that rich if it weren't for one of the Red Dragon players, who spent the entire game convincing adventurers to take suicidal quests to the others' trap lairs, misdirecting actual threats, and otherwise just enjoying himself posing as an adventuring bard, joining "PC" adventuring parties, visiting actual ancient ruins looking for clues as to what happened to dragonkind, doing bardic things, and then betraying his adventuring "comrades" at inopportune times. The last red dragon built an army and did the burning-pillaging-looting thing. He was the only publicly-known dragon who They eventually (through cooperation) managed to piece together what had happened to the other dragons: they formed a Council of Wyrms  and decided to leave en mass to split up and seek out other planets to It was a fun short campaign they still reminisce about from time to time. So yeah, that's my story of how much playing the Council of Wyrms sucked and why playing it once was still a worthwhile experience in the end. PoptartsNinja fucked around with this message at 21:17 on Apr 17, 2017 |
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Apr 17, 2017 20:38
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Council of Wyrms: No Halflings, For Some Reason Before demihuman stuff, I should note two things about dragons. First, they take a Strength penalty based on their age/level (which are tied together) - so at hatchling/level 1, they get -6 Str, but it goes up by 1 every age/level until they hit their racial Strength cap. These changes are applied after the adjustments for dragon type. Dragons can only be either Dragons, Dragon-Clerics, Dragon-Mages, or (if gem) Dragon-Psionicists, all of which cap at level 12, because that's when you're a great wyrm. However, dragon ages are also relevant to level - a hatchling/level 1 is from age age 0-5, very young/2 is 6-15, young/3 is 16-25, juvenile/4 is 26-50, young adult/5 is 51-100, adult/6 is 101-200, mature adult/7 is 201-400, old/8 is 401-600, venerable/10 is 801-1000, wyrm/11 is 1001-1200 and anything over 1200 is great wyrm/12. There are also charts for every dragon type to show what size their body and tail are and what their base AC, breath damage, spells and magic resistance are at any given level. Now, kindred. What are kindred? Well, the dragons rule over demihuman vassals and partners - the dwarves, gnomes and elves of the isles. Their ability to survive to a reasonably advanced age by dragon standards is part of why the dragons like them, and they can pick and bond with one of these demihumans in mind, body and spirit to make them kindred. (In this game setting, if you play a dragon, you also get to have a secondary kindred character, to play as when your dragon is busy for several years, as dragons often are because of mechanics.) Your options are a dwarf, elf or gnome. Dwarves are...dwarves. Short, stocky, like to dig in mines. They're the masters of physical labor for the dragons and also the backbone of most draconic clan military forces. (Because poo poo, the dragons aren't going to do all the fighting themselves, that'd be silly.) They are preferentially picked as kindred by the bronze, copper, emerald, red and blue dragons, though they're not uncommon as kindred to any but black dragons, who dislike them intensely. Elves are the bureaucrats, construction planners and artist-entertainers for the dragons, keeping the domains running and the dragons entertained. They also do a lot of the farming. Most commonly they're high elves because dragons like to have pet wizards. Elves are preferentially selected as kin by silver, brass, crystal, black and white dragons. Sapphire dragons won't even keep elf vassals, let alone bond with them, due to their intense hatred of drow (and therefore racism against elves), while red dragons won't bond with elves but will allow them as vassals. Gnomes are the most common demihuman in the islands for...some reason...and handle general labor and gemcutting. They are the preferred kindred of gold, amethyst, topaz and green dragons, who have no taste whatsoever, and are never chosen by brass, blue or white dragons, who do. As noted, bronze, silver and gold dragons are the only metallics with the innate ability to polymorph, and so are the only ones to produce half-dragons. The book does not discuss the chromatic half-dragons, at least in Book One, however. Half-dragons are only ever born to demihuman women - a female dragon never has kids with a demihuman, and dragons using polymorph spells are infertile, apparently. Sure, okay. Interestingly, a half-dwarf half-dragon and a half-elf half-dragon are going to look identical...once they grow up. In childhood, they'll just have weird eyes or hair, but as they grow, they become tall and thin, no matter what demihuman half they are, and in adolescence they manifest dragon powers, which become more potent as they are used. An adult half-dragon is slender, lean and has pointy ears. Their skin is pigmented in the color of the draconic parent, but is normal skin. Their hair is thick and "luxurious" and is a deeper or richer shade of their flesh color. They have long fingers and talon-like nails. Their face has snake-like eyes, elongated features and tiny horns. They have no wings, tails or scales. Dragons and dragon-clerics use d8s for hit dice, while dragon-mages and dragon-psionicists use d6s. However, anything about actually leveling up in any of those is not in this book. Your number of hit dice is based on your dragon type, modified by dragon age - so another reason golds are better than everyone else, they have more hit dice. Kindred and half-dragons use character classes and follow normal rules. They also have normal level limits. Half-golds can hit 10 as Clerics, 15 as Fighters, 14 as Mages, 10 as Rangers or 9 as Thieves. Half-Silvers have 14 as Clerics, 10 as Fighters, 11 as Mages, 12 as Rangers or 14 as Thieves. Half-Bronzes have 9 as Clerics, 14 as Fighters, 9 as Illusionists, 8 as Mages, 14 as Rangers or 11 as Thieves. AD&D! Dragon saving throws are based on hit dice rather than level, with normal dragons using 'warrior' saves, dragon-priests using cleric saves, dragon-mages using mage saves and dragon-psionicists using psion saves. Also? A dragon must be the alignment of its dragon type. Period. It's in the rules. You must, no exceptions. Because D&D. Half-dragons and kindred can be whatever, but "usually" follow certain paths - lawful good for half-dragons, chaotic good for elves, lawful good for dwarves, neutral good for gnomes. At present we have no idea what kindred get or do beyond 'be a dragon's special friend.' We do get some notes, however. First, to level up, a dragon has to be of the appropriate age, and get the appropriate amount of XP, which is where we get the first...attempts, at least, of balance. The stronger a dragon type is, the more XP it needs. So by max level, a level 12 gold dragon is going to need approximately a million more XP than a level 12 crystal dragon, to 'balance' being the stronger type. It's...an interesting attempt, I guess? It works poorly, IMO, because most groups I have known hate tracking XP. On that note: a dragon and a kindred will rarely be on the same adventures, so whichever is active on the adventure gets 75% of the adventure's XP, and the other 25% goes to the one that's not. Anyway. Also to level up, a dragon requires a hoard valued in GP equal to the XP it needs to level up. So that's more balance. Also, the hoard requires a "certain amount" of magical treasure, detailed in Book Two. Once all the requirements are met, a dragon can level up, with each level up causing the dragon to go into a deep sleep for several months on top of their hoard, during which they experience a massive growth spurt and increase in size. The dragon sleep also grants an intimate knowledge of the hoard, allowing them a chance to recognize stolen objects on sight, which is important because "if large amounts of a dragon's hoard are stolen, the dragon becomes weaker and cannot advance further until the treasure is replaced."  Next time: PROFICIENCIES
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Apr 17, 2017 23:29
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So is the hoard judged by mass or value? That's always been a tricky question to me because while the "GP" has been a unit of weight in D&D, there's also extensive written price lists and valuations in terms of a certain amount of gold. What I'm wondering here is if you can debase the coinage in order to weaken dragons.
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Apr 17, 2017 23:39
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I can only imagine that attempting to debase the dragon economy results in you getting eaten by dragons.
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Apr 17, 2017 23:40
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ZeroCount posted:I can only imagine that attempting to debase the dragon economy results in you getting eaten by dragons. For Nixon had signed the Document, and Fiat Money ruled the day. With no intrinsic recognition of the value of pure-strain gold, dragons could only sleep, deathless and waiting, for the rise and return of gold-backed currencies - if not under Man, then under the Beetles that would succeed them.
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Apr 17, 2017 23:45
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ZorajitZorajit posted:I want to get really mad about the biology going on here. Multiple offspring make no sense for Dragons. They're long lived, intelligent, apex predators. They should need an enormous range to support any population. Having half a dozen whelps might make sense if they were pack hunters, but they largely ignore or fight with other like cats. At the As to the tastiness of whole raw horse vs prepared sausages, I'd say that the example of gold dragons enjoying snacking on gems pretty much puts the entirety of the dragon palate question into 'who knows what the hell' territory. They're sapient, but they're also weird as hell. Besides, there's no guarantee that having a brain as big as a human's has to come packaged with human dietary preferences or tastebuds. Your point on ecology I've got no beef with, but I think it's possible to draw some interesting parallels with dinosaurs in general and theropod dinosaurs* in specific: you have animals growing twenty, thirty, forty feet long that produce clutches of young. I mean, T. rex wasn't living for centuries (two to three decades max I think?) but you've got a similar situation in that your apex predator produces a surprising volume of young for its size. Of course, its prey did the same thing, while dragons wouldn't be so lucky - that's where the hyperomnivority would probably help. What makes me unable to fully buy my own argument here is that there's basically no ecological info for immature dragons, just the species as a whole, so there's no way of knowing for sure how the immature ones would avoid being direct competition for their parents' favourite foods and living space. With stuff like Komodo dragons and great white sharks (and hypothetically, T. rex), the juveniles go after entirely different prey from the adults until they're big enough to sit at the grown-up table. *the extinct landbound ones, not the flying ones on your feeder
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Apr 17, 2017 23:56
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So what you're telling me is that libertarians just believe in a Dragon master race? I guess that's more reasonable than whatever other belief system they might have!
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Apr 17, 2017 23:59
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Sampatrick posted:So what you're telling me is that libertarians just believe in a Dragon master race? I guess that's more reasonable than whatever other belief system they might have!
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Apr 18, 2017 00:18
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Nessus posted:The dragons flew with desperate haste, but as they passed the great Sea or came from the eternal snows of Greenland; whether they came across the far East from the ancient realm of Zhongguo or from the sun-heated realms of the south, or from antipode's reversal, all faltered, all failed, landing in their fatigue or plummeting from the sky. Would play this poo poo out of an urban fantasy with this as part of the background. Libertarians are dragon cultists trying to bring back their masters.
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Apr 18, 2017 00:22
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Sampatrick posted:So what you're telling me is that libertarians just believe in a Dragon master race? I guess that's more reasonable than whatever other belief system they might have!
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Apr 18, 2017 00:23
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Halloween Jack posted:Godlike is downright hostile to flexible, versatile power sets like shapeshifting. You'd want a huge Transform pool, with some hefty Flaws (has to "borrow" ability from nearby animal, can only use ones that make sense) to offset the cost. But Transform costs hella Will points to use. I forgot he could borrow animal powers. I was thinking of a character with a seemingly useless 'talk to and command animals' using all those weird bat bombs and minesweeper dolphins and whatnot.
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Apr 18, 2017 00:24
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 Rifts World Book 10: Juicer Uprising, Part 4: "A normal human being, as in: 'Two achy-breakys got in my way, so I greased them.'" Juicer Sports Because extreme sports needed to be extreme-er, there are Juicer sports, generally held in places like Los Alamo, Kingsdale, and Fort El Dorado (described later). Similarly, they're becoming big in El Paso and Ciudad Juarez (of Rifts World Book One: Vampire Kingdoms). While many feel they're overtly brutal, it turns out a lot of post-rifts people have a much more jaded attitude towards human life. And since it's all voluntary or close enough to it, most people don't worry about it. The Coalition outlaws them, but even Coalition States have underground games and a brisk trade in "video chips" of various games. Lazlo and New Lazlo similarly ban them but aren't able to entirely stop them. There are even rumors some Coalition officers have overlooked or pulled strings to keep some underground sites going due to being fans. The New German Republic has similar sports, but they're more regulated and safe, and have an accordingly smaller fanbase because all people want is blood. Atlantis has adopted them, but often in more brutal or fixed games. Naturally, gambling and organized crime play a major part in nearly all venues. Sometimes other enhanced humans are allowed, like Crazies, though attempts to form a "Crazy League" have failed for relatively obvious reasons. Sometimes D-Bees are allowed that are superhuman without being mega-damage - so minotaurs, trolls, wolfen, psi-stalkers, simvan (with riding animals), and some giants. The general test is to fire a low-powder bullet into a would-be contestant, and if it doesn't break their skin, they can qualify. However, Kingsdale (a city that will get a lot of detail later) has put together a "Unlimited League" with Mega-Juicers, dragons, gargoyles, and other mega-damage contestants or contestants in mega-damage armor. The UL is becoming more and more popular, because if juicer vs. juicer is rad, werewolf vs. dragon is even more rad. Yeah, this is a looong section, which is why it got its own update. I guess Carella really intends this as a hook for players to get into if they want to be playing post-apocalyptic drug warrior sportball. Deadball So, this is a sport with a 60' enclosed room divided into a two fields, one for each player. (Usually there are plexiglass walls to allow viewing.) There's one super-bouncy ball, and the goal of each of the players is to throw or bounce it into a small hole on the opposite side of the court. However, at random intervals the ball extrudes spikes, though not when held. Players are usually not allowed to hold the ball longer than six seconds - some games rig the ball to pop the spikes out if held longer. Body armor is banned and lacerations from the ball when caught or hit with it are expected. First throw is drawn by lot, and whenever a goal is scored the player who was scored on gets the next throw. Actual physical contact between the players is banned. We get rules for it, where there's apparently a 40% chance the spikes are out during a catch or hit. You can do rebound shots to hit the other player at minus damage but also with a penalty for them to dodge it. Lastly, there are combat penalties listed for being low on S.D.C. that I can only presume apply to games of this to give a point to occasionally trying to do anything other than goal shots (which takes a extra-difficult attack roll, and the other player can try and counter with a catch).  "I call this my red shell punch!" Murderthon This is essentially a marathon where contestants are allowed to fight. Getting in a fight that goes on for more than 15 seconds (coincidentally, the length of a Palladium combat round) or getting knocked off the field are both grounds for is a disqualification. Weapons are allowed - generally, two throwing weapons no later than a knife, and one hand weapon of choice. Weapons that can't be disarmed (like spiked gloves or arm blades) are common, as are knives, shuriken, or bolas. Slower players generally win by causing severe enough injuries to passing contestants to knock them out of the race. There's a story about a Titan Juicer (it's all in the name) placing second by just taking down most of the other contestants as they passed, and the Titan treatment being largely banned afterwards due to just being too lethal. The rules actually just expect you to track the distance each character moves with their speed, with attacks being the only thing that really makes a difference other than your Speed attribute. Attacking slows you down, but hits that do enough damage reduce a character's Speed attribute temporarily for the run. There are detailed manuevers, like clotheslines, sidewipes, trips, body blocks, and back attacks. Generally you want to clothesline or trip all the time, since those cause a speed penalty at little or no risk. "For Game Masters and players for whom a detailed Murderthon game feels like a tough SAT question...", there are optional rules. In those, you just add some combat bonuses together, modify them with a bonus from the Speed attribute, then roll 1d20 and highest roll wins.  Drugs and pigskin, the ultimate American pasttime. Juicer Football This is essentially just American football with legal punching and without field goal kicks (since Juicers usually make them every time). Armor (S.D.C.) is allowed, and Titan Juicers are allowed as long as they don't use their full strength (seems like a hard thing to measure...). There is an actual JFL league with a number of smaller southern kingdoms, and some companies sponsor it - with Naruni being one of the biggest advertisers. There are no actual rules for how to play this out. Other Sports There are a two other types of game mentioned:
 Popeye the Juicer Man. Juicer Lexicon But before we get to the new Juicer parade, we've got a glossary of Juicer slang. Yes, this wouldn't be the '90sest Rifts book without some fancy words to sling at the gaming table... even if, like with most such lists, half of the slang terms will be forgotten going forward. Terms that will not be used again include... ... once again, these are terms that will not be used again...
 The heart and soul of the Juicer revolution. Next: You've got to be kidding me.
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Apr 18, 2017 00:27
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Hostile V posted:It's easier to uphold the NonAggression Principle when everyone is terrified of being devoured by a grand wyrm the moment they throw a punch. This Is What Neoreactionaries Actually Believe. Look up Fnargl sometime, it's a thought experiment that basically uses that line of thought to justify absolute monarchy
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Apr 18, 2017 00:34
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Kaza42 posted:This Is What Neoreactionaries Actually Believe. Look up Fnargl sometime, it's a thought experiment that basically uses that line of thought to justify absolute monarchy
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Apr 18, 2017 01:26
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Nessus posted:Oh man, I googled it and the introductory example in the first post involved black gangbangers with Tec-9s stealing your white suburban house. That was unusually overt.
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Apr 18, 2017 01:27
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Council of Wyrms: I Am Surrounded By Proficiency Rules, Please Kill Me Okay, so, proficiencies. This system is awful but dragons need to interface with it. Dragons get combat and noncombat proficiencies, rather than weapon and nonweapon. You get different amounts of proficiencies based on what type of dragon you are, and not all of them can be taken at hatching - some you need to level up to get. For the most part, though, you probably have 4 base combat proficiences and 3 base noncombat proficiencies. You gain 2/3s of a combat proficiency per level. Yes, you read that correctly. You get either 1 or 3/2s of a noncombat proficiency per level. Again, yes, you read that right.  Also, every dragon type gets a freew noncombat proficiency. Golds get Language (High Draconic), silvers get Kindredbond, Bronzes get Gaming, Coppers get Tease, Brasses get Debate, Amethysts get Etiquette, Sapphires get Appraising, Emeralds get Set Traps, Topazes get Trick, Crystals get Danger Sense, Reds get Intimidation, Blues and Greens get Tracking, Blacks get Swimming and Whites get Alertness. Dragons do get extra noncombat proficiencies from Intelligence, rather than extra languages - they get half that many, rounding down. Also, you never get combat specialization bonuses as a dragon. Every combat proficiency takes only one slot, except Claw Attack, which everyone gets for free. Some cannot be taken until leveling up, however. Some noncombats take 2, and again, some must be taken only after leveling up. The combat proficiences are Aerial Combat (needs dragon flight), Bite, Breath Weapon, Claw Attack, Claw/Claw, Claw/Claw/Bite (can't be taken by hatchlings and needs claw/claw and bite proficiencies), Dragon Flight, Kick (non-hatchling), Plummet (non-hatchling), Roll (non-hatchling), Snatch (needs dragon flight), Stall (non-hatchling, needs dragon flight), Tail Mace (needs tail slap), Tail Slap (non-hatchling), Wing Buffet (non-hatchling) and Wing Spur (needs wing buffet). Noncombat proficiencies are Alertness (hatchling allowed), Ancient History, Astrology, Burrow (hatchling allowed), Chanting, Danger Sense (hatchling allowed), Debate, Direction Sense (hatchling allowed), Endurance, Etiquette, Fishing (hatchling allowed), Gaming, Harness Subconscious (psionic only), Healing, Herbalism, Hunting (hatchling allowed), Hypnosis (psionic only), Intimidation, Kindredbond, Languages (Ancient), Languages (Modern) (hatchling allowed), Local History, Looting, Lore, Meditative Focus (psionics only), Mining, Navigation (hatchling allowed), Observation (hatchling allowed), Poetry, Psioncraft, Reading/Writing, Rejuvenation (psionic only), Religion, Rulership, Set Traps, Singing (hatchling allowed), Spellcraft (P), Spellcraft (W), Stewardship, Survival (hatchling allowed), Swimming (hatchling allowed), Tease, Tracking, Trick and Weather Sense. I'm going to cover what some of this actually means, but not all. First, Aerial Combat allows you to actually fight while flying. Without it, you can't use any attacks in the air. It doesn't give attacks on its own, but does give a +2 bonus to all attack rolls when flying and attacking someone with less skill in Aerial Combat than you. (You can slot a proficiency more than once; there are not a ton of bonuses to doing so.) Bite lets you bite once per round for normal bite damage; without it, you only get half damage. Breath Weapon lets you fire off your breath weapon (or, if you are a metallic dragon, one of them - metallics have both a normal and a nonlethal gas breath weapon). Without it, you can't use it at all. Optionally, the GM may require Con checks after your third shot each day to see if you can keep going or have run out of breath weapon. Either way, you can only use a breath weapon once every three rounds, and you can't attack, cast spells or use magic powers in the same round as breath weaponing. Claw/Claw lets you attack with your claws twice per round, split as you like between foes. Claw/Claw/Bite lets you claw twice and bite once in a round. Dragon Flight lets you...fly. Without it, you can't fly. Divebombing gives a bonus to claw attack rolls, and if you divebomb you can also make a wing buffet attack at the same time, if you land immediately after and have the proficiency. If you want to cast spells, you have to glide, causing you to slow down and lose altitude. Kick lets you kick people behind you and maybe cause knockback. Plummet superhcharges your divebomb to let you land on one or more targets and pin them. Roll lets you roll on top of enemies and crush them. Snatch lets you grab small enemies while flying. Then you can drop them or whatever. Stall lets you hover briefly in the air and, if old enough, make a blinding dust cloud. Tail Mace is a weapon you strap to your tail to increase tail slap damage. Tail Sla is an attack that stuns enemies that fail a save vs petrification. Wing Buffet attacks foes to either side and can cause knockdown. Wing Spur is a weapon to increase wing buffet damage. Appraising is hilarious because while failure just means you can't figure out how much a thing is worth, 20 means you decide the item is valueluess. Danger Sense lets you spot traps or get an initiative bonus against enemies...but only if they were trying to hide. Healing is worthless because not only does it only heal like 1d3 HP per day, but it only works on other dragons unless you spend even more slots on it. Kindredbond is actually required for any dragon because without it you can't have a kindred. The game mandates taking it by 4th level. A bonded pair can communicate via empathic link, and get +1 to attack and AC when cooperating in battle. Looting is literally 'okay, you can tell which the most valuable things in front of you are for however much you can grab right now'. Mining is literally only useful fofr finding mining sites, as dragons don't actually mine - they get dwarves to do it for them. Tease lets you trick an opponent into attacking you directly and ignoring any magic powers or ranged attacks they might have, so it's actually really useful...but a 20 causes them to use their best attack on you. Trick, on the other hand, stuns the target for one round and makes them act after you the round after that, so also really good. But don't roll a 20, because that will stun you, instead. Rolling 20 is really bad in non-attack rolls. We also get charts that tell us what innate abilities every dragon type gets as they age. Gold dragons, obviously, are the best. Again. Oddly, the ability to communicate with any intelligent creature is a percentage chance, rolled each time you level up, until youactually get it. Innate abilities are usable at will, function like spells and need no components. They take only mental command and have a cast time of 3, but you can only use one per round, and can't attack, breath weapon or cast a spell in that round. Innate spellcasting is also notable in that spell selection is entirely random. The GM either rolls randomly or chooses for you - the player explicitly has no control over it whatsoever. Dragon innate spells need no spellbooks or prayer - they just recharge after you rest. They do have verbal components, but only those, and the cast time is always 1, no matter what. When casting, a dragon can't attack, breath weapon, use special abilities or even fly except to glide. Dragons also get some powers in common - when within a few miles of their lair, they can automatically hear anything happening in it, and dragons always have a chance to detect invisible things. Plus, you know, the fear aura that kicks in at young adult. Half-dragons also get some powers - claw attacks and breath weapons, of course, and also a few innate magical powers, most of which can only be used once or twice a day. There's a list, which you pick one power from at 2nd, another at 4th and a last at 6th level. Your claws come in at 5th level and the breath weapon at 7th. Also, any time you take one of the 'discretionary' powers, you must lose one demihuman racial ability - so you can trade in dwarven infravision, say, for the gold dragon ability to breath water at will. Next time: Dragon tactics and breath weapons round out the first book.
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Apr 18, 2017 01:46
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