Classic Madness: Dragon Attacks
So, last year I got laid off, and as a result was incredibly busy for half a year until I could get another job. I meant to post something to the blog, but of course that was something I forgot to do. Anyway, I'm gainfully employed once again, and ready to do some posts.
Back in Dragon magazine issue #50, there was an article called "Self defense for dragons" by Gregory Rihn, where he argued that dragons in D&D were not powerful enough. In 1st edition AD&D, that was probably true; while other monsters got a "% in lair" value, only dragons had one to determine if they were asleep when the adventurers arrived. To add insult to injury, the 1st edition Dungeon Master's Guide specified prices for subdued dragons, and gave adventurers an incentive to enslave the creatures for additional profit. While they are considerably more potent in 5E, my experience is that creatures in the Monster Manual seem underpowered when faced with optimized characters. It therefore seems useful to revisit this article and consider its application to 5E dragons.
The article treats a number of distinct areas. I will skip past the justification for giving dragons more potency and get to the meat.
Wing Buffet: In the Real World, winged creatures frequently attack with their wings; swans have even been known to kill people with their powerful blows and these are creatures with a "mere" 10-foot wingspan. A dragon has an additional two legs, giving it more stability, and they can get considerably larger.
A good rule of thumb here is to consider this as an "improvised attack." That puts the damage for wing-buffets at 1d4 bludgeoning, similar to the damage of a club. I would propose that this is appropriate for only dragons of Medium size, primarily wyrmlings. The damage should increase as the dragon gets older and larger, not only from the increasing size of its wings, but also from the larger, stronger wing-muscles necessary to get such a large creature aloft. I'd propose these ratings:
Wing-Buffet (Medium). Melee weapon attack: reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 1d4 + Str bonus bludgeoning damage.
Wing-Buffet (Large). Melee weapon attack: reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 2d4 + Str bonus bludgeoning damage.
Wing-Buffet (Huge). Melee weapon attack: reach 15 ft., one target. Hit: 4d4 + Str bonus bludgeoning damage.
Tail Lash: In the illustrations in the Monster Manual, one physical feature that differentiates dragons (in 2nd edition AD&D, anyway) is the tail.
Back in Dragon magazine issue #50, there was an article called "Self defense for dragons" by Gregory Rihn, where he argued that dragons in D&D were not powerful enough. In 1st edition AD&D, that was probably true; while other monsters got a "% in lair" value, only dragons had one to determine if they were asleep when the adventurers arrived. To add insult to injury, the 1st edition Dungeon Master's Guide specified prices for subdued dragons, and gave adventurers an incentive to enslave the creatures for additional profit. While they are considerably more potent in 5E, my experience is that creatures in the Monster Manual seem underpowered when faced with optimized characters. It therefore seems useful to revisit this article and consider its application to 5E dragons.
The article treats a number of distinct areas. I will skip past the justification for giving dragons more potency and get to the meat.
Wing Buffet: In the Real World, winged creatures frequently attack with their wings; swans have even been known to kill people with their powerful blows and these are creatures with a "mere" 10-foot wingspan. A dragon has an additional two legs, giving it more stability, and they can get considerably larger.
A good rule of thumb here is to consider this as an "improvised attack." That puts the damage for wing-buffets at 1d4 bludgeoning, similar to the damage of a club. I would propose that this is appropriate for only dragons of Medium size, primarily wyrmlings. The damage should increase as the dragon gets older and larger, not only from the increasing size of its wings, but also from the larger, stronger wing-muscles necessary to get such a large creature aloft. I'd propose these ratings:
Wing-Buffet (Medium). Melee weapon attack: reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 1d4 + Str bonus bludgeoning damage.
Wing-Buffet (Large). Melee weapon attack: reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 2d4 + Str bonus bludgeoning damage.
Wing-Buffet (Huge). Melee weapon attack: reach 15 ft., one target. Hit: 4d4 + Str bonus bludgeoning damage.
Tail Lash: In the illustrations in the Monster Manual, one physical feature that differentiates dragons (in 2nd edition AD&D, anyway) is the tail.
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