2020 - The Year of Blackmoor - 50th Anniversary - Day Eighty-Eight

Celebrating 2020 - The Year of Blackmoor - 50th Anniversary of Blackmoor and of Role-Playing!

Today is Part 33 (Part A) of my series of looks at OD&D starting with Monsters & Treasure Volume 2.

**For those coming in, in the middle of this series I am giving you my take on OD&D during my first exposure starting in Sept of 1975. For this first part it is just the first three books of the original woodgrain box set and prior to obtaining the Greyhawk, Blackmoor and later Supplements.**

So on with the Dragons - 

DRAGONS: There are six varieties of Dragons, each with separate characteristics in particular and other things in common. The varieties will be dealt with first:

I will not detail it here today, but it did not take long before the dragons and types were expanded in our campaign, well before we saw anything else from TSR.

As you can see above there was a definite hierarchy among dragons with limited overlap. I increased the overlap so that a White Dragon could be as big as 9 Hit Dice and a Golden Dragon could be as small as 9 Hit Dice. At the other end of things a White Dragon could be as small as 4 Hit Dice and both a Golden Dragon and a Red Dragon could be as Large as 15 Hit Dice. Also the chance of finding a Dragon sleeping was 0% unless you were in an area where they could lair and certain other spots. For instance, you might see one sleeping in the sun on a ledge, but never in the middle of an open field. Each habitat has areas where there could be lairs and areas where there could not be.

Breath Weapons: The Dragon is able to use its breath but three times per day, so sometimes it will bite instead. To determine this simply roll two six-sided dice; a score of six or less indicates the Dragon will bite, but a seven or better indicates it will breathe.

I upped Old Dragons to four times per day on the breath weapon and Very Old Dragons to five times per day. I also tweaked the Range & Shape of the Breath Weapon.

Cone-shaped breath weapons originate from the mouth of the Dragon at 1/2” diameter.

At the fullest extent of the cone, the diameter would be equal to the range.

Line-shaped breath weapons will travel in a straight line beginning at the height of the Dragon’s head at the time it releases.

I changed this to allow the Dragon to swing its head and spray a wide area with acid from one side to another, but not with a lightening bolt.

Cloud-shaped breath weapons extend from ground level to a height of 3”.

I changed Chlorine Gas to Mustard Gas as the actual substance, although of course I did not use that name with the players.

Hit Dice: The number of dice is an indication of the size of the creature. Most will fall in the middle, but 20% will be small and 20% very large. The value of the hit dice, as well as the value of the breath weapon, will be subject to the maturity of the Dragon.

I rolled on the first column, but when using the last column that was not a roll, that was just using the specified points per die. So a 10 Hit Die Dragon that was very old would have 60 Hit Points and a Breath Weapon that did 60 Hit Points of damage before any successful Saving Throw. But a 6 Hit Die Young Dragons would have 12 Hit Points and a Breath Weapon that would do 12 Hit Points of Damage before any successful Saving Throw. (This will also come into play with something that we will look at tomorrow).

My current take on Dragons uses a much wider range of Description and Age than what is given here. But even in those early days I tweaked this table, because IMC Dragons are Immortal unless they die by violence.

Special Characteristics:

As you add types of Dragons you can have a lot of fun determining there special characteristics.

White Dragons will be found only in cold regions.

The least intelligent of Dragons, they lack spell casting.

Black Dragons will be found only in swamps and marshes. If the Dragon can talk there is a 5% chance it can use magic, 1st level only.

These dragons can hold their breath a long time, more than any other dragon and lurk below the surface of any water that is present. I also bumped the chance of spell use up to 15%.

Green Dragons frequent woods and forests. If the Dragon can talk there is a 10% chance it can use magic, 1st- and 2nd-level spells.

 I also bumped the chance of spell use up to 25%.

Blue Dragons are at home in the deserts and arid lands. There is a 15% chance that talking Blue Dragons can use magic spells of 1st and 2nd level.

These dragons will lurk, burrowed into a sand dune just waiting and watching.  I also bumped the chance of spell use up to 35% and the spell level up to 3rd level.

Red Dragons inhabit mountainous and hilly regions. If the dragon can talk there is a 15% chance it can use magic, 1st through 3rd levels.

These Dragons have the foulest temper of any Dragon Type and are the touchiest to deal with. All Red Dragons are Chaotic with a tendency to be evil. I also bumped the chance of spell use up to 45% and the spell level up to 4th level.

Golden Dragons are able to abide anywhere, as they are actually a class unto themselves. These monsters are by far the most intelligent of all their kind, and they are able to use magic. They can employ spells up to the 6th level, gaining one level for each of their stages of maturity, having one spell for each hit die they have. Golden Dragons are the only Dragons which are Lawful in nature although this exception is not noted on the Alignment table. They will often appear as human or in some other guise. They will not usually serve any character.

Golden Dragons are the elite of Dragon Kind and are the most loquacious of all dragons. They are often given to quizzing humans that they encounter and sometimes setting them to a task or dangling an opportunity before them. They are very curious and inquisitive and may take an interest in a group that they find intriguing. Golden Dragons are also known to sometimes hunt a particularly troublesome Red Dragon that is stirring up humans against Dragon Kind.

Tomorrow we will continue on with Part B of this look at Dragons.

If you want to look at my most recent take on Dragons go here.