tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143435314932633148.post4001589554657382353..comments2024-03-28T00:41:13.514-07:00Comments on B/X BLACKRAZOR: Dragons & HoardsJBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03263662621289630246noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143435314932633148.post-66522728305862907802022-05-14T07:48:00.674-07:002022-05-14T07:48:00.674-07:00There is no Mordor in my game world...though if th...There is no Mordor in my game world...though if there was, it would probably be Idaho.<br />; )JBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03263662621289630246noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143435314932633148.post-69818389651728461142022-05-14T07:47:06.888-07:002022-05-14T07:47:06.888-07:00Yeah, I suppose many (most?) would simply go the r...Yeah, I suppose many (most?) would simply go the route of "they're magic" and leave it at that. Perhaps treasure is a waste product of dragons, something excreted from their body (though only when found "in the wild;" dragons held in captivity give no treasure). I mean...sure...folks can do whatever they want.<br /><br />Pushing the envelope of "reality," though, is a heady drug.<br />; )<br /><br />RE: wingless dragons<br /><br />You'll note I didn't put the gold dragons up there. Despite a very fast flying speed (compared to other dragons) the 1E MM illustration appears to show them as wingless (the 2E MM DEFINITELY portrays golds as wingless). In appearance, temperament, and magical ability golds have always struck me as being based more on Eastern (i.e. Chinese) folklore than Western...they are considered sacred and lucky rather than destructive and Satanic. <br /><br />As such, I'm far more inclined to assign gold dragons the characteristics of a spiritual (spirit) avatar than a material beast.JBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03263662621289630246noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143435314932633148.post-27784441404945140072022-05-12T19:24:13.525-07:002022-05-12T19:24:13.525-07:00In Barbara Hambly's Dragonsbane novels, gold s...In Barbara Hambly's Dragonsbane novels, gold sings to dragons, making beautiful music only their presence brings out and only they can hear. Gold owned by dragons still bears a trace of this, which is why people kill each other over it. I've always rather liked that idea. <br /><br />Quite sensibly, dragonslaying in that book involves harpoons and a lot of luck, because magic-using acid-spitting potentially-flying forty-foot tanks with spiked tails tend to be dangerous. <br /><br />It's notable that the largest pterosaurs (which seem to have flown) weighed about a thousand pounds and had wingspans around 40 feet. I believe some are suspected to have had things like air bladders in their wings to make them even more bouyant. <br /><br />Of course, dragons also have the advantage that they're magical. This allows a certain level of cheating. Role Aids dragons fly purely through their own magic and belief, and so wingless ones can fly, though not well, and a dragon with a crisis of confidence may not be able to. <br /><br />Simulated Knavehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03220636533241212000noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143435314932633148.post-55171991043814412062022-05-12T06:08:34.705-07:002022-05-12T06:08:34.705-07:00The last time I read the Narnia books was 14 years...The last time I read the Narnia books was 14 years ago, when my older boy was a newborn. But I think Eustace became a dragon for a while. <br /><br />And while I think 3E had a PrC for sorcerers to become dragons, the transformation wasn't my point. It was the idea that dragons start out by murder-hoboing. Then they collect tribute and the spoils of would be dragon slayers. Dennis Laffeyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03053699552003336733noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143435314932633148.post-8971023791248110442022-05-11T22:28:40.451-07:002022-05-11T22:28:40.451-07:00Fafnir feels more like “divine punishment” to me, ...Fafnir feels more like “divine punishment” to me, and I’ve seen the idea of greed creating dragons elsewhere (probably taken from the sagas). Doesn’t C.S. Lewis do that in “Dawn Treader?”<br /><br />However, entertaining as that is, I don’t think it works all that well with D&D’s premise…otherwise, dragonhood could be the assumed end result of the PCs’ careers!<br />; )JBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03263662621289630246noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143435314932633148.post-44069316268125328792022-05-11T22:28:07.016-07:002022-05-11T22:28:07.016-07:00A very enjoyable post! Regarding humanoids, in a s...A very enjoyable post! Regarding humanoids, in a setting such as Greyhawk there are whole kingdoms (or the failed remains of such) where evil holds sway. Iuz and the Pomarj to name just a couple examples. I assumed that the humanoid bands were raiders... either on chevauchee or perhaps mere brigands... and would accumulate the loot and take it back to evil lands to spend it there. Or else tithe it to the wicked lords of the Temple if you're doing T1-4.Korgothhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04683370654357044679noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143435314932633148.post-19697652555995900542022-05-11T20:19:29.956-07:002022-05-11T20:19:29.956-07:00Fafnir and Beowulf's dragon both took over exi...Fafnir and Beowulf's dragon both took over existing treasure hoards. Fafnir was a dwarf who transformed into a dragon to protect the treasure that already had been collected from the Norse gods (Otter's Ransom). Beowulf's dragon was described as having inhabited the grave of a buried king to take the grave goods buried with that king. <br /><br />Grave goods and divine compensation. Starter sets for dragons!Dennis Laffeyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03053699552003336733noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143435314932633148.post-37918395936311509932022-05-11T12:39:32.517-07:002022-05-11T12:39:32.517-07:00Um...
Yes. BUT when it comes to, say, a particula...Um...<br /><br />Yes. BUT when it comes to, say, a particular collection of "useless" items, well, that's MY particular weirdness. And other folks have their own...different...collecting weirdness.<br /><br />When talking about a SPECIES with a penchant for collecting a *specific* thing (in this case, treasure) that's not a unique weirdness. That's a societal trait. I mean, considering a sentient species, not just beavers building a dam or birds building a nest.<br /><br />No? I admit that *I* am insane in a particular way, but is EVERY dragon insane in a very specific way?<br /><br />And (perhaps) you'd say "So make all your dragons different, you dolt!"<br /><br />But I don't want dragons without treasure hoards. Dragons without treasure hoards are like...I don't know...sex without orgasms? Something.JBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03263662621289630246noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143435314932633148.post-77952885916572590722022-05-11T11:45:19.890-07:002022-05-11T11:45:19.890-07:00Jeebs.
Haven't you ever own anything that was...Jeebs.<br /><br />Haven't you ever own anything that was utterly useless that gave you great joy?Alexis Smolenskhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10539170107563075967noreply@blogger.com