Dilema

Post/Author/DateTimePost
#1

zombiegleemax

Jun 07, 2004 14:54:30
Well... I am about finishing "Dragons of fallen sun" and I ....[spoiler]



















thoght about the last moments of the green dragons which controled silvensti under the sheild (I dont know his english name, i read the book in diffrent languge).
He is considered as a powerfull dragon...probebly more than mature adult...that means that he has more than DR 10/magic...
which means that no matter how many simple arrows will normal soldiers shoots ta him they wont make any damage...

In dragonlance many battles contain dragons...and many armies deafeated them without the assistance of magic or heroes with great weapons...
But...all the simple warriors will make about 1d8+2 damage with a longbow...
One bilion archers wont kill this dragon...and yet they did..

I think it should be that way, but I cant think of anyway to beat the DR system...
#2

brimstone

Jun 07, 2004 15:04:52
I do believe that the One God had a heavy, heavy hand in laying the smack down on Cyan Bloodbane (his English name).

That's the only way I can see that Cyan could have been brought down by arrows.
#3

zombiegleemax

Jun 07, 2004 15:20:36
Just assume that 25-30 of the elves scored critical hits. 24-30 points of damage minus 10 for DR equates to 14-20 points of damage per shot (maximum damage). I can't remember how many elves were there, but if the were over a hundred then less than 25% getting crits at a major cinematic moment is more than acceptable, and it fits perfectly within the rules.
#4

geomarshal

Jun 07, 2004 15:24:27
You could chalk it up to many, many arrows being fired. Criticals would result in enough damage to hurt him. Arrows have a x3 critical multiplier and we all know that elves are good with bows.

I agree, however, that it probably had more to do with the One God's influence rather than the ability of the elves.
#5

Nived

Jun 07, 2004 15:25:10
I'm sure some of those Silvanesti had magic arrows or magic bows...
#6

dragontooth

Jun 07, 2004 15:42:47
Not to mention that some of the elven units were probably Elven Arcane Archers which makes your arrows +1, or better. Which would over come DR 10/magic

And personally in my humble opinion Cyan Bloodbane would most likely be a Great Wyrm Green Dragon. Since he is over 1438 years old. So his DR would be 20/Magic.

And I also agree that the One God played a major role in killing Bloodbane.
#7

zombiegleemax

Jun 07, 2004 16:35:02
I guess that The situation with Cyan bloodbane can be explained...
But it still bugs me that its so hard to kill a dragon with 1000 arrows...
lets do the math...

1000 simple warriors with longbow and dex 14+2, base attack +3.
lets take mature adult green dragon...AC 30, DR 10/+1, 264 HP..

for making a hit each warrior must make natural 20 (19+3 <30).
if they fail to make a critical attack (they dont make another 20 roll..they dont do any damge (max damage: 8+2=10).

the chaces of rolling 20 twice are lets say 1/40...
so basically only 25 archers actually hit!!!!..
now..
lets say all of them roll an avarge 4 for the damge...
4+2*3=18 18-10=8 damage...

8*25...=200 damage...

and lets face it...we didnt considered the fear factor...and other great abilities the dragons posses.


2 dragons like that will probebly wipe an army of 1000 archers (which is farily large army), if they use good astrategy...
not to talk about older dragons...
#8

Nived

Jun 07, 2004 17:00:02
One of the elves rolled 3 nat20s in a row, instant death :D

There are plenty of ways to explain this. The One God, who is obviously manipulating events to get the elves to ally with Mina and to bring down the sheild decides to make all the elves bows magical thus easily bypassing damage reduction. Hey why not it is a god?

Another option, as I said, some of the elves have magic bows, not just +1 various enchantments to hurt Cyan.

And besides it took more than one round to bring Cyan down.


Also remember authors roll with weighted dice.
#9

brimstone

Jun 07, 2004 17:05:39
Originally posted by stige
the chaces of rolling 20 twice are lets say 1/40...

Actually I think statistics tells us it's a 1-in-400 chance. (5% chance of rolling it once...then another 5% chance of rolling it again. You multiply {if I remember correctly} and end up with 0.25% chance of rolling the same number twice...I could be wrong though).
Originally posted by stige
and lets face it...we didnt considered the fear factor...and other great abilities the dragons posses.

True...but you only considered 1 round.

Anyway...the point is, you're right. (as far as I can tell) And only divine intervention on the part of the One God is what could have brought that green snake down.

P.S. Oh, and Cyan would most likely be a "Mature Adult" dragon. Although he is inordinarily large for his species and age...he was a wyrmling at the time of the Huma. Now...some sources say when the dragons went into their slumber...it was like suspended animation, so they wouldn't have aged...which would put Cyan (in the year 422) somewhere probably around 300 years old, relatively speaking. However...some sources say the dragons continued to age during their sleep...which would put Cyan at at least 1,400 years old...well over the limit for Great Wyrm status.

I think a nice compromise is that they just aged much much slower.

So...take your pick, I guess.
#10

nuke

Jun 07, 2004 17:30:48
It's a story. That's your answer.

Tracy and Margaret's first priority is to write an intriguing novel.. not making sure that it coincides entirely with D&D rules. They're only influenced by D&D, they're not bound by it.

So trying to figure out within the rules how that was accomplished is a moot point. But it does make for an awesome scene, and that's what is important.
#11

Dragonhelm

Jun 07, 2004 17:32:51
Originally posted by Brimstone
P.S. Oh, and Cyan would most likely be a "Mature Adult" dragon. Although he is inordinarily large for his species and age...he was a wyrmling at the time of the Huma.

Cyan was young at the time, but he wasn't a wyrmling.

I do like the tie-in with Galan Dracos and Cyan, though. That added a nice touch.
#12

zombiegleemax

Jun 07, 2004 18:55:16
Not that this isn't completely silly or anything....

But if you *really* need some mechanical explainations, look no further than Age of Mortals, and Reveal the True Form which among other things can do up to 8 points in Con damage. The loss of ~120 Hp might be considered at least inconvenient. Then there is bestow greater curse, and with a little handwaving one might be able to get there. Or if one had to, one could certainly imagine a mass version of magic weapon, or greater magic weapon.

As a perhaps last resort feel free to invoke the Posses Mortal Divine Salient Ability from Deities and Demigods. At which point basically anything goes.
#13

zombiegleemax

Jun 07, 2004 23:13:08
Originally posted by Brimstone
Actually I think statistics tells us it's a 1-in-400 chance. (5% chance of rolling it once...then another 5% chance of rolling it again. You multiply {if I remember correctly} and end up with 0.25% chance of rolling the same number twice...I could be wrong though).True...but you only considered 1 round.

I think you are right...

Anyway...the point is, you're right. (as far as I can tell) And only divine intervention on the part of the One God is what could have brought that green snake down.

P.S. Oh, and Cyan would most likely be a "Mature Adult" dragon. Although he is inordinarily large for his species and age...he was a wyrmling at the time of the Huma. Now...some sources say when the dragons went into their slumber...it was like suspended animation, so they wouldn't have aged...which would put Cyan (in the year 422) somewhere probably around 300 years old, relatively speaking. However...some sources say the dragons continued to age during their sleep...which would put Cyan at at least 1,400 years old...well over the limit for Great Wyrm status.

I think a nice compromise is that they just aged much much slower.

So...take your pick, I guess. [/b]
There are plenty of reasons why bloodbane was killed...i can understand his death...

But i cant imagine a war..which contain something like 10-15 dragons plus army...
But I guess the only way to win battle such as this...is magic, dragons, or mass magic items...
#14

maladaar

Jun 07, 2004 23:56:07
One True God = "The Divine People's Elbow" for Cyan.

The OTG wanted Cyan dead and made sure the elves were successful. That pretty much ends the discussion in all seriousness.
#15

zombiegleemax

Jun 10, 2004 7:53:17
I was really bored so i made this program...

it rolls the dices for the number of archers you choose (there is alimit...for kind of a big number)
and it shows how much damage they did...
the reasults are quie funny..much less than my assumption from before.

http://www.sharemation.com/stige/DRAGON.EXE
#16

zombiegleemax

Jun 10, 2004 8:12:07
You must have been bored to actually make this(The thing about the elves killing the dragon.) an issue.

~~~
#17

zombiegleemax

Jun 10, 2004 8:36:03
Originally posted by LordofIllusions
You must have been bored to actually make this(The thing about the elves killing the dragon.) an issue.

~~~

Not so bored...it actually important to me..
In my campign each of my friends rules over some villiage, and I imagine them work so hard to make a 1000 soliders and then one vicous dragon come and destory their dream!

but the program part was fromm pure boredome
#18

zombiegleemax

Jun 10, 2004 8:40:56
Ok, now that you put it like that I can feel your pain.

~~~