This might have been touched upon before, but the search option still seems to be missing.
I recently re-read the Prism Pentad and found an interesting fact. When Rikus arrives at Borys' Citadel, he sees many statues decorating the place. High on up is that of a bearded man with wings. I'm assuming that this statue is of Borys', yet the Dragon is never described as having wings (of course, this does not mean he does not have them, but if he did he never uses them). Did Borys have some type of winged cloak?
This might have been touched upon before, but the search option still seems to be missing.
Borys having or not having wings is one of the many inconsistencies that has plagued DS. (see Dawnstealer's "Inconsistencies" thread from several months ago).
Its easily explained in that Borys is a high level psion/defiler. Conjuring wings, and any other extremities for that matter, shouldn't be to daunting of a task for him IMO.
Personally I think Borys is on the cover of Valley of Dust and Fire. The earlier pictures of him (ie. w/o wings) are just pictures of when he was at a different stage of metamorphisis... I believe some other people also think this way.
Works for me.
Never liked the wingless version, too oriental-like.
Remember, it's more than just the images of him without wings to deal with. The Prism Pentad also describes him as completely wingless, and apparently under-developed.
My reasoning was that VoDaF had a dragon on the cover and since the book was about Bory's homeland & city then why would they put a different dragon on the cover? Opposed to say Dragon Kings where just about any Dragon could be on the cover. Whatever suites you I guess.
Umm.... because *gasp* the artist wasn't informed that Borys was different. I mean, TSR was notorious for not letting the left hand know what the right hand was doing. Troy described Borys as wingless and appearing as a deformed/malformed dragon to boot. Since troy designed the setting, I'll leave it like that. If you look around in the Dark Sun materials, there's several cases of something looking one way in a picture, and like a completely different thing in another. The Artist probably had to hazard a guess, and was told to draw a picture of a Dragon, without anything else to go on.
If you look around in the Dark Sun materials, there's several cases of something looking one way in a picture, and like a completely different thing in another. The Artist probably had to hazard a guess, and was told to draw a picture of a Dragon, without anything else to go on.
Try looking at the image in Dungeon 110 on page 58/59. THe artist has a centaur in there.
Try looking at the image in Dungeon 110 on page 58/59. THe artist has a centaur in there.
Yeah, I couldn't stop laughing at that one.
Pretty sad...
Try looking at the image in Dungeon 110 on page 58/59. THe artist has a centaur in there.
That's a reversed Hamanu. When the guy was told "Hamanu is half-man, half-lion" he inversed the halves, to my unending pleasure. It reinforces the idea that most people in Paizo don't give a damn and didn't know anything about DS. With all the proof-reading and the green light for the art, no one asked "What the heck is the thing hoping down the street?"...
Bleah...Try looking at the image in Dungeon 110 on page 58/59. THe artist has a centaur in there.
That was substantially later, and simply makes my case stronger - proving that artists who even drew things after the books have been long released, still take some license in making a picture not necessarily look like the description. Troy described Borys as a wingless, malformed dragon-like thing, with not only scales, but a carapice. Since Troy was the designer of the setting, I'm gonna say he might know what he's writing, and ran wih it.
Since Troy was the designer of the setting, I'm gonna say he might know what he's writing, and ran wih it.
I more than agree. I was just under the impression that the two (the art and the setting) co-evolved very closely together. My curiosity stems more from the fact that Borys seems to have actually lost his wings versus never having developed them at all. It hints at something; perhaps the unique way in which he achieved dragonhood.
Dregoth almost made it all the way, reaching level 29 (when a dragon actually first gets his/her wings) on his own before being ganged up on by the (then) surviving Dragon Kings and Queens to prevent what happened to Borys from happening to Dregoth: a century of a rampaging, psychotic dragon tearing up what was left of the countryside.
I may have to dig up some of those old books now.
Dregoth almost made it all the way, reaching level 29 (when a dragon actually first gets his/her wings) on his own before being ganged up on by the (then) surviving Dragon Kings and Queens to prevent what happened to Borys from happening to Dregoth: a century of a rampaging, psychotic dragon tearing up what was left of the countryside.
.
The "animalistic" stage of a dragon begins on level 25 and last until level 29. According to page 41 of Dragon Kings. According to what you posted Dregoth should have a "rampaging, psychotic dragon" for quite a while and have just begun to stop when the SK's ganged up on him? Something's not right with this.
What would have happened when/if he reached 30? Ask Troy
We don't have to, already have something that answers that. ;)
Well, I do have a theory as to why Dregoth might've been able to hold off the rage far better than Borys. It's mentioned in the last novel printed for Dark Sun that Dregoth and Kalak both managed to begin the process of becoming a dragon on their own and totally without Rajaat's help. What Ragaat did to the others was "unnatural", in a way, and could have contributed to Borys' century of madness.
And as to what would happen when reaching Lvl30, I believe DK says that "cold, calculating logic returns" or something like that.
3E rules should allow for ways to control or keep at bay the rage, like high Will saves. Xlorep's old dragon rules already cover that, and his new ones will probably to:
Animalistic Rampage (Su): Tormented as his mind becomes twisted and restructured by the metamorphosis spell, the dragon struggles to retain its sanity. The agonies of the once-human mind and no longer human body restult in a state of near madness. To avoid this fate, the dragon must make a Willpower saving throw, DC of 100 at the completion of casting the stage 2 spell. Failure means that the dragon goes on an insane rampage preying indiscriminately upon any creatures or vegetation not directly connected to its drive toward power and immortality lashing out with a vengeance on anyone or anything unfortunate enough to cross its path for 4d12 years. During this period, the dragon defiles at least a number of spell levels of energy equal to their dragon level (combined level of all their dragon prestige classes), this defiling can be either plants or creatures. The dragon then makes another willpower saving throw at the end of that period, subtracting 10 from the DC, failure results in another 4d12 years of madness. This continues until the dragon succeeds its willpower saving throw, subtracting 10 from the DC for each successive period. The dragon also has to make another check at every level of advancement in the Stage-3 Prestige Class while not insane, using the current Will Save DC.
My new rules will be a bit cleared up. And most likely, I'm looking at a 50/50 chance (roll of an 11 or more), for what I've deemed the "typical" Dragon progression, to be able to resist the animalistic rampage. People who accelerate and rush through the process, have a harder time surviving it, while those who actually hold off and wait (like, well, Nibenay) have a better chance of resisting it.
Where can we get those rules?