Equipment for dragons [Archive] - Wizards Community

Equipment for dragons [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
BobZila
07-23-05, 10:42 PM I'm currently building a dragon to be the final encounter of a quest for my group and I was wondering if there was some exemple of equipement for dragons. I don't want to give him to much stuff, but I always find it weird that the dragons would craft themselves some weapons or armors of even wondrous design for them. I know they are terrific foes if played correctly but my group of adventurer are also pretty smart and ressourcefull.

Anyway, feel free to post your ideas!
Osedox
07-23-05, 10:46 PM Draconomicon has a veritable horde of magic items usable by dragons
BelRex
07-23-05, 11:29 PM I'm going to second that. If you want a really good dragon..go look in the draconomican. It is well worth it. There are things to improve his natural weapons, natural flight, breath weapon...everything. Lair wards, even little critters that look like gold pieces that can swarm.
Ace the Dead
07-24-05, 02:20 AM :P When a dragon's hoard contains items like weapons its not because the dragon made it to be in its hoard (i'm not sure they meet the preq till late in life anyway), but because it's a trophy form someone who couldn't kill it. I mean a dragon can't get to old age without going through some would-be heroes (or amoral treasure hunters in the case of metalic dragons). Pick out two really nice rings though.

And Draconomicon is a terrific book. I definately recomend it to all DMs.
howlingwolf
07-24-05, 07:49 AM Pick any from the following list, and stick 'em on fingers, horns, whatever.

- Rings
- Amulets / Medallions / Pendants / etc.

As for more conventional stuff like armour and weapons, well. A mobile dragon might decide to melt down it's various coins and make a wacking big sword or mace. ( Yes. It's fun to watch player's faces when a sword the size of a redwood is leaning on a cliff face. :D )

Something like a shield isn't massively outragous though. Just melt everything, dump it in a suitably-shaped spot, wait for it to cool and hey presto. Instant massive shield. :eek:
Murr-Quan Lord #2
07-24-05, 08:10 AM A true dragon would not melt his treasure horde, except maybe by accident :O

And while the concept of dragon-sized weapons and armor is kind of neat, some things to consider are benefit (how much better would it be?), cost (how much would it cost?), and availability (who's going to build it?). For instance, how much more protection would a dragon-sized suit of full plate cost compared to, say, Bracers of Armor? Would it be more efficient to just load the dragon down with protective magic items, most of which will resize themselves automatically? When is he going to outgrow the armor?

I think it's a neat idea, but unless there's a huge dragon civilization out there that is ridiculously wealthy and fairly well-organized, it's probably going to be limited to rare magic items. Like the armor and such listed in the Draconomicon.
BobZila
07-24-05, 09:33 AM Crafting ain't really a problem for dragon when you think about it! Those strong enough can polymorph into a humanoid and do the crafting that way. For the others, some of them seem to have the ability to manipulate object like we do so why not crafting?

I don't have the Draconomocon, I guess it's another trip to the game store. The items I was thinking were like gauntlet to add elemental damage or bracer to add some deflection bonus or maybe even a chest plate for some spell immunity. I don't want to make it to strong but just to keep my party of adventurer off balance while their well planned strategy goes out the window :devil: They will adapt fast to almost anything I can think of unless it's overpowering.

Thanks for the suggestion so far!
Wilds
07-24-05, 11:17 AM i know this isnt equipment, but have the dragon take supress weakness from draconomicon if it has a weakness to an energy type. it is very useful for keeping your dragon alive and fighting. i confused one of my players so bad with a red dragon that had suppress weakness. he thought i was using magic to disguise the dragon cause cold didnt do any extra damage, it was great
draco2005
07-24-05, 01:22 PM Hello! I have a dragon related question for you experienced D&D folks. I am currently running a 21 HD gold dragon in an 30th level epic game. By using the Draconomicon, I calcuated the dragon's level adjustment to be a 9, which makes a ECL of 30. Now, here is a tricky problem. Our party consists of a total level of 30th, with a few prestige classes; a total level of 30th Paladin/cleric; a total level of 30th necromaner/monk; and me.....a 21 HD young adult Gold Dragon, who has an amulet that allows me to transform into a female 30th level Sorceress. For the most part, I am in the form of a sorceress. At times when I transform into the dragon, my power decreases substantially. Currenlty I am in the dragon form because of a situation that I won't go into detail. The party is about to face an epic black dragon and other creatures of great powers. My CR for the dragon is 14. My intention is to stay away from the foes for as long as the situation permits. There will be a time when I have to fight them toe to toe, how should I approach this situation? What can I do to survive this? Oh, there is no gravity where we are at the moment, hence the dragonform. I appreciate for your advice!

Draco...
Derren S.
07-24-05, 03:06 PM Hide, run, maybe blast them with weakening breath and curse WotC that they can't publish real LAs and LA guidelines but artifically inflate them to "encourage" players to play standard races.

Best thing you could do is to serve as mount for a party member (archer is best) so he is still mobile and can use full round actions.
BelRex
07-24-05, 06:18 PM I think we were, on the epic boards, going to use +1 LA per 2 age categories. So you should see if your DM would allow you to be +7 instead of +9. See how that plays out, and remind him that 'Wizrards' inflates LA's on purpose, as was already stated.

And something I try to post in all the threads about dragons. Get insightful reflexes..it lets you use your intelligence instead of your dex modifier for all reflex saves. It's in complete adventurer.

If you are having problems, get an item that lets you use breathweapon admixture as well as the other spell that adds sonic and deafness. I have a nasty artifact that adds most of those spells and some metabreath effects to your breath weapon.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
BobZila 07-23-05, 10:42 PM	I'm currently building a dragon to be the final encounter of a quest for my group and I was wondering if there was some exemple of equipement for dragons. I don't want to give him to much stuff, but I always find it weird that the dragons would craft themselves some weapons or armors of even wondrous design for them. I know they are terrific foes if played correctly but my group of adventurer are also pretty smart and ressourcefull. Anyway, feel free to post your ideas!
Osedox 07-23-05, 10:46 PM	Draconomicon has a veritable horde of magic items usable by dragons
BelRex 07-23-05, 11:29 PM	I'm going to second that. If you want a really good dragon..go look in the draconomican. It is well worth it. There are things to improve his natural weapons, natural flight, breath weapon...everything. Lair wards, even little critters that look like gold pieces that can swarm.
Ace the Dead 07-24-05, 02:20 AM	:P When a dragon's hoard contains items like weapons its not because the dragon made it to be in its hoard (i'm not sure they meet the preq till late in life anyway), but because it's a trophy form someone who couldn't kill it. I mean a dragon can't get to old age without going through some would-be heroes (or amoral treasure hunters in the case of metalic dragons). Pick out two really nice rings though. And Draconomicon is a terrific book. I definately recomend it to all DMs.
howlingwolf 07-24-05, 07:49 AM	Pick any from the following list, and stick 'em on fingers, horns, whatever. - Rings - Amulets / Medallions / Pendants / etc. As for more conventional stuff like armour and weapons, well. A mobile dragon might decide to melt down it's various coins and make a wacking big sword or mace. ( Yes. It's fun to watch player's faces when a sword the size of a redwood is leaning on a cliff face. :D ) Something like a shield isn't massively outragous though. Just melt everything, dump it in a suitably-shaped spot, wait for it to cool and hey presto. Instant massive shield. :eek:
Murr-Quan Lord #2 07-24-05, 08:10 AM	A true dragon would not melt his treasure horde, except maybe by accident :O And while the concept of dragon-sized weapons and armor is kind of neat, some things to consider are benefit (how much better would it be?), cost (how much would it cost?), and availability (who's going to build it?). For instance, how much more protection would a dragon-sized suit of full plate cost compared to, say, Bracers of Armor? Would it be more efficient to just load the dragon down with protective magic items, most of which will resize themselves automatically? When is he going to outgrow the armor? I think it's a neat idea, but unless there's a huge dragon civilization out there that is ridiculously wealthy and fairly well-organized, it's probably going to be limited to rare magic items. Like the armor and such listed in the Draconomicon.
BobZila 07-24-05, 09:33 AM	Crafting ain't really a problem for dragon when you think about it! Those strong enough can polymorph into a humanoid and do the crafting that way. For the others, some of them seem to have the ability to manipulate object like we do so why not crafting? I don't have the Draconomocon, I guess it's another trip to the game store. The items I was thinking were like gauntlet to add elemental damage or bracer to add some deflection bonus or maybe even a chest plate for some spell immunity. I don't want to make it to strong but just to keep my party of adventurer off balance while their well planned strategy goes out the window :devil: They will adapt fast to almost anything I can think of unless it's overpowering. Thanks for the suggestion so far!
Wilds 07-24-05, 11:17 AM	i know this isnt equipment, but have the dragon take supress weakness from draconomicon if it has a weakness to an energy type. it is very useful for keeping your dragon alive and fighting. i confused one of my players so bad with a red dragon that had suppress weakness. he thought i was using magic to disguise the dragon cause cold didnt do any extra damage, it was great
draco2005 07-24-05, 01:22 PM	Hello! I have a dragon related question for you experienced D&D folks. I am currently running a 21 HD gold dragon in an 30th level epic game. By using the Draconomicon, I calcuated the dragon's level adjustment to be a 9, which makes a ECL of 30. Now, here is a tricky problem. Our party consists of a total level of 30th, with a few prestige classes; a total level of 30th Paladin/cleric; a total level of 30th necromaner/monk; and me.....a 21 HD young adult Gold Dragon, who has an amulet that allows me to transform into a female 30th level Sorceress. For the most part, I am in the form of a sorceress. At times when I transform into the dragon, my power decreases substantially. Currenlty I am in the dragon form because of a situation that I won't go into detail. The party is about to face an epic black dragon and other creatures of great powers. My CR for the dragon is 14. My intention is to stay away from the foes for as long as the situation permits. There will be a time when I have to fight them toe to toe, how should I approach this situation? What can I do to survive this? Oh, there is no gravity where we are at the moment, hence the dragonform. I appreciate for your advice! Draco...
Derren S. 07-24-05, 03:06 PM	Hide, run, maybe blast them with weakening breath and curse WotC that they can't publish real LAs and LA guidelines but artifically inflate them to "encourage" players to play standard races. Best thing you could do is to serve as mount for a party member (archer is best) so he is still mobile and can use full round actions.
BelRex 07-24-05, 06:18 PM	I think we were, on the epic boards, going to use +1 LA per 2 age categories. So you should see if your DM would allow you to be +7 instead of +9. See how that plays out, and remind him that 'Wizrards' inflates LA's on purpose, as was already stated. And something I try to post in all the threads about dragons. Get insightful reflexes..it lets you use your intelligence instead of your dex modifier for all reflex saves. It's in complete adventurer. If you are having problems, get an item that lets you use breathweapon admixture as well as the other spell that adds sonic and deafness. I have a nasty artifact that adds most of those spells and some metabreath effects to your breath weapon.