BX Monsters A to Z: Dragon (part 2)

 There's a lot more to B/X dragons than just a standard stat block and a breath weapon, so here we are once again, to think about them some more.

Every dragon in B/X features percentage chances of talking and of being asleep when encountered. "Talking" means the dragon can speak Dragon, Common, and cast magic-user spells. This ranges from a paltry 10% for white dragons, jumping up an additional 10% for each color, and then all the way to 100% for gold dragons. This seems to imply that most dragons can't even speak their own tongue, which is a bit weird. If they can talk, though, their power level takes a big jump with the use of spells. Even the lowly white dragon gets three 1st-level magic-user spells, and could make very potent use of such magics as ventriloquism, sleep, or charm person, should the creature be lucky enough to get them. If they end up with stuff like read magic, shield (practically useless to dragons, who already have better AC), or floating disc, well, that's how the dice roll sometimes. (Dragon spells are determined randomly, say the rules.) The higher echelons of dragon-kind attain the ability to cast up to 3rd-level spells, so a red or gold dragon could conceivably end up with a fireball or lightning bolt in their repertoire to supplement their breath weapons. There's much for a clever monster to make use of in the spell lists, whether it be the deceptive power of illusions and invisibility, protecting lair or treasure with hold portal or wizard lock, or miscellany like ESP, web, or water breathing.

The percentage chance to be asleep is a potential boon to adventuring parties, if they can manage to approach the sleeping dragon undetected and either swipe a few choice treasures or unload on it with attacks at +2 in order to nerf its breath attacks. Sleeping chance ranges from 50% for the slacker white dragon to a mere 5% for the gold. In any case, after the first round, the dragon obviously has been woken, and combat proceeds normally from that point. The description also indicates that a dragon may pretend to be asleep, so the party should beware of trickery!

Dragons often think little of younger races, such as humanity, and think nothing of killing and eating them. However, according to the rules, they are also quite proud and vain, and even the hungriest dragon will stop and listen to flattery if not under attack. This is a HUGE exploit for clever players, especially should a dragon be encountered that is far beyond the party's strength. (The wilderness encounter tables in the Expert Rules are far too dragon-heavy, so if you use them as-is, you'll want to remember this tidbit for your players' sake.) Lawful dragons (i.e. gold dragons) may actually help the party if they find the characters deserving, though they'll probably still be haughty and arrogant to the PCs.

Another interesting quirk of dragons is that they can be subdued. This requires player-characters to use non-lethal attacks, with "the flat of the sword" as the rules put it, and damaging spells are out as well. Non-lethal attacks don't reduce the dragon's breath weapon damage, so it's an extremely risky thing to attempt, but if they can reduce the dragon to 0 hp in this way, the monster will surrender, recognizing that its foes could have slain it if they had wished to do so. (It's interesting to note that the text reads, "A dragon, like any other intelligent animal or monster, may be subdued..." which suggests that the DM may apply this same procedure to other intelligent creatures.)

Besides its overweening pride and determination to preserve its own life, a dragon's great love of treasure might also be exploited by a clever or desperate party. It's quite likely that a dragon, even a hungry one, could be bribed with a suitably valuable offering, especially if the PCs look like they might be able to do it serious harm in a fight. Unless the dragon is supremely confident of its combat superiority, it would likely take a sure thing over a risky fight: it can always go find another meal, while getting some new shiny trinkets to take home to its lair to boot.

The next paragraph of the monster description presents a blatant contradiction. On the one hand, it states that a subdued dragon must be sold, with the price not to exceed 1,000 gp per hit point. (Even an average white dragon could potentially go for 27,000 gp, a veritable fortune for Basic to mid-Expert-level adventurers.) However, it is then stated that a subdued dragon may be forced to serve the characters who subdued it. Whether you believe one or the other statement, a subdued dragon will look for opportunities to escape or turn on it captors, and will definitely try to escape or kill them if ordered to do something suicidal. That, at least, seems pretty reasonable. 

Speaking of large amounts of gold, dragons are listed with Treasure Type H, widely known as the richest trove in the game. Young dragons (those with fewer than he standard listed HD) may have as little as 1/4 the amount of treasure rolled, while older ones (with greater than standard HD) may have up to twice as much. Even a quarter of a Type H haul is likely to be a pretty good score. Treasure is always to be found in the dragon's lair, not carried about, though it's conceivable in rare circumstances one might be encountered carrying its hoard to a new lair (and probably eager to avoid a fight in such a vulnerable position).

The monster listing provides special information on gold dragons. Gold dragons always talk and cast spells (yikes!) and may also change their shape at will, often appearing as a human or animal. Whether they can cast spells and breathe fire or poison gas in alternate forms is not mentioned in the rules, but wouldn't that be a shock for a party to encounter a fire-breathing squirrel or deer! It would be cool if other dragons had a chance of such shape-shifting talents as well, but that must remain in the realm of house rules.

Finally, all dragons are listed with a Number Appearing of 1-4, both in dungeon and wilderness settings. It seems reasonable to make encounters with multiple dragons lean more toward average or smaller dragons, and those with a single monster likely average or larger. The last paragraph in the description for dragons warns the DM that these are very powerful monsters, and should be used with caution, especially when encountered by Basic-level adventurers. It would be prudent to strongly foreshadow the appearance of a dragon in an adventure or campaign, so as to avoid springing a TPK completely out of the blue on unwary players. (The same really could be said of any very powerful creatures.) 

There's not a whole lot I'd change about dragons as written. As designed, they're extremely dangerous opponents, but not unbeatable by strong and clever parties, and not an automatic TPK even for weaker parties. As mentioned above, I'd like to see a chance for non-gold dragons to be shapechangers. I think I'd also do away with the different breath attack shapes, and just make them all cones, to simplify the mechanics and to make the line-breathers more equal to the others.