Goodman Games

My merry band of would-be heroes and ne'er-do-wells is likely to face a dragon soon. I don't understand the book's explanation about breath weapon damage as its hit dice.
Does this mean a dragon with X hd rolls X dice when it breathes on the party?

In the Ancient Times the damage a dragon dealt with their breathing of the fire or the cold or the such was equal to their hit points.

So a dragon of 50 hp would dish out 50 hits of damage when they breathed-ed.

Some say it was always their total hp regardless of where they stood when they did breathe, and there are those who say it was whatever their current hp might be at the time they did breathe...

These two camps of thought are sworn to attack each other on sight, as human such are like to do, when in camps of thought.

I reckon you'll rule as you're liable to do.

Ok, since my original inquiry, I've found notation within certain modules pertaining to dragons supporting the notion that the potency of their breath is directly tied to the beast's current hit points. Am I right in thinking that there is no attack roll for dragon breath, just a straight Reflex save for half damage?

If I party wipe these guys after these months of play, I need someone to share blame with!

No attack roll. They pick the area they are affecting, and anyone in it needs to make a save.

Learning to fight against dragons is deadly. That's why dragons are to be feared.

Historical note: I just checked my copy of Holmes Basic D&D, which is more or less the original version of the game (see elsewhere for that, if curious). Dragons are listed as specifically having 3 attacks: 2 claws and a bite. The breath weapon is clearly a special case, especially since there is a particular type of saving throw for breath weapons, so it never would have been resolved with an attack roll. I'm sure that's what Joseph was building on when he was writing Dragon rules for DCC.

GnomeBoy wrote:No attack roll. They pick the area they are affecting, and anyone in it needs to make a save.

Learning to fight against dragons is deadly. That's why dragons are to be feared.

Historical note: I just checked my copy of Holmes Basic D&D, which is more or less the original version of the game (see elsewhere for that, if curious). Dragons are listed as specifically having 3 attacks: 2 claws and a bite. The breath weapon is clearly a special case, especially since there is a particular type of saving throw for breath weapons, so it never would have been resolved with an attack roll. I'm sure that's what Joseph was building on when he was writing Dragon rules for DCC.

That's what I was *and they will be) afraid of!
Thanks!