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Trace_Coburn
Learned Scribe
New Zealand
137 Posts |
 Posted - 24 Mar 2006 : 14:10:11
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Odd question which occurred to me a couple of days ago: what sort of 'ground troops' d'you folks think a mated pair of fang dragons might be able to command/dominate/drive?
What I hear of the events of Death of a Dragon tells us that a particularly ancient red dragon can get a metric @$$load of goblins all moving in the same direction at once; we all know that those perennial losers the kobolds will follow virtually anything with wings, scales and a breath weapon; and the Silver Marches WE shows us a pretty good model for a smaller-scale 'partnership of predators'. But given a mated pair of mature adult fang dragons (the female being intelligent and magically gifted well ahead of her racial average) living in the deep Starwoods of Cormanthor, what sort of horde (in terms of racial composition and numbers) would you accept seeing in a working arrangement with the beasts? (Even if said 'working arrangement' only boils down to "You little two-legged vermin guard our lair, don't touch a single coin of the hoard, and attack the people we tell you to, and in return we won't eat your troops (too often) and might even give your raids some air support (if we feel like it).")
The specific example I have in mind is that unusually militaristic band of goblin worg-riders I mentioned in a thread a couple of weeks ago, but opinions and suggestions are quite welcome.
Sadly, the Monsters of Faerun write-up of fang dragons made them great villains/beasts to be slain, but was rather short on details of their mindset, to the point where *I'm* blowed if I could tell you which 'vermin' they might most favour working with....
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D&D collection: Player's Handbook, Dungeon Master's Guide, Monster Manual I, Complete Arcane, Arms & Equipment Guide.
FR sourcebook collection: Dragons of Faerūn, Faiths & Pantheons, FRCS, Lords of Darkness, Monsters of Faerūn, Player's Guide to Faerūn, Power of Faerūn, Races of Faerūn, Silver Marches.
I just got back into this, okay? Give me time (or better yet money) - I'll catch up soon enough.  |
Edited by - Trace_Coburn on 24 Mar 2006 14:14:48
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Chosen of Bane
Senior Scribe
USA
552 Posts |
Posted - 24 Mar 2006 : 15:04:51
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If I remember correctly, Fang Dragons live in the underdark so their cannonfodder/minions should probably also be from the underdark.
That being said, I think Kobolds are a great choice. If you're looking for more powerful humanoids than I would go with Grimlocks. They seem to be very easy to dominate because most published adventures that use Mind Flayers tend to have a posse of Grimlocks in tow (See City of the Spider Queen and Into the Dragons Lair). |
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Trace_Coburn
Learned Scribe
New Zealand
137 Posts |
Posted - 26 Mar 2006 : 14:40:34
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quote:
Originally posted by Chosen of Bane
If I remember correctly, Fang Dragons live in the underdark so their cannonfodder/minions should probably also be from the underdark.
That being said, I think Kobolds are a great choice. If you're looking for more powerful humanoids than I would go with Grimlocks. They seem to be very easy to dominate because most published adventures that use Mind Flayers tend to have a posse of Grimlocks in tow (See City of the Spider Queen and Into the Dragons Lair).
 I thought it was deep dragons and shadow dragons that hung out Down Below? (Runs to check Monsters of Faerūn.) Nope: fang dragons are listed as mountain-dwellers by their stats, but the "In the Realms" segment suggest they're actually forest-dwellers. 
Does anyone have any more suggestions on the matter? Not that I don't appreciate the input, CoB, or that they don't have some possibilities... but kobolds just seem too, well, pathetic to make a really credible threat as an All-Conquering Army unless you get near-ridiculous numbers of the little wimps marching in time.... And this being a surface 'army', grimlocks might be a little less than completely effective.  |
D&D collection: Player's Handbook, Dungeon Master's Guide, Monster Manual I, Complete Arcane, Arms & Equipment Guide.
FR sourcebook collection: Dragons of Faerūn, Faiths & Pantheons, FRCS, Lords of Darkness, Monsters of Faerūn, Player's Guide to Faerūn, Power of Faerūn, Races of Faerūn, Silver Marches.
I just got back into this, okay? Give me time (or better yet money) - I'll catch up soon enough. |
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Chosen of Bane
Senior Scribe
USA
552 Posts |
Posted - 26 Mar 2006 : 17:33:00
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My bad. I thought I remembered a fang dragon in the Starlight and Shadows series living in the underdark. It may have been a deep dragon or it may have been a rare fang that lives outside the normal habitat.
If fang dragons are forest dwellers you can always go with Gnolls. They're a good change of pace from the typical orc/goblin fodder.
Oh, if you want to make tough kobolds just pick up a copy if Races of the Dragon. There's some pretty ridiculous stuff in there. |
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Trace_Coburn
Learned Scribe
New Zealand
137 Posts |
Posted - 27 Mar 2006 : 13:04:39
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quote:
Originally posted by Chosen of Bane
My bad. I thought I remembered a fang dragon in the Starlight and Shadows series living in the underdark. It may have been a deep dragon or it may have been a rare fang that lives outside the normal habitat.
Darkcrow's waiting on my cheque for the P&H before he sends me Daughter of the Drow, so I can't say from actually reading the books just yet... but AFAIK, Liriel's fruit-loop friend is a two-headed deep dragon. 
quote:
If fang dragons are forest dwellers you can always go with Gnolls. They're a good change of pace from the typical orc/goblin fodder.
Also an idea. I don't know how common they are in the Dalelands, but it's worth some thought....
quote:
Oh, if you want to make tough kobolds just pick up a copy if Races of the Dragon. There's some pretty ridiculous stuff in there.
[Checks Wizards website for excerpts/previews of said book...
... finds racial substitution levels, a feat or two, and some lovely, lovely fluff...]
Oh yes, oh my... oh my, oh YES. Definite possibilities, now! (Hell, I might even declare 'perennial losers' overstating the case a bit...!)
The pic of the ranger on his dire weasel alone is gold for my purposes (x60 = instant cavalry squadron!) - and the whole 'blood of the dragon' thing? [swoons] Jeez, just looking at those excerpts practically turned out a bardic tale on the spot - a Spartacus-like tale of now-liberated kobolds choosing to make a gallant Last Stand against drow attackers, of all things, complete with Braveheart/ID4-style Defiant Speech....
[sigh] Now, if only I could actually get that sourcebook out here....  |
D&D collection: Player's Handbook, Dungeon Master's Guide, Monster Manual I, Complete Arcane, Arms & Equipment Guide.
FR sourcebook collection: Dragons of Faerūn, Faiths & Pantheons, FRCS, Lords of Darkness, Monsters of Faerūn, Player's Guide to Faerūn, Power of Faerūn, Races of Faerūn, Silver Marches.
I just got back into this, okay? Give me time (or better yet money) - I'll catch up soon enough. |
Edited by - Trace_Coburn on 27 Mar 2006 13:17:02 |
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Fang dragons and followers
