So, is that them all?

[Quorothorn]

As in, every black dragon in the world?

59 (EDIT: sorry, 62, I think, counting all the eggs) seems like a decent number, given how rare dragons have to be.

If so...nice one, V!

(Yes, this action is Evil--though V is still not. It is also entirely appropriate karma/story-convention-wise.)

[magic9mushroom]

As in, every black dragon in the world?

59 (EDIT: sorry, 62, I think, counting all the eggs) seems like a decent number, given how rare dragons have to be.

If so...nice one, V!

(Yes, this action is Evil--though V is still not. It is also entirely appropriate karma/story-convention-wise.)

60-odd wouldn't be the entire race, MVP would prohibit it.

But I think there's an implication of there being more.

And V would most certainly light up Detect Evil.

[Trixie]

60-odd wouldn't be the entire race, MVP would prohibit it.

But I think there's an implication of there being more.

And V would most certainly light up Detect Evil.

MVP?

And yes, there are more. Not a single dragon killed was Wyrm or Great Wyrm, and that is the minimum age of our Dragon's parents.

[chionophile]

MVP?

And yes, there are more. Not a single dragon killed was Wyrm or Great Wyrm, and that is the minimum age of our Dragon's parents.

How can you tell that none of them were wyrms? Do they have signs on their heads that read "Wyrm"?

[Prak]

light up? I think after using familicide V would put paladins into comas and replicate some of the higher settings of a bowel disruptor (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spider_Jerusalem#Weapons) on them...

[Silverraptor]

As in, every black dragon in the world?

59 (EDIT: sorry, 62, I think, counting all the eggs) seems like a decent number, given how rare dragons have to be.

If so...nice one, V!

(Yes, this action is Evil--though V is still not. It is also entirely appropriate karma/story-convention-wise.)

Well I hope not. I have my DnD group currently fighting a Black Dragon. When we next meet, what am I suppose to do?

"As you raise your sword, the dragon falls over dead. Congratulations, the big dungeon's boss is now dead with you doing hardly a darn thing. Now what are you guys going to do now?"

Edit: Wait! Maybe the first dead dragon was my group!

[Trixie]

How can you tell that none of them were wyrms? Do they have signs on their heads that read "Wyrm"?

Yeah, a dragon the size of dog is certainly a Wyrm [/sarcasm] :smallsigh:

Uh, I have eyes, and can compare their size/proportions/bulkiness/all else to known Ancient Dragon? :smallsigh:

[hamishspence]

since the ancient dragon was fairly close to the Young Adult in size (but its a much bigger jump in game) the gap between Ancient and Wyrm may be hard to spot, expecially given that in the case of many of the dragons, there is little context to work with.

[snafu]

MVP?

And yes, there are more. Not a single dragon killed was Wyrm or Great Wyrm, and that is the minimum age of our Dragon's parents.

Must they be still living? A wyrm dragon must be exceedingly old, and to survive that time, with adventurers seeking to make a name for themselves, and rival dragons with envious eyes on one's hoard, is quite some achievement. Perhaps some hero of long ago slew Grandfather long before he reached any such exalted age. There's no particular reason to think that any such creature as a Great Wyrm exists in the world, as any more than legends of ancient times when dragons were more common and heroes far fewer.

[Glome]

Black dragons would have to already be on the edge of extinction if V. could commit genocide by killing only 63 dragons. The number of living black dragons should be in the thousands at least if we are to believe that the dragons weren't already in a position to be easily wiped out anyway. Of course it is possible that not all living black dragons are currently residing on the prime material plane.

[David Argall]

D&D ecology and real world ecology often have points of major conflicts. The supply of any given evil creature is apt to be infinite no matter how unlikely that is. However, some playing with real world figures suggests a minimum population of several hundred.
On the other hand, we do not know if 63 was all that V killed. That may merely be those pictured, and additional lines were simply deleted.

[chionophile]

Yeah, a dragon the size of dog is certainly a Wyrm [/sarcasm] :smallsigh:

Uh, I have eyes, and can compare their size/proportions/bulkiness/all else to known Ancient Dragon? :smallsigh:

But there's absolutely zero perspective in most of those panels. Hell, the third dragon shown to be killed could be five times the size of our recently deceased mama dragon. You have no way of telling. Not to mention the one in the solid black panel, or the one in the middle of the ocean or the flying one or... I could go on, but you get the point.

[Trixie]

since the ancient dragon was fairly close to the Young Adult in size (but its a much bigger jump in game) the gap between Ancient and Wyrm may be hard to spot, expecially given that in the case of many of the dragons, there is little context to work with.

Nope. Ancient Blacks are the last type to be Huge; anything older would be Gargantuan, or Gargantuan+, thus, at least order of magnitude larger, bulkier (note that the younger the dragon in the comic is, the more wiry his build) and would be literally so much more powerful (not only thanks to higer caster levels, but also due to improved DR and SR, and class levels) that killing it would take epic level party to even attempt.

[Quorothorn]

How can you tell that none of them were wyrms? Do they have signs on their heads that read "Wyrm"?

Well, they ought to be really, really big...but it's impossible to tell the size of the dragons zapped in the bottom row of the comic, for instance.


Well I hope not. I have my DnD group currently fighting a Black Dragon. When we next meet, what am I suppose to do?

"As you raise your sword, the dragon falls over dead. Congratulations, the big dungeon's boss is now dead with you doing hardly a darn thing. Now what are you guys going to do now?"

Edit: Wait! Maybe the first dead dragon was my group!

Are the appearances appropriate for your party?


D&D ecology and real world ecology often have points of major conflicts. The supply of any given evil creature is apt to be infinite no matter how unlikely that is. However, some playing with real world figures suggests a minimum population of several hundred.
On the other hand, we do not know if 63 was all that V killed. That may merely be those pictured, and additional lines were simply deleted.

I agree on that first point, but I'm not sure about that number. What's the size of the territory of an Adult-plus dragon, hundreds of miles? And they only live in certain environments, too (wetlands, mainly). They've got to be very rare indeed. 63 stills seems too low, however (though your theory that there might've been additional kills off-panel has legitimacy; I think that we saw the full extent of the Familicide. but I could obviously be quite wrong).

One reason I'm at least half-hoping it was the entire population is that wiping out an entire type of dragon has all kinds of interesting implications.


On a side note, is this the first shot of the entire globe, with all its various landmasses and what not, that we've seen?

First I can think of that wasn't in crayon, at least.

[magic9mushroom]

MVP?

And yes, there are more. Not a single dragon killed was Wyrm or Great Wyrm, and that is the minimum age of our Dragon's parents.

Minimum Viable Population.

It's the population below which there's not enough genetic diversity and the species dies out.

We know that the human race's MVP is under 1000, from evidence of catastrophes that left only a few hundred alive.

But it's ridiculous to postulate an MVP as low as 60 for any species.

As Argall pointed out D&D ecology =/= RL ecology but OotS seems to have more realism in that respect (e.g. with Redcloak and his mission).

And the 4th dragon seemed to be a Wyrm or Great Wyrm.

[Woodsman]

It's hard to tell the size of the dragons killed in those crazy small panels at the very end, so there's truly no way to tell their size at all. Rich barely drew in their wings; they're just purple lines if you look closely.

[Silverraptor]

Are the appearances appropriate for your party?


I was joking.