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Space Pumpkin
2015-09-15, 10:53 PM
Do you prefer to have dragons that breath fire through their mouth or through their nostrils?

Zaydos
2015-09-15, 10:57 PM
Mouth.

You can't beat the classics.

http://images6.fanpop.com/image/photos/36700000/Smaug-The-Dragon-image-smaug-the-dragon-36752474-200-200.gif

The Fury
2015-09-16, 12:11 AM
Stuff coming out of, or going into nostrils is always funnier so I'm willing to vote "nostrils" for that reason. Especially if it's a dragon breathing fire-- it'd be like they're blowing their nose on some hapless adventurer.

ArcanaFire
2015-09-16, 02:30 AM
http://data3.whicdn.com/images/16620689/large.gif

The mouth and nose are linked, you can vomit out of both, I don't see any reason why the dragon couldn't use either one. Maybe the mouth is more comfortable, but it could use the nostrils to avoid burning it's tongue or tasting plasma?

Ninja_Prawn
2015-09-16, 03:08 AM
Biologically, I would say "both", but when they use it as a weapon, I imagine they use mouths only.

JohnnyCancer
2015-09-16, 03:48 AM
Now I'm picturing dragons holding one nostril shut and shooting out flames like a snot rocket. Sorry. :P

goto124
2015-09-16, 03:51 AM
Do they breath in before breathing out fire?

I think that's what was done in the movie How To Train Your Dragon.

Seto
2015-09-16, 04:30 AM
Smoke through the nostrils, and fire through the mouth.
And then if we're going with dragons who can breathe something else than fire (like electricity), definitely mouth, or it becomes silly.

Vitruviansquid
2015-09-16, 04:34 AM
You gotta have the wisps and embers coming out the nostrils once in awhile, but the really murderous dragonfire comes from the mouth.

MrNobody
2015-09-16, 04:52 AM
Mouth... nostrils... why not the eyes?


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1cmaA5okZ0&feature=youtu.be&t=18

Eyes aside, i vote "mouth" expecially for non-fire breathing dragons: a spray of green acid coming from the nostrils of a dragon is not terrifying, it's... well... kinda gross :smallbiggrin:

Lvl 2 Expert
2015-09-16, 06:52 AM
Mouth, just for the aesthetics. Spitting something dangerous out of your mouth (or the dragons mouth, as the case may be) looks like an attack, the same thing from your nose looks like a curse written by a pretty creative but particularly bored 8 year old. There's just no good way of making a creature blowing stuff out of its nose look like there's force behind it, while with open mouth, neck stretched out, that dragon can just throw its entire body behind those flames as if it means something.

hamishspence
2015-09-16, 06:55 AM
Now I'm picturing dragons holding one nostril shut and shooting out flames like a snot rocket. Sorry. :P

That actually happened in Dragonheart: - Draco cooks Bowen's dinner (without permission) when Bowen's having trouble getting the fire started.

"Sorry, Bowen, I hope you like it well done."

Ninja_Prawn
2015-09-16, 07:29 AM
There's just no good way of making a creature blowing stuff out of its nose look like there's force behind it

Depends on the layout of the face. Observe:

http://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/lookandlearn-preview/A/A831/A831630.jpg

Lvl 2 Expert
2015-09-16, 07:40 AM
Depends on the layout of the face. Observe:

I'm probably insulting someone, but even aside from the fact that that whole dragon doesn't really look intimidating to me (the head and eyes are very cool, but the body looks kind of weird, like it's impossible to find a size this creature could realistically be, drawing is hard, especially with subjects that don't exist) I still stand by my former point. To me even those large trumpetty nostrils just don't make it look like an attack, fire and smoke coming out of the nose are more a "setting the mood" thing for me.

ArcanaFire
2015-09-16, 04:26 PM
I'm probably insulting someone, but even aside from the fact that that whole dragon doesn't really look intimidating to me (the head and eyes are very cool, but the body looks kind of weird, like it's impossible to find a size this creature could realistically be, drawing is hard, especially with subjects that don't exist) I still stand by my former point. To me even those large trumpetty nostrils just don't make it look like an attack, fire and smoke coming out of the nose are more a "setting the mood" thing for me.

It might be because that dragon looks like it's dancing Thriller XD

Mastikator
2015-09-16, 04:28 PM
Mouth... nostrils... why not the eyes?

Cuz that's where the LASERS come from!

Enran
2015-09-16, 04:46 PM
I prefer the aesthetics of fire from the nostrils usually, but that's largely because fire from the mouth always makes me cringe at something that should happen but never does.

I mean, seriously, dragons who breathe fire from your mouths, you have ferocious biting power and flaming breath, so why don't I ever see one of you snatch something in your jaws and breath fire on it while it's trapped!?

So yeah, I prefer nose-fire in large part because I don't have to ask myself why everyone avoids that amazing visual opportunity. Also I've seen hundreds of dragons breath fire from their mouth but can count on one hand the number I've seen breathe it from their noses, so there's an originality factor. (Squirting air-ignited liquid from the eyes the way some men squirt milk and some lizards squirt blood, while obviously much less practical, would definitely win the originality cake here.)

Zaydos
2015-09-16, 04:48 PM
I mean, seriously, dragons who breathe fire from your mouths, you have ferocious biting power and flaming breath, so why don't I ever see one of you snatch something in your jaws and breath fire on it while it's trapped!?

I think there was a Dragon Magazine feat for doing just that.

Ninja_Prawn
2015-09-16, 05:06 PM
I prefer the aesthetics of fire from the nostrils usually, but that's largely because fire from the mouth always makes me cringe at something that should happen but never does.

I mean, seriously, dragons who breathe fire from your mouths, you have ferocious biting power and flaming breath, so why don't I ever see one of you snatch something in your jaws and breath fire on it while it's trapped!?

So yeah, I prefer nose-fire in large part because I don't have to ask myself why everyone avoids that amazing visual opportunity. Also I've seen hundreds of dragons breath fire from their mouth but can count on one hand the number I've seen breathe it from their noses, so there's an originality factor. (Squirting air-ignited liquid from the eyes the way some men squirt milk and some lizards squirt blood, while obviously much less practical, would definitely win the originality cake here.)

Possible reasons:

You need a feat to do that, as above
The dragon can't use its breath weapon unless its jaw is fully open, for biological reasons.
You can't generate as much pressure in your chest when your jaw is clenched (well I can't, at least).
Most dragons want to keep their foes at arm's length because if you're biting someone, they can chop at your face with a sword/their own jaws.
The weapon doesn't actually function at point-blank range (like this one (https://princessofdragons.files.wordpress.com/2014/08/fire-dragon.jpg)).

Zaydos
2015-09-16, 05:51 PM
And we can look at The Flight of Dragons either the book or the film based on splicing it with another book (or even look at the Discovery or was it Animal Planet's special on what if dragons were real) to see reasons that a mouth based one would work. Specifically they all three used dragons having a spot in their mouth they could electrify and they would breathe out hydrogen gas obtained via dietary means (which incidentally helped them fly) and use the electric charge to spark it into flame. With their mouth they could open wide enough for the fire to pass through without burning them. With their nose they'd get burnt bad. They would also of course not want to do that while biting something as they'd burn themselves and potentially explode.

wasniahC
2015-09-16, 06:05 PM
I sort of imagine "line" breath attacks coming from nostrils, and "cone" coming from mouth.

Lvl 2 Expert
2015-09-16, 06:24 PM
hydrogen gas obtained via dietary means (which incidentally helped them fly)

Time for me to be a pedantic nitpicker, but I thought that was the weirdest thing (in a bad way) in that mockumentary. Yeah, I understand why you'd put this theory forward if you were trying to convince people that you've thought about this stuff, but it's not what any "expert" would come up with for actually making dragons fly.

This is because air is really light. You need about a cubic meter of hydrogen or helium to lift a single kilogram (so 30 cubic feet for 2 pounds, sort of). It takes more than a kilogram of matter to enlarge a creature enough to have room to spare for a cubic meter of helium, so it doesn't help at all, and even if it did it would massively increase air drag.

And I keep being surprised how many people don't realize this. There was this serious news story about a boy who supposedly accidentally took off in a balloon (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balloon_boy_hoax). Okay, the boy was six, but that balloon didn't really look big enough in pictures to generate enough lift to carry any sort of kid after subtraction of the weight of building materials, and still every official that had anything to do with the case apparently fell for the hoax. And indeed, the total lift of all the helium in that balloon would be just about enough to take the weight of the kid up, if you somehow left the balloon itself behind. And then there's funny stuff like this (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTnwz6MqMl8). Yes, it looks cool as hell, but one glance at it can tell you this is a hoax.

So hereby I declare October 15, the day of the hoax mentioned above, to be international "lighter than air gas does not work like that awareness day". To spread knowledge about this important issue.






Okay, sorry, I'm feeling better now.

Draconium
2015-09-16, 09:17 PM
Eh, I've seen it done both ways, and I'm honestly much more fond of the mouth-based breath weapon. It's both more classic, and a bit scarier to behold. After all, it looks a bit ridiculous to have a dragon sneeze fire onto their opponent, wouldn't you agree?

And Enran, I actually had a dragon PC that used a breath weapon while the opponent was in his mouth. I wasn't aware that there was a feat fro it, but neither was the DM. He just ended up ruling that the opponent got no reflex save. Good times. :smallbiggrin:

NovenFromTheSun
2015-09-22, 08:48 PM
Mouths seems like they'd be able to aim it better.

Temperjoke
2015-09-22, 09:12 PM
Usually noses are more sensitive than mouths, if I recall correctly, plus there's probably a better degree of control exhaling fire through the mouth. Now the real question is, what if they have two heads? Do both heads breathe fire, or can just one head breathe fire on it's own?

Draconium
2015-09-22, 09:18 PM
Usually noses are more sensitive than mouths, if I recall correctly, plus there's probably a better degree of control exhaling fire through the mouth. Now the real question is, what if they have two heads? Do both heads breathe fire, or can just one head breathe fire on it's own?

In How to Train Your Dragon, the Hideous Zippleback dragon has two heads. One breathes out a flammable gas, then the other head produces sparks and ignites it. I found that method interesting.

Lvl 2 Expert
2015-09-23, 06:42 AM
Usually noses are more sensitive than mouths, if I recall correctly, plus there's probably a better degree of control exhaling fire through the mouth. Now the real question is, what if they have two heads? Do both heads breathe fire, or can just one head breathe fire on it's own?

Maybe one has fire breath while the other has ice breath? And when it grows it keeps growing more heads with electricity, acid and dust attacks? Maybe roll them on a nice random breath weapon table? And rolling 100 will get you sovereign glue breath?

Regitnui
2015-09-23, 08:39 AM
I see it that the mouth is better for volume; breath attacks, but the nose is a nice effect. Picture this for me;


A group of adventurers creeping cautiously through the caves, on high alert. Suddenly, just as they reach the centre of the room, twin plumes of acrid smoke, embers still flickering in the depths of the cloud, reveal they are not alone. What they had believed to be a wall shifts as the dragon rises from its slumber, a gleaming pair of eyes focusing on them above a maw of a hundred ivory teeth, the smallest as big as a man. "What is this that wakes me?" The dragon rumbles, flickers of smoke escaping as it yawns. "Thieves, come for my treasures?"

You can see how that can work. I still wouldn't use a 'sneeze' as the full attack, though. Perhaps in more comedic campaigns, a dragon 'sneezing' its breath weapon means it's sick, and wants the adventurers to find the cure.

goto124
2015-09-23, 09:20 AM
Perhaps in more comedic campaigns, a dragon 'sneezing' its breath weapon means it's sick, and wants the adventurers to find the cure.

Why would such a premise require a comedic campaign? I can imagine a powerful and rich dragon offering rewards for finding a cure to its illness. Perfectly reasonable in a fantasy world, though it can depend on setting.

Strigon
2015-09-23, 11:07 AM
Gotta go with mouth, although less harmful things (sparks, smoke, embers, small puffs of fire) coming from the nostrils can fit thematically. I've always seen dragonfire as a sort of raging inferno (http://dark.pozadia.org/images/wallpapers/31703127/Dragons/Dragon%20Fireball%20Attack.jpg); nostrils I can only envision as a kind of stream (http://i679.photobucket.com/albums/vv153/andreamrjared/flamethrower.jpg).

Temperjoke
2015-09-23, 11:09 AM
What if it's flames from the mouth, poison clouds from the nose, lasers from the eyes, and the ears haven't been cleaned in a long time, so they're really gunky and nasty?

Draconium
2015-09-23, 11:13 AM
What if it's flames from the mouth, poison clouds from the nose, lasers from the eyes, and the ears haven't been cleaned in a long time, so they're really gunky and nasty?

That would make for an interesting encounter, at the very least. And you could hide the Macguffin in the ear gunk, just for that extra-special ick factor.

Temperjoke
2015-09-23, 11:15 AM
That would make for an interesting encounter, at the very least. And you could hide the Macguffin in the ear gunk, just for that extra-special ick factor.

*gasps* the Q-Tip of Supremacy! It was lodged here the entire time!

Draconium
2015-09-23, 11:17 AM
*gasps* the Q-Tip of Supremacy! It was lodged here the entire time!

How dare you steal this and hoard it for yourself, Earwaxius the Unclean, draconic scourge of basic hygiene!

Regitnui
2015-09-23, 02:25 PM
Why would such a premise require a comedic campaign? I can imagine a powerful and rich dragon offering rewards for finding a cure to its illness. Perfectly reasonable in a fantasy world, though it can depend on setting.

I suppose that's also true, but the image I had was of a black dragon with a partially-dissolved handkerchief and a listless demeanor. I guess it can work seriously as well, like an epic/higher-level campaign exploring the dragon continent of Argonessen, a dragon enlisting the players to fetch a cure because the neighboring dragons sense weakness and are chipping away at the sick dragon's territory.

Jay R
2015-09-23, 03:15 PM
In all the games I've played over the last 40 years, I have never once seen a player care abut this distinction while the dragon was breathing flames on him.

Draconium
2015-09-23, 03:25 PM
In all the games I've played over the last 40 years, I have never once seen a player care abut this distinction while the dragon was breathing flames on him.

True - where the fire is at the moment is of far greater concern than where it was a second ago. :smalltongue:

The Fury
2015-09-23, 09:55 PM
Heh. That bring to mind a funny image of a dragon discussing the issue with one of their dragon-pals--

"So I breathed fire on them once through my mouth and once through my nostrils. Then I asked them which they thought looked cooler, or if the nostrils looked silly or whatever. Because I care a lot about being the most awe-inspiring, menacing dragon I can be, OK? So sue me. But they were all, 'AAAAH! Help us! We're on fire!' So unhelpful."

"Yeah... I know that feel."


How dare you steal this and hoard it for yourself, Earwaxius the Unclean, draconic scourge of basic hygiene!

"Earwaxius the Unclean"... I just want you to know that I had a good laugh at that.

Raimun
2015-09-24, 02:16 AM
Mouth.

Everyone knows that you can't "breathe" (incorrect term, by the way) one of the primal energies you personally generate through your nostrils. You just can't maintain the required pressure for the required time if you want to actually attack anyone with it. All dragons should know this already, so you should know this too. Unless you aren't in fact dragons but somekind of, I don't know, humanoids who can't "breathe" even one primal energy type.

Joe the Rat
2015-09-25, 08:26 AM
I sort of imagine "line" breath attacks coming from nostrils, and "cone" coming from mouth.
I had a similar thought, mostly for those who can change breath shapes, or have different modes.


How dare you steal this and hoard it for yourself, Earwaxius the Unclean, draconic scourge of basic hygiene!Dammit, now I need to get my players to a swamp for an encounter with a nasty black dragon.

M Placeholder
2015-09-25, 08:52 AM
I had an idea for a race of dragons that expell their built up methane from their colons and then ignite that stream of hot flammable gas with a small fireball spat out.

Seeing a Dragon do that to a party would be pretty funny.

goto124
2015-09-25, 09:24 AM
But that wouldn't go through the mouth... but the other end... oh.

Temperjoke
2015-09-25, 10:08 AM
I had an idea for a race of dragons that expell their built up methane from their colons and then ignite that stream of hot flammable gas with a small fireball spat out.

Seeing a Dragon do that to a party would be pretty funny.

So, it'd be a draconic version of a college frat?