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Jay R
2018-04-26, 06:16 PM
I’m currently more-or-less re-designing dragons for my game. The primary impetus is because my introduction specifically said, “Dragons are not color-coded for the convenience of the player characters.”

The game is 2e, but that should have no effect on the basic idea, so I'm posting in the general role-playing forum.

My original idea was to just roll color randomly, after deciding which set of mechanic I would use. But it occurred to me that this gave me an opportunity to adjust anything that bothered me.

In another thread, somebody described not being comfortable with lightning breath, and from an aesthetic point of view, I kind of agree.

So – what possibilities make the coolest and most fantastic dragon breath.

I will certainly use fire, and that will always be the breath weapon of the biggest dragons.

I like the idea of cold breath and poison gas breath. [I won’t call it “chlorine”, though, because that’s a science term.]

My preference would be rays or clouds. And I’d really like to come up with something new and different.

So go wild – invent me a cool new dragon breath weapon.

Goaty14
2018-04-26, 07:21 PM
Force, as in the dragon breathing in the PCs, attempting to swallow them. Likewise, pushing them might also be an option. Slime could also work, erm...

Jay R
2018-04-26, 08:41 PM
Slime could also work, erm...

Oh, you just reminded me of a scene in the first Jurassic Park movie. The PCs will someday meet a dragon with a cold, who sneezes.

S@tanicoaldo
2018-04-26, 08:42 PM
Instant cement like substance.

A "realistic way" to do a petrification breath.

TheStranger
2018-04-26, 08:46 PM
I'd just scroll through the spell list and try to imagine ways that a similar effect could work as dragon breath, but some ideas off the top of my head:

- Webs
- Almost any kind of cloud effect is easy to justify
- Neurotoxin that acts exactly like ray of enfeeblement
- Hail of rocks spit from the dragon's gizzard
- A twisted mass of bones and hair from recent meals animated into a golem by the dragon's ambient magic

Pleh
2018-04-26, 09:32 PM
Sonic - a deafening, object shattering scream.

Celestia
2018-04-26, 09:42 PM
Time breath. Getting hit with it ages you by ten years. Go all Last Crusade on the players and age them to death.

Morphic breath. Anything hit by it randomly mutates in some way.

Distortion breath. Anything hit by it begins to distort the space around them in unpredictable ways. Bonus points if the breath, itself, distorts space to have a non-standard hit box. Oh, you thought you were safe by standing behind a wall? Sorry buddy, not today!

Gender bender breath. Self explanatory.

Pyroclastic breath. Like fire breath, but more magma-y. Hits with both fire and bludgeoning and persists afterwards.

Greed breath. Getting hit with it magically causes wealth to disappear from your pockets and teleport straight to the dragon's hoard. It starts with coins, but if you run out, it'll begin taking any valuable object, including weapons, armor, and magic items

Equestrian breath. The dragon shoots horses at people.

Teleportation breath. What it says on the tin. Alternatively: plane shifting breath.


That's all I can think of at the moment.

Beneath
2018-04-26, 11:13 PM
Sonic - a deafening, object shattering scream.

Sonic - The dragon spits out a blue hedgehog curled into a ball, which bounces around between targets

Dream - The dragon's breath causes hallucinatory visions (if you die in the vision, you die in real life)

Memory - The dragon's breath causes you to remember things. Possibly things that happened to you, possibly things that happened to other people, possibly things from ages past when the world was new

Uniqueness - The dragon's breath makes you more unique (as a Splitter (https://coinsandscrolls.blogspot.com/2017/11/osr-attack-sheet-part-2.html))

Purpose - The dragon's breath changes your fundamental goals in life

DataNinja
2018-04-26, 11:49 PM
I've always thought that the Orium Dragon in 4e had a neat breath weapon. It was a toxic cloud that coalesced into a gaseous serpent, and killing the serpent let the dragon breathe again.

ImNotTrevor
2018-04-27, 12:30 AM
I think he wants sensible things that are still cool.

One that I used when I was younger was essentially a cloud of thick, soupy fog that straddled the line between liquid and gas. Organic material that it came into contact with caused this liquid to crystalize and become highly corrosive.

What this meant in terms of the fiction was:
Dragon looms over a group of soldiers, gushes forth a rolling cloud of black smoke. In its wake, a set of skeletons coated in black crystal are left behind in poses of agony.

I never thought of a name for it.

Perhaps a long, anteater-like tongue for a "breath" weapon? Straight line, anything on that line gets pulled to the square right in front of the dragon unless they make a hard save. Dragon makes an auto-hit bite attack on caught players. (Just roll damage, not the attack)

Sand Breath. Desert dragon swallows a massive mouthful of sand and spews it out in a thin, massively abrasive jet. Basically it would be Slash Damage: Breath Weapon Edition.

Plague Spores:
Characters in the cone are afflicted with a random disease. (With saves made harder according to the dragon's age)

You can do all kinds of neat things.

Cespenar
2018-04-27, 03:03 AM
Maybe some cousins of the Reds?

With the most wicked ones on top:

Conflagration: Less damage over more rounds, but spreads to every flammable object within 5 ft., and repeats.

Napalm, or not to be anachronistic, something like Everflame or Blackfire: Does 1d6 or 2d6 damage every round, until removed by a Remove Curse, Dispel, or similar spell. Dousing in water only suppresses the damage for the duration.

Soulfire: Pierces through covers and objects, ignores resistance/immunity, does no damage against "soulless" subtypes like constructs and oozes.

Heatwave: Large area, acts as Heat Metal on all items in the area.

Purgefire: Lower damage, dispel effect.

Steam: Lower fire damage, persists as a mist that blocks view.

Smoke: Lower fire damage, persists as a smoke that blocks view and prevents breathing.

Blastwave: Large area, force damage, pushes everyone back.

Magma: As said somewhere above, creates an area which acts as lava.

Laser/Ray: Line area, higher damage.

Floret
2018-04-27, 03:42 AM
Equestrian breath. The dragon shoots horses at people.

Dragon breath. The dragon breathes other, bigger dragons.

Anonymouswizard
2018-04-27, 05:09 AM
Dragon breath. The dragon breathes other, bigger dragons.

Which of course have dragon breath themselves.

Corneel
2018-04-27, 06:02 AM
Stench breath: all caught within the AoE are incapacitated with nausea, retching and puking for the duration of the effect (con saves).

Digestive juice (think Brundlefly):
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9GB4198gnNA/TxOLQNdSbII/AAAAAAAAAdE/J3XMrn_7feY/s1600/the-fly-1986-jeff-goldblum22.jpg

Grease breath, with same effect as the spell of the same name.

hymer
2018-04-27, 06:28 AM
Katla, the great dragon from The Brothers Lionheart, has flame breath, but the flames have an additional property: They paralyze. Not instantly, but enough to mean that after a few hours, anyone touched who isn't already dead need to face a new danger.
Paralysis is what it is, but I think you can do something with the notion of a secondary effect, and a delayed effect.

Floret
2018-04-27, 07:35 AM
Which of course have dragon breath themselves.

Of course. One size category up every time :P
(At least that was how ProbablybadRPGideas put it, iirc^^)

Anonymouswizard
2018-04-27, 07:52 AM
Hot air. With sufficient force to require a save to keep your balance.

gkathellar
2018-04-27, 10:30 AM
A cylinder of acceleration, clockwise and away from the dragon. Those lucky enough to be caught entirely inside the cylinder are merely hurled back, spinning. The poor souls caught only partly get the unique and unpleasant experience of having part of their body suddenly and rapidly attempting to move in a direction the rest of it is not. For bonus points, the dragon uses its breath weapon for slow tunneling in a day-to-day context.

Cluedrew
2018-04-27, 10:48 AM
Gender bender breath. Self explanatory.Why? Why not.

If you want more "biologic" breaths:
Really loud noise from good lung capacity. Thematically I like this one because of the imagery of a dragon's roar echoing across the land as a sonic boom.
"Spear" of some liquid, compressed and channelled by a controlled vomiting motion. Mixes with the following well.
Acid, straight from the stomach or from some sort of reserve.
On that note: an "insulator" (mucus or stomach lining). Probably sticky and also just disgusting.
Slower burning flammable substance, thematic-elements and explanation are almost exactly same, but effect is different
Not a breath, but you could give them a poison bite.
Similarly, biologic explanations for dragon breath often include the tongue as source of ignition. So things with that (from the ant-eater above to a blade like tongue might work.

Jay R
2018-04-27, 11:50 AM
I think he wants sensible things that are still cool.

That's true, but there's no reason not to post whatever people get excited by. Other people than me are reading this post for ideas.

Go ahead and post what you like. You don't have to edit your ideas for what I want; that's my job.

I've gotten several excellent ones. And I've laughed at some of the nonsense suggestions.

Keep 'em coming.

Grim Portent
2018-04-27, 12:10 PM
A spray of the dragon's own noxious/acidic blood from high pressure blood vessels in the mouth to blind and disorient enemies.

Thick stands of ropey mucus that stick things in place or slow them down.

RagingBluMunky
2018-04-27, 12:13 PM
Explosive slime: coats part of the battlefield (or characters) before exploding a turn or two later. May or may not be sticky or slippery.

Wasps/Spiders/etc.: the dragon plays host to a hive of parasitic bugs. Whether or not the dragon is still alive is up to you.

Smoke: the dragon expels thick black smoke, completely obscuring the battlefield, it however has a method of sensing that doesn't rely on sight.

Bulhakov
2018-04-27, 12:21 PM
Anti-magic goo - dispells all effects on contact and emits a local anti-magic field until cleaned up.

The Glyphstone
2018-04-27, 12:41 PM
A cone of sharks with gnome built lasers strapped to their heads.

Celestia
2018-04-27, 01:03 PM
A cone of sharks with gnome built lasers strapped to their heads.
*Winged sharks :smallwink:

aimlessPolymath
2018-04-27, 01:15 PM
Primordial destruction, taking the following forms (at random, per person):
-Raw damage
-Limb loss
-Ability damage
-Curses


Bad luck: Rather than breathing out, the dragon breathes in, inhaling the good luck of the players and stealing it for itself.

A thought: We normally assume that breath weapons are something that can be flipped on and off. What if dragons always exhale the relevant element, just a little?

boj0
2018-04-27, 01:16 PM
All those coins and gems they can eat? That. Just a massive amount of bludgeoning and slashing damage; the added bonus is if the party can bait the dragon to breath more, they get extra treasure without having to dig through the dragon's stomach.

Cluedrew
2018-04-27, 01:17 PM
There is a portal to the ocean in its stomach and a colony of gnomes living in the back of its throat. Makes perfect sense.

The Glyphstone
2018-04-27, 01:39 PM
There is a portal to the ocean in its stomach and a colony of gnomes living in the back of its throat. Makes perfect sense.

Portal to the Demielemental Plane of Sharks, you mean.

Knaight
2018-04-27, 02:22 PM
Light. I don't mean anything so scientific as a laser, just that they breathe in and breathe out light, spending the entire day appearing to swallow the sun, and glowing brightly from the mouth even in the course of normal breathing. If they choose to hyperventilate the light becomes blinding, hot, and capable of causing nasty blistering sunburns.

Plus, you can drop one of these on the party fairly early in a temperate region, then drop one a bit later in a far north/south arctic region after a day that lasted for entire months.

Anonymouswizard
2018-04-27, 04:26 PM
A cone of sharks with gnome built lasers strapped to their heads.

Why stop there? The dragon can breath sawblades, but each tooth is a fully functional shark with gnome built lasers strapped to their heads.

BeerMug Paladin
2018-04-28, 04:49 AM
Bad Breath. The dragon's breath is a stinking cloud. But has the additional property of also inflicting a penalty to social skills for a number of days.

Dazzling Breath. Glittery confetti bursts forth! Party is covered in glitterdust.

Breath of the Wild. Institutes plant growth over the area. The area is also treated as if covered by a web spell.

Breadth Breath. Characters become overweight/obese/morbidly obese. Subsequent breath attacks inflict the next step in the chain. Con/Dex penalties apply, and may only be removed through proper diet and exercise.

Wonder Breath. Even the dragon doesn't know what it will do. Similar effects to a rod of wonder.

Good Breath. Cure critical wounds. Hey, the players won't know what's coming in the first breath attack, why not make them nervous?

Reincarnating Breath. The players get a save versus death. Anyone who dies is out of the battle, but they reincarnate as the spell somewhere safe nearby.

Offensive Breath. Area hit is treated as if under the effects of an antipathy spell. Those within the area at the time must immediately save against it.

Normal Breath. Can only be used on targets in the dragon's zenith or nadir. Target's stats are fixed at 10. Treat the effects as a curse.

Breath Weapon. Breathsaber. An extruded saber of pure elemental energy coming from the open jaws. Treat it as the appropriately dragon-sized weapon. It can cut through any damage reduction and sunder armor. Bonus points if there's inexplicable acrobatics.

Short of Breath. Reduce person on afflicted targets.

Animating Breath. Animate objects on unattended items hit. The larger the dragon, the larger the objects animated may be.

Practical Breath. Area and objects hit impacted as if by a fabricate spell. Dragon is able to do anything the spell allows. (For example, if the materials are there, they surround the PCs with a wooden box or build a stone wall.)

Impractical Breath. Forces a save, but no notable effect, save any player paranoia. (Surprisingly effective, often critical-hits.)

martixy
2018-04-28, 07:33 AM
I messed with that idea in my game a bit.

System is 3.5e. There exist templates you can apply to creatures.

One such template is Half-Dragon.

This template can be applied to dragons.

It is stunningly underwhelming when applied to dragons.

So I created a new metabreath ability specifically for this template when applied to true dragons:


Caustic breath (Acid + Cold):
The cold acid sticks to everything in the area, dealing damage repeatedly as the acid slowly thaws.
~~~
This ability deals the cold component of its damage on the first round and deals its acid damage on subsequent rounds, for 1d4 rounds. Each round creatures receive a Fortitude save to reduce the damage in half.

Corrosive breath (Acid + Electricity):
The electric energy activates the acid, creating a corrosive effect that eats at defenses and materials.
~~~
Any creatures damaged by both energy components of this ability suffer a -4 penalty to Natural Armor. If they succeed on a Fortitude save, the penalty is reduced to -2. This penalty can be removed with a Heal check that takes 1 minute and has a DC of 5 + DC of the breath, or via Restoration or a similar effect of that level of higher. Otherwise it heals naturally at a rate of 1 per day. [Think ability damage but for NatAC.]
In all other respects it works as a the spell "Rust ray". Penalties from this effect and the Broken condition stack.

Acrid Fumes (Acid + Fire):
The flames vaporize the acid, creating a cloud of choking, sickening fumes.
~~~
Living creatures damaged by both energy components of this ability are nauseated for 1d4 rounds. Those who make a successful Fortitude save are sickened instead. Treat this as a poison effect for the purpose of save bonuses and immunities.

Superconductive breath (Cold + Electricity):
The extreme cold aids the penetration of the electricity, inhibiting creatures in the area.
~~~
Living creatures damaged by both energy components of this ability are slowed for 1d4 rounds (as the slow spell). Creatures that make successful Fortitude saves are fatigued for 1 round.

System Shock (Cold + Fire):
The extreme opposites of temperature stun creatures in the area.
~~~
Living creatures damaged by both energy components of this ability are stunned for 1d4 rounds. Those who make a successful Fortitude save are dazed for 1 round instead.

Ionizing breath (Electricity + Fire):
The sheer energy discharge in the area supercharges the attack, causing it to bounce to nearby targets.
~~~
If a creature in the area of the spell is damaged by both energy components of this ability, the energy arcs to a random nearby creature within 30 ft. of the target, dealing as much electricity damage as the primary target took.

Jay R
2018-04-28, 07:34 AM
Thanks for the many ideas. ImNotTrevor is right, that I plan to restrict it to things that make sense to me in a classic fantasy context. So primarily that means clouds of gas and sprays of liquids, which make sense to me as how breath works, and rays, which come from the literature.

I will definitely use these:

Flame breath (of course)
Frost breath (the reverse)
Poison gas ([I]not called by the 19th century science jargon name "chlorine")
Sneeze (annoyance, not danger)
Sonic scream
Fog breath (maybe corrosive fog)
Sand breath
Steam breath, if they catch a fire-breathing dragon when she’s drinking.
Stink breath

And I will put these in as possibilities.

Slime (see sneeze, above)
A quick-hardening liquid. I’d probably let them move normally for a round, then move at -10 feet and attack at -4, then make a saving throw to break it up before paralysis. I might even give them a clue by having the dragon use it to build up walls near his lair with it.
Hail of gemstones spit from the dragon's gizzard
Dizzying breath, that affects balance.
Greek fire (1d6 per round until put out)
Acid breath


And one idea I really like. Assuming a dragon lives near a source of raw manna. The liquid spray acts as a random potion, each time – including the miscibility effects. I’d probably make up my own potions table to get more interesting results, and save the possibility of giving a single permanent and beneficial effect to the PC of the player most frustrated in the game. [And it would be just my luck to have the party slay the dragon without ever getting caught in its breath.]

Goblin Slayer
2018-04-28, 07:37 AM
Petrefication breath?
Truns those caught in them to stone
Breath of midas?
Turn depending on size of creture size certain gp of gold?

Breath of bahamut

Truns stuff into Platinium statues?

Blackjackg
2018-04-28, 11:10 AM
In my 5e game I recently threw together a dragon-giant spider hybrid whose breath weapon was a cloud of tiny poisonous spiders. That was fun, and icky.

Fable Wright
2018-04-28, 10:59 PM
Curses. It was briefly mentioned before, but dragons breathing primordial curses or having cursed blood is such a common thing in folklore that's never really been translated to D&D.

And since this is second edition, don't make it the wimpy kind of curse that you can get rid of with a single spell. Killing the dragon might be easier than killing the fire-breathing one, but it's guaranteed to be your last glorious adventure for a long while, if the curses don't kill you before that.

Also, Fire could actually be a gas, if you know chemistry. Chlorine triflouride being aerosolized at someone is basically indistinguishable for breathing fire, except that it's also going to be causing the sand pit and stone beneath you to burn as well.

That said, I do like the idea of breathing thunderheads. Instead of dealing damage, it creates terrain that block sight and are likely to electrocute you if you walk through them.

Lapak
2018-04-29, 09:25 AM
Force, as in the dragon breathing in the PCs, attempting to swallow them. Likewise, pushing them might also be an option. Slime could also work, erm...


Instant cement like substance.

A "realistic way" to do a petrification breath.Not an original idea, but I've seen a published dragon that did a combination of these - it vomits up a sticky tar that immobilizes the target, then uses Swallow Whole once they are helpless.