Dragonlance - Dragon Metal?

[kalos72]

So in the original Dragonlance series, I seem to remember the true Dragonlances were dmg of the wielder AND the dragon. Is that right?

Can you make other weapons with the same effect? A Katana that hits for the HP of the wielder? Etc...

[redking]

I am not sure what you mean. Here is how Dragonmetal works in 3.5e, from my post in another thread (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?620309-The-best-special-material-for-weapons-armor).


The best special materials for weapons and armor are dragonmetal from the Dragonlance campaign setting, and the Oerthblood alloy from Greyhawk (Dragon Magazine #: 351 (Greyhawk Adventures – Irongate: City of Stairs). By mixing these special materials together (possible, because Oerthblood specifically does this), you get the following advantages.

Dragonmetal has the same characteristics are mithril, and also have a natural bonus on attack and damage rolls.

http://arena.athas.org/uploads/default/original/1X/4da467b2b17b8bb0bb0d8e3994a2eaf169043834.png

Oerthblood: Items made from Oerthblooded metals are more easily enhanced than other substances, requiring 25% less time and XP. Oerthblood alloyed items have twice the hardness of the base metal the Oerthblood is alloyed with (oerthblooded iron, mithral, dragonmetal and steel have a Hardness of 20). Oerthblooded metal items have hit points equal to 1.5 times the hit points for a normal item of the base metal's type.

Oerthblood items get bonuses. Only primarily metallic objects gain these bonuses.
Weapons: Weapons made primarily from Oerthblood grant a +1 luck bonus on attack and damage rolls. A target that takes damage from an oerthblooded weapon takes a -1 penalty on all saves made against magical effects for 1 round. Penalties from multiple hits stack.
Armor: Light Armor: DR 1/–, +1 luck bonus on saves vs. magic effects. Medium Armor: DR 2/–, +2 luck bonus on saves vs. magic effects. Heavy Armor: DR 3/–, +3 luck bonus on saves vs. magical effects.

http://arena.athas.org/uploads/default/original/1X/e1fa6e9ec1c02b170822142a8e8442d39caf2b2b.png

The Dragonmetal and Oerthblood having different bonuses, the bonuses should stack. You can create non-magical weapons with a +2 or +3 bonus on attack and damage rolls.

Any thoughts?

[kalos72]

From the original modules:

A footman’s lance does 1d6 damage versus normal foes and 1d8 against larger than
man-sized targets. Against any dragon it
inflicts damage equal to the hit points of the
wielder. (A 14-hit point fighter causes 14
points of damage.) The weapon is always +1
to hit (unless thrown).

The mounted lance does 3-9 versus normal foes and 3-18 against larger than man sized targets. Against any dragon it inflicts damage equal to the hit points of the wielder
and his mount. (A 15-hit point fighter on a
40 hit point dragon causes 55 points of
damage). The mounted lance is too large for
horse cavalry and is used almost exclusively
by riders on dragon back.


At epic levels, thats some 200-300 per hit...

[Thurbane]

From the original modules:

A footman’s lance does 1d6 damage versus normal foes and 1d8 against larger than
man-sized targets. Against any dragon it
inflicts damage equal to the hit points of the
wielder. (A 14-hit point fighter causes 14
points of damage.) The weapon is always +1
to hit (unless thrown).

The mounted lance does 3-9 versus normal foes and 3-18 against larger than man sized targets. Against any dragon it inflicts damage equal to the hit points of the wielder
and his mount. (A 15-hit point fighter on a
40 hit point dragon causes 55 points of
damage). The mounted lance is too large for
horse cavalry and is used almost exclusively
by riders on dragon back.


At epic levels, thats some 200-300 per hit...
Yep, worked very differently in older editions.

Not aware of anything in 3E that works similarly...

[kalos72]

As rare as Dragon metal was supposed to be...and the fact you needed 3 items to craft anything worthwhile, from a storyline perspective, the new Dragon metal seems weak. No offence... :(

I agree those numbers can get crazy but giving it a +2 and ignoring the dragon benefits, seems off.

Even a katana of Dragon metal, giving the footman's lance stats would be huge...an epic level Warblade would crush dragons...200-300 a hit? Multiple hits in the same round all but the deities are gonna die fast.

I like it...

Now looking for the best "anti-dragon" classes....thoughts? Any books/sources/games....

[redking]

As rare as Dragon metal was supposed to be...and the fact you needed 3 items to craft anything worthwhile, from a storyline perspective, the new Dragon metal seems weak. No offence... :(

You are mixing up dragonmetal the material, with dragonlances. In the 3.5e Dragonlance setting, there are two types of dragonlances (both of which are made of dragonmetal).

Both versions have the dragon bane property (https://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/SRD:Bane_(Weapon_Enhancement)), deals an extra 2d6 points of damage on dragons. The lesser dragonlance is a +2 item. The greater dragonlance is a +4 item that additionally deals 1 constitution drain on dragons with a successful hit.

You can find this information on page 115 of the 3.5e Dragonlance Campaign Setting.

[kalos72]

I see that. But in the original modules, the data I provided above was the original write up for the Dragonlance ...not bane. HP of the wielder and possibly the HP of the dragon as well.

But forcing the metal to use 3 artifact level items and an ultra rare metal...to get a bane?

[redking]

I see that. But in the original modules, the data I provided above was the original write up for the Dragonlance ...not bane. HP of the wielder and possibly the HP of the dragon as well.

But forcing the metal to use 3 artifact level items and an ultra rare metal...to get a bane?

As you wrote, its from a different edition. In 3.5e, dragonmetal is one of the best special materials available in the game. For what it is worth, in the Dragonlance setting someone forging a dragonlance is probably a high level master (as in the master base class on page 20 of 3.5e War of the Lance), so the dragonlances thus forged will get additional bonuses.

[kalos72]

Fair enough...but I am sure you can see...far less impressive then the original. :)

[redking]

Fair enough...but I am sure you can see...far less impressive then the original. :)

Not really since comparisons across editions are not easily made. 3.5e is supposed to balance. I suppose what you say is possible in 3.5e, but the result would be at ten time the cost. You could do it by making epic dragonlances with huge bonus and weapon qualities enhancing critical hits. But it has to be costed.

[Thurbane]

Not really since comparisons across editions are not easily made. 3.5e is supposed to balance. I suppose what you say is possible in 3.5e, but the result would be at ten time the cost. You could do it by making epic dragonlances with huge bonus and weapon qualities enhancing critical hits. But it has to be costed.

Yeah, comparing 1E material from 1987 and 3.5 material from 2003 is really comparing apples and oranges.

You might as well be comparing the mechanics of Monopoly and Settlers of Catan! :smallbiggrin:

[Gruftzwerg]

At epic levels, thats some 200-300 per hit...

As other have pointed out, the updated version is weak compared to the older version. But if you are looking for raw damage output and wanna kill any enemy with every single stroke of your full attack, Ubercharger is the way to go. You can google the term for many build variations.

I have a few builds in my signature (Claw of Malar, Hammerdin, ShurikeNado (link in the Hammerdin build), Papa Smurf)

Each one of the build can easily deal 3 digit (some up to 4) damage numbers with each strike. Two of the builds (hammerdin/shurikenado) are even ranged Ubercharger builds. Note that these are optimized builds and may break your party balance and cause your DM a headache if he lacks system mastery (or doesn't want to play/DM such optimized characters). So pls check with your table first ;)