Café de Nuit

So... I was reading the monster entry on Vampiric Dragons and noticed that they're not repelled by the sort of things that work on normal vampires, and all it takes is a gigantic stake through the chest to finish one off. Any ideas on more interesting means of destruction, or repelling them?

First thing that came to mind is gold coins, but they still maintain their own hoards and actually use them as their "coffin" when sleeping or reduced to gaseous form.

Short of tricking them into landing on a tree, the logistics of staking a vampire dragon stagger me.
You would probably need a river of holy water for that option to make sense.
I would suggest that any vampiric creature that powerful should only be killable by sunlight and only be repulsed by a whole church rather than just a little holy symbol.

Well... when you reduce a vampire dragon to 0 HP, it's supposed to assume gaseous form, go back to its treasure hoard in some cave, and then revert back to recover. So, if you catch it back there, you might get a chance to stake it with a gigantic chunk of wood.

And I definitely agree with you on the holy symbol. Even a holy symbol from a draconic deity doesn't sound big enough to repulse a dragon.

Eh, size-schmize. If one is actually willing to countenance a vampire dragon (!) I'd say "vampire template, vampire weaknesses". It's not as if the faith of the cleric got any smaller, is it?

It's not the size of the holy symbol...

Well, assuming that the person doesn't run away screaming because of Frightful Presence, would the dragon even be able to see what the little guy is holding?

Well, that depends on whether the faith of the cleric is repelling the undead, or if the holy symbol itself is. You could take it either way.

Making the dragon have normal vampire weaknesses could make for some interesting fights, if only due to the size of the creature; the heroes could shoot the dragon down into a river (running water) or impale its heart on a cathedral spire. Normal D&D rarely works out so nicely, though, so you'd probably end up with the pcs hauling a redwood back to the dragon's lair.

Isabella wrote:Making the dragon have normal vampire weaknesses could make for some interesting fights, if only due to the size of the creature; the heroes could shoot the dragon down into a river (running water) or impale its heart on a cathedral spire. Normal D&D rarely works out so nicely, though, so you'd probably end up with the pcs hauling a redwood back to the dragon's lair.

Well, the entry on vampire dragons specifically says they're not affected by garlic or running water, so the river thing won't work.

Spiteful Crow wrote:Well, assuming that the person doesn't run away screaming because of Frightful Presence, would the dragon even be able to see what the little guy is holding?

In addition to being a dragon, it's a vampire. If the dragon's keen vision doesn't identify the object, it will still be able to feel the holiness of the cleric's faith.

Spiteful Crow wrote: Well, the entry on vampire dragons specifically says they're not affected by garlic or running water, so the river thing won't work.

A river of holy water, then. =P

I agree that a holysymbol should repel the vampire dragon. After all, Game balance wise, the dragon could use breath weapon from a distance. Also:

Why a vampiric dragon should be even more powerful vampire than the usual vampire template? Isn't the vampiric template powerful enough when applied to a dragon?

I will agree that a dragon should reform in his horde instead of a coffin and that he should be fascinated or covet (like a restless dead/ghost) treasure. Also I would add a few more weaknesses on the dragon just to make him more... cursed.

Also remind me please: What is the size of a juveline black dragon? I don't think that staking one should be more difficult than staking a vampiric ogre...

alhoon wrote:Why a vampiric dragon should be even more powerful vampire than the usual vampire template? Isn't the vampiric template powerful enough when applied to a dragon?

I'm talking about the dragon vampire template in Draconomicon, actually. It doesn't look too different from the normal template, but it says the dragon isn't affected by running water, or repulsed by garlic. Mirrors don't repulse them either, but they refuse to hoard them.

alhoon wrote:Also I would add a few more weaknesses on the dragon just to make him more... cursed.

That is the intent of this topic.

alhoon wrote:Also remind me please: What is the size of a juveline black dragon? I don't think that staking one should be more difficult than staking a vampiric ogre...

The description in the book says that a spear-sized stake should be enough.

Until I bought the Dracanomicon I had misrepresented dragon size in my head. A stake the size of a spear or sword would do fine as was mentioned before- however; how would you lay it permanently to rest? Melt down its hoard? Chop its head off and shove a pile of holy wafers in its mouth + a nice funeral? boggles the mind...
P.S. Might be more fun to throw on some of the RL specific strain templates. Imagine a draconic vrykolaka called Plaguemaw or something. Could work if your campaign has a more fantasy bent as mine does. *writes that idea down*

Archedius wrote:A stake the size of a spear or sword would do fine as was mentioned before- however; how would you lay it permanently to rest? Melt down its hoard? Chop its head off and shove a pile of holy wafers in its mouth + a nice funeral? boggles the mind...

Yeah, that's why I started this topic. I'm thinking that scattering its hoard should do it, but that kinda seems to easy.

"So, lemme get this straight. All I have to do is take this gigantic pile of coins home with me and the dragon is gone for good?"
"Yes."
"Cool!"

Make them irreperably destroy the horde. It may not be hard, but it will make them cry.