by Roger Moore
| Dragon | Monsters | Dragons | Best of Dragon, Vol. III | Dragon 62 |
In an era long past, an intrepid
dragon-hunter and his wizard
friend discovered that the
hide of an evil dragon, if properly
prepared, could be cut and
formed into a suit of armor that
provides protection against
attack forms resembling the breath
weapon of the dragon from
which it was made.
To begin the process, an
evil dragon (white, black, red, blue,
or green) of at least adult
age must be killed, without the use of
magic and preferably by
means of repeated attacks with blunt
weapons. Even a single magical
attack directed against a dragon,
whether or not the spell
casting succeeds and whether or
not the spell causes damage
to the dragon, will ruin the protective
potential of the creature’s
hide and make later attempts at
enchantment ineffective.
If the dragon is hit with edged weapons,
there is a chance the hide
will be cut and marred to the
extent that it becomes unusable
as armor. For each successful
hit on the dragon with an
edged weapon (regardless of the
amount of damage done),
add 5% to the chance of the hide
being damaged beyond use.
(Thus, if a dragon takes 20 hits
from edged weapons, there
is no chance that the hide will be
thereafter usable as armor.)
If and when the dragon is killed, the
chance that the hide is
spoiled must be exceeded on a roll of d%
in order for the armor-making
process to continue.
The hide must be removed
with care, and at this juncture a
very sharp edged weapon
is essential to trim the hide as cleanly
and efficiently as possible.
The instrument must be able to be
controlled with precision,
which means it can’t be any larger
than a standard dagger blade.
If the character doing the skinning
uses a normal (non-magical)
blade, there is a 30% chance
that, despite his or her
best efforts, the hide will not separate
cleanly from the body and
the resulting scraps of dragon-skin
will be unusable as armor.
If an enchanted blade is employed,
the chance of failure at
this step of the process decreases by
10% for each “plus” of the
instrument; thus, with any blade of +3
or greater, successful skinning
is assured.
Once the hide is removed
and transported to civilization
(assuming the dragon wasn’t
killed in the village square), the
services of skilled armorers,
leather-workers, and tailors must
be employed to fashion the
hide into armor. This process takes
21-30 days for each suit
of armor, and prices for the needed
services will be three times
the standard rate. Only one set of
armor may be fashioned from
the hide of a single dragon.
The resulting suit of armor
is equivalent to normal scale mail
in armor class (6), maximum
movement rate (6”), and bulkiness
(fairly bulky). It weighs
about 30 pounds, compared to 40
pounds for normal scale
mail. The non-enchanted armor can
be worn “as is,” but if
the non-magical armor is hit even once by
an edged weapon, it will
not be able to be enchanted after that.
Enchanting the armor must
be done by a magic-user of 16th
level or higher, who will
insist on a generous payment in gold
pieces, or the promise (and
proof) of some other benefit that
might be offered. At least
half of the payment must be supplied
in advance, with the rest
due when the armor is delivered.
The magic-user must first
successfully cast Enchant An Item
on the armor, and then apply
a second spell (which varies
depending on the armor type)
to act as a catalyst, triggering the
armor’s capability to resist
a particular attack form. This second
spell must be applied (the
casting must have been begun)
within 12 hours after the
completion of Enchant An Item.
If the
magicking process fails,
either because the casting of Enchant
An Item is unsuccessful
or because the second spell is not
applied within the required
time, the magic-user is under no
obligation to make another
attempt free of charge.
The second step in the process
depends on the type (color)
of dragon hide used. To
complete white dragon armor, an Ice
Storm spell must be cast
on the hide; for black dragon armor,
the finished hide must be
immersed in acid for 13-24 (d12 + 12)
hours; to complete green
dragon armor, a Stinking Cloud spell
must be cast on (around)
the hide; for blue dragon armor, a
Shocking Grasp spell is
needed, and for red dragon armor,
Burning Hands. None of these
spells or substances will damage
the armor they are applied
to; their function is to activate the
innate resistance in the
hide which has previously been
“brought to the surface”
by the Enchant An Item spell.
When the enchantment is
complete, the armor will be essentially
equivalent to +1 scale mail:
armor class 5, movement 9”,
weight 15 pounds. In addition,
each armor type/color affords
the wearer resistance or
immunity to a particular attack form.
The special properties of
each type are:
White
dragon armor —
Resistance
against white dragon
breath,
winter wolf breath, Cone of Cold spell, and other
attack
forms involving cold, ice, or frost.
Black
dragon armor —
Resistance
against black dragon
breath,
giant slug spittle, anhkheg digestive acid, and other
attack
forms using acid or acid-like effects.
Green
dragon armor — Resistance against green dragon
breath,
iron golem breath, Cloudkill spell, and other attack
forms
using poisonous gases.
Blue
dragon armor —
Resistance
against blue dragon
breath,
Lightning Bolt spell, storm giant’s lightning attack,
and
other sorts of natural or artificial (including magical)
lightning
or electricity.
Red
dragon armor —
Resistance
against red dragon
breath,
Fireball spell, and other attacks using heat or fire.
“Resistance” includes these
benefits: The wearer of the armor
gains +1 on all saving throws
against the specified attack
form. The wearer is unaffected
by any attack of the specified
type that does 6 points
of damage or less in a round. In all cases,
the wearer is entitled to
a -1 modifier on each and every damage
die rolled (with a minimum
of 1 point of damage per die). If the
application of this modifier
reduces damage taken in a round to
6 points or less, the wearer
takes no damage (as stipulated
above).
Although these suits of
armor come from evil dragons, clerics
and fighter-class types
of all alignments may wear them.
Q: Concerning "Evil
Dragon Armors" (issue #62):
Can someone make shields
from dragon hide with special powers?
A: Much of this would
be up to the DM to
arbitrate.
A shield made of dragon
hide
might give a bonus to the
saving throw of
the user against the breath
weapon of the
dragon-type the shield is
made from, if
the shield was properly
enchanted. Such a
shield would otherwise be
like any other
type of magic shield, benefitting
the
user's armor class. Only
one or two
shields at most could be
made from any
single dragon hide, under
the same restrictions
as mentioned in the original
article.
Q: Why are the armor classes of the dragon armors so low?
A: The AC of the dragon
armors is
low because live dragons
have thick layers
of fat and muscle beneath
their scaled
hides, which adds to their
AC.
Q: What special powers
would suits made from other sorts of evil dragons (e.g., yellow,
orange, purple, chromatic)
have?
A: Armors
made from other types of
evil dragons can
be created by interested
players and referees,
within the restrictions
of the original
article; the powers that
such armors
would possess are up to
the DM to decide.
(79.14)
OUT ON A LIMB
Roger's reason
Dear Editor:
Some comments on issue #64:
In response to Gary Gygax's
question (Out
on a Limb), green dragon
armor (when properly
prepared) possesses some
qualities similar
to a Necklace
of Adaptation. Dragon armors
have an innate resistance
to the breath
weapon used by the dragon they came from.
In the case of green dragon
armor, a magical
field is activated that
deflects molecules of
poisonous gas from the wearer;
it makes no
difference if the face,
mouth, and nose of the
wearer are exposed or not.
Obviously, this
resistance is not as powerful
as the protection
provided by a Necklace of
Adaptation (it will
not prevent the wearer from
drowning or from
vacuum exposure) but it
is very helpful
nonetheless.
Roger (“The Learned Author”) Moore
Louisville, Ky.
(Dragon #66)