Daughter’s Dragons

My four your old is deep into dragons right now, with a large collection of dragon toys and several imaginary dragon friends. From my perspective (being a proud parent) she seems to come up with wonderfully interesting an imaginative stories around her dragons. Generally I think children are a wellspring of great ideas (at least, until institutions undermines their sense of creativity).

This is her Pine Dragon. A creature that lives in the giant, swaying northwest pines prominent in our neighborhood.

Pine Dragon

Habitat

Prefers evergreen forests by the sea (likes to comb beaches consuming driftwood) and a mild climate. Loves fog and rainy days and smaller islands.

Food

Will occasionally dive for seafood that’s deeper in the waters, catching shark and octopi, but brings them back to the beach to consume. Also eats other seafood (fish, hermit crabs, jellyfish) and pinecones and tree bark.

Physique

Their necks and tails are extremely long to reach seafood. They like to wrap their extremely long necks and tails around the giant, swaying pines for sleeping (the rocking of the tree soothes them and puts them to sleep). They are mostly green but can have purple and black hues. Their talons are golden, their bellies yellow. Females are more colorful.

They have no wings but are fast runners and great jumpers and can stay underwater for long stretches of time.

Wood fires their breath. They can swallow a bunch of deadfall to fire up something fierce, but even a pinecone would help. They like the hang out on beaches and nibble on freshly caught seafood. They will sometimes build fire pits like humans do and then curl up near them.

Habits

They have a weakness for popcorn and apples, and love the smell of these.

They sleep in the trees – building eagle like ness for their small young, and then wrap their long tails in the high branches, the trees swaying in the wind, soothing them and rocking them to sleep.

They will collect lost treasures or jewels, but focus on small, shiny trinkets like seaglass, colorful beads and marbles. They put these in their nests with their eggs, in the highest of treetops. Their green eggs are small (smaller than bird sized) and they start off as really tiny dragons.

They will be awake for weeks at a time, and then sleep for weeks at a time. Really old ones may sleep for ages in their trees, the bark slowly overtaking and growing over and around them. They stay warm and still in their tress during the winter / snowfall, and rest in their shade during the hottest summers.

A few of my daughter’s dragons

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Pocket Traps for the Tricksy Player – Powders

“He who travels lightest travels fastest and bestest.”- Lyric the Deceiver Aerialist

Most rogues are familiar with caltrops and marbles that have become sourcebook staples, but a devious player can carry all sorts of tiny tricks and traps to spring in an instant on the unsuspecting. This article speaks to an array of simple, easy to carry tricks and pocket traps.

“Humor goes into the making of a poem as flour flies into the faces of the annoying.” – Lyric

We’ll start with powdered chalk which is useful for the climber and commonly carried by adventurers for pinpointing invisible creatures. But powdered chalk, along with flour, soot, charcoal dust or similar materials is also a good momentary blinder – useful for distracting marks or making a quick getaway.

CR 1: Powder in the Face:

• Touch trigger (consider this a ranged touch attack)
• No reset
• DC 10 Fortitude or be blinded for 1 round

The powder ante can be upped by throwing loose raw pepper into enemy’s faces.

CR 1: Pepper in the Face:

• Touch trigger (consider this a ranged touch attack)
• No reset
• DC 12 Fortitude or be incapacitated for 1d2 rounds, sneezing

“He who has the pepper… may season his targets as he lifts.” – Lyric

Pepper also has other useful variants. Concentrated Pepper is made in part from ground chills and cayenne pepper, and against humans it stings the eyes and constricts the throat.  A successful ranged touch attack can blind an opponent.

CR 1: Concentrated Pepper:

• Touch trigger in melee (consider this a ranged touch attack)
• DC 15 Fortitude to resist. Blinded for 1d4 rounds.
• DC 20 to Craft (alchemy)

Combat Pepper is designed specifically to fell a man, and is similar to modern pepper sprays only in a dry form. It creates a very painful burning sensation with continuous tearing, uncontrolled coughing, choking, nausea and disorientation. All this causes temporary blindness and instant breathing problems.

CR 2: Combat Pepper:

• Touch trigger in melee (consider this a ranged touch attack)
• DC 15 Fortitude to resist. Blinded and prone for 1d4 rounds, takes 1d4 damage
• DC 25 to Craft (alchemy)

Dog Pepper is made from spices keen nosed tracking dogs are particularly susceptible to. Dog pepper can be used as a ranged touch attack or just left behind on the trail for tracking dogs to succumb to.

CR 1: Face – Dog Pepper:

• Touch trigger in melee (consider this a ranged touch attack), or location trigger
• Dogs (or similar creatures) DC 15 Fortitude to resist. Those who succumb are hysterical for 1d4 rounds trying to remove the powder and unable to track by scent for 1d2 hours.
• DC 15 to Craft (alchemy)

A spring-Loaded wrist sheath (normally around a 5gp investment, see various equipment guides) can be altered to hold peppers or powders (DC 10 to rig) and used as a swift action to surprise an opponent. Powders can also be hidden in a hollow pommel or coin purse. They store well, just don’t get them wet.

 

Wrist Sheath

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