5. Dragons In the tables below, the result 'combat' means that the dragon immediately challenges your character and attempts to kill him. Usually, the dragon wins. The result 'escape injured' actually means that combat ensues, but the character will generally escape with his life if he loses the challenge (1 health point remaining most of the time). However, it's possible that the character will be killed instead. The result 'escape (?)' means that the character either escapes injured or escapes unharmed. The author has forgotten which result is appropriate for the response. Any result marked with an asterisk ('*') has yet to be confirmed by the author and can't be vouched for. Dragons can encounter more than one person during the turn. If a dragon finds someone in the hex, others (who don't get the encounter description) can do a '285' and react to the dragon. They'll do so individually, so characters can't 'gang up' to fight a dragon (although they could fight it one after another, eventually cutting it down if they're all good enough). This last turn I won my first battle against an enemy army that contained a dragon. Because I destroyed the enemy in the first round of combat, and because complications such as spells, artifacts, multiple armies, etc. weren't present, I was able to calculate exactly how much damage the dragon did. The result: the dragon, in this instance Throkmaw, inflicted 45,000 points of mayhem upon my army. This case (winning against a dragon) is rare enough that combat values for others of the great wyrms haven't been established (so far as I know). It could be that all dragons are generic, or that combat strength varies from dragon to dragon; I don't know. I also don't know if there's a relationship between challenge rank and combat strength, although I'd make a tentative guess that dragons have a challenge equal to their combat strength divided by 200. If anyone else out there has done what I did and managed to figure out the combat strength of a dragon, I'd like to hear from you. Darren Beyer reports that he managed to calculate the combat strength of Khuzadrepa in battle. His estimate was roughly 50,000 combat points, +/- 10% or so. Note that with the variance, this means that Khuzadrepa could also have a combat strength of 45,000, as was determined for Throkmaw earlier. Or, assuming my calculations were at the wrong end of the scale, Throkmaw could instead have a combat strength of 50,000. I see one of several possibilities: - In terms of combat strength, dragons are generic (all the same). - Dragons are broken down into classes (weak, average, strong). - Dragons have individual base strengths with a variable factor thrown in (like eagles, mumak, woses and such). Lamthanc's combat strength has been confirmed at 45,000. This seems to confirm my suspicion that dragons are either generic or fall into a few classes at most (thanks to Tori DeYoung for this one). Recruitable Dragons What follows is a list of dragons recruitable by each of the allegiances, for those that are curious. These dragons have been confirmed by GSI itself: Free: Scorba, Throkmaw. Neutrals: Scorba, Throkmaw. Dark Servants: Aivnec, Culgor, Itangast, Khuzadrepa, Lamthanc, Lomaw, Smaug, Throkmaw, Uruial. The following dragons are thought to be recruitable by other players. However, caution should be exercised in these cases; I've yet to find a player who's actually done it for themselves (a prereq for the 'reliably confirmed' data). Neutrals: Itangast, Lomaw, Uruial. Dark Servants: Bairanax, Daelomin, Nimanaur, Scatha. There are a few others on various lists, but I don't include these unless I can cross-check them against a different set of data. As yet, this hasn't happened. Generic Dragon-in-Lair Description: encounter a dragon laying atop a huge mound of gold, apparently sleeping. Location: Anywhere dragons are found. Options Result ATTACK the dragon All: combat State ALLEGIANCE OFFER an artifact CLAIM the treasure for your nation Steal some GOLD All: combat+ Steal an ITEM All: combat+ Say (one word) FLEE All: escape unharmed Note: It's rumored that those results marked with an plus sign allow a character to steal some gold or an artifact if his agent score is high enough, but I can't confirm this. A reliable source says it's possible to steal gold from the generic dragon-in-a-lair encounter. The agent who did this was around an effective 90 or so skill rank. This particular encounter doesn't seem to be attached to any 'name' dragon. I've been told that it's been found in the Blue Mountains (no name dragons there), and that the challenge rank of the generic dragon is only about 100. I can't confirm the challenge rank against any secondary source at the moment, but I have seen this encounter and know for a fact that the results as they stand are good. All dragons below are listed as Marshals/Archmages, but their skill ranks are obviously beyond 100. 5.01 Ando-Anca Options Free Peoples Neutrals Nations Dark Servants State your ALLEGIANCE combat combat combat State your NAME injured/killed injured/killed injured/killed DEMAND obedience Act HAUGHTY Act MEEK escape escape escape Offer TEN gold Offer HUNDRED gold Offer ONE artifact Offer TWO artifacts SAY (one word) FLEE combat combat combat 5.02 Aivnec Options Free Peoples Neutrals Nations Dark Servants State your ALLEGIANCE recruited State your NAME DEMAND obedience Act HAUGHTY Act MEEK injured/killed injured/killed injured/killed Offer TEN gold combat combat combat Offer HUNDRED gold combat combat combat Offer ONE artifact Offer TWO artifacts SAY (one word) FLEE 5.03 Angurth Options Free Peoples Neutrals Nations Dark Servants Attack combat combat recruit State your ALLEGIANCE combat State your NAME combat DEMAND obediance combat Act HAUGHTY injured/killed Act MEEK combat combat combat Offer TEN gold Offer HUNDRED gold Offer ONE artifact Offer TWO artifacts SAY (one word) FLEE combat combat combat 5.04 Bairanax Options Free Peoples Neutrals Nations Dark Servants State your ALLEGIANCE escape State your NAME DEMAND obedience Act HAUGHTY Act MEEK escape escape escape Offer TEN gold combat combat combat Offer HUNDRED gold recruit* Offer ONE artifact Offer TWO artifacts SAY (one word) FLEE injured/killed injured/killed injured/killed 5.05 Corlagon Options Free Peoples Neutrals Nations Dark Servants State your ALLEGIANCE State your NAME DEMAND obedience Act HAUGHTY Act MEEK escape escape escape Offer TEN gold combat Offer HUNDRED gold Offer ONE artifact Offer TWO artifacts SAY (one word) FLEE combat combat combat 5.06 Culgor Options Free Peoples Neutrals Nations Dark Servants State your ALLEGIANCE escape State your NAME DEMAND obediance combat combat combat Act HAUGHTY Act MEEK escape escape recruited Offer TEN gold injured/killed injured/killed Offer HUNDRED gold injured/killed injured/killed Offer ONE artifact Offer TWO artifacts Say "Sauron" injured/killed injured/killed injured/killed SAY (one word) FLEE injured/killed injured/killed injured/killed 5.07 Daelomin Options Free Peoples Neutrals Nations Dark Servants State your ALLEGIANCE injured/killed* State your NAME DEMAND obedience combat combat Act HAUGHTY combat* combat* combat* Act MEEK injured/killed injured/killed injured/killed Offer TEN gold combat* combat* Offer HUNDRED gold combat* combat* Offer ONE artifact Offer TWO artifacts recruit SAY (one word) FLEE injured/killed injured/killed injured/killed 5.08 Gostir Options Free Peoples Neutrals Nations Dark Servants State your ALLEGIANCE State your NAME DEMAND obedience Act HAUGHTY Act MEEK escape escape/recruit? Offer TEN gold Offer HUNDRED gold Offer ONE artifact Offer TWO artifacts SAY (one word) FLEE The elusive Gostir is spotted at 4202. There has been some thoughts in a previous Mouth about Dragon appearence (where they show up, not how they look!), and it could seem that Gostir only appears in rows 1 to 3, where it's really, really cold. Also note, that it's a plains hex, so it might be the only Dragon showing up in non-Mountains. 5.09 Itangast Options Free Peoples Neutrals Nations Dark Servants State your ALLEGIANCE combat combat State your NAME combat combat DEMAND obedience Act HAUGHTY combat combat combat Act MEEK injured/killed injured/killed recruited Offer TEN gold Offer HUNDRED gold Offer ONE artifact Offer TWO artifacts SAY (one word) FLEE combat combat combat 5.10 Khuzadrepa Options Free Peoples Neutrals Nations Dark Servants State your ALLEGIANCE combat combat State your NAME injured/killed injured/killed injured/killed DEMAND obedience injured/killed injured/killed injured/killed Act HAUGHTY Act MEEK injured/killed injured/killed recruited Offer TEN gold combat combat combat Offer HUNDRED gold Offer ONE artifact Offer TWO artifacts SAY (one word) FLEE combat combat combat 5.11 Klyaxar Options Free Peoples Neutrals Nations Dark Servants State your ALLEGIANCE combat combat combat State your NAME DEMAND obedience combat combat combat Act HAUGHTY Act MEEK combat combat combat Offer TEN gold combat combat Offer HUNDRED gold Offer ONE artifact Offer TWO artifacts SAY (one word) FLEE combat combat combat 5.12 Lamthanc Options Free Peoples Neutrals Nations Dark Servants State your ALLEGIANCE combat combat combat State your NAME DEMAND obedience Act HAUGHTY injured/killed(?) escape recruited Act MEEK combat combat combat Offer TEN gold Offer HUNDRED gold Offer ONE artifact combat combat combat Offer TWO artifacts combat combat combat SAY "Riddle" combat combat SAY (one word) FLEE combat combat combat Notes: Lamthanc will eat the commander of any army he joins if the army doesn't enter into combat for extended periods of time. This report has been disputed, so the incidence for this may be variable, the situation may have changed, or the original information may be apocryphal. More recent reports do not have Lamthanc eating the commander. 5.13 Leucaruth Options Free Peoples Neutrals Nations Dark Servants State your ALLEGIANCE combat combat combat State your NAME injured/killed DEMAND obedience combat combat injured/killed Act HAUGHTY combat combat Act MEEK combat escape escape Offer TEN gold Offer HUNDRED gold Offer ONE artifact Offer TWO artifacts SAY (one word) FLEE injured/killed injured/killed injured/killed Notes: Leucaruth hates dwarves, and will often kill them where other characters would escape. 5.14 Lomaw Options Free Peoples Neutrals Nations Dark Servants State your ALLEGIANCE combat combat combat State your NAME DEMAND obedience Act HAUGHTY Act MEEK escape escape escape Offer TEN gold recruited Offer HUNDRED gold Offer ONE artifact combat combat combat Offer TWO artifacts SAY (one word) FLEE combat combat combat 5.15 Nimanaur Options Free Peoples Neutrals Nations Dark Servants State your ALLEGIANCE combat combat combat State your NAME injured/killed injured/killed injured/killed DEMAND obedience Act HAUGHTY Act MEEK injured/killed injured/killed escape Offer TEN gold injured/killed injured/killed recruited Offer HUNDRED gold injured/killed injured/killed recruited* Offer ONE artifact Offer TWO artifacts SAY (one word) FLEE 5.16 Ruingurth Options Free Peoples Neutrals Nations Dark Servants State your ALLEGIANCE escape escape escape State your NAME escape escape escape DEMAND obedience escape escape escape Act HAUGHTY escape escape escape Act MEEK escape escape escape Offer TEN gold escape escape escape Offer HUNDRED gold escape escape escape Offer ONE artifact escape escape escape Offer TWO artifacts escape escape escape SAY (one word) escape escape escape FLEE escape escape escape Notes: Ruingurth can safely be IGNORED. 5.17 Scatha Options Free Peoples Neutrals Nations Dark Servants State your ALLEGIANCE combat combat State your NAME DEMAND obediance injured/killed injured/killed Act HAUGHTY Act MEEK escape escape escape Offer TEN gold injured/killed injured/killed injured/killed Offer HUNDRED gold Offer ONE artifact Offer TWO artifacts SAY (one word) FLEE combat combat combat 5.18 Scorba Options Free Peoples Neutrals Nations Dark Servants State your ALLEGIANCE State your NAME DEMAND obedience recruited* Act HAUGHTY Act MEEK escape escape escape Offer TEN gold Offer HUNDRED gold Offer ONE artifact Offer TWO artifacts SAY "Riddle" injured/killed injured/killed SAY (one word) FLEE combat combat injured/killed 5.19 Smaug Options Free Peoples Neutrals Nations Dark Servants State your ALLEGIANCE State your NAME DEMAND obedience combat combat combat Act HAUGHTY Act MEEK escape escape recruited Offer TEN gold BOW escape Offer HUNDRED gold recruited Offer ONE artifact injured/killed injured/killed injured/killed Offer TWO artifacts injured/killed injured/killed injured/killed SAY (one word) FLEE combat combat combat 5.20 Throkmaw Options Free Peoples Neutrals Nations Dark Servants State your ALLEGIANCE combat State your NAME combat combat combat DEMAND obediance recruited recruited recruited Act HAUGHTY Act MEEK Offer TEN gold Offer HUNDRED gold Offer ONE artifact Offer TWO artifacts SAY (one word) FLEE combat combat combat 5.21 Turukulon Options Free Peoples Neutrals Nations Dark Servants State your ALLEGIANCE State your NAME escape DEMAND obedience injured/killed injured/killed Act HAUGHTY combat combat Act MEEK injured/killed injured/killed Offer TEN gold injured/killed injured/killed injured/killed Offer HUNDRED gold injured/killed injured/killed injured/killed Offer ONE artifact injured/killed injured/killed injured/killed Offer TWO artifacts SAY "Turkulon" injured/killed injured/killed injured/killed SAY (one word) FLEE combat combat combat Turukulon is recruitable, but perhaps only by the Dragon Lord. The correct response is thought to be 10,000 gold or 1/2 artifact(s). 5.22 Uruial Options Free Peoples Neutrals Nations Dark Servants State your ALLEGIANCE combat combat recruited State your NAME injured/killed injured/killed injured/killed DEMAND obedience Act HAUGHTY combat combat escape Act MEEK escape unharmed* Offer TEN gold Offer HUNDRED gold Offer ONE artifact Offer TWO artifacts SAY (one word) FLEE combat combat 6. Tracking NPCs and Dragons One way to track an NPC or dragon (the latter for easy re-recruitment, once it leaves your army) is simply to transfer a minor artifact to it. These characters tend to be hard to find via 'Locate Character True' spells, but their artifacts are not. For example, in game 60 I never once managed to locate Gandalf with 'Locate Character True'; however, I tracked him five turns in a row by locating his ring, Nenya (obviously, Gandalf and Galadriel already have artifacts, so none need to be transferred to them). In another game, Throkmaw was transferred a minor artifact, allowing the evils to run him down and recruit him every time he left the army or the army was destroyed. The goods never did figure out just how they managed to do it.... Another option is to transfer artifacts you capture from the other side to a dragon. This general keeps them out of enemy hands for quite some time. Dragons are VERY hard to steal from. Galadriel and Tom Bombadil (if you can find the old buzzard) are also good choices (very high skill ranks, hard to steal from), although I heard Tom sometimes drops things because he forgets about them....