How is a mortal man with only arms and armor, (and without the assistance of magic or miracles) supposed to defeat a Dragon?
Remember, we're talking about a beast that is not only larger than any currently living land animal, but also has the ability to breath fucking fire.
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Depends on the setting.
If you're in a high fantasy setting, you go up and hit the fucker with a sword, because that's how high fantasy works.
If you're going to assume the existence of the fire-breathing dragon but not the possibility that a fantastic knight could do this through training and willpower, I suggest numbers, poison, and range.
>without the assistance of magic or miracles
Since when has this happened? Every dragon slaying story I've heard of has the knight have a magic item of some sort or the assistance of a divine being. Why are you imparting imaginary restrictions on this scenario?
...
Thinking about it a moment, I was oversimplifying.
You can hit it with any kind of weapon. Or shoot it with arrows. Or challenge it with a riddle or some other kind of skill.
Part of the tropes of heroic fantasy is that the monster fights you on a relatively even footing. It might not make sense, but it looks cool and is the most fun to read/watch/play, which is why it's the norm.
In a grittier setting, a single mortal man cannot defeat something like a Dragon without the aid of exceptional planning, magic or military might. It doesn't really go both ways.
Via incredibly tight co-ordination with his team-mates, a strong sense of professionalism, and a plan that was worked out years in advance but still resolves into utter chaos once put into action.
Well there ya go.
I assume with no magic or miracles the knight would have access to whatever equipment he could use.
>supposed to
this confuses the reader
Is it...destiny, that the dragon is defeated? Remember, a dragon is the ultimate monster -- it's the manifestation of all the guilt and evil and nefarious purpose a people can imagine.
Smaug got taken down with a single arrow.
Look at the movie Dragonslayer -- the dragon died through wizardly subterfuge because its time was at an end.
But look at ANY movie where a giganto monster is the focus for the hero -- look at Luke Skywalker vs. the Death Star. He took, down the "dragon" because
>1. he was the hero
>2. it was too big, too evil and too awful for the universe to tolerate
I think you missed the point pretty bad. The question is how does a normal man, with no magic or the like, defeat a monster as powerful as a dragon.
And the answer is that they don't without some form of ridiculous plot contrivance.
Can't be done.
St. George required a magic tree that healed him every night after the fight.
Well there's you go
Also
>What is Monster Hunter?
Just stab it in the chest you pussy
By stabing the shit out of it until it dies
There isn't actually a set size for how big dragons are. They tend to be depicted as bigger than mountains in artwork because it's cool.
In videogames, the biggest dragon I've fought is probably Grigori from Dragon's Dogma, a game where you fight big enemies by climbing around on their bodies and gouging their vitals instead of cutting their ankles. There are probably bigger ones in MMOs but who gives a shit about those, they don't even have real combat. Dragons in Skyrim are pretty small by comparison and are a realistic candidate for hitting really hard with a greataxe.
As far as D&D dragons go, all depictions of them are in artwork so you start thinking they're mountain sized, but I don't think they are. A young dragon is as big as a horse and adults are maybe elephant sized. You can climb around on their bodies in that too if you're playing an edition where martials are allowed to do things.
So yeah just hit them with a sword if they're small enough for a sword to still be deadly, climb onto their back and give them the death by 1,000 papercuts if they're mountain sized.
>also has the ability to breath fucking fire
Why does that matter? Unless you're just a memer who thinks fantasy men should only be as strong and durable as dave from accounting, in which case kill yourself.
>implying monster hunter PCs still qualify as mortal men
Even in their own setting hunters are freaks
>You can climb around on their bodies in that too if you're playing an edition where martials are allowed to do things.
So none.
But doesn't Gurthang technically count as magic? It could talk
4e and to a lesser extent 5e improve things for Martials, although I don't think either has rules for the kind of thing he's describing.
But in D&D fighting dragons relies on the fantasy tropes described in
And it didn't help at all, the asshole. The only times it ever did shit was to ruin Turin's life some more.
5e has rules for climbing around on huge and larger monsters in the DMG. It's on page 271.
>As far as D&D dragons go, all depictions of them are in artwork so you start thinking they're mountain sized, but I don't think they are. A young dragon is as big as a horse and adults are maybe elephant sized.
I don't know what edition you're thinking of, but in AD&D an old dragon is 100+ feet long.
In my setting, the answer is guerilla fighters armed with Elephant guns.
Dragonscale repels most steel, but humans outnumber dragons, and nitro-express rounds kill the beast. They're not hard to hit, and they can burn all they like, but eventually one of us will catch it with its pants down.
If I recall muskets had more power than most modern firearms, since most modern firearms are more efficient and you don't need a whole lot to kill a human. By extension, a matchlock arquebus might do the trick if your dragon is weak.
If you have no black powder, then I suggest you use traps. In the Kojiki, Susanowo managed to slay a hydra by getting it drunk. It's not inconceivable you could get a metric shitton of hemlock and cram it into a sheep's stomach, then leave it out somewhere for the dragon to eat.
Collapsing the cave on it might work. Hard to do without black powder. Guess you could try a spiked log dropping from the trees. This fight starts to look like Ewoks fighting ATST walkers. If you're dragons are smart, you'll have to be particularly clever about this.
Its doable. But mostly relies on the dragon fucking up in some way.
Because the plot demands it.
Actually, that'd make a great setting.
You play as the BBEG(Triggered yet), whether it be giant dragon, Warlord, Evil Demigod, whatever.
And because of the high concentration of Narratonium(Thank you Sir Pratchett) you're always destined to lose to some farmboy.
The whole goal of the game isn't to figure out how to win, it's to figure out how to lose with such grace that you still somehow come out on top.
Get a dire rat mount and charge.
With an A-10 Thunderbolt.
In most myths and folktales if the hero isn't ridiculously, mindbogglingly good at fighting he tends to just cheat. Plenty of stories have heroes lying in ambush and striking when the time is right.
The balance between the two would probably be the hero learning the dragons weaknesses before the fight and using them to win. Distracting the dragon with something that makes it especially angry, diving into it's blind-spot and going for the soft parts between it's scales.
Lol
He'll probably show up too
He doesn't?
If it's a D&D/Pathfinder dragon. Then it usually has at least above average intelligence (except maybe Whites), which means they should know to engage said mortal man with only arms and armor in an open area where it can fly around and fire bomb him to death from a safe distance.
And even if it's not a D&D/Pathfinder. it's still THE Alpha Predator of the region so it'll still probably know to do that.
>a magic tree
Seems pretty fucking heretical for a story about a Christian Saint
ABANDON ALL DELUSIONS OF CONTROL
Why is that knight woman showing off her sexy thighs?
It's left ambiguous whether the arrow is magical or not, but it was forged by Thrór, who was the King under the Mountain of the Lonely Mountain. At the very least it has always been retrievable after being fired, which is unlikely for a mundane arrow.
>2 Kings 2:23
"And he went up from thence unto Bethel: and as he was going up by the way, there came forth little children out of the city, and mocked him, and said unto him, Go up, thou bald head; go up, thou bald head."
>2 Kings 2:24
"And he turned back, and looked on them, and cursed them in the name of the LORD. And there came forth two she bears out of the wood, and tare forty and two children of them"
Since child-murdering druids are apparently part of Biblical canon I don't see why a magic tree is out of place.
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You got an answer the first time, now fuck off.
Crowbar under the scales, spray liquid nitrogen onto the softer tissue underneath, smash with a hammer.
He:
>Waits until it sleeps.
or
>Shoots it with a catapult/ballista/other siege weapon.
or
>hits its weak point for massive damage
>If I recall muskets had more power than most modern firearms
Nah mang. Not even close
Get a group of friends, invest your families life savings in arrows and a bow each, and take advantage of its Reptilian brain to split its attack off as each arrow strikes it, causing it to chase the last source of pain.
Bring lots of arrows.
If your Beowulf you just crush its heart
Oh, so a magic talking bush is ok but a magic healing tree is too far?
Pure and selfless faith.
>no miracles
If you call it a miracle, then your faith isn't strong enough.
Why don't you just use your mod powers to delete the thread?
On high fantasy or mythical settings you do it bt being that badass.
Otherwise numbers, traps, sneak attacks and siegle weapons (like cannons and stuff)
Shoot it till it dies, and pray it breathes its fire on the other thousand guys
Siegfried killed it by hidding on a hole on the ground and stabbing it on the neck when the dragon passed over him (to be fair, most depections of Fafner are more snake/aligator like than the traditional dragon).
In another story he was shallowed and cut his way out of the dragon's maw
A convoluted scheme involving helicopters, skydivers, nets, and a ballista
A long time ago, when humans had no tech (not even metal weapons), we chased things until they died. Reptiles for the most part require specific living conditions to live.
TLDR: Waves and waves of humans to keep the dragon fighting until it dies of exhaustion. #chosenone.
All of the old depictions of dragons make them look small, shitty, and pathetic. Makes me wonder how anyone was supposed to find them threatening.
How is mortal man with only spears and rowboats (and without the assistance of magic or miracles) supposed to hunt a whale?
>If I recall muskets had more power than most modern firearms
Musket have about 1700J muzzle energy so about what 7.62X39mm ( the Ak 47 round for the non K/ommando ). Heavier ones used by number of middle east army like the jezail are about 2300J which puts it very close to what 6.8mm Remington SPC (what the US army is moving to) or .270 British ( what NATO almost moved to in the 1950s).
Strong but far from elephant gun strong.
>nitro-express rounds kill the beast
First gen express round had a lot of issue killing rhinos which would be a good stand in for a dragon. Not say it could not be done but it would be a lot of trial and error to get good working cartridge.
Let us now have a moment of silence for all of fictitious pioneer of dragon slaying who died... may the cube take their souls to the great hunting ground in the sky.
PS I like your idea on the matter
That looks like the sickest shit.
Remember, whales breathe fire
One swing at a time.
Havent you played dark souls?
>How is a mortal man with only arms and armor, (and without the assistance of magic or miracles) supposed to defeat a Dragon?
If is a Norse style (think Beowulf) dragon he is not supposed to be able to do that. Dragons are the destroyers of armies and ruination of kingdoms. Normal mortal men do not stop that type of thing on their own. That is deep into the area of team effort.
It will take planing, scouts, made for purpose weapons and armor, a handful of very skilled & brave warriors, and lastly a willingness to take casualties.
PS Beowulf was by NO means a normal man.
In the original epic Beowulf was basically a 20th level Paladin of God.
I don't know; orbital weaponry put a big dent in Feuerschwinge.
Well, it's true that they had more power in the charge. Vut because of utilizing it poorly, considerably smaller portion of that power translated into kinetic energy of the bullet.
The poor beasts are starving since there are not enough food around to feed them.
It was a metaphorical foe that was the knights sins given terrible flesh.
Slaying the dragon was a way to say a knight has "conquered" his sins, and thus become holy, thus closer to God.
A-10. One of the best breath-weapons until we get to Beams.
Betcha it was also a euphemism for masturbation.
>Spent the night slaying the dragon, if...
A crocodile will fuck you up if you're not paying attention.
Are you just being pedantic or really suggesting that fire-breath is the sole significant factor?
By being so mundane he invokes the reality that a Dragon would be incapable of flight, couldn't reach past its snout, and can't breathe fire.
Also he posts pedantic arguments to make himself feel better about playing editions of D&D where martials aren't very good.
>How is a mortal man with only arms and armor, (and without the assistance of magic or miracles) supposed to defeat a Dragon?
Step one: remove the dragon's food supply by killing it's main prey animals to extinction and removing other animals away from it's territory.
Step two: destroy and occupy all potential nesting sights and shelter spots for the dragon.
Step three: pollute the dragon's natural habitat to weaken the creature over time.
Step four: after suffering from starvation+toxins wait for the over-stressed dragon to crash on a non-safe spot for it (because no safe caves for it to retreat to, remember part two) and stab it through the eye with a long sword or other thrusting weapon, making sure the tip reaches and penetrates the brain.
This kills the dragon (and the ecosystem).
Dive down its throat when it opens its mouth and wedge yourself in. It'll choke to death, then crawl out
Tire it out.
Men defeated wild animals back in the day because we just kept running after them until they got too tired and then fucked them up.
Dragons would use a phenomenal amount of energy in order to fly and even more to BREATHE FIRE.
If it's dumb like a dinosaur you could eventually wear it down and kill it.
If it's smarter than a man, then no, he's fucked.
Knight has a serbian template and the dragon has a muslim template and you can even have him fight(and utterly destro the dragon) with a sharp stick and a loin cloth if its an iberian template.
Poison the son of a bitch.
Cold steel and a fiery will, milk drinker.
>keep throwing people at it, at some point it will get tired of eating them
>dragon exist
>but superpowerful fighters are still unrealistic
>feed it africans
>wait for AIDS to take it's magical toll
With a singular strike.
Damn, is this really a 3ds game?
>Why does that matter? Unless you're just a memer who thinks fantasy men should only be as strong and durable as dave from accounting, in which case kill yourself.
Pretty much, it's a waste of my time to play as Dave from accounting. Might as well just do some accounting myself.
Same way man has killed anything since the dawn of time.
Using a pointy stick.
>larger than any currently living land animal
Why do you think this?
Historical depictions of dragons were never that large, the idea of super massive dragons is retarded and based upon mythical monsters faced by gods like Thor, not the mythical beasts paladins slew. Look at medieval art. Dragons are only slightly bigger than a man, around the size of a horse.
>not outsmarting the bastard
Arbalest
Without magic and miracles dragons are physically impossible to survive so he would just have to wait for the inevitable cardiac arrest or spontaneous combustion.
...
protip: hit it until it dies
Not to mention he's a faggot
Collaborate with many other people to hit it with siege weapons, immobilize it and then poke it to death, poison it or bury it under rubble.
In christain terms 'saint' means 'god or hero of another religion we renamed so you can continue to worship but you're now a christain(tm)'
He doesn't, unless he's really fucking lucky.
In "realistic" scenario it would take a large hunting party to take a dragon down, and they sure wouldn't be using swords
An A-10 is a good start.
>Look at medieval art. Dragons are only slightly bigger than a man, around the size of a horse.
Do you also believe that Castles are about 20 by 20 foot sized?
Medieval Art is hardly a reputable source for size and proportion
I'm pretty sure that's Narrativium, not Narratonium
Sorry, pet peeve
>tiny head
Why do so many character sketches do this? I mean the rest of him is fairly proportional, but his head just looks minute.
The specific answer to that question varies wildly upon a number of scenarios, but in general it boils down to a simple philosophy:
>There's no such thing as a fair fight, so make sure it's unfair for the other guy
Now, in the case of the generic late medieval fantasy setting, here's what I'd recommend:
>EXTENSIVELY study the dragon's habits.
What are its physical needs? How often/how much/what does it eat/drink? How often/how long does it sleep? Is there any way these physical needs can be exploited?
>EXTENSIVELY study the dragon's physiology
Exactly what does it take to pierce a dragon's hide? Are there any weak spots to exploit? How far/fast can it fly? How long can it breathe fire? How fast can it run? How vulnerable are its wings?
>EXTENSIVELY study the dragon's psychology
How intelligent is the dragon? Is it more/less intelligent than a human? Does it HAVE to be slain? Is there reasonable alternative? If not, does it have any intellectual/emotional weaknesses that could be exploited?
Once you know the dragon inside, out, and upside down, THEN you will know how it can be killed. Exploit as many of its weaknesses as you can manage, and circumvent its strengths when possible.
tl;dr A man armed with knowledge and armored with wisdom can slay anything, no matter what weapons at his disposal.
They can't, at least not if the dragons are as intelligent and physically/magically powerful as most modern depictions make them out to be.
Such a creature predating man, would outright prevent them from even reaching any state of civilization if it actually were alive long enough, and smart enough to realize humans would eventually become a threat to them.
I think you accidentally wrote an issue of Fell's Five
By being pure of heart, silly.
Also being a virgin probably.