Bombard it with grease spells, over lubricating it and causing its gears to spin faster and faster, and ruin its internal timing, causing it to break it's more delicate gears. Basically overclock it to death... Or just hit it with a metal to stone spell...
@@ChazTheYouthful So they should be known as “The only explodes sometimes, likewhenthereareloudnoiseswhatareyoudoingdon’tLOOKatitthatHARDitwillgoBOOM” dragon?
Love the idea of clockwork enemies and adore the clockwork dragon! Wish the artificer was more involved with constructions or clockwork creations! It'll be badass to be a gnome wizard that sits on their construct like a mount.
My mind is already abuzz with a kobold cult who instead of worshiping Tiamat or serving a living dragon instead built their Dragon. Instead of the usual forms of dragon worship of bringing it gold they instead meticulously work to build and/or repair these mechanical monstrosities. Their machine god.
Well this is fantastic. Gives me a great idea for a high level dungeon too. *Tomb of the Artificer* An ancient tomb of a master craftsman fit to shame all other master craftsman, with defenses prepared by the man himself before his death. I'm talking a multi-layer dungeon, with complex and deadly traps well hidden among intricate architecture- we're talking 20-25 DC just to notice the basic ones. Throw in some corridors that silently shift when outside the PC's view, and numerous dead ends with immaculate art and deadly traps all their own. Populate it with Flying Swords (buffed, obviously), Animated Armor, Helmed Horrors, Sheild Guardians (a buffed and linked pair might make for a particularly interesting fight), Stone Golems, Iron Golems, and finally a pair of Lesser Clockwork Dragons. Once those two finally go down, the players catch their breath, congratulate themselves on their victory, and then nearly die from terror as the stonework shifts to reveal the Artificer's true masterpiece: a hulking, creaking, three headed terror of a machine, with eyes of fire and death. As for why they'd step foot in a deathtrap like that, well, there's a few reasons off the top of my head: - The Artificer was entombed with the mcguffin. - The Artificer was entombed with the tools necessary to repair the mcguffin. - The Artificer was entombed with his greatest martial works (IE: Legendary/Artifact tier magic items). - The tomb served as his study and workshop in life, and something is needed from them. Perhaps he was a great traveler of the Planes, and had a particular Tuning Fork or invaluable notes in a journal. - Rescuing dumb adventurers. - Being dumb adventurers. - As a test of metal, or penance for a crime. - In pursuit of the BBEG (who somehow has an item granting him safe passage). There's any number of options really. Extra points if the Artificer is actually alive (via Divine/Fiendish chicanery, Elfy/Fae nonsense, or undeath) and faked his demise because: *A.* he wanted people to stop disturbing him with petty nonsense and allow the him to tinker in peace. or *B.* he was tired of seeing his creations twisted into machines of war and carnage, and so decided to hide away and, ahem, _discourage_ anyone from delving deep enough to discover him. (This actually brings up another potential motive for the PCs, trading favors with a God of death who is tired of waiting on the man). Man, would you ever need a big red danger flag over this for your PCs though. Assuming you've actually read this far, have you considered streaming any of your dnd sessions? I think it would be quite interesting to see how you run a game.
I hate clocks as well as this silly concept some people call "time", blah. Boo & a hiss! But I seriously want that clockwork dragon clock!!! So adorable 💜
As the tail shreds the air and ground on impact it sents shrapnel and dust into the air. Making your saving throw means you just get hit with the explosion of grit and possibly some venting from the tail attack.
“The deluxe has three heads and is of a much greater size.” You forgot to mention that it’s self warming and vibrates. (Runs on D batteries, not included)
For some reason now I can't help but think of a Dungeons & Dragons version of The Cult of Apple What you can get the standard-issue Clockwork Dragon which comes with a single head and a single control circlet and that'll cost you about 49000 gold pieces or you can upgrade to the 16GB three-headed deluxe package for 100 thousand gold pieces
It's a gnome it's always a gnome Steve Jobs wasn't a human he was a gnome using illusion magic He didn't die he just transformed into Jeff Bezos Hey at least in the Forgotten Realms customer service would be a lot more interesting
I would love to use one as a npc/companion. I have an idea for a int based kobold artificer raised by tinker gnomes... maybe with a wyrmling best-friend/sibling that he has to save from near-death during an inciting incident in their backstory...? Can’t really think of a good way to tie-in how to use the clockwork as a phylactory of some kind or a reason to be more than a sentient magic item or have more autonomy than any regular automaton/clockwork or more substantial backstory than a warforged or something.
The Clockwork Dragon is one of my favorite from the CoM . Augment it with two more heads and you have a Mecha King Ghidorah , then release it on Waterdeep . B)
I created a homebrew "clockwork dragon" in a 1990s campaign (2nd Ed AD&D) I ran. The players were visiting Gnome Town and had a variety of technological marvels they can purchase. My clockwork dragon is commanded by a cockpit inside the head and it's much larger and tougher. However, only smaller humanoids can fit and effectively use the cockpit. Its breath weapon is steam. The dragon must consume water and eat fuel (coal, wood, oil, etc). There was only one magical component, the power orb. The power orb keeps it lubricated, super-enhances burning temperature of fuel and makes it self-repair (heal) when idle. It cannot last long at all in a low magic to dead magic area. I also have a giant Movian artifact called "Mechadragon." It is a technological marvel left over from the Movian Empire, an empire of magically un-gifted humanoids that can hold their own against even outer-planar creatures. I created that one in the 90s too. It was after binge-watching and binge-playing Godzilla, Shadow Run, Final Fantasy, and Conan stuff. The cockpit was in the head of that one too, but it can accommodate up to the lower end of large humanoids. It bonds with the user's mind. Inside that artifact, groups of dragons are not much of an enemy. It is powered up by converting heat, electricity and-or magic launched against it. It was vulnerable to magical cold and any negative/quasi-negative planar energy. When the players got that one, they parked it in a volcano. They didn't use it much in combat as no experience was gained by most fights it was used in. It was their a-bomb. Dumb players getting it lose it quickly as they wipe it out. Combat really drains it. It seems OP, it is very OP at first, but the thing needs recharging and it does so slowly unless a LOT of energy is thrown at it. It's perfect against dragons. Unfortunately, most dragons are really smart and all know the history of Mechadragon. Also, acquiring it is noticed by nearly all long-lived beings on the planet as well as the gods and powers. It uses zero magic but it is effective against magic. Gnomes and Dwarves don't malfunction that artifact.
Hrm, I wonder if, in the game universe, clockwork dragons can be enchanted so that, if they're somehow rendered into more than one piece, the pieces would begin moving back towards each other and reassemble; probably not reassemble to 100%, but more like it can walk/bite/slash at least, while more complicated stuff working again would require someone to manually...reinstall during downtime So yeah, for example, you use that mentioned self-destruct attack; after the parts have finished slamming and smashing everything around it, all is quiet for a bit; any surviving enemies, thinking they're now safe from at least the dragon, lower their guard somewhat, and turn their attention to any of their opponent's remaining characters; however, due to their attention having shifted, they don't notice the bits and pieces of the dragon beginning to roll/skitter/whatever towards each other, not until it's essentially too late. Surprise! You now have a mostly-functional dragon to deal with again! Another thought is if it's possible to magic every piece of the dragon (yes I am fully aware that that would take a ton of time, energy, and probably money and supplies, but that's just another hurdle) so that, if the individual pieces are damaged, like say, a dent in one of the neck pieces or something, they would, over time, "heal" back to their normal shape, of when they weren't damaged; general wear-and-tear would still be a thing, at the very least, and if certain parts are damaged in certain ways, it could impede the dragons functionality Then there's the idea of *_combining_* the two ideas, which I doubt I need to really go into by this point .....I'm rambling now, I think; probably time to sleep; sorry for the wordy post that may or may not make any sense to anybody, I'm _pretty_ sure it made at least a little bit of sense in my head at the time. Shutting up now...
Glyphs of the Mending spell all over it with Permanency cast on them? Troll blood mixed in with the oil? I can think of a few ways to make this idea work, altho I'd make them variants of the lesser dragon. Giving the greater dragon even more bells and whistles (not sorry about this pun at all) just seems like overkill.
@@Zasek2112 tsk tsk tsk, silly Zasek2112, have you forgotten one of the cardinal rules of not only DnD, but life itself? *_There's no such thing as overkill!_* :P
I would add full body gestures for controlling a clockwork dragon. The idea of a trio of gnome artificers flailing about like power rangers behind a rampaging dragon makes me giggle. Also if the party gains control of the dragon, witch they will, then having the players describe their actions would just be hilarious.
I have seen some horrid things in my life and it helps when explaining certain effects to my players. I once watched a coworker accidentally have a small chunk ov metal slag melt to his arm. Melted thru the flesh like a hot knife thru butter. So awful. Also watched a similar situation except it was molten sugar. And it melted almost down to the bone. Helps me explain damage being done in some rather graphic ways. And I use my own homemade critical roll table for calling shots or when precision is needed. So if someone gets stabbed in a bar fight I can get into some gruesome details. And I hike a lot. I have a route I hike going from the large city inland and make my way thru the coastal mountains. But it helps explain to my players why it is much more difficult to carry 50+ pounds on your back while carrying a weapon & armor.
I would say that clockwork dragons could have a different breath weapon depending on it's construction, there are pictures here showing an electrical discharge for example, or why couldn't the oil reservoir be replaced with a tank of compressed chlorine gas or liquid oxygen or nitrogen (cold), especially on the multi-headed dragons this could be feasible. A little variety to throw off player characters.
"A little variety to throw off player characters." I do that with every campaign with every top challenge. It is my rule of "cubing the square." I had to change its name in the 90s because of a spell related game release. Since then I call it the "Rule of This Planet in Loom." Top-tier enemies are, at the beginning of the campaign, tweaked to be different from the published sources of AD&D. Unless the player is using a Lore skill, the original Lore is a mere guideline.
I like the idea of an undead or some other creature immune to exhaustion controlling one. After the battle the party recovers the control crown. Then they find the limitation of using just one. So crestfallen.
I'm just sitting here while listening to this & picturing a massive Clockwork Dragon designed to function as a sort of Airship. would be awesome to see.
I'd have the Greater Clockwork Dragon have a different breath attack for each head. The fire breath for one, a pneumatic cannon with 10 shots, and a sonic scream. Like the old-school Skull Lord it would have a lower hit point pool than normal that it cycles through 3 times, breaking a random head each time.
Ooh, I have two similar dragons to the one at 0:51 . My gf, now wife, got me them since I like mechanical creatures (I use Clockwork Dragon and Clockwork Horror as handles in some videogames ).
I suppose the damage on a dodged swipe from the tail would depend if it hit anything else nearby. Maybe if it misses your character it hits the ground where you were standing or a nearby building showering you in sparks, splintered wood and chips of stone. I'm thinking about how in the days of wooden warships a near miss from a cannon ball penetrating the hull next to someone was often almost as bad for them as being hit by the ball its self.
I like the concept of a clockwork dragon having a secondary breath weapon like a single target cannonball shot, it wouldn't be magical but could do a massive amount bludgeoning damage and might theoretically also deal a small amount of thunder and/or slashing/piercing damage in a 5ft radius at the point of impact. Imaging the horror of the players as their fighter gets laid out from a single hit to then hear the sound of another cannonball rolling inside the beast, into the mechanical dragon's throat cavity readying another shot for it's next round. The trade off would be that the other players would be spared the damage but could take a player out early giving them less actions at their disposal. Edit: Additionally if you incorporate legendary actions give it a buckshot attack that it can use, again not magical and does less damage and has a shorter range than the oil breath but aesthetically sells the man-made nature of the creature the players are fighting.
Grape shot, would be good too, you should research the history of cannons. *thinks of every type and use in a clockwork dragons mouth* hell maybe it just letting afew grenades/bombs roll out of it's mouth on timed fuses, at the biggining of combat, only to fly away, or hedge itself against an incline so they explode in it's advantage. 🐉🤓💣⏱💥
Hey AJ, missed this video. I was looking up the Orange Dragon, when I came across this video. Love your channel! You always surprise me. Really enjoyed hearing about Clockwork Dragon hidden under a warship, (jaw-dropping). My mother is making dice bags for my son & myself. She going to embroider the Orange Dragon on one side. You always have the best pic's. Had to hand pick the threat out. I will send you pic's when they are finished. Thanks AJ for both of these wonderful videos & have a great day.
Those tails are no joke, you could say in its one attack it fails its tail wildly smashing apart the ground and anything else nearby. The debris and erratic tail would be impossible to fully avoid so at least half damage seems fair
I don’t know about healing magic. I would say casting mending at least as a level 7 spell if it is possible to upcast a cantrip...? Or just give them some clockwork servants as minions with a repair action functioning like a lair action, maybe?
Maybe if you make a saving throw vs the tail a mechanism triggers due to traveling a distance without impact and causes it to snap in the other direction and graze you dealing half damage.
Hello AJ I have been planning a special gauntlet passageway for a later game and this is a perfect addition to challenge the players. On another note I was wondering if you plan on talking about the Spellplaug at some point or saving it for a special occasion.
I think an airship would probably be a far more effective, and far cheaper, war machine. That's not to say the clockwork dragon doesn't have advantages. For example, if a clockwork dragon manages to land upon an enemy airship, and finds a gap in the firing arches, it could tear it apart. The clockwork dragon also requires less crew to operate. But, I'd suspect that the airship would have the advantage most of the time if they see the clockwork dragon coming, especially if it uses WWI grade weapons. In a steampunk scenario, its best use is probably more along the lines of special forces, as something that will sabotage airships in dock.
That's what I would call, how about, "Death Star Effect". The alternative of using all that money and materials to build whole armies and armadas is far more effective, but the very fact of having such a superweapon merits own power. The ability to dish out enough destruction in a single moment and point is more impresive than having even more forces. Downscale to clockwork dragons and airships - while a zeppelin would be far within reach of many a magical society, and be far more versatile and cheaper, you have pointed out the actual viability of a clockwork dragon compared to its pure destructive power, which means a clockwork dragon is reglated to role of a fast can of whoopass best opened onto weak spots, like docks, and I guess its pure intimidative power could be used against troops or civilians. Sorry.
Imagine a platinum clockwork dragon...... 14:15 Imagine the stress of characters cutting through four clockwork dragons in a dungeon and then encountering a platinum one and tearing their heads in half over whether to flee the unknown threat level of a shiny version of the already terrible beasts ("everyone let's just cut and run, I don't want to know how many d6 that thing rolls on their breath weapon.") versus the lure of a literal metric ton of Platinum.
Hello AJ. I love the video and all of the videos that you do. Thank you. But i have to call out something. "The artifact creature itself is native to the unique plane of mirrodin" Actually the clock work dragon first appeared in the mtg lore during the antiquety war. It appeared mysteriously one night and attacked a Suwwardi slave camp until Mishra (Urza's brother) used the weak stone and bent it to its will. The clockwork dragons native plane is debatable cause it could have been of thran or Phyrexian design or both as it was never stated in the book [the brothers war]. But one things for sure. Mirrodin did not exist during that time because Karn(the silver golem Planeswalker and creator of Mirrodin) hadn't been built by Urza yet.
@@AJPickett Ah. But the clockwork dragon was made of brass and copper materials. And Uzra never discovered a way to time travel objects unless they made of silver. Hense way uzra made the silver golem karn. :)
@@AJPickett however even if that cloakwork dragon was made of silver. Why would urza leave in the dessert of dominaria for mishra to find unless... he wanted his brother to find it in the hopes that he would stop Urza's past self from rising to power with in Yotia that would have eventually lead up to a series of events in which Urza spark ingnites and discovers Phyrexia. And in an ironic twist of fate the powerful yawgmoth that Urza so cold hearted dedicated and obsessed his entire life to defeat. was really Future Urza all along!!! 0.0 Dude that would be such poetic justice.
All I heard was "Weapon to surpass Metal Gear". Also you could switch out the fire breath for water breath if you want it to. Hydro cutters are a thing.
I get the feeling a real dragon would flip its fiddles. If it saw a clockwork dragon. I mean its kind of an abomination to them. They are after all just below demi gods in power. To see something mechanical that looks like them. Must be a bit of a slap in the face. I could be wrong.
@@AJPickett it would depend on dragon. Some would think its a quaint attempt by fleshy meat bags. Others would do their best with their breath weapon to murder such craftsmen for such a lacking parody.
Fantastic early level enemy idea, AJ! Would love to hear how upgrades for the clockwork dragon might be done, in your opinion. Here's some more images for you of unique clockwork dragons/dragon engines: Ramos: goo.gl/images/g2giYM Steel Hellkite: goo.gl/images/BSXZVz Draco: goo.gl/images/HAidYY
In his final transmetal form, Megatron from "Beast Wars" look like this bad boys. D&D version of Mecha King Ghidorah... What if someone cast a spell and Clockwork Dragon will become alive? Oh, oh and what about The Frankenstein Dagon? You know, Dragon made of dead dragons body parts? Sounds creepy and neat at the same time.
There is one of the latter! In 3.5 anywho. Look up "dragon golem," one of the things to pop up should be this patchwork dragon monstrosity. It's pretty rad.
I'm thinking of using a rudimentary clockwork dragon as a secret project a clan of kobolds are building out of found armor and weapons on battlefields of a recent war.
There is a perfect cinematic analogue to a clockwork dragon. The Colchis Bull scene from the Percy Jackson movie series. Mentally replace "bull" with "drake" and watch the scene. You'll get an idea of what a brass fire breathing clockwork death machine can do.
In response to your earlier question: perhaps the dexterity save is simply to determine if it is a direct or glancing blow, or some other method of reducing the damage, but it is simply too massive for a normal person (mostly non-rogues) to complacently avoid. P.s. if one walked through a portal, or some other instantaneous method of transportation, would it need to be deactivated first to avoid it immediately going rouge once out of range of the control devices? I could imagine some clueless from toril returning from sigil with their new war machine only to be its first victim as they are killed before they can re-attune.
here i'm catching with your videos in this new year ¡and found this! really cool stuff, i dont like the words overrated or underrated but i wish more people use the clockwork dragon they are awesome also free tip if you are tired of the evil wizard trope ¡try the insane scientist! trope it works surprisingly well in a fantasy setting i find oddily enough ( a guy who couldn't use magic so is interested in science ) and make a clockwork dragon his pet and/or deterrent
my take on the tail hurting you even on a successful save is pretty simple: it's too big to avoid. you don't save to avoid the hit as you can't (unless you are a rogue or monk who are nimble enough to actually manage it), you save to avoid the full force of the attack.
Imagine having a homebrew transformers D&D campaign and your players finding special type of clock work dragon that can transform from a clockwork humanoid robot mode to clockwork dragon mode and can transform into some type of power armor and combine with a random transformer kinda really doesn't matter if the random transformer is either a player character or a npc of sorts so long as they are a transformer...with one exception a organic (biologically) individual could pilot a custom made transformer body that can work as both a mech and armor for the said individual.
@@Dualbladedscorpion7737 even before that one. Generation 1 had some dragon-like ones. Not always winged though. And with things like Pretenders or Headmasters, you can be an organic and still have access to big clockwork thing.
Maybe for the half damage on the tail swipe is due to the tail not being smooth, so while you make the saving throw and get out of the way of the main body of the tail, you still get hit by a piece that is hanging off the tail.
I'm thinking the savings throw applies only if it hits, so first a roll to hit and if it does then a savings throw it see if it is a 'glancing blow'. making a save does not mean you avoid the attack (except in some cases like a disintegrate ray) if you are the target of a fireball you still take half damage if you make the save, it's not like a monk dodging or evading an attack altogether.
The clockwork dragon will still have to make an attack roll to see if they hit any character, a failed saving throw does full damage plus possible being pushed 10-20 feet away. I would think at least.
Bombard it with grease spells, over lubricating it and causing its gears to spin faster and faster, and ruin its internal timing, causing it to break it's more delicate gears.
Basically overclock it to death...
Or just hit it with a metal to stone spell...
clockwork dragons also known as the always on time dragon
A clockwork dragon with the personality of the rabbit from Alice in Wonderland would be hilarious.
You're clearly unfamiliar with gnomish clocks
@@ChazTheYouthful So they should be known as “The only explodes sometimes, likewhenthereareloudnoiseswhatareyoudoingdon’tLOOKatitthatHARDitwillgoBOOM” dragon?
It is just a rumor that somewhere in mechanus is a track where the best artifacers in existance compete in clockwork dragon races.
so, consider that idea stolen.
OOoooo I caught Mr Downvoter right on time today, lol.
"throws rock at said person"
@@Im-Not-a-Dog its possible...
Love the idea of clockwork enemies and adore the clockwork dragon! Wish the artificer was more involved with constructions or clockwork creations! It'll be badass to be a gnome wizard that sits on their construct like a mount.
These guys take "grinding my gears" to a whole other level.
My mind is already abuzz with a kobold cult who instead of worshiping Tiamat or serving a living dragon instead built their Dragon. Instead of the usual forms of dragon worship of bringing it gold they instead meticulously work to build and/or repair these mechanical monstrosities. Their machine god.
Kobold Dwemer?
Anothis Flame or have enslaved gnomes to make it
I'm stealing this idea.
Oh that's a good idea.
Read the discworld book raising steam.
Well this is fantastic. Gives me a great idea for a high level dungeon too.
*Tomb of the Artificer*
An ancient tomb of a master craftsman fit to shame all other master craftsman, with defenses prepared by the man himself before his death.
I'm talking a multi-layer dungeon, with complex and deadly traps well hidden among intricate architecture- we're talking 20-25 DC just to notice the basic ones.
Throw in some corridors that silently shift when outside the PC's view, and numerous dead ends with immaculate art and deadly traps all their own.
Populate it with Flying Swords (buffed, obviously), Animated Armor, Helmed Horrors, Sheild Guardians (a buffed and linked pair might make for a particularly interesting fight), Stone Golems, Iron Golems, and finally a pair of Lesser Clockwork Dragons. Once those two finally go down, the players catch their breath, congratulate themselves on their victory, and then nearly die from terror as the stonework shifts to reveal the Artificer's true masterpiece: a hulking, creaking, three headed terror of a machine, with eyes of fire and death.
As for why they'd step foot in a deathtrap like that, well, there's a few reasons off the top of my head:
- The Artificer was entombed with the mcguffin.
- The Artificer was entombed with the tools necessary to repair the mcguffin.
- The Artificer was entombed with his greatest martial works (IE: Legendary/Artifact tier magic items).
- The tomb served as his study and workshop in life, and something is needed from them. Perhaps he was a great traveler of the Planes, and had a particular Tuning Fork or invaluable notes in a journal.
- Rescuing dumb adventurers.
- Being dumb adventurers.
- As a test of metal, or penance for a crime.
- In pursuit of the BBEG (who somehow has an item granting him safe passage).
There's any number of options really. Extra points if the Artificer is actually alive (via Divine/Fiendish chicanery, Elfy/Fae nonsense, or undeath) and faked his demise because:
*A.* he wanted people to stop disturbing him with petty nonsense and allow the him to tinker in peace.
or
*B.* he was tired of seeing his creations twisted into machines of war and carnage, and so decided to hide away and, ahem, _discourage_ anyone from delving deep enough to discover him.
(This actually brings up another potential motive for the PCs, trading favors with a God of death who is tired of waiting on the man).
Man, would you ever need a big red danger flag over this for your PCs though.
Assuming you've actually read this far, have you considered streaming any of your dnd sessions? I think it would be quite interesting to see how you run a game.
Drake Ford traps lots of traps
Have you seen the movie “cube”
I may put up our recorded sessions...
Also stealing this idea. This comment section is like a lazy DM's wet dream
@@matthewbennett1972 I have not. Consider it put on the list.
I hate clocks as well as this silly concept some people call "time", blah. Boo & a hiss!
But I seriously want that clockwork dragon clock!!!
So adorable 💜
Time is perceived duration, it's real.
As the tail shreds the air and ground on impact it sents shrapnel and dust into the air. Making your saving throw means you just get hit with the explosion of grit and possibly some venting from the tail attack.
“The deluxe has three heads and is of a much greater size.” You forgot to mention that it’s self warming and vibrates. (Runs on D batteries, not included)
The damned batteries are NEVER included I swear.
its a back massager.
For some reason now I can't help but think of a Dungeons & Dragons version of The Cult of Apple
What you can get the standard-issue Clockwork Dragon which comes with a single head and a single control circlet and that'll cost you about 49000 gold pieces or you can upgrade to the 16GB three-headed deluxe package for 100 thousand gold pieces
It's a gnome it's always a gnome
Steve Jobs wasn't a human he was a gnome using illusion magic
He didn't die he just transformed into Jeff Bezos
Hey at least in the Forgotten Realms customer service would be a lot more interesting
I would love to use one as a npc/companion. I have an idea for a int based kobold artificer raised by tinker gnomes... maybe with a wyrmling best-friend/sibling that he has to save from near-death during an inciting incident in their backstory...? Can’t really think of a good way to tie-in how to use the clockwork as a phylactory of some kind or a reason to be more than a sentient magic item or have more autonomy than any regular automaton/clockwork or more substantial backstory than a warforged or something.
The Clockwork Dragon is one of my favorite from the CoM . Augment it with two more heads and you have a Mecha King Ghidorah , then release it on Waterdeep . B)
YES
I created a homebrew "clockwork dragon" in a 1990s campaign (2nd Ed AD&D) I ran. The players were visiting Gnome Town and had a variety of technological marvels they can purchase. My clockwork dragon is commanded by a cockpit inside the head and it's much larger and tougher. However, only smaller humanoids can fit and effectively use the cockpit. Its breath weapon is steam. The dragon must consume water and eat fuel (coal, wood, oil, etc). There was only one magical component, the power orb. The power orb keeps it lubricated, super-enhances burning temperature of fuel and makes it self-repair (heal) when idle. It cannot last long at all in a low magic to dead magic area.
I also have a giant Movian artifact called "Mechadragon." It is a technological marvel left over from the Movian Empire, an empire of magically un-gifted humanoids that can hold their own against even outer-planar creatures. I created that one in the 90s too. It was after binge-watching and binge-playing Godzilla, Shadow Run, Final Fantasy, and Conan stuff. The cockpit was in the head of that one too, but it can accommodate up to the lower end of large humanoids. It bonds with the user's mind. Inside that artifact, groups of dragons are not much of an enemy. It is powered up by converting heat, electricity and-or magic launched against it. It was vulnerable to magical cold and any negative/quasi-negative planar energy. When the players got that one, they parked it in a volcano. They didn't use it much in combat as no experience was gained by most fights it was used in. It was their a-bomb. Dumb players getting it lose it quickly as they wipe it out. Combat really drains it. It seems OP, it is very OP at first, but the thing needs recharging and it does so slowly unless a LOT of energy is thrown at it. It's perfect against dragons. Unfortunately, most dragons are really smart and all know the history of Mechadragon. Also, acquiring it is noticed by nearly all long-lived beings on the planet as well as the gods and powers. It uses zero magic but it is effective against magic. Gnomes and Dwarves don't malfunction that artifact.
6:30 Clockwork Dragon: the first Jaeger
First globally. I had it in my 90s AD&D game (2nd Ed)
For some reason I could see Percy and Taryon getting really hammered and building one of these just for the lulz.
Hahaha. Doty did come to my mind as I was watching this vid.
Festus
Who?
Hrm, I wonder if, in the game universe, clockwork dragons can be enchanted so that, if they're somehow rendered into more than one piece, the pieces would begin moving back towards each other and reassemble; probably not reassemble to 100%, but more like it can walk/bite/slash at least, while more complicated stuff working again would require someone to manually...reinstall during downtime
So yeah, for example, you use that mentioned self-destruct attack; after the parts have finished slamming and smashing everything around it, all is quiet for a bit; any surviving enemies, thinking they're now safe from at least the dragon, lower their guard somewhat, and turn their attention to any of their opponent's remaining characters; however, due to their attention having shifted, they don't notice the bits and pieces of the dragon beginning to roll/skitter/whatever towards each other, not until it's essentially too late. Surprise! You now have a mostly-functional dragon to deal with again!
Another thought is if it's possible to magic every piece of the dragon (yes I am fully aware that that would take a ton of time, energy, and probably money and supplies, but that's just another hurdle) so that, if the individual pieces are damaged, like say, a dent in one of the neck pieces or something, they would, over time, "heal" back to their normal shape, of when they weren't damaged; general wear-and-tear would still be a thing, at the very least, and if certain parts are damaged in certain ways, it could impede the dragons functionality
Then there's the idea of *_combining_* the two ideas, which I doubt I need to really go into by this point
.....I'm rambling now, I think; probably time to sleep; sorry for the wordy post that may or may not make any sense to anybody, I'm _pretty_ sure it made at least a little bit of sense in my head at the time. Shutting up now...
Glyphs of the Mending spell all over it with Permanency cast on them? Troll blood mixed in with the oil? I can think of a few ways to make this idea work, altho I'd make them variants of the lesser dragon. Giving the greater dragon even more bells and whistles (not sorry about this pun at all) just seems like overkill.
@@Zasek2112 tsk tsk tsk, silly Zasek2112, have you forgotten one of the cardinal rules of not only DnD, but life itself? *_There's no such thing as overkill!_*
:P
I would add full body gestures for controlling a clockwork dragon. The idea of a trio of gnome artificers flailing about like power rangers behind a rampaging dragon makes me giggle. Also if the party gains control of the dragon, witch they will, then having the players describe their actions would just be hilarious.
I have seen some horrid things in my life and it helps when explaining certain effects to my players.
I once watched a coworker accidentally have a small chunk ov metal slag melt to his arm. Melted thru the flesh like a hot knife thru butter. So awful.
Also watched a similar situation except it was molten sugar. And it melted almost down to the bone.
Helps me explain damage being done in some rather graphic ways. And I use my own homemade critical roll table for calling shots or when precision is needed. So if someone gets stabbed in a bar fight I can get into some gruesome details.
And I hike a lot. I have a route I hike going from the large city inland and make my way thru the coastal mountains. But it helps explain to my players why it is much more difficult to carry 50+ pounds on your back while carrying a weapon & armor.
I would say that clockwork dragons could have a different breath weapon depending on it's construction, there are pictures here showing an electrical discharge for example, or why couldn't the oil reservoir be replaced with a tank of compressed chlorine gas or liquid oxygen or nitrogen (cold), especially on the multi-headed dragons this could be feasible.
A little variety to throw off player characters.
"A little variety to throw off player characters."
I do that with every campaign with every top challenge. It is my rule of "cubing the square." I had to change its name in the 90s because of a spell related game release. Since then I call it the "Rule of This Planet in Loom." Top-tier enemies are, at the beginning of the campaign, tweaked to be different from the published sources of AD&D. Unless the player is using a Lore skill, the original Lore is a mere guideline.
I like the idea of an undead or some other creature immune to exhaustion controlling one. After the battle the party recovers the control crown. Then they find the limitation of using just one. So crestfallen.
It's always a good time for dragons!
(However, there is always my favorite c word, *context* .)
All this clockwork and it doesn't even tell time!
Always loved this concept
Lore and character
Great insight and storytelling AJ
3:26 gonna need a specialized Everfull Mug (oil) + permanent Magic Mouth for that.
I'm just sitting here while listening to this & picturing a massive Clockwork Dragon designed to function as a sort of Airship. would be awesome to see.
They can be controlled by instruments? so are you telling me the green power ranger's dragonzord was a clockwork dragon!?!?
Showing your age, Bro!
(...I remember how damn cool the Dragon Zord was too!)
Yup that sounds about right
Now we just need the other zord equivalents, hand em over to an entire party of angsty teen rangers and it's
*Go go Power Rangers*
Clockwork Dragons sound very similar to Dwemer constructs from Elder Scrolls, powered by oil, steam and harmonic resonance with pistons and gears
I'd have the Greater Clockwork Dragon have a different breath attack for each head. The fire breath for one, a pneumatic cannon with 10 shots, and a sonic scream. Like the old-school Skull Lord it would have a lower hit point pool than normal that it cycles through 3 times, breaking a random head each time.
Stealing this
Excellent thank you and have a good evening.
put a spelljammer helm on it, and use glyph of warding to give it extra spells, have the clockwork dragonship join your party.
The tail could kick up debrits that hit the player as they dodge or they're rolling over the tail as it swings by
Woo! More Dragons!
Ooh, I have two similar dragons to the one at 0:51 . My gf, now wife, got me them since I like mechanical creatures (I use Clockwork Dragon and Clockwork Horror as handles in some videogames ).
Clockwork dragons painted red go faster
100% true.
The art shows a great many spikes
And that’s why tail swipe misses do half damage
I suppose the damage on a dodged swipe from the tail would depend if it hit anything else nearby. Maybe if it misses your character it hits the ground where you were standing or a nearby building showering you in sparks, splintered wood and chips of stone.
I'm thinking about how in the days of wooden warships a near miss from a cannon ball penetrating the hull next to someone was often almost as bad for them as being hit by the ball its self.
I like the concept of a clockwork dragon having a secondary breath weapon like a single target cannonball shot, it wouldn't be magical but could do a massive amount bludgeoning damage and might theoretically also deal a small amount of thunder and/or slashing/piercing damage in a 5ft radius at the point of impact. Imaging the horror of the players as their fighter gets laid out from a single hit to then hear the sound of another cannonball rolling inside the beast, into the mechanical dragon's throat cavity readying another shot for it's next round. The trade off would be that the other players would be spared the damage but could take a player out early giving them less actions at their disposal.
Edit: Additionally if you incorporate legendary actions give it a buckshot attack that it can use, again not magical and does less damage and has a shorter range than the oil breath but aesthetically sells the man-made nature of the creature the players are fighting.
Dang. I'm taking notes.
Or a harpoon to drag mages into melee.
Grape shot, would be good too, you should research the history of cannons. *thinks of every type and use in a clockwork dragons mouth* hell maybe it just letting afew grenades/bombs roll out of it's mouth on timed fuses, at the biggining of combat, only to fly away, or hedge itself against an incline so they explode in it's advantage. 🐉🤓💣⏱💥
Hey AJ, missed this video. I was looking up the Orange Dragon, when I came across this video. Love your channel! You always surprise me. Really enjoyed hearing about Clockwork Dragon hidden under a warship, (jaw-dropping).
My mother is making dice bags for my son & myself. She going to embroider the Orange Dragon on one side. You always have the best pic's. Had to hand pick the threat out. I will send you pic's when they are finished.
Thanks AJ for both of these wonderful videos & have a great day.
The pic at 1:54 where did you find that? It looks nice
For the tail attack saving throw you don't get out of the way of it, you get at least grazed no matter what.
Those tails are no joke, you could say in its one attack it fails its tail wildly smashing apart the ground and anything else nearby. The debris and erratic tail would be impossible to fully avoid so at least half damage seems fair
A d&d dragon that even I haven't heard of? That's a pretty obscure deep cut! Really cool critter too ♥
Thanks for the awesome video!
Though new meridian may make it possible for clockwork dragons to be “born” in a sense of automation from the myr.
i love this monster
Can they be repaired using magic and can they be augmented with additional mechanisims and/or magic?
Yes.
I don’t know about healing magic. I would say casting mending at least as a level 7 spell if it is possible to upcast a cantrip...? Or just give them some clockwork servants as minions with a repair action functioning like a lair action, maybe?
Maybe if you make a saving throw vs the tail a mechanism triggers due to traveling a distance without impact and causes it to snap in the other direction and graze you dealing half damage.
I imagine a living dragon would be either deeply offended or flattered by a clockwork one
Safe bet. I think the only thing they would not be, is indifferent.
Aww no mention of legendary ones like Teeka's dragon.
Imagine if a warforged learn how to make them, and teach others too as well.
Hello AJ I have been planning a special gauntlet passageway for a later game and this is a perfect addition to challenge the players. On another note I was wondering if you plan on talking about the Spellplaug at some point or saving it for a special occasion.
I imagine these things could also come into the forgotten realms from the elemental plane of earth with the Dao.
rust monster wants to know your location
Good audio on this video in my opinion I like the card at beginning
I just had an idea... Cluckwark Chocobo.
I think an airship would probably be a far more effective, and far cheaper, war machine. That's not to say the clockwork dragon doesn't have advantages. For example, if a clockwork dragon manages to land upon an enemy airship, and finds a gap in the firing arches, it could tear it apart. The clockwork dragon also requires less crew to operate. But, I'd suspect that the airship would have the advantage most of the time if they see the clockwork dragon coming, especially if it uses WWI grade weapons. In a steampunk scenario, its best use is probably more along the lines of special forces, as something that will sabotage airships in dock.
That's what I would call, how about, "Death Star Effect". The alternative of using all that money and materials to build whole armies and armadas is far more effective, but the very fact of having such a superweapon merits own power. The ability to dish out enough destruction in a single moment and point is more impresive than having even more forces. Downscale to clockwork dragons and airships - while a zeppelin would be far within reach of many a magical society, and be far more versatile and cheaper, you have pointed out the actual viability of a clockwork dragon compared to its pure destructive power, which means a clockwork dragon is reglated to role of a fast can of whoopass best opened onto weak spots, like docks, and I guess its pure intimidative power could be used against troops or civilians. Sorry.
Imagine a platinum clockwork dragon...... 14:15
Imagine the stress of characters cutting through four clockwork dragons in a dungeon and then encountering a platinum one and tearing their heads in half over whether to flee the unknown threat level of a shiny version of the already terrible beasts ("everyone let's just cut and run, I don't want to know how many d6 that thing rolls on their breath weapon.") versus the lure of a literal metric ton of Platinum.
Only one ton? Something that big, that's a ton per pc
Anyone else ever feel bad for his players or is it just me his demon videos makes me cry for. Them
Works perfect for my campaign setting. Ty!
I assume you still take half damage from the tail if you Dodge because it still clips you or from the shockwave
Animated objects are pretty awesome too, animate a ship and you have a flying ship that you can teleport (with it's crew depending on the DM)
Its nice to hear about how to use creatures again. Your videos have lacked that recently.
yeah, I realised I was slipping a bit.
Hello AJ. I love the video and all of the videos that you do. Thank you.
But i have to call out something.
"The artifact creature itself is native to the unique plane of mirrodin"
Actually the clock work dragon first appeared in the mtg lore during the antiquety war. It appeared mysteriously one night and attacked a Suwwardi slave camp until Mishra (Urza's brother) used the weak stone and bent it to its will. The clockwork dragons native plane is debatable cause it could have been of thran or Phyrexian design or both as it was never stated in the book [the brothers war]. But one things for sure. Mirrodin did not exist during that time because Karn(the silver golem Planeswalker and creator of Mirrodin) hadn't been built by Urza yet.
Urza traveled in time did he not? Or at least, he built constructs to do so? Maybe the clockwork dragon was from the future? :)
@@AJPickett Ah. But the clockwork dragon was made of brass and copper materials. And Uzra never discovered a way to time travel objects unless they made of silver. Hense way uzra made the silver golem karn. :)
@@AJPickett however even if that cloakwork dragon was made of silver. Why would urza leave in the dessert of dominaria for mishra to find unless... he wanted his brother to find it in the hopes that he would stop Urza's past self from rising to power with in Yotia that would have eventually lead up to a series of events in which Urza spark ingnites and discovers Phyrexia. And in an ironic twist of fate the powerful yawgmoth that Urza so cold hearted dedicated and obsessed his entire life to defeat. was really Future Urza all along!!! 0.0
Dude that would be such poetic justice.
@@danstonmurphy buh... wow, that is some temporal machination on a grand scale!
@@AJPickettYO! thank you Mr. Pickett.
Love using these
All I heard was "Weapon to surpass Metal Gear". Also you could switch out the fire breath for water breath if you want it to. Hydro cutters are a thing.
I think it would do force and heat damage from a hydro-cutter, like an explosion, but with pressurized steam.
Quinton Craig Yeah something along those lines. Wait I just realized that I created the D&D version of Metal Gear Ray...
That instantly made me think of Mandalore's Limbo of the Lost episode.
I get the feeling a real dragon would flip its fiddles. If it saw a clockwork dragon. I mean its kind of an abomination to them. They are after all just below demi gods in power. To see something mechanical that looks like them. Must be a bit of a slap in the face. I could be wrong.
Depends on the dragon, a Metallic might feel amazed at the clever work of lesser races.
@@AJPickett it would depend on dragon. Some would think its a quaint attempt by fleshy meat bags. Others would do their best with their breath weapon to murder such craftsmen for such a lacking parody.
Fantastic early level enemy idea, AJ! Would love to hear how upgrades for the clockwork dragon might be done, in your opinion.
Here's some more images for you of unique clockwork dragons/dragon engines:
Ramos:
goo.gl/images/g2giYM
Steel Hellkite:
goo.gl/images/BSXZVz
Draco:
goo.gl/images/HAidYY
I guess making the save vs the tail sweep thematically you're just grazed by the blades as you narrowly fumble past it vs being hit squarely.
I kinda like the idea of some group of bat shit crazy artificers/alchemists Frankensteining a dead dragon with clockwork parts.
that sounds like a amazing idea lol
@@MRDicristofaro i agree
Fucking gnomes man...
Khamûl the Black Yes gnomes. XD
Thanks for the vid sir.👍🏼👍🏼
I think the half damage on a save os a glancing hit; the tail still hits u but barely and indirectly
In his final transmetal form, Megatron from "Beast Wars" look like this bad boys. D&D version of Mecha King Ghidorah... What if someone cast a spell and Clockwork Dragon will become alive?
Oh, oh and what about The Frankenstein Dagon? You know, Dragon made of dead dragons body parts? Sounds creepy and neat at the same time.
There is one of the latter! In 3.5 anywho. Look up "dragon golem," one of the things to pop up should be this patchwork dragon monstrosity. It's pretty rad.
I'm thinking of using a rudimentary clockwork dragon as a secret project a clan of kobolds are building out of found armor and weapons on battlefields of a recent war.
There is a perfect cinematic analogue to a clockwork dragon. The Colchis Bull scene from the Percy Jackson movie series. Mentally replace "bull" with "drake" and watch the scene. You'll get an idea of what a brass fire breathing clockwork death machine can do.
There is more than one Percy Jackson movie?
@@AJPickett The Lightning Thief & Sea of Monsters
In response to your earlier question: perhaps the dexterity save is simply to determine if it is a direct or glancing blow, or some other method of reducing the damage, but it is simply too massive for a normal person (mostly non-rogues) to complacently avoid.
P.s. if one walked through a portal, or some other instantaneous method of transportation, would it need to be deactivated first to avoid it immediately going rouge once out of range of the control devices? I could imagine some clueless from toril returning from sigil with their new war machine only to be its first victim as they are killed before they can re-attune.
indeed! buyer beware.
love your videos on monsters need to do some more of the odd ones how about the brain mole lol odd one but can be fun used right
Does slashing, might just get out of the way in time and get grazed by the spikes or blades on the tail.
The clock is ticking... tik, tok, *Time's Up*
one of my favorite dragons right here.. for 1 point of con damage to the character you can unleash one of these babies
See kids. This is why you shouldn't mess around with outdated technology.
XD
here i'm catching with your videos in this new year ¡and found this! really cool stuff, i dont like the words overrated or underrated but i wish more people use the clockwork dragon they are awesome also free tip if you are tired of the evil wizard trope ¡try the insane scientist! trope it works surprisingly well in a fantasy setting i find oddily enough ( a guy who couldn't use magic so is interested in science ) and make a clockwork dragon his pet and/or deterrent
Oh hi Javier, long time no see :)
Warforged Clockwork dragon
Good video AJ
my take on the tail hurting you even on a successful save is pretty simple: it's too big to avoid. you don't save to avoid the hit as you can't (unless you are a rogue or monk who are nimble enough to actually manage it), you save to avoid the full force of the attack.
Request: Do a lore video on the Rhagodessa.
Any particular reason why?
Half clockwork dragon, half inevitable.
Your welcome.
Either really, really cool…… or very, very horrifying!!!!
How about a video on Psions?
i have more than two versions including the equivalent of a warforged although i don't let them be used as player charcters
Hey AJ would a Warforge take double damage from the Clock Work Dragon?
I don't think so, Warforged don't count as inanimate objects.
But. Can it tell time?
It can.
"It says right here see; *It's time for a TPK"*
Imagine having a homebrew transformers D&D campaign and your players finding special type of clock work dragon that can transform from a clockwork humanoid robot mode to clockwork dragon mode and can transform into some type of power armor and combine with a random transformer kinda really doesn't matter if the random transformer is either a player character or a npc of sorts so long as they are a transformer...with one exception a organic (biologically) individual could pilot a custom made transformer body that can work as both a mech and armor for the said individual.
There is a dragon transformers
@@Nox-eg3rq
Wait there is?
@@Dualbladedscorpion7737 yes . Transformers prime series the 3 one
@@Nox-eg3rq
Oh ok i didn't think of that before.
@@Dualbladedscorpion7737 even before that one. Generation 1 had some dragon-like ones. Not always winged though. And with things like Pretenders or Headmasters, you can be an organic and still have access to big clockwork thing.
Maybe for the half damage on the tail swipe is due to the tail not being smooth, so while you make the saving throw and get out of the way of the main body of the tail, you still get hit by a piece that is hanging off the tail.
I'm thinking the savings throw applies only if it hits, so first a roll to hit and if it does then a savings throw it see if it is a 'glancing blow'.
making a save does not mean you avoid the attack (except in some cases like a disintegrate ray) if you are the target of a fireball you still take half damage if you make the save, it's not like a monk dodging or evading an attack altogether.
The clockwork dragon will still have to make an attack roll to see if they hit any character, a failed saving throw does full damage plus possible being pushed 10-20 feet away. I would think at least.
Deluxe model is Mecha Ghidorah.
Is that you Megatron?
Starscream would be his mechanical drake whipping boy
There are mods for the computer game Skyrim that add similar dragons.
yeah so i gave one of these to a party as i made it a tank
and they killed the pilots and took it.
DnD is life
I thought of an encounter where the party are at a small castle fort and then the front gates burst open by a goblin horde and a clockwork dragon.