Dragons

[greydin25]

Question. Can a dragon fly when they are in another form? They have all of their other abilities so I was just curious if they would still be able to fly as well.

[Blue_Lion]

Well they are still a dragon. If the flight is purely physical from wings then the form would need wings.

[Killer Cyborg]

Well they are still a dragon. If the flight is purely physical from wings then the form would need wings.

Agreed.
It's a physical change, not an illusion, and dragons seem to need their wings to fly.
No flap-flap, no woosh.

[ITWastrel]

Now, some dragons don't need flap flap. If the dragon flight is by magical means, then feel free to sparkle-whoosh in any form.

[MadGreenSon]

Now, some dragons don't need flap flap. If the dragon flight is by magical means, then feel free to sparkle-whoosh in any form.

As far as I've been able to find, the Whip Tailed Dragons on UE page 163 are the only dragons with both innate metamorphosis abilities and the ability to fly without needing wings.

[ShadowLogan]

Well they are still a dragon. If the flight is purely physical from wings then the form would need wings.

Agreed.
It's a physical change, not an illusion, and dragons seem to need their wings to fly.
No flap-flap, no woosh.

I agree metamorphosis is a physical change, but how do Dragons actually fly? Is it:
-by magical means
-by physical means (ie flap the wings)
-a mix of the two

And is it the same for all Dragon Species (regarding how they can fly)? Because there are a few examples that can fly but lack wings: the Japanese Kumo-Mi and Asama-Tatus (WB8 pg212-15) are not depict/mention wings, but can fly (they lack true metamorphosis ability) and the RUE Whip-Tail lacks a mention/depiction of wings but says it can fly (specifically via magical means).

I think a lot of this is going to come down to GM call though in how they view a given species of Dragon's innate ability to fly works.

EDIT: fix typo

[Killer Cyborg]

Well they are still a dragon. If the flight is purely physical from wings then the form would need wings.

Agreed.
It's a physical change, not an illusion, and dragons seem to need their wings to fly.
No flap-flap, no woosh.

I agree metamorphosis is a physical change, but how do Dragons actually fly? Is it:
-by magical means
-by physical means (ie flap the wings)
-a mix of the two

And is it the same for all Dragon Species (regarding how they can fly)? Because there are a few examples that can fly but lack wings: the Japanese Kumo-Mi and Asama-Tatus (WB8 pg212-15) are not depict/mention wings, but can fly (they lack true metamorphosis ability) and the RUE Whip-Tail lacks a mention/depiction of wings but says it can fly (specifically via magical means).

I think a lot of this is going to come down to GM call though in how they view a given species of Dragon's innate ability to fly works.

EDIT: fix typo

We're never told.
My head-canon is that it's a mix of the two, because the wing-to-body proportion seems wrong for pure physics to work.
Granted, giant humanoid robots wouldn't work either from a physics perspective, but I try to add sugar to the medicine where I can.

[Mack]

My head-canon: a dragon's wings create a magical whoosh-whoosh to enable flight. So while they're not large enough from a physics point of view, they are needed from a magical point of view.

[Kraynic]

My head-canon: a dragon's wings create a magical whoosh-whoosh to enable flight. So while they're not large enough from a physics point of view, they are needed from a magical point of view.

I"m now imagining that any dragon with injured wings, but the ability to cast a spell that gives flight, must vocally recreate the whoosh-whoosh of their wings as part of the spell cast. I don't know when I will be able to work that into one of my games, but eventually I think I will have to...

[Blue_Lion]

Well they are still a dragon. If the flight is purely physical from wings then the form would need wings.

Agreed.
It's a physical change, not an illusion, and dragons seem to need their wings to fly.
No flap-flap, no woosh.

I agree metamorphosis is a physical change, but how do Dragons actually fly? Is it:
-by magical means
-by physical means (ie flap the wings)
-a mix of the two

And is it the same for all Dragon Species (regarding how they can fly)? Because there are a few examples that can fly but lack wings: the Japanese Kumo-Mi and Asama-Tatus (WB8 pg212-15) are not depict/mention wings, but can fly (they lack true metamorphosis ability) and the RUE Whip-Tail lacks a mention/depiction of wings but says it can fly (specifically via magical means).

I think a lot of this is going to come down to GM call though in how they view a given species of Dragon's innate ability to fly works.

EDIT: fix typo

Depends on the type of dragon. some may use purely magic some wings. If it is a magical ability they they are still dragons cover it. If it is from the wings the part about them needing physical wings covers it.

Probably not all the same. A great horn flies by flapping its wings other fly without wings. I would not expect one method to cover all dragons in rifts.