Vaarsuvius battles the black dragon.
Cast
- Vaarsuvius ◀ ▶
- Qarr (dimensionally locked) ◀ ▶
- Ancient Black Dragon ◀ ▶
Transcript
- Panel 1
Vaarsuvius: *gasp!*
Vaarsuvius: Prismatic Spray!
The yellow beam hits causing electricity damage.
Black Dragon: No.
- Panel 2
The Black Dragon breathes acid, "WOOSH!!!"
Vaarsuvius: Rrrnnh! You wretched imp, what is your game? Have the dragon dissolve me if I do not accept your offer?
Qarr: What?? I've never seen her before in my life! I tried to warn you!
- Panel 3
Vaarsuvius: As if I would believe the protestations of one such as you.
Qarr: Please! If I knew an ancient black dragon, would I be wasting my time on a second-stringer like you???
Qarr: Now shush, I'm trying to Fast Heal over here.
- Panel 4
Vaarsuvius: Forcecage!
Black Dragon: Very good, an excellent choice. I am quite confined for about a day, while you are free to escape and replenish your 6th and 7th level spells.
- Panel 5
Black Dragon: You are as skilled as my information led me to believe. I must admit, I too have a passion for the arcane arts...even moreso than others of my kind.
Black Dragon: I am curious however...what would happen if we turned the magic off?
- Panel 6
Black Dragon: Anti-magic Field.
The Forcecage disintegrates where the antimagic field touches it. V flies away.
- Panel 7
The black dragon flies over to V; when the antimagic field envelops V, the flight spell no longer functions.
Black Dragon: Fascinating. It appears that you cease to be a mighty wizard and become a fragile pointy-eared monkey.
Black Dragon: While I?
- Panel 8
The Black Dragon slams Vaarsuvius down on some rock, "CRACKKKK!"
Black Dragon: I am still a dragon.
D&D Context
- V seems to have already cast Overland Flight for the day. (Fly is also possible, but with the shorter duration it doesn't make sense to cast preemptively.)
- Prismatic Spray is a 7th level spell which produces a cone-shaped burst of light. Creatures in the beam are randomly hit by one of the beams, which cause a variety of effects (such as the pit fiend which was turned to stone by the blue beam in #591). The yellow beam which hit the dragon causes 80 points of electrical damage, or half that on a successful Reflex save.
- Imps have a Fast Healing ability that allows them to heal 2 hp per round.
- Forcecage is a 7th level spell which creates an immobile invisible cubical prison containing any creatures in it when it is created.
- Antimagic Field creates an invisible 10-foot radius sphere within which magic does not work.
- Vaarsuvius wasted several high level spell slots by casting Disintegrate four times at Qarr in #625 and #626. Assuming V is 14th level, V has used all his or her 6th level slots and has only the bonus Evocation slot left for 7th level. Of course, with the antimagic field in effect, V has effectively no spells.
- In many versions of D&D, true dragons are capable of casting spells like sorcerers, with older dragons boasting stronger magic (indeed, being descended from a true dragon is a common explanation for where a Sorcerer's abilities come from). An ancient black dragon can cast spells as an 11th-level Sorcerer, though the Mother Dragon casts Antimagic Field, which requires her to have 12th-level casting at minimum. Her remark about having a greater passion for magic than other dragons can have multiple meanings: she could have taken one or more levels in Sorcerer, which would stack with her existing casting, or she could be a Loredrake (featured in Dragons of Eberron), which have advanced Sorcerer casting at the cost of their racial HD being reduced and cutting into their hit points.