Val CHA Cost Roll Notes 20 STR 10 13- Lift 400 kg; 4d6 HTH Damage [2] 12 DEX 6 11- OCV: 4/DCV: 4 18 CON 16 13- 13 BODY 6 12- 4 INT -6 10- PER Roll 10-/13- 5 EGO -10 10- ECV: 2 18 PRE 8 13- PRE Attack: 3 1/2d6 10 COM 0 11- 8/10 PD 4 Total: 8/10 PD (0/2 rPD) 7/9 ED 3 Total: 7/9 ED (0/2 rED) 2 SPD 0 Phases: 6, 12 8 REC 0 36 END 0 32 STUN 0 Total Characteristic Cost: 33 Movement: Running: 5"/10" Swimming: 4"/8" Tunneling: 1"/2" Cost Powers & Skills 20 Bite: HKA 1d6+1 (2d6+1 w/STR), +1 Increased STUN Multiplier (+1/4); Reduced Penetration (-1/4), END 2 8 Claws: HKA 1/2d6 (1d6+1 w/STR); Reduced Penetration (-1/4), END 1 140 Infectious Bite: Drain CON 5d6, Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1/2), No Normal Defense (defense is appropriate LS [Immunity]; +1), Delayed Return Rate (points return at the rate of 5 per Week; +1 3/4); Gradual Effect (5 Day ;1d6/Day; -1 3/4), HKA Must Do Body (-1/2), Linked ((to RKA); -1/2) plus HKA 6d6, Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1/2), No Normal Defense (defense is appropriate LS [Immunity]; +1), Does BODY (+1); Gradual Effect (6 Days (1d6/Day); -1 3/4), No Range (-1/2), HKA Must Do Body (-1/2) 6 Tough Hide: Armor (2 PD/2 ED) 2 Heavy: Knockback Resistance -1" 5 Immune To Snake Venom: Life Support (Immunity: Zootoxins) -2 Sluggish: Running -1" (total 5") -4 Sluggish: Increased Endurance Cost (x2 END; -1/2) applied to Running 2 Taking To The Water: Swimming +2" (4" total), END 1 3 Digging Out A Burrow: Tunneling 1" through 2 DEF material; Extra Time (1 Turn (Post-Segment 12), Character May Take No Other Actions, -1 1/2), Only Through Dirt And Soil (-1/2), END 1 6 Sharp Sense of Smell: +3 PER with Smell/Taste Group 5 Sharp Sense of Smell: Discriminatory with Normal Smell 5 Sharp Sense of Smell: Tracking with Normal Smell Skills 4 +2 OCV with Bite 9 Concealment 15-; Self Only (-1/2) 11 Tracking 14- Total Powers & Skill Cost: 220 Total Cost: 253 75+ Disadvantages 15 Physical Limitation: Animal Intelligence (Frequently, Greatly Impairing) 5 Physical Limitation: Large, up to twice human size (Infrequently, Slightly Impairing) 10 Physical Limitation: Poor eyesight (Sight Group PER roll of 7-) (Frequently, Slightly Impairing) 5 Physical Limitation: Reduced Leap, cannot leap (Infrequently, Slightly Impairing) 20 Physical Limitation: Torpid After Sundown (Frequently, Fully Impairing) 15 Physical Limitation: Very Limited Manipulation (Frequently, Greatly Impairing) 10 Psychological Limitation: Aggressive Around Food Items (Common, Moderate) 98 Experience Points Total Disadvantage Points: 253
Ecology: Komodo dragons live in Indonesia, in the Lesser Sunda chain. Their main home is the island of Komodo, although they also dwell on the islands of Padar, Rinca, and the very western tip of the island of Flores. As dragons are excellent swimmers, travel between these islands is not a problem for them.
Young dragons are tree dwellers, which keeps them out of the reach of the cannibalistic adults. While in the trees, they eat birds, insects, and lizards. Larger dragons live on the forest floor, and hunt birds, rats, and snakes. Really big dragons will take buffalo, deer, and pigs.
Dragons are solitary, sleeping at night and hunting by day. They dwell in burrows they dig themselves, and enter such a deep sleep that one can handle them safely without fear the dragon will awake. During the day, the dragons will lay in the sun and the shade, regulating their body temperature.
Personality/Motivation: Typical animal motivations. Dragons have fairly simple brains, and are driven mainly by a desire to eat.
Powers/Tactics: Dragons are sluggish and slow, and any reasonably healthy person can outrun one on flat and open ground. Their hunting tactic is one of surprise. They will lay motionless amid the debris of the forest, hidden by shadows and then lunge out to ambush prey. This ambush is often performed as a form of Move-Through, in which the dragon bites its prey and knocks it to the ground. Death comes from bleeding and shock (hence the Increased STUN Multiplier), at which point the dragon tears the body apart into chunks it can swallow.
Prey that survive this initial attack and flee often do so leaving a trail of blood. The dragon, which has an excellent sense of smell, will then track the wounded animal, often finding it crippled (or dead) due to loss of blood.
The saliva of a dragon is full of bacteria, which will rapidly infect any wound resulting by a dragon's bite. The Infected Bite included here is meant to be a generic form of blood poisoning. It will deliver a 1d6 RKA every 24 hours for one week, at which point the disease will have run it course. Game Masters may wish to replace this with a more realistic disease or ignore it all together. Due to its infectious bite, injuries inflicted by a dragon take a long time to heal and will scar.
Appearance: The Komodo dragon is a huge lizard belonging to the monitor family. It is the world's heaviest lizard, weighing on average 110 lbs, with the largest reaching 365 pounds and lengths of over 10 feet. They have rough, pebbly hides and are black in color. It has a mouth full of serrated teeth, large claws and a long forked tongue that it uses to "taste" the air.
Designer's Notes: First reported in the early 20th century, the dragons of Komodo are the world's heaviest lizard (But not the largest, that honor belongs to the Salvadori monitor of Papua New Guinea.). There are about 5000 of them in the wild, with more than half dwelling on the island of Komodo. They are the largest meat eaters on the islands, and their great size seems to be due to a lack of competition. To give an idea of the power of a Komodo dragon, they are known to have brought down 1600 pound water buffalo, and one dragon consumed a 90 lb pig in 17 minutes. This is all the more impressive when one realizes the dragon itself only weighed around 100 lbs.
The Komodo dragon is known to have killed upwards of 12 people. In 1989 a tourist wandered off of the forest trail and vanished. All that was found was his glasses and his camera. Sleeping on the forest floor on the island of Komodo is not a good idea.
Recommended Reading:
Matthews, Richard. Nightmares of Nature
Komodo Dragon Hero Designer File
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