D&D 5E Dragon "Wing Attack" seems wimpy

[robus]

Is anyone else disappointed that the "wing attack" for even an ancient dragon has area of effect of just 15 ft? The impact is much smaller for lesser dragons of course.

It seems like it should have a much bigger impact. I'd say 30 ft at least. It's gargantuan for goodness sakes!?

 

[Oofta]

Well, a fair amount of their size is their wingspread. Or look at it this way - their wings are normally quite a bit off the ground and "taper" at the end. So they can only hit the ground with roughly half their wing.

Of course I do agree that reach doesn't seem quite right. A large ogre only has 5 foot reach? You have to be a huge giant to get 10 foot?

Oh well. Easy enough to fix if you want.

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

Is anyone else disappointed that the "wing attack" for even an ancient dragon has area of effect of just 15 ft? The impact is much smaller for lesser dragons of course.

It seems like it should have a much bigger impact. I'd say 30 ft at least. It's gargantuan for goodness sakes!?

I do agree that 5E's default sizes show... limited imagination. As Oofta said, feel free to make your dragons much, much bigger. A 747 Jumbo Jet (not the biggest jet but up there) is 226' long by 68' high with a wingspan of 240', according to this: http://www.dimensionsinfo.com/dimensions-of-a-jumbo-jet/

There's nothing wrong with an ancient dragon that is 250' long, with a wing attack that stretches 100'+ from the dragon's center of mass. It won't be a nice square-shaped monster like 5E produces by default, but as long as your players enjoy the dragon (in a flabberghasted sort of way), who cares that it's not a regulation 20' square?

 

[Oofta]

I do agree that 5E's default sizes show... limited imagination. As Oofta said, feel free to make your dragons much, much bigger. A 747 Jumbo Jet (not the biggest jet but up there) is 226' long by 68' high with a wingspan of 240', according to this: http://www.dimensionsinfo.com/dimensions-of-a-jumbo-jet/

There's nothing wrong with an ancient dragon that is 250' long, with a wing attack that stretches 100'+ from the dragon's center of mass. It won't be a nice square-shaped monster like 5E produces by default, but as long as your players enjoy the dragon (in a flabberghasted sort of way), who cares that it's not a regulation 20' square?

We play with a grid, and on one of our games we were fighting a colossal dragon (3.x days).

So we cut out a dragon shape out of construction paper to give people an idea of size. Probably took up a good quarter of our game table, but the visual was pretty awesome.

Now I just have to convince my nephew to loan me his old godzilla toy (the big two foot tall ones) so I can use it for my tarrasque.

 

[robus]

Well, a fair amount of their size is their wingspread. Or look at it this way - their wings are normally quite a bit off the ground and "taper" at the end. So they can only hit the ground with roughly half their wing.

Of course I do agree that reach doesn't seem quite right. A large ogre only has 5 foot reach? You have to be a huge giant to get 10 foot?

Oh well. Easy enough to fix if you want.

I've definitely been upping reaches too, as they've also felt disproportionately small.

 

[ccs]

Well I guess my answer depends upon wether I'm a player or DM.

If I'm a player: Nope, not at all.

If I'm the DM: "Disappointed" is an inaccurate description. I read through the books & various things elicit a "Huh, that's odd." response from me. Sometimes I'll make a little check mark next to it. But until I go to actually use one of those things I don't worry about it. Then, if it strikes me as not fitting I just change it. No great pondering of rules, setting precedent, etc, just change as needed for the moment.

 

[Bacon Bits]

It's meant to be used in flight against flying creatures. Remember: If you're flying, get knocked prone, and don't have Hover, you fall.

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

It's meant to be used in flight against flying creatures. Remember: If you're flying, get knocked prone, and don't have Hover, you fall.

Well, it's useful for all kinds of things actually, including flybys. Prone creatures have disadvantage on the opportunity attack they get when the wing attack moves the dragon 40' away.

But good point on wing beats while flying.

 

[Tormyr]

Also keep in mind that the 15' foot radius is the area where the wind generated by the beating wings knocks everyone down in every direction. The wings can be longer, but the concentrated effect is in the 15' radius.

 

[thethain]

Keep in mind a Ancient Red Dragon is gargantuan, which is 20', the spell mentions anyone within 15' of the dragon, meaning the total diameter of the attack is 50 ft wide. This is important considering the dragon could be flying over the heroes 10 feet off the ground.