Enormous ebony reptiles that can be encountered in ASCII's 1993 Uiza-dorii Gaiden III: Yami no Seiten (Wizardry Side Story III: Scripture of the Dark) Nintendo Gameboy roleplaying video game. Said title was one of the many Wizardry spinoffs published exclusively in Japan.
In the hierarchy of Wizardry dragons, the Black variety fall roughly in the middle in terms of overall power. Black Dragons are often encountered in small groups (typically a mated pair with one or two young adults) and frequently ally themselves with a pack of Wyverns. A Black Dragon considers fighting "tooth and claw" beneath it, and instead physically attacks with buffets from its fan-like wings and bone-shattering blows from its tail. Black Dragons will also occasionally demonstrate their proficiency in magic (5th Level mastery of the Mage school of spells), resulting in all sorts of deviltry (summoning additional monsters to assist it in battle, sealing or dispelling an opponent's magic, transforming foes into solid stone, etc.) However, above all else, a Black Dragon prefers to employ its breath attack, a deadly exhalation of billowing flames that can reduce all but the hardiest of individuals to ashes.
Black Dragon
Japanese: Burakku Doragon
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Unidentified:
Dragon
Japanese: Doragon
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Classification:
Dragon
Japanese: Ryuu
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Black Dragon
Dragon |
Experience Level:
40
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Experience Points:
42,830
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Hit Points:
56-456 (40d11+16)
Average: 256
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Armor Class:
-13
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Number Appearing:
1-4 (1d4)
Average: 2.5
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Physical Attacks:
5-50 (5d10) damage. Average: 27.5
5-50 (5d10) damage. Average: 27.5
21-100 (1d80+20) damage. Average: 60.5
Can attack party members in the back row.
May cause sleeping.
Maximum damage range: 31-200. Average: 115.5
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Special Properties:
Level 5 Mage spells (20% chance.)
Breath attack; fire attribute (50% chance.)
Regenerates 15 hit points per round.
Mage spell resistance (55%); Priest and Alchemist spell resistance (25%).
Resistant to fire and non-elemental.
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Encounters:
Never friendly.
Can be found in Dragon's Cave B2 and B3.
Often accompanied by Wyverns (80% chance.)
The Level 5 Alchemist spell Galdi can potentially summon Black Dragons (Monster Rank 7) to fight on the caster's behalf.
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Materials:
Newsprint, tissue paper, white glue, wire twist ties, and acrylic paint.
Dimensions:
7.4 cm/3.1 in. x 5.9 cm/2.3 in. (widest point x highest point)
Time:
Three days: September 22, 24, and 25 (2012).
I roughed out the figure, with the exception of the wings, on the twenty-second;
added the wings and additional details on the twenty-fourth;
and finished everything off on the twenty-fifth.
After completing Wizardry: Scripture of the Dark, and getting the "Good" ending, the Dragon's Cave bonus dungeon becomes available (marked with the square cursor in the screenshot above).
The party is confronted with a deadly assortment of reptilian foes, three Black Dragons and five Wyverns, on the second basement level of the Dragon's Cave.
The adventurers have stumbled upon a trio of shadowy, dragon-shaped figures, but what could they be? In the Wizardry franchise, randomly encountered monsters aren't always immediately recognizable (which makes battles more exciting/dangerous), unless you cast the Level 3 Priest spell, Latumapic.
The Dragon's Cave bonus dungeon returns in 1996's Wizardry Gaiden IV: Throb of the Demon's Heart for the Super Famicom.
Once again, Black Dragons [both Occidental and Oriental (Koku Ryuu) variations this time around] are one of the many ferocious high-level creatures that you may encounter inside the Dragon's Cave. Indeed, the Throb of the Demon's Heart incarnation of the Occidental Black Dragon is simply an updated/colorized version of the sprite from Scripture of the Dark. However, it should be noted that the Super Famicom version of the Black Dragon has significantly different statistics, and is more powerful/dangerous than the Gameboy incarnation (Level 52 instead of 40.)
REFERENCES:
Japanese Wizardry: Scripture of the Dark bestiary .
Japanese Wizardry: Throb of the Demon's Heart bestiary .
Wizardry: Scripture of the Dark Gameboy video game.
Wizardry: Throb of the Demon's Heart Super Famicom video game.
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Any and all copyrighted imagery, terminology, etc., depicted here belongs to its respective holders/owners, namely ASCII/Sir-Tech Software.
The repeating background graphic is a cutscene from the game.
The midi music playing is the "Werdna Battle" track from Wizardry I: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord.
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