Converting the Gronckle

The previous post gave the basic information needed to convert the dragons from the HTTYD franchise to the In Harm's Way: Dragons! rules. Here is an example to show how to use these charts and the first breed for this series of posts: the Gronckle.

The gronckle is a dragon that appears in both the book and the movie. Doing research I found statistics in two of Cressida Cowell's Books, 'How to Train your Dragon' and 'The Incomplete Book of Dragons'. In addition the main webpage for the movie also had its own statistics. In many cases these three sources contradicted each other. In these cases I decided to use an average of the three stats.

 

 

Size: The size given in Cowell's second book is 7 which comes out to elephant sized. However this contradicts both the text of the books (where a dragonlet gronckle is the size of a large dog) and the movie where the dragon is pony sized. In this case I will stay with the movie and first book and make the Gronckle pony sized.

 

 

Special Ability/Edges: This is obviously the Gronckle's hummingbird like wings. This gives the dragon Hovering Flight/Landing 4.

 

Breath: The movie stats that a Gronckle's shot limit is 6. It also breathes fire. Damage will equal Attack. This is 8 in both the books and the movie. However the movie stats have a separate attack rating for the breath weapon so I use that instead. The movie Firepower rating equals 14. As Cowell's rating only go up to 10, I divide this number by two to get 7. Averaging two 8s and a 7 gets me a final Attack rating of 7.6 which is rounded off to 8. Looking on the chart this gives me +150.

 

 

 

Armor/Outer Covering: Armor in Cowell's book is 9 while the movie gives a total of 20, dividing 20 by 2 changes it to 10. An average of these two gives me a 10 for an armor base of 3.3. Looking at the Gronckle's rock-like hide I determine this equates to Medium Plates (+ 1.3). Adding 3.3 and 1.3 gives me a total of 4.6 which rounds off to an armor class of 5.

 
 

Acceleration & Max Speed: First I need to know the Gronckle's Acceleration. This depends on the speed stat. In the first book this came out to 5, in the second book it was 8, and the movie stat is 4, averaging these out gives me 6. Looking on the chart gives me a base accel of 3. When added to the size adj this gives a full acceleration of 6. Max speed depends on Attack which has already been determined to be 8; this gives a maximum speed of +4 for a total of 10. A diving gronckle apparently falls like a rock.

 

 

Ceiling & Range: Using Fear factor for Ceiling gives me a 9 in Cowell's first book and a 7 in the second for an average of 8. This gives me a ceiling base of 8 that when added to the size adjustment gives me a total of 15. Using the speed rating established above when determining Acceleration (6) and looking on the chart gives me a base range of 19. The size modifier for range is x5 for a total Range rating of 95.

 
 

Manuev/Stability & Break: Hunting ability in the first book was 0. Attack in the other two sources was 8. This averages out to 5. This gives a base Manuev of 10. A size modifier of 5 makes this a 15. Subtracting 15 from 20 gives a stability of 5. The size chart also gives a 3 for Break so I jot that down now as well.

 

 

Attack Type & Damage: A gronckle's attacks are obviously its teeth and tail club so no roll is needed for this, Attack Type should obviously be based on the dragon's Attack score which is 8 in all three sources I used. This gives an attack bonus of +4. Damage is +10 for teeth and +5 for tail. Added to the base damage for size (+15) this gives a teeth attack of +25 and a tail slam of +20. All other attacks are at +15.

 

 

Constitution & Vigor: Fear Factor in the original book was 9 and in the second book it was 7. This gives an average of 8. Size is pony which equals a rating of 3. 8+3 is 11. Dividing 11 by 2 gives 5.5 for a total of 6. Looking at the chart that gives a Base Constitution of 16. Looking at pony size I see that the Const Adjustment of +4. 16+4 gives a Constitution of 20 (5/5/5/5). Cross-referencing Constitution 20 with pony sized gives a vigor of 15.

 
 

Diet, Habitat, & Aggression: The movie shows that gronckle's eat rocks to fuel their breath but that their main diet is fish. This gives an aggression modifier of +10. The books also state that gronckle's are cave dragons so they have a habitat of mountains. Looking at the book's Disobedience rating I see that it is a 5 which comes out to fairly calm and settled. Calm and Settled is 46-60 percent, adding 10 to this gives me 56-70 which is either still calm and settled or quiet and docile. I decide to use the first rating.

 

 

Attributes: We have enough information to determine the gronckle's attributes now. Pony size gives a Strength of 8, A Manuev of 15 gives a Coordination of  12, An Accel of 6 gives an Agility of 9, a Range of 95 gives an Endurance of 8, and a Calm and Settled disposition gives an Charisma of 13.  This also gives an Intelligence of 7. The gronckle, ferocious looking and slow yet sweet and gentle.

 

 

Senses: The Incomplete Book of Dragons gives a chart on the back detailing a dragons features. The gronckle however has no ratings for senses. However the movie gives Meatlug an excellent sense of small so let's give her scent x4.  Sight and hearing I will give x1 each.

 

 

 

Description: The '"dragon acne" obviously equates to Barbed in game terms. Coloring according to the book is snot green, boogey beige, and pooey brown. Movie gronckles are also brownish rose, brownish purple, and dark grey-blue. These colors gradate from dark shades at the top to paler at the bottom. Small, speckled spots of a darker shade cover the body. The stony skin is cobbled.

 

 

And there we go, one gronckle for the In Harm's Way: Dragons game!

 

 

Gronckle

 

Size Pony (0)

Special Ability/Edges Hovering Flight/ Landing 4

Breath Type/Times per Day/Damage Fire/6/+125

Attributes STR 8 /COOR 12 / AGY 9 /END 8 / CHAR 13 / INT 7

Armor/Outer Covering 5/Medium Plates

Acceleration/Max. Speed 6/10

Ceiling/Range 15/95

Attack Type & Skill (Damage) Teeth + 4 (+ 25), Claws + 0 (+ 15), Head Butt + 0 (+ 15), Tail +4 (+20)

Break  3

Maneuv/Stability 15/5

Constitution   20 (5/5/5/5)

Diet/Habitat Fish/ Mountains

Aggression Calm and settled

Senses Sight x 1, Hearing x 1, Smell x 4, Alert/Observe +1/+ 2

Ornaments Barbed

Vigor 15

Coloring, Pattern & Texture Common colors for Gronckles are olive green on the back shading to beige on the face, limbs, and underside, with brownish purple spots; dull brown shading to pale rose with spots of iron grey; and deep purplish blue shading to a blue-grey color with moss green spots. The texture is cobbled and bumpy like stone.
 

The Gronckle is a bull-dog like dragon with a large stout body, huge teeth with an under-bite and large lower jaw, and a short but thick tail that ends in a spiked mace-like club. Gronckles also have a stubby nose horn and very short legs. They are lethargic and spend most of their day sleeping and have even been known to fall asleep in mid-flight.

Because of its tremendous weight and small wings, it would seem impossible for a gronckle to fly. However, because the wings of work and beat similar to those of a hummingbird it is possible for one to sustain flight. In fact, a Gronckle can fly backward, sideways and even hover in place.

 The dragon attacks by hovering out of reach of its target while blasting it with their breath. Unlike most dragon, which breathe a flammable gas, the Gronckle eats rocks and then shoots them out as balls of flaming lava. As long as there are suitable rocks in the area (about the size of a baseball) the Gronckle will be able to refill its shot limit.

Because of their mineral-based breath, Gronckles and their larger cousins the Hotburples are the only known dragons that are immune to the disease of Dragon Root. The gronckle can also produce a special iron ore which can be shaped into weapons and instruments that are lighter and stronger than those made of pure iron. This substance may rarely be excreted by a gronckle in response to certain minerals they eat.

Gronckle eggs are born as mineral encrusted ovals that soon develop spike-like encrustations of minerals to protect them from predators. When ready to hatch the mother noses the eggs into water to help muffle the fiery explosion that occurs when the shell breaks open.