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Creating the Half-Dragon

Posted: Wed Apr 18, 2012 3:05 pm
by MedievalMan
Hey guys, I am currently throwing together the half-dragon race for my games and I thought I would ask if you had any suggestions for abilities and such. This is what I have so far.

They are the spawn of gold dragons and humans. Their restrictions would be something like str 13, con 11, amx dex of 15 or 17. I was thinking special abilities along the lines of a bite attack, maybe claws, some sort of breath weapon and darkvision 60'. They would only be bale to play fighters, clerics and magic-users.

Anyone have any ideas on how I can expand this?


EDIT
Here is the final version for people to use.

Half-Dragon
Description: Half-Dragons are the result of magical experimentation combining dragons and humans. Half-Dragons are easily identified by the scaly flesh, sharp teeth, reptilian eyes, long tail and large leathery wings. Half-Dragons find it difficult fitting in with normal society due to their draconic appearance, and most become adventurers simply to earn a living. Both male and female Half-Dragons stand some six and a half feet tall and weigh around 300 to 350 pounds. Half-Dragons have a long life span, typically two to three centuries in length.

Restrictions: Half-Dragons may become Clerics, Fighters, and Magic-Users, they may also combine the classes of Fighter and Magic-User. A Half-Dragon must have a minimum 13 in Strength and a 13 in Constitution, and may not have a Dexterity higher than 15. Due to their odd body shape any armor a Half-Dragon wears must be specially tailored to fit and costs x3 the base amount.

Special Abilities: All Half-Dragons have Darkvision with a 60' range. A Half-Dragons wings do not allow flight, but they do allow the Half-Dragon to glide reducing fall damage by up to 3d6. A heavily encumbered Half-Dragon is unable to use this gliding ability. Half-Dragons have a breath weapon that they can use once per day. This breath attack deals 1d6 points of damage per point of Constitution modifier, a successful save vs Dragon Breath reduces this damage by half. A Half-Dragons breath weapon deals one of the following types of damage; Acid, Cold, Fire or Electricity. A Half-Dragon's breath attack affects those caught in an area whether friend or foe, those who choose Acid, Cold or Fire damage affect a 30' cone shaped area while those who choose Electricity affect everything within a 10' wide 50' long line. Breath attack damage type is chosen at first level and cannot be changed once chosen. Due to their great size, Half-Dragons gain a bonus of +1 to die rolls when opening doors or performing other feats of Strength.

Saving Throws: Half-Dragons save at +1 vs. Death Ray or Poison.

Re: Creating the Half-Dragon

Posted: Wed Apr 18, 2012 3:50 pm
by Dimirag
I would allow Fighter, Magic User and Thief (part of they lust for gold), I don't see them as the prayer type unless they pray to a Dragon God.
The special abilities depends on the anatomy of the character...
Body Scales = Natural AC.
Wings = Fly Mov.
Tale/Claws/Fangs = Extra Attack.

Probably they should increase the HD by one type.
Breath Weapon and Darkvision sounds like a must.

Re: Creating the Half-Dragon

Posted: Wed Apr 18, 2012 4:04 pm
by MedievalMan
I thought about making their base AC 13. I would like to give them wings but am not quite sure about how powerful they would be. I like your class selection better than mine so I will change that, I would probably also allow them to combo class fighter/magic-user. Anyone have any ideas on restrictions I could add? I don't want them to be too powerful. Maybe something along the lines of half-ogre in power.

Re: Creating the Half-Dragon

Posted: Wed Apr 18, 2012 4:17 pm
by SmootRK
If they are to have a benefit to their AC, then penalize them to being unable to wear typical armors, having to purchase specially crafted sets that fit their physiques costing 4 or more times normal.

Breath Weapon - deals 1d4 fire damage for each level, usable only once per day (save dragon breath for half) <or>
poison gas - causes 1d4 poison damage for each level (only those that would inhale) save poison or dbreath which ever is better for half.

Fire based spells cast as if 2 caster levels higher with regard to damage, range, or other level determined factors.

Some of this is based upon what I remember of 1e style gold dragons

Re: Creating the Half-Dragon

Posted: Wed Apr 18, 2012 4:19 pm
by MedievalMan
Yeah I am saying they are descendents of gold dragons because gold dragons are the only dragon in BFRPG who can change shape, thus making them the only logical choice for the origin of half-dragons. I like the armor restriction especially if they have wings.

Re: Creating the Half-Dragon

Posted: Wed Apr 18, 2012 4:26 pm
by Dimirag
A way to limit the fly movement is by ussing the encumbrance rules and to not allow them to fly while heavily loaded.
I prefer a flat damage for the breath attack with a set amount of uses per day so it keeps with others racial abilities that don't increase per level

Re: Creating the Half-Dragon

Posted: Wed Apr 18, 2012 4:34 pm
by SmootRK
If breath weapon is based on character hp (like 1e dragons), then fighter class is overwhelmingly preferred.

Re: Creating the Half-Dragon

Posted: Wed Apr 18, 2012 4:42 pm
by MedievalMan
I would probably base the breath weapon on the one presented for dragons IE it does 1 die of damage per hit dice (most likely 1d6) but limit it to a number of times per day equal to the half-dragons con modifier (minimum once per day), and allowing for a save vs dragon breath for half damage. As for flying I think something like 30' per round, with the stipulation that you cannot fly while heavily encumbered (I use a simplified encumbrance system so it would be a little different when I use that system). I think for armor I will make it equal to the armors base cost x3 (to account for customization for odd body structure).

Re: Creating the Half-Dragon

Posted: Wed Apr 18, 2012 5:36 pm
by Joe the Rat
Are the half-dragons a distinct race of humanoid hybrids, or are they of directly mixed parentage? I ask because the second can give you a LOT of flexibility in terms of appearance and dragon traits - by individual (make a list and pick).

Upping HD: Maybe... Definitely if they are Larger than Man-sized.

Claws should not provide extra attacks, but allow unarmed attacks (essentially, they can always do real damage). Bite attack - if they are muzzled like a dragon, sure.

Flight can be allowed or disallowed as you like - it's up to you as to if they have wings. I'd make their flight equal to their base move, with similar reductions for encumbrance, and above a certain load level (heavily encumbered in the usual) they cannot fly. You can use the armor reduces speed as a matter of aerodynamics... or you can be exceedingly nice and let them use their base flight regardless of armor.

Armor... will need to be up-costed, as they have to be special built to accommodate build and wings. If they are oversized (akin to half-ogres), that's a factor too. I wouldn't outright prohibit any armors, but you might want to dial back the natural AC a little... or rule that stacking armors only improves the better by one (so their natural AC +1 with leather, chain+1 with chain and so on)

Tail swipe... It's a kick. treat it as such. Extra attack? eh, sure.

Breath weapon - use character level - or better yet, half character level - for setting the number of dice. I'm more inclined to make the die type fixed rather than HD based, but if you do go that route, the bonus MUs get for fire casting is an offset - is it sufficient? Mmm...

An Experience penalty, or required Race levels (akin to the Monsters as Characters rules) may be needed offsets. The latter would also provide a few extra HD at the front - which may reduce the need for inflated HD.

Something to keep in mind is that while yes, their draconic heritage should make them a titch more badass, they are draconian humanoids, not humanoid dragons. They should not get the full dragosuite of powers (such as multiple attacks) in miniature.

Re: Creating the Half-Dragon

Posted: Wed Apr 18, 2012 5:48 pm
by SmootRK
Gold Dragons always struck me as Oriental Style dragons, meaning they don't really have wings (magical flying instead). Of course I understand this can be subjective.