[3.5] New(ish) DM Character Balance ?

[Ninth Nova]

First Post:

I'm a new DM, I've only ever run two other campaigns (both Star Wars RPG's) but I've been playing other RPG's for a while. I was wondering if there will likely be any balancing issues with this party of my friends and I:

Half-Dragon/Human [Lvl 1 with +3 Lvl Adjustment]

Human Bard [Lvl 1]

Human Wizard [Lvl 2] My old character, I'm not entirely sure how to play the character (who is important to the story) and DM other then playing him as cluelessly as possible

Elf Rogue [Lvl 2]

Dwarf Fighter/Barbarian [Lvl 2]

Human Druid [Lvl 1]

The main enemies are likely going to be low-level creatures like Gnolls, Zombies, Humans, Goblins etc. but there will also be good & evil Celestials involved. I'm worried the Half-Dragon might break the party with his ECL of 4 and above-average abilites scores, and I don't want to just sick enemies on him and have the other players feel unused or uneeded.

[WarKitty]

Somewhere around here there's rules for letting players advance in a monster "class" instead of starting out with the full monster abilities. I might suggest that for your half-dragon instead of starting him out as an ECL 4 in a party of 1's and 2's.

As far as your old character: How crucial is it that he actually be with the party all the time?

[Elemist13]

Well, due to the fact that his effective level is 4 , thus 2 or 3 levels above the rest of the party he will be slightly more powerful then the rest of the party.

However, due to the fact that he will receive less XP then the rest of the party due to his higher level, they will eventually catch up. Then the party should most likely even out and while the half dragon will have good scores he will be hurting for those 3 HD of hitpoints at those levels.

[Ninth Nova]

Well, my character isn't necessary to the story, he's needed for the eventual plotline. My friends and I have decided to make an overarching storyline with these characters, and we're each DMing for different expirences throughout the story, and first it's my turn. So my character isn't really relevant for the story so much as he's relevant to the other characters.

[WarKitty]

Well, my character isn't necessary to the story, he's needed for the eventual plotline. My friends and I have decided to make an overarching storyline with these characters, and we're each DMing for different expirences throughout the story, and first it's my turn. So my character isn't really relevant for the story so much as he's relevant to the other characters.

In that case I'd recommend shipping your character off to do some research/accomplish some minor side-thing while you're DMing.

[Tukka]

If the half-dragon player is new/inexperienced also, and mainly just wants to play a draconic-themed character, you might want to make him aware of some of the other options that are out there, like the Dragonborn race (in Races of the Dragon) or the Dragonfire Adept class (from Dragon Magic).

When I first started playing, that's an issue my girlfriend ran into when she wanted to play a draconic character. We were pretty much just aware of core material, which pretty much left her with the option of playing a half-dragon, or becoming a dragon disciple ... both of which were pretty unattractive from a mechanics perspective.

[KillianHawkeye]

If the half-dragon player is new/inexperienced also, and mainly just wants to play a draconic-themed character, you might want to make him aware of some of the other options that are out there, like the Dragonborn race (in Races of the Dragon) or the Dragonfire Adept class (from Dragon Magic).

When I first started playing, that's an issue my girlfriend ran into when she wanted to play a draconic character. We were pretty much just aware of core material, which pretty much left her with the option of playing a half-dragon, or becoming a dragon disciple ... both of which were pretty unattractive from a mechanics perspective.

There is also the Draconic template (from Draconomicron, I think), which is basically like a lesser version of Half-Dragon.

[Gnaeus]

There is also the Draconic template (from Draconomicron, I think), which is basically like a lesser version of Half-Dragon.

Races of the Dragon I think. It also has rules for stepping the Draconic template (which is +1 ecl) up to half dragon.

I also second the advice of dropping half dragon and replacing it with class levels in Dragon Shaman or Dragonfire adapt.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

Check this out (http://wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/arch/sp), it has rules for gradually gaining (http://wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/sp/20030824a) a level adjusted template as you level up, including half-dragon (http://wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/sp/20030912a). Let him start with one or two levels of the half-dragon template class along with whatever class level he already has. As he levels up, he'll be able to pick whether to gain more of the template or gain more class levels. He'll eventually want to gain the entire template, but he won't be overpowered in the lower levels and he'll actually get some advancement within the next few levels.