having fun with a kobold half-dragon

[irbaboon]

Alright... looking for some advice. A friend of mine just fired off a campaign and all the players are kobold half-dragons. normally i would have probably rolled some crazy newfangled charging frenzied zerker build and had fun, but I'm feeling a caster this go around. As i rarely have the privilege of playing a caster. I thought I'd leave it to the giants in the playground to help me make a 3.5 monster sorcerer. Any and all advice would be greatly appreciated. here are the base guidelines.

starting level is 3
half dragon template
gonna rock a sorcerer
all source material is open so long as its wotc and version 3.5
game is starting in the underdark
we have a loose rolling system so stats are no issue.


oh great ones of the forums lend me your wisdom.

[2gig]

Maybe take the Battle Sorcerer ACF (UA) to take advantage of all that strength. Perhaps a grapplemancer?

[demigodus]

There are a number of people who believe that taking the Dragonwrought feat from Races of the Dragon makes Kobolds into true dragons, thereby qualifying them for shenanigans like Loredrake (tone down your non-existent racial hit die, +2 to sorceror casting). Your DM likely won't allow this.

I think it still lets you get around aging penalties so that you can get a +3 to all mental stats though...

Get the greater draconic rite of passage (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/we/20060420a) once you get to a high enough level. +1 to your sorceror level is awesome.

Do you need help on how to stat out a caster, or on what spells to use/when?

[irbaboon]

I'm pretty comfortable on stat placement, but spell selection advice is always appreciated.

[Urpriest]

There are a number of people who believe that taking the Dragonwrought feat from Races of the Dragon makes Kobolds into true dragons, thereby qualifying them for shenanigans like Loredrake (tone down your non-existent racial hit die, +2 to sorceror casting). Your DM likely won't allow this.

I think it still lets you get around aging penalties so that you can get a +3 to all mental stats though...


Pretty sure that's not an option here, due to the Half-Dragon template.

[Marnath]

Pretty sure that's not an option here, due to the Half-Dragon template.

Half dragon will already have the ability to ignore aging penalties, as that is a function of the Dragon type and not the Dragonwrought feat anyway.

[MulletMonk]

DM in the playground

Additional restrictions: Character classes and Prcs are limited to PhB classes, psionisist (gem dragon heritage) and those with draconic flavor.

stat rolls are 3d6 re-roll 1s. characters receive draconic heritage:_____ as a free feat.

These Kobolds are a bit home-brew; starting at zeroth level they receive slight build (may act as tiny characters when advantageous [opposite of powerful build]), various skill bonuses, Eldric blast (+1 damage per spell level on all evocation spells)
1 random background;
Wild: +2 Str, +2 to survival checks,
Irish: Tireless Rage 1/day, +2 to Fort saves against poison, Immune to alcohol poisoning.
Community: +2 Cha, +2 diplomacy

they also have one unaccounted level of warrior netting them a d8, proficiency with simple and martial weapons, all armors and shields, +1 to BaB, +2 to Fort saves, 2+(intelligence modifier) x 4 skill points, and a +1/+1 with all weapons as a warrior bonus ability.

[Urpriest]

So initial question: what sort of sorceror do you want to play? Blasty? Battlefield control? General utility?

Honestly your setup doesn't dramatically change the optimal choices (though if you have access to Dragon Psychoses or Sovereign Archetypes that could change). Here is a Sorceror Handbook (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=74801). Edit: Actually this version looks more complete. (http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=2180.0)

[irbaboon]

thanks for the link urpriest. it was very educational on the ways of the sorcerer. to answer your question about what type of caster
at first glance it was battle field control i wanted to go for, but now that I've read more into the rp info on kobolds i think blaster would be more suiting lol kurtulmak is an interesting deity lol and kobolds turned out to be more like suicide bombers (or at least in rotd). some of the starting info has changed since my initial post, as i was working with a character that had been used prior to my joining the campaign and i had full customization rites to the prefabbed character. now i'm working with a clean slate for the most part. the half dragon template will be a reward for living through the first session. the rest of the info was listed above by mullet (my dm for this session). not sure if I'll be able to use the exploit for additional mental stats due to that fact that we're required to roll our initial age and its a 5% shot at venerable. who knows maybe I'll get lucky on my roll. it happens. i did however see some interesting options for a martial charicter that seem to be tempting me
like the racial sub level to add +2 str to your kobold maybe lion totem barb 2
fighter 4 frenzied zerker to cap lol it screams suicide bomber lol. lmao to die in the name of my kobold clan and be reborn by the will of kurtulmak to do it again sounds fun lol. all of wich would jive well with the template and make for fun rp. instead of a follower of kurt he can be a fanatic.

[only1doug]

will you be allowed to use the Dragonscale Husk ACF from Dragon Magic?

You'll never be able to wear armour but as a sorceror you wouldn't want to anyway, so it's free AC until you can afford bracers of armour that are better.

Pick a useful L1 spell for your draconic rite of passage,
Make sure you take draconic reservoir as your 3rd level feat so you can use your freebee 1st level spell 3 times a day and are eligable to undergo the greater draconic ritual after hitting 6th level.

[Randomguy]

You should probably take the Dragon Wings feat, since you're too small for the Half-dragon template to actually give you wings. Nonmagical flight is always good.

The Dragon Breath feat might also be good. Available at level 6, it lets you use your breath weapon an unlimited amount of times per day, which is good in combination with Entangling Exhalation.