Looking for help with a DFA/Dragonborn Build

[Perpetr8r]

I need help finding a suitable race. I am going to use the Class to get flight and I would be taking the Heart aspect to get the cool down so I could use metabreath feats since they seem pretty good.

But
Dragonborns get a +2 Con and a - 2 Dex (That stack on top of the other races' modifiers.)

I have seen someone play a DFA Dragonborn and they were very much glass cannons with virtually no AC.

[Flickerdart]

-2 Dexterity is just 1 less AC than normal. Just wear full plate, and you won't even notice it's there.

[Perpetr8r]

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Dragonfire adepts are
proficient with simple weapons, but not with armor or shields.
Like arcane spellcasters, a dragonfire adept wearing armor
or using a shield incurs a chance of arcane spell failure (all
invocations have somatic components).

So are their invocations or what not counted as spells? Are they effected by the increased Spell Failure?

[Flickerdart]

It's not terribly difficult to get a suit of full plate to 0% ASF, and nonproficiency doesn't matter to you because penalties on attack rolls don't worry a character that never needs to roll attacks.

[Perpetr8r]

Err.. how do I get a full plate and not get any ASF?
I know the Invocations are Spell-Like but are they counted as spells that can fail? Aren't they more like At-Wills?

[Flickerdart]

Mithral cuts ASF by 10%, Thistledown is -5, Leafweave is -5, Feycraft is -5, Githcraft is -5, Wildwood is -5, Twilight is -10. Mix and match as needed.

[Perpetr8r]

How much would that typically cost?

[Talya]

Err.. how do I get a full plate and not get any ASF?
I know the Invocations are Spell-Like but are they counted as spells that can fail? Aren't they more like At-Wills?

Things that reduce ASF:

Twilight, Magic Item Compendium and Player’s Handbook II, reduces Arcane Spell Failure by 10%. +1 equivalent, magic.

Mithral, SRD, reduces Arcane Spell Failure by 10% among other things. 1,000 gp for Light Armor or Shields, 9,000 gp for Heavy Armor, mundane.

Feycraft, Dungeon Master’s Guide II, reduces Arcane Spell Failure by 5% among other things. 500 gp, mundane.

Githcraft, Dungeon Master’s Guide II, reduces Arcane Spell Failure by 5% among other things. 600 gp, mundane.

Thistledown Padding, Races of the Wild, reduces Arcane Spell Failure by 5% among other things. 250 gp, mundane.

Full Plate starts with 35% arcane spell failure.

Feycraft or Githcraft Mithral Fullplate with Thisledown Padding has 15%.
Add +1 Twilight and it's 5%.


I'm having a hard time dropping it to 0%, too.

It's trivial and cheap to get medium armor down to 0% though.
(And shields, too.)

[Mnemnosyne]

You can also just choose invocations to avoid the spell failure problem. Spell failure only matters if you're using that invocation in combat, so if you choose invocations you're not going to be casting in combat, you're fine. Long-duration invocations, buffs, and non-combat invocations mean you can completely ignore ASF, because if you cast 24 hour duration invocations before you put your armor on in the morning, you don't have to worry about it.

A more cost-effective way of getting your AC up might be stacking low-cost mithril gear, though.

A Feycraft Githcraft Mithril Chain Shirt costs 2200 gp and has an arcane spell failure of 0%.
Add a Masterwork Githcraft Chahar-Aina to that for an additional 825 gp.
Add a Masterwork Githcraft Dastana to that for another 775 gp.
Add a Mithril Githcraft Heavy Shield to that for 1020 gp.

Your total AC gain is now +8, same as full plate, for a total cost of 4,820. Granted, full plate with a shield would be +10, but the difference in price for the same lack of ASF is many thousands of gold.

If your DM doesn't allow the Chahar-Aina and Dastana since they're from Oriental Adventures, you can go with a Mithril Feycraft Githcraft Breastplate with Thistledown Padding for 5550 gp, and the same Mithril Githcraft Heavy Shield for 1020. Total cost 6570 gp and you only gain +7 AC, but still probably the most cost-effective way to get your armor class up.

[Perpetr8r]

Thank you very much. That saves me a load of trouble trying to figure out that stuff through google scouring

What about a race though. I am glad to have the AC, I dislike playing when the average roll of a dice can slap me around like a rag doll I do so like saying "Missed"

But what race works well for this?
I know Elves cancel out the Ability score stuff altogether.

[Flickerdart]

Mongrelfolk. Now you have +6 Constitution. Take a level of Fist of the Forest, now you add CON to AC. Laugh as you block things with your chest.

[Perpetr8r]

So Mongrelfolk is the best?

[Lateral]

Depends on what you want to do. I'm personally a fan of warforged as a base, because:

You don't get the base plating, but you can take the feats, so you can still get adamantine plating. (Sure, it has ASF, but as mentioned before, eh.)
Net +4 con is absolutely wonderful on a DFA.
You keep a lot of the gravy that comes with warforged- off the top of my head, I think you only lose light fortification and the slam, but it might be more (I'm AFB).
You're a friggin' flying fire-breathing dragon robot. I mean, come on.

[Waker]

I think Raptoren works well. Non-magical flight that isn't affected by dispels, it saves you from using one of your precious invocations known, not to mention having physical wings just helps complete the look.

[Talya]

If your DM doesn't allow the Chahar-Aina and Dastana since they're from Oriental Adventures

The Dastana is from the Arms & Equipment Guide, which is completely valid in all 3rd edition settings and games. The only glitch comes from people occasionally not realizing 3.0 material is all valid in 3.5 games if it wasn't reprinted elsewhere.

[Darrin]

Feycraft or Githcraft Mithral Fullplate with Thisledown Padding has 15%.
Add +1 Twilight and it's 5%.


If a fey charms a Githyanki armorsmith on the astral plane, you can combine Feycraft with Githcraft.



I'm having a hard time dropping it to 0%, too.


It's somewhat easier with Blended Quartz (Arms & Equipment Guide, -20% ASF), but unlike mithral this doesn't reduce the weight category of the armor.

Blended Quartz Full Plate + Twilight + Thistledown suit = 0% ASF.

or

Blended Quartz Full Plate + Feycraft + Githcraft + Thistledown suit = 0% ASF (non-magical)

[Nightraiderx]

Don't get heart for metabreath feats if you are allowed Dragon Magazine-
There is a feat called Power Surge from Dragon 313.
It raises a supernatural ability by +1d6 damage but you have to wait a round to use it again. this feat alone should qualify you for Metabreath Feaths.