Half-minotaur, half-dragion, all werebear

[SaltyEmperorX]

So for a friend's campaign starting in a few weeks, I wanted to do something... special. I have always wanted to be a werebear, but it was always impossible when we started with low ECLs. We decided that this (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=8183188&postcount=306) is acceptable. Then I though, why stop there? I want to be something really weird and my DM has allowed me to combine the half-dragon and half-minotaur templates to form my starting race with the following...

Size Large
Type Dragon
Natural Armor +6
Move Speed 40’, 80’ fly average

Str +12
Con +4
Wis +2
Cha +2
Lvl +4

Bonus Feat Track
Lowlight Vision
Darkvision 60’
Scent
Immune to sleep and paralysis
+2 Search, Spot, and Listen
Gore d8
Bite d8
2 Claws d6
1/day Breath Weapon 6d8 60’ Line of Acid (copper) or 30’ Cone of Cold(silver)
Ref for half DC = 10 + ½ racial HD + Con mod
+4 to escape Maze
Always know which way is North
LA +4

I would be ECL 5 with 8 hp, though. There are a lot of fun templates between these two pdfs I have by crystal keep, and I have not gone through them all. These two were just attractive after a quick look. We have 2 or 3 clerics with 1 or 2 multi classing as a sorc or wiz, I think, and something else. We will also have a bard and a ranger/rogue at least. Does anyone have any thoughts on this? I mainly just wanted to share and ask if there is something useful I could actually make this into. I am going to talk to him about LA buyoff, but I am not exactly sure how it works, myself. Would I only be able to buy the first lvl off at lvl 12?

thank you kindly, sirs and madams

[Mathemagician7]

Personally I would be worried about playing in a 5th level group of adventurers as frontline meleer with only 8 HP (and really, with a +12 strength modifier what else are you doing in a fight than frontline melee?)

That said, it looks like a pretty sweet setup, if you can survive long enough to get a few hitpoints.

My favorite thing to do with the half-dragon template was to slap it on something with regeneration and a vulnerability (like a troll or ogre-mage) and then pick a dragon type that grants immunity to that element.

Unfortunately ogre-mage has a pretty high LA. +7 IIRC.

If you could ever find a way to get a DM to let you do this, and if you started high enough, Rakshasa's are absurd - their LA is equal to their effective sorcerer level, and that stacks with class levels.

Not sure what to do with only ECL 5.

Half-celestial comes to mind, but that's +4 all by itself . . .

good luck!

[Rebel7284]

Honestly, I would drop the half dragon. with 8 HP, someone can kill you as an afterthought at level 5.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

Only Humanoids and Giants can become Lycanthropes, a Half-Dragon cannot be a Werecreature of any kind.

[Yogibear41]

Only Humanoids and Giants can become Lycanthropes, a Half-Dragon cannot be a Werecreature of any kind.

Ditto, also this: http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/sp/20031114a

the homebrew class might be better off in the short run, but if your allowed LA buy off then the real deal is much better in the long run.(probably better even if you are not allowed buy-off)

[SaltyEmperorX]

Only Humanoids and Giants can become Lycanthropes, a Half-Dragon cannot be a Werecreature of any kind.


Ditto, also this: http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/sp/20031114a

the homebrew class might be better off in the short run, but if your allowed LA buy off then the real deal is much better in the long run.(probably better even if you are not allowed buy-off)

Like I said, the DM approved it, so I am able to use whatever I want as a base. I just wanted to fit in a bunch of stuff that really did not fit together to make this monstrosity of a beast. Also, with the HD granted with normal werebear, it would be at least ECL 10, so that would have just taken too much to work out, I think. Plus, being able to become huge, gargantuan, and colossal is honestly cooler than anything normal werebear, at least to me. I am still perusing the templates, though, for other things to mess with.

And yeah, the whole 8 HP + con mod is low, but the DM is giving me mith breast, and I get that +6 nat armor with the additional con and dex mods to AC.

[Ethlandor]

This is the goofball DM Allowing this nonsense

The werebear-ness is coming from this racial class: http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=8183188&postcount=306 which I was ok allowing on top of his crazy race in large part due to the weirdness of the other characters and the fact that it is going to be a very challenging campaign so I don't mind cracking out my players a bit.

The game I am running is mostly about people having fun outside the normal D&D box and doing something goofy that they will enjoy, hopefully this allows him to do so.

And I'm not GIVING him Mithral armor I am letting him BUY Mithral Armor

[Yogibear41]

The savage progression I linked lets you take 1 level of RHD or 1 level of LA per level so its not all tacked on at once. So you don't have to worry about jumping upt to ecl 10 in one go.

[Ethlandor]

I saw that but wont work with the Half Minotaur Half Dragon at ECL 5, unless I am missing something