draconic template

[questionmark693]

What book is the draconic template in? Also, how much is it worth? Are there other, similar, alternatives?

[Karnith]

The Draconic template can be found in the Draconomicon, pp. 149-150. It is LA +1, making it weak-to-somewhat-reasonable for what you get out of it. It is definitely underwhelming compared to the standard LA +1 powerhouses (e.g. Feral, Lolth-Touched, Half-Ogre, etc.).

If you're looking for a thematically similar but mechanically stronger template, try the various flavors of Dragonspawn from the Dragonlance Campaign Setting, pp. 222-223. White Dragonspawn are kind of absurd, while the rest are fair to crappy.

[HunterOfJello]

Depends on what you're actually looking for.

If you're looking for a creature with the Dragonblooded template, then check out Dragon Magic which has alternate versions of all the PHB races but with the dragonblooded tempalte added in.

If you're just looking to play a character turned dragon-ish, there is also the Dragonborn of Bahamut ritual/template from Races of the Dragon.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

The Dragon Devotee template in Races of the Dragon gives you everything that Draconic gets in a five-level prestige class. Just dipping the first level of it gets you +2 Cha.

You could gradually gain Half-Dragon (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/sp/20030912a), and take as many or as few levels as you want (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/sp/20030824a).

[questionmark693]

I'm actually looking at this from a DM's perspective, I'm going to be running the Red Hand of Doom in a couple of weeks, and I'm hoping to add some more draconic flavor to some of the creatures. I'd read, for instance, that the draconic template worked well on the hell hounds. I appreciate the suggestions though :)

[nedz]

It depends what you are looking for ?

The Dragontouched ( Dragon Magic p18) feat gives a few small benefits but opens up the possibility of taking Draconic feats. These can give you a breath weapon and flight though you will need to be an arcane caster for the first.

These cost neither levels nor LA, but they do eat feats.

[Red Fel]

I'd like to point out that, if your character is Good, Dragonborn of Bahamut (as mentioned above) is probably your best option. There's no LA, no RHD, no level or class penalties, and the ritual to become Dragonborn can be undertaken at any time. You lose various racial features, which can be painful, but sometimes it can be great (such as losing an Orc's light sensitivity). You also gain your choice of wings, breath weapon, or vision boosts, which scale with your character, and qualify as a dragon for any feat/PrC/spell/etc. In the same book are feats that let you upgrade whichever feature you didn't take, so you could get the wings and a breath weapon if you wanted.

The fluff is fairly awesome too, although it does become incumbent upon your character to murder the ever-loving crap out of any Evil Dragon you see (to varying degrees of murder).

[Thurbane]

The Draconic template can be found in the Draconomicon, pp. 149-150.
I believe the most recent version of the template can be found in Races of the Dragon, p.74.

[ksbsnowowl]

I believe the most recent version of the template can be found in Races of the Dragon, p.74.

To clarify for the OP, the only mechanical difference between the two versions is that the Races of the Dragon version grants the dragonblood subtype (which was a new thing introduced in that book). Everything else is effectively the same (slightly different wording, but exact same end result).