[3.5] Is there a way to get the Half-dragon template on your Animal Companion?

[Mr Adventurer]

I have my reasons!

[eggynack]

Don't know of any way to do so, no. Could be some way to do roughly similar things, however, depending on what your reasons for wanting it are.

[Warlocknthewind]

Well, when it's just about spring time, one lonely animal companion and one shapechanged Dragon...

Pretty much that, and some patience.

Oh, and convincing a Dragon to Impregnate/impregnated a by your wolf/bear/warthog/dire-turtle what have you. Think about that one South Park episode.
You're trying to make your own Pot Belly Elephant

Then again, depending on a litter you could make a pretty good piece if the Dragon isn't interested in the offspring.

[marphod]

Wish or Miracle.

[Khedrac]

Be very careful, because RAW if you succeed it can no longer be an animal companion...

An alternative option is a magic item - isn't there a ring in Frostburn that does this? (AFB so can't check).

[eggynack]

Be very careful, because RAW if you succeed it can no longer be an animal companion...
Yeah, but it's complicated. The text is all, "It's gotta be an animal," but that's not entirely borne out by the existence of the watchspider, a magical beast animal companion from waterdeep, and various options that swap the type of your companion, including exalted companion. My point is, RAW is rather murky on what happens if you're given leave to swap type, and then swap type a second time. If you already have a RAW legal magical beast companion, can you then legally maintain a companion with the dragon type, if you can get the companion to that point? I would think yes, but it's tricky. The real problem is actually getting the companion to become a half-dragon in a manner that's legal consistent with the nature of an animal companion (just overall, rather than specific to the animal aspect).


An alternative option is a magic item - isn't there a ring in Frostburn that does this? (AFB so can't check).
Apparently so, mostly. The ring of the white wyrm, on page 111, enables to user creature to become a half-dragon for an hour a day. It's not entirely clear that one of the "benefits" is a type change, though the fact that the ring has polymorph as a base spell vaguely points to the idea that there would be a type change. If the goal is just straight up a half-dragon, without care for the specifics, then this would be better because it'd cleanly bypass that type issue you mentioned above, though the fact that the companion is temporarily a half-dragon could be problematic as is the fact that you're not technically adding a template. If the goal is the type, then it could be worse, because as I mentioned, those type issues can presumably be bypassed through the application of a watchspider or exalted companion as the base creature.

[Jack_Simth]

Hmm... not the actual template, but a Polymorph Any Object spell could turn it into a mostly full dragon.

If you take the Wyrmgrafter feat (Races of the Dragon), you could put a bunch of draconic grafts on your animal companion to make it seem to be a dragon (what do you get when you put, say, Buffeting Wings, Frightful Crest, Metabolic Fire, Resilient Scales, and Smashing Tail on a Leopard? A flying, scary, fire-breathing, energy-resistant critter which attacks with Bite / Claw / Claw / Talon / Talon / Wing / Wing / Tail slap on a charge). A lot of people are going to have a hard time telling that from what you want.

[Psyren]

Yeah, but it's complicated. The text is all, "It's gotta be an animal," but that's not entirely borne out by the existence of the watchspider, a magical beast animal companion from waterdeep, and various options that swap the type of your companion, including exalted companion. My point is, RAW is rather murky on what happens if you're given leave to swap type, and then swap type a second time. If you already have a RAW legal magical beast companion, can you then legally maintain a companion with the dragon type, if you can get the companion to that point? I would think yes, but it's tricky. The real problem is actually getting the companion to become a half-dragon in a manner that's legal consistent with the nature of an animal companion (just overall, rather than specific to the animal aspect).

Exalted Companion is a bad example because the feat pretty much acknowledges that what you have is not an animal companion:


Instead of an animal companion, you have a magical beast of good alignment.

And then it just gives that creature all the characteristics of an animal companion, letting it follow you around and scale with you and stuff:


The exalted companion has all the normal abilities of a typical creature of its kind, as well as the characteristics of an animal companion determined by the druid or ranger’s level.

In other words, this is specific trumps general to a tee. It doesn't mean open season on non-animal animal companions; rather, it means that other non-animal-companion animal companions need similar language to work.

[eggynack]

Exalted Companion is a bad example because the feat pretty much acknowledges that what you have is not an animal companion:

And then it just gives that creature all the characteristics of an animal companion, letting it follow you around and scale with you and stuff:


In other words, this is specific trumps general to a tee. It doesn't mean open season on non-animal animal companions; rather, it means that other non-animal-companion animal companions need similar language to work.
I don't mean that this somehow destroys the animal companion rule that an animal companion must be an animal (though the watchspider complicates things a bit). I'm saying that there's less of a prescriptive attachment between exalted companions and magical beasts than there is between animal companions and animals. The goal isn't to prove that you can just have a dragon companion, but to construct a plan that specifically starts with exalted companion and moves from that exalted companion to the half-dragon. Similarly, the intent of the watchspider was that you'd pick that as a companion, and then use trickery from there, rather than creating a broader rules hole.

[Mr Adventurer]

My reason is toadslingers. Like a gunslinger, but with half-dragon toads - or one super-toad with the feat that lets the Half-dragon breath weapon recharge.

[Telok]

So all you really need is a dimunitive critter with a breath weapon and some way to recharge it quickly. And a permanent reduce animal spell or compression manifesting would expand the sizes we can consider.

[eggynack]

Would the sailsnake from monster manual IV help? It flies, it has a sweet breath weapon like thing that has a really high chance of blinding folk, and if you apply venomfire, then that breath weapon also deals massive damage. Might be reaching a bit, but that creature is surprisingly impressive, and you could probably fluff it to fit your needs.

[Oberon Kenobi]

1) Level Seven Dragonfire Adept
2) Obtain Familiar and Dragon Familiar feats
3) Humanoid Shape Invocation and Share Spells
4) Humanoid-shifted wyrmling familiar bitten by Weretoad
5) Profit

[Mr Adventurer]

Toads don't have a natural attack, so I'm not sure the disease has a vector!

[Oberon Kenobi]

Dire Weretoad! Problem solved. :smalltongue:

Although now that you've brought up delivery vectors, I really want to write up a tribe or cult of hallucinogenic werefrogs. The disease is transmitted in reverse, by licking someone who is already afflicted while they're in their animal or hybrid form. New members are inducted in a ritual where the disease taking hold occurs at the same time as they are either tripping like crazy or actually receiving visions from the relevant deity depending on your DM.

(Heck if I know where and in what game to put them, though)

[Psyren]

I don't mean that this somehow destroys the animal companion rule that an animal companion must be an animal (though the watchspider complicates things a bit). I'm saying that there's less of a prescriptive attachment between exalted companions and magical beasts than there is between animal companions and animals. The goal isn't to prove that you can just have a dragon companion, but to construct a plan that specifically starts with exalted companion and moves from that exalted companion to the half-dragon. Similarly, the intent of the watchspider was that you'd pick that as a companion, and then use trickery from there, rather than creating a broader rules hole.

I haven't read Waterdeep myself so I can't vouch for how accurately it might approach the rules; I don't even know if it's 3.5 rather than 3.0. I do get what you're trying to do though, but is there a way to get from "magical beast" to "dragon" without DM involvement?

(IIRC the wish to do so, per Savage Species, is specifically unsafe - and Miracle can be answered with "No" regardless of what you ask for.)

[eggynack]

I haven't read Waterdeep myself so I can't vouch for how accurately it might approach the rules; I don't even know if it's 3.5 rather than 3.0. I do get what you're trying to do though, but is there a way to get from "magical beast" to "dragon" without DM involvement?

Can't think of a good way to do so. Hence my first post on the topic. Was mostly just pointing out that there are possibly ways around the animal companion type swapping issue, assuming the problem of actually doing this thing is solved in some fashion. As for waterdeep, looks like it's 3.5, though it came out prior to the PHB errata that switched animal companions from magical beasts to animals.

[ExLibrisMortis]

Dragons of Eberron has some interesting feats on page 15.

Alternate Form grants Alternate Form (who guessed?), as the gold dragon ability.
Half-Dragon Form allows you to take half-dragon forms (the names are uncanny, right?) with Alternate Form.

Together, they allow anyone with these feats to become any medium or smaller humanoid or animal, with the half-dragon template applied.

Downside: you need to be a true dragon to take these feats, which probably locks you out of being an animal companion.
Second downside: you need five levels in sorcerer to take these feats. Sorcerer casting isn't good enough.

[daremetoidareyo]

Dire Weretoad! Problem solved. :smalltongue:

Although now that you've brought up delivery vectors, I really want to write up a tribe or cult of hallucinogenic werefrogs. The disease is transmitted in reverse, by licking someone who is already afflicted while they're in their animal or hybrid form. New members are inducted in a ritual where the disease taking hold occurs at the same time as they are either tripping like crazy or actually receiving visions from the relevant deity depending on your DM.

(Heck if I know where and in what game to put them, though)

Stolen. I love it.

A few hallucinogenic dire weretoads develop a commune that caters to people on religious pilgrimages. Soap opera melodrama in the commune. Fear of local populations and town centers rise as the commune is developing a "street" culture of enthusiastic adherent addict artists. Some of the more violent folks are whisked into a brigand troupe charged with securing the perimeter. "Outrageous" fees are charged to enter, but some of the most high quality art in the land is produced there, so nobles begin to buy in. Which is all well and good until their daughters become hallucinogenic weretoads and want to live there forever and worship the benevolent facet of blibdoopoolp, the sea mother, taking her first level of cleric with access to the protection and community domains. Man, the plotpoints write themselves. PCs are hired to "return" daughter to wealthy noble.

[Ruethgar]

You could get something similar to a dragon. Ritual Associated: Dragonblood TroodonDrag #318 p74 for the base(it is stated to be a novice druid companion but the level isn't in RAW but most any bird or lizard-like 1HD would do). Retrain Alertness to Dragon Wings, get the Dragontouched DMGII quality and Martial Study(Many a Desert Wind) when he gets higher HD.

This nets you a mini velociraptor with dragon wings, immunity to flame and a 1/day minor, but scaling, breathe weapon with 1/encounter breath weapons later down the road. He's also medium, so if you can manage to boost his strength he could carry a small rider(as it is he can barely carry a saddle). Z'Tal, Lizard, Horned Lizard, Tiny Viper, Compsognathus, Rhamphorynchus, are other options instead of Troodon. You could try and convince your DM to allow a Small Constrictor at level 1 since it is already a familiar option, and that would get a cool serpentine look to your "dragon." Also note that you keep class features, such as from the half-dragon or draconic classes, if you want to magic jar into your AC.