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Teeka
2007-06-07, 02:59 PM
My DM is being really nice to me, giving me permission to play as a half-dragon. He gave me the stats and all that and I quickly realized that it really was not what I wanted. To put it simply, the resulting character would be far too powerful for what I intended him to be.

Do any of you have any information on creating a weaker half-dragon or direct me to where I could go to get information like that?

I would have tired to handle things on my own, but I am still sort of new to D&D and mostly in it for RPing, hence my coming up with a back-story for a half-dragon character without realizing what his stats would be like.

Jasdoif
2007-06-07, 03:04 PM
You're aware of the +3 level adjustment, right? Ask yourself carefully if you're really going to be too powerful when you have three fewer class levels then everyone else.

ZeroNumerous
2007-06-07, 03:11 PM
If he goes into a class where levels isn't that important, like a Barbarian, then it doesn't matter that he's three levels behind.

That being said, my best advice is to just not be one. Half-dragon isn't that great, and certainly isn't fun. Why not just ask your DM if you could take the Draconic Bloodline feat if you want the flavor of a dragon-descendant?

RTGoodman
2007-06-07, 03:12 PM
What's your backstory? If you're looking at being a spellcaster, you could go with sorcerer and just take the Draconic Heritage feats in... Complete Arcane, I think?

Otherwise, I agree with the above poster who pointed out that you'll be three levels behind everyone else with that +3 Level Adjustment.

ZeroNumerous
2007-06-07, 03:15 PM
What's your backstory? If you're looking at being a spellcaster, you could go with sorcerer and just take the Draconic Heritage feats in... Complete Arcane, I think?

They're all over the place. Dragon Magic and Races of the Dragon has the more flavorful ones though.

Teeka
2007-06-07, 07:02 PM
Thanks for all of the info and sorry that it took me so long to reply. I had a whole long post written out and then the internet went on the fritz and I lost it. The following is a greatly abbreviated version of what I originally wanted to say because I am too lazy to write it all out all over again.

As far as books and similar resources go, we are quite limited due to the lack of stores that sell gaming supplies around here. We consider ourselves lucky to have what we do and we manage to have fun with what we have.

The level adjustment does not bother me at all, in fact it was part of what drew me to a half-dragon (I will explain that shortly). I figured that between that and my plans for the character, the individuals I game with will not tell me how to play him.

In terms of how I plan to play him, later on he will most likely be a spellcaster, but it depends on how I feel about the situation.

Backstory, well that has two aspects, both in and out of character. Out of character is more important at the moment oddly enough. Basically I need to make a character that will not be heavily involved in combat, partially because that is not what interests me and partially because it will help me justify the position in the group that I plan to fill. My goal is to end up the spokesman for the group since that will allow me to role play slightly more than the other group members (they are not all that interested in the RP aspect of the game). The other group members are more interested in combat and such (if I understand the term, one of them is a munchkin) so I hope the situation will work out for all of us. So far they have indicated that it would work for them.

Our DM also wants to try out some odd little ideas, part of the reason that he gave me the okay to be a half-dragon. Odd DM ideas are what make the world go around so when they allow me to run with an odd idea of my own I go for it.

We are all in this for fun so we tend to be very flexible. That is probably why we are still gaming together despite our different styles.

Greenfaun
2007-06-07, 09:28 PM
Interesting. Well, I'm still not sure why the social-interaction character you want would be better as a half-dragon than a half-fey or an aasimar or something, but if being dragonish is a useful thing diplomatically in your DM's world, you might want to check out the Spellscale race if you can get access to a copy of Races of the Dragon. They're basically wandering bards and sorcerers with scaly skin and a charisma bonus but not much else, and some potentially annoying cultural/behavioral fluff.

Another thing to try would be the bloodlines variant rules. They're in the official SRD, here (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/races/bloodlines.htm) and the dragon entries are here. (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/races/bloodlines.htm#dragonBlack)

I don't know if either of these are what you're looking for, but it's worth a shot.

Fako
2007-06-07, 09:35 PM
You can also use the Savage Progressions idea that WoTC posted a while ago, opting for less abilities in place of a lower LA. You can find it here (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/sp/20030912a).

Teeka
2007-06-07, 10:31 PM
Thank you Fako. That looks to be just about what I need. I will show it to my DM and see what he thinks of it.

PinkysBrain
2007-06-07, 10:38 PM
To put it simply, the resulting character would be far too powerful for what I intended him to be.
To put it simply you are wrong. You seem to be playing with people who like making competent characters ... you won't be, so how can you be too powerful? You would have to be playing with people taking multiple commoner levels because it fits their character concept to be overpowered with a non melee focused half-dragon.

Leon
2007-06-07, 11:02 PM
Possibly the Draconic Template would suit your needs, its like Half-Dragon Lite. Found in Races of the Dragon

Quietus
2007-06-08, 12:31 AM
Possibly the Draconic Template would suit your needs, its like Half-Dragon Lite. Found in Races of the Dragon

Also can be found in the Draconomicon, or online here :

http://www.crystalkeep.com/d20/rules/DnD3.5Index-Templates.pdf

Check page 6. By "Category 3" claw attacks, they mean a 1d3 claw attack.

Teeka
2007-06-08, 09:40 AM
Thanks all. I realize that I am having a hard time putting into words what I mean, but despite my lack of ability to communicate my situation properly all you have brought up has been very helpful.

I do believe that I will be able to make the character I want now.

Person_Man
2007-06-08, 10:12 AM
If you get access to Races of the Dragon, I suggest using a variant Kobold (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/we/20060420a) with the Dragonwraught feat. Same exact fluff, much better crunch, no level adjustment.

I'm particularly fond of Kobold Barbarian (4 attacks and Pounce at first level, pick up Touch of Golden Ice at 3rd level) and Kobold Sorcerer (+1 Caster level and scaled Quickened Spell like abilities) builds.

Teeka
2007-06-08, 10:35 AM
Kobolds? Oh my, I will have to find out if I can find Races of the Dragon. I have a friend who absolutely loves Kobolds. Anything with information on them would make his day. Actually I think everyone in our group loves them so it would be great for all of us.

The J Pizzel
2007-06-08, 10:42 AM
I might get flogged for this, but the Dragon Shaman might be what you're looking for. It has some decent buffs (with auras), breath weapon (not very powerful, but decent) and you get extra class skill based on what dragon you chose as your "totem" dragon. You can choose the one with diplomacy and get it as a class skill. It's in PHBII. Anyway, just thought I'd point it out. Also, it's not a very good combatant, which kinda fits your flavor.

jp

Edit - oh my god, I just realized he's looking for a race, not a class...I'm pathetic.

Person_Man
2007-06-08, 11:31 AM
I might get flogged for this, but the Dragon Shaman might be what you're looking for. It has some decent buffs (with auras), breath weapon (not very powerful, but decent) and you get extra class skill based on what dragon you chose as your "totem" dragon. You can choose the one with diplomacy and get it as a class skill. It's in PHBII. Anyway, just thought I'd point it out. Also, it's not a very good combatant, which kinda fits your flavor.

jp

Edit - oh my god, I just realized he's looking for a race, not a class...I'm pathetic.

Dragon Shaman? WTF? *FlOGS* ;-)

Mediocre BAB, a poorly scaled breath weapon, and an even poorer breath weapon? What's to like? There is no combination of abilities that a Dragon Shaman gets that I cannot accomplish better with some other build.

The J Pizzel
2007-06-08, 02:09 PM
I knew it was only a matter of time. Well, he said he was mainly looking for flavor not combat prowess....I just thought....but....oh well, you're right, it's a pretty useless class. Not to mention he's looking for a race, not a class. HA, I'm almost as useless as the class is.

pizzel

Jannex
2007-06-08, 03:12 PM
If you haven't already made your decision (which it sounds like you might have), you might want to try to get hold of Savage Species (I sense another flogging coming on...). When I had a character concept for a minotaur, but found the base race to be not quite what I was looking for, I worked with my DM to tweak it and make it into something closer to what I was looking for. Savage Species has an entire section devoted to how level adjustment is determined, so it made it fairly easy to figure out what to move around or take out. Since it sounds like you might be running into a similar issue, it might be a course of action worth considering.

Teeka
2007-06-08, 06:14 PM
I have not made my decision yet and more likely than not I will not be doing so fro about a week, most likely more, since I want to talk this over with my DM and he is quite busy right now.

Your situation does sound similar Jannex and your advice could work out for me. It may be possible for me to get a look at Savage Species as little as I like it. I do believe one of our group members knows an individual with that book so there may be a chance to borrow it.