Calimehter
2016-01-24, 09:34 PM
It is a staple of D&D that dragon blood has woven its way into a whole lot of other bloodlines. Half-dragons, Draconic creatures, dragon-blooded humanoids, etc. etc. etc.. The logistics of how it happens can be explained by the easy access that dragons have to spells like Polymorph and Draconic Polymorph as well as the limited number of dragons with Alternate Form "built in". You can let your imagination or the BoEF fill in the details after that, but the spells make it possible.
Suppose, however, that we are in a campaign world that is a bit different than is typical. In this world, there are no spells *or* SLAs that are higher than 4th level. Furthermore a few of the more 'broken' spells have been banned, including Polymorph. Further-furthermore, while most sourcebooks are allowed, the 'campaign-specific' ones from Eberron and FR and the like are banned, which knocks out that one Eberron bit about dragons being able to just 'buy' Alternate Form.
In such a situation how does dragon blood get into the general population?
A few dragons have it built it, but that would mean that the only half-dragons and other draconic forms would be limited to those few draconic bloodlines.
Specific-form spells (as opposed to open ended ones with a lot of possible forms) are still allowed, so the possibility of the dragon using its spells to turn into certain specific forms still exists. Displacer Beasts, Hellhounds, and Winter Wolves are available from perusing SpC, PHBII, and CM. While these are all allowed and usable, they are a touch limiting when it comes to getting dragon blood into other bloodlines. In particular, a dragon would need to find a willing human who *also* knew that spell in order to make the . . . uh. . . transference in order to get dragon blood into humanoid lines. There is another one that allows Troll form, which is at least a humanoid shape, but is still not an especially satisfactory solution given the limited interaction that trolls have with other humanoids.
If you want to get squicky about it, Amorphous Form (3rd level from SpC) can be interpreted as getting the job done. :smalleek: Still not the ideal solution. Also, my apologies for the mental image that might have conjured up.
Is there anything else I am missing? The above solutions make it at least *possible* to generate humanoids with draconic ancestry, but I'm hoping there is something more elegant out there.
Suppose, however, that we are in a campaign world that is a bit different than is typical. In this world, there are no spells *or* SLAs that are higher than 4th level. Furthermore a few of the more 'broken' spells have been banned, including Polymorph. Further-furthermore, while most sourcebooks are allowed, the 'campaign-specific' ones from Eberron and FR and the like are banned, which knocks out that one Eberron bit about dragons being able to just 'buy' Alternate Form.
In such a situation how does dragon blood get into the general population?
A few dragons have it built it, but that would mean that the only half-dragons and other draconic forms would be limited to those few draconic bloodlines.
Specific-form spells (as opposed to open ended ones with a lot of possible forms) are still allowed, so the possibility of the dragon using its spells to turn into certain specific forms still exists. Displacer Beasts, Hellhounds, and Winter Wolves are available from perusing SpC, PHBII, and CM. While these are all allowed and usable, they are a touch limiting when it comes to getting dragon blood into other bloodlines. In particular, a dragon would need to find a willing human who *also* knew that spell in order to make the . . . uh. . . transference in order to get dragon blood into humanoid lines. There is another one that allows Troll form, which is at least a humanoid shape, but is still not an especially satisfactory solution given the limited interaction that trolls have with other humanoids.
If you want to get squicky about it, Amorphous Form (3rd level from SpC) can be interpreted as getting the job done. :smalleek: Still not the ideal solution. Also, my apologies for the mental image that might have conjured up.
Is there anything else I am missing? The above solutions make it at least *possible* to generate humanoids with draconic ancestry, but I'm hoping there is something more elegant out there.