"Races of the Dragon" questions

[13_CBS]

I was reading through the Races of the Dragon book today at Border's, and two questions popped up:

1)How good are Dragonborn? It seems like they get a decent breathweapon with nigh-unlimited uses per day, and they get neat bonuses in various attributes. Plus, they seem to be pretty easy to start as (requiring only a good alignment and a small side quest).

2) Why are Half-Dragons so weak? I've heard that they are extremely fragile for some reason, but why?

[ZeroNumerous]

1. I like them. +CON is nice for a Cleric/Fighter type. The -DEX sucks, but ah well. As for the breath weapon.. Wings is better. Flight > Breath Weapon.

2. The LA increase offers no hit dice to compensate.

[13_CBS]

I'm not sure I understand the concept of Level Adjustment though...what exactly does it do? I know it's a way of balancing characters with extra racial bonuses, but even after reading the SRD I don't understand the concept...

[The_Snark]

I'm not sure I understand the concept of Level Adjustment though...what exactly does it do? I know it's a way of balancing characters with extra racial bonuses, but even after reading the SRD I don't understand the concept...

Take a character of a certain level, say 6. That character has 6 class levels, meaning 6 hit dice, level 6 saves, etc.

Level adjustment reduces the number of class levels the character is allowed to have. A half-dragon of equivalent effective level in a party of level 6 characters would have only 3 class levels, meaning only 3 hit dice, poorer saves/attack bonus, etc.

Basically, level adjustment gives you extra levels that only give racial qualities. Those three half-dragon levels give you stat bonuses, breath weapons, and natural weapons. They do not give you any base attack bonus, hit points, skills, or feats.