Elven half dragon classes?!

[Eldansyr77]

Tell me people ... i need a cool build or idea for a elven half dragon who comes from near evereska ... fathered of a dragon and elven maiden =) classes, feats and everything ... please help!!

[Zanos]

You seem to have some concept in mind, so you need to ask yourself what you want your character to be able to do, and who they are. All you laid out was a race and location, which is pretty much like telling you that I'm a human from the east coast of the united states, find me a job.

I will say that the half-dragon template definitely has a very martial focus, especially with a +8 strength bonus.

[Eldansyr77]

I was thinking maybe Ranger/ sorcerer ... this elf has been taught everything by elves and his dragon father! but yeah maybe paladin! ... I was thinking of an arcane class because of dragon bloodline but no idea?

[Inevitability]

I strongly recommend against ranger/sorcerer: on top of the LA you won't have enough levels to make it a viable concept.

How about taking a single level in the Half-Dragon class (http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/sp/20030912a)? It eats up less of your build and is semi-decent optimization-wise. If you're willing to bend the fluff a bit and be a Wild Elf, you'll make a decent physical combatant, such as a barbarian. If your character later chooses to embrace his or her dragon nature even further and become a Dragonborn, you get to nullify the constitution penalty in exchange for a small dexterity hit.

[the_archduke]

If he wants Ranger/Sorceror, how a bout a Ranger/Sorceror/Dragon Disciple build. Rather than eat all that LA, you get the Half-Dragon stuff from your class levels.

Ranger 4/Sorceror 1/DD 10/Abjurant Champion 5?

[Inevitability]

If he wants Ranger/Sorceror, how a bout a Ranger/Sorceror/Dragon Disciple build. Rather than eat all that LA, you get the Half-Dragon stuff from your class levels.

Ranger 4/Sorceror 1/DD 10/Abjurant Champion 5?

Decent build, but it only gets attractive at ECL 20, when you fix your mutilated BAB. Unless the campaign starts at high levels, I wouldn't recommend this.

[Extra Anchovies]

What do you want your character to get from being half-dragon? From being an elf? From being a Ranger? From being a Sorcerer?

Knowing what you want your character to be able to do is important to figuring out a build. Ranger/Sorcerer implies you want to have both martial and magical abilities, so here's the first build that comes to mind.

Race: Forestlord Elf (Dragon Magic). They're elves who get the dragonblood subtype and a mini-Tree Stride ability in exchange for their weapon proficiencies and bonus against enchantments. I don't know why the writers decided that elves (chaotic good) would get along best with green dragons (lawful evil), but there you go. Maybe ask your DM to change it to a some other type of dragon if you wanted a heritage other than green.

Class: Sorcerer 20. Dragons, Sorcerers, they go hand in hand. Enough said.

Class Variant: Battle Sorcerer (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/variantCharacterClasses.htm#sorcererVariantBattleS orcerer). Give up one spell per day and spell known of each spell level, get base attack bonus as a cleric, a d8 hit die, proficiency with light armor and one light or one-handed martial weapon, and the ability to cast spells in light armor. It's fighting and casting wrapped up neatly without having to multiclass, and you get to be a battle sorcerer. If that's not a cool name, I don't know what is.

Alternate Class Feature: Stalwart Sorcerer (Complete Mage). Proficiency with any martial weapon (remember, using a two-handed weapon doesn't prevent you from casting spells!), and 2 extra hit points at each level (which puts you at the equivalent of a d12). You'd normally lose one spell known of your highest level, but the minimum of 1 means that stacking Stalwart on top of Battle Sorcerer only affects you at levels 3, 19, and 20, so it's pretty much free on top of Battle Sorcerer.

Alternate Class Feature: Dragonblood Sorcerer substitution levels (Races of the Dragon). At 1st level, you get Draconic Heritage as a bonus feat in place of your familiar. The 4th- and 7th-level substitutions are pretty interesting, but you can take or skip them at your discretion.

Feat (1st level): Dragon Wings (if you want wings) or Dragon Tail (if you want a tail attack), both are from Races of the Dragon. If you switch from Forestlord Elf to Silverbrow Human (Dragon Magic), you could get both!

Feats (later levels): the rest of your feat slots are pretty much open. Improved Initiative would help you get a buff spell active before enemies approach to melee range. Draconic Claw (Complete Arcane) gives you two claw attacks, and if you make a full attack with a weapon you can add an attack with one of your claws at the end. If you took Dragon Tail at 1st, adding on Draconic Claw qualifies you for Multiattack (Monster Manual), which makes your secondary natural attacks (which would be one bite and one claw if you're also using a weapon) more likely to hit. If you took Dragon Wings at 1st, Improved Dragon Wings (Races of the Dragon) upgrades your glide to true flight. Other Draconic feats (Races of the Dragon) could be worth looking at. Versatile Spellcaster (Races of the Dragon) lets you use two spell slots of the same level to cast a spell one level higher (e.g. use two 2nd-level slots to cast Haste). Extend Spell (PHB) would let your buffs last longer, saving a few spell slots and letting you enter combat with more buffs active.

[Thurbane]

Maybe straight Sorcerer with a dip into Ruathar? Ruathar can give you "Ranger Type" skills. You could nab the Wild Cohort feat for an "animal companion". You could have a vaguely Ranger-esque feel without losing casting levels.

Elf 1/2 Dragon Sorcerer 6/Ruathar 3/Abjurant Champion 5/Sorcerer (or other full casting PrC) +3

Feats:
1 Wild Cohort ("animal companion")
3 Knowledge Devotion ("favored enemy")
6 Combat Casting (req)
9 Track *
12 Point Blank Shot *
15 Rapid Shot *

...CL 17, and a decent approximation of being a Ranger/Sorcerer. Of course, there are far better ways to spend your feats.

Alternatively, there's also Suel Arcanamach. This would allow for some levels of Ranger, and still give decent(ish) casting.

Elf 1/2 Dragon Rogue (fighter bonus feat variant) 2/Ranger 5/Suel Arcanamach 4/Abjurant Champion 5/Spellsword 1

1 Iron Will
B *fighter bonus feat
B * fighter bonus feat
3 Combat Casting
B Track
B * fighting style
B Endurance
6 *
9 *
12 *
15 *

[Pyromancer999]

Could do Sword of the Arcane Order Mystic Ranger. Lets you do Ranger stuff and also prepare Sorcerer/Wizard spells. Go Forestlord Elf and take the 4th level substitution level for an Elven Hound as an animal companion. Another route is to go Duskblade for an easy Gish with levels in Forest Reeve for the Ranger part. You can also invest in Dragontouched -> Draconic Heritage to go into Dragonheart Mage for a Breath Weapon. Could also dip Sorcerer 1 to swap the Familiar for Draconic Heritage then enter.

I would also recommend the earlier suggestion to do the Savage Species levels for the Half-dragon part, as that results in a more manageable level of LA of sorts.

Yet another route for a Half-Dragon(in fluff) with a nature feel would be to go Forestlord Elf Druid with Phynxin companion and Aspect of the Dragon instead of Wildshape. Also dip a level in a class with Heavy Armor for the ability to grow a suit of scales if you like that.

For the racial draconic feel, you can also go Dragonborn Elf for draconic abilities, like a Breath Weapon or Flight.