Elf with a dragons heart

[Okamigekido]

So, another thing for the Paladin in the campaign im running-he want's to have the heart of a dragon, specifically the heart of Bahamut. To have dragon-like features, such as scales-and maybe to have some small abilities to go with it. Though, I believe this IS most likely OP, and I have NO clue how I would even balance this out myself. (I'm still a new DM, but complex interesting backstories are fun for me to work off of)
I want to know if this WOULD be OP, and if he were to have features, what would they be? He somehow wants these two things to be involved in bringing this idea to life (if he can). And, if he did do this, why exactly would he have a "dragons heart"-specifically one of a god.

https://www.dndbeyond.com/subclasses/140741-oath-of-bahamuts-blessing
https://www.dndbeyond.com/subclasses/3820-dragonknight

[Kane0]

Are you sure you don't just want to tell this guy to tone it down a notch? I mean, he's level 3. Next thing is he's going to want to be some sort of messiah to half a dozen deities without being a high level cleric.

Edit: That pally oath is slightly-to-moderately-OP, yes. The cleanest way I can think of doing it would be to replace one of this paladin oath features with something taken from a dragonborn or draconic sorcerer. Little bit of dragon without changing everything up.

[Teaguethebean]

Tell him that having the heart of a dragon is cool and tell him to play normally he will have Elf racial traits and whatever class he is. Tell him to be a vengeance paladin if he wants the features and tell him to be a dragon sorcerer if he wants dragon like features. I guess if you want to allow him to take a homebrew subclass he can choose the dragon knight subclass.

[Okamigekido]

He was completely aware that this would most-likely be a no, but he wanted me to attempt and see what I could do anyhow! Suggestions to somehow give him a dragon-like feature would be nice, though. Like the suggestions so far!

[Teaguethebean]

He was completely aware that this would most-likely be a no, but he wanted me to attempt and see what I could do anyhow! Suggestions to somehow give him a dragon-like feature would be nice, though. Like the suggestions so far!

Tell him to look at dragon marks from Ebberon they are something he may find fun.

[intregus]

Do these dragonlike feathers need to have mechanical benefits? I mean he can role play having scales, or when he tries to intimidate role playing that he exhails fire etc

[Tawmis]

So, another thing for the Paladin in the campaign im running-he want's to have the heart of a dragon, specifically the heart of Bahamut. To have dragon-like features, such as scales-and maybe to have some small abilities to go with it. Though, I believe this IS most likely OP, and I have NO clue how I would even balance this out myself. (I'm still a new DM, but complex interesting backstories are fun for me to work off of)
I want to know if this WOULD be OP, and if he were to have features, what would they be? He somehow wants these two things to be involved in bringing this idea to life (if he can). And, if he did do this, why exactly would he have a "dragons heart"-specifically one of a god.

https://www.dndbeyond.com/subclasses/140741-oath-of-bahamuts-blessing
https://www.dndbeyond.com/subclasses/3820-dragonknight

If he wants "Dragon-like" features... why not just do a Dragonborn Paladin?
And if he just wants it for fluff... You could make it a part of your campaign.
Say that Bahamut suffered some kind of great betrayal in the heavens...
So much so that his heart was shattered and pieces fell to the world.
The energy pieces of his shattered heart were born into this world as Paladins who possessed unusual features (scales like a dragon, pupils like a serpent, etc)
You could give them Dragon Breath (similar to Dragonborn) when they reach a specific level, but at that point would lose a benefit to whatever their race is (so for example, gain Dragon Breath, but then lose the extra points they gain as a human; due to their body shifting to adapting this dragon skill).

Maybe all of these "special Paladins" have a calling to find the center of Bahamut's heart eventually when they're strong enough... so that he can be restored by the kindness and sacrifice of Paladins. And perhaps in the end, these special Paladins will need to sacrifice themselves so the energy of the heart can be returned and Bahamut reborn. What greater sacrifice is there in an act of kindness and faith than someone giving up their own lives for another?

[Bjarkmundur]

Dragon-Elf
Speed: 30 feet
Darkvision
Languages: Common, Elvish, Draconic
Advantage against charm, immune to magical sleep.
Trance
Dragonheart: You gain a spell at 3rd and 5th level that can each be cast once per day as if cast with a 2nd level spell slot.

There, you got the iconic elven features and then you can pick some dragon themed spells to get the flavor accross. Alternatively you can pick one of the Aasimar subclasses (Protector, Scourge, Fallen).
If he wants to go more dragon you can add "which can be cast once per day using only a verbal component" and pick something like burning hands as dragon's breath.

I think this is far more interesting than the half-elf and half-orc approaches.


.... oh wait, we're talking subclasses. Sorry, didn't check the links ^^"
Well in that case, I recommend looking at the design space you are given.

Oath Blueprint:
Your iconic abilities all come in at 3rd level, mainly through your channel divinity.


Additional Spells Prepared from the Paladin Spell List
Turn *creature type* or other status effect, usually AoE.
Combat bonus that lasts for 1 minute once per short rest, usually single-target.
7th level you get a small passive defensive bonus, which gets stronger at 18th level
15th level you get a strong passive defensive bonus


This should make it easy to ask your player EXACTLY what he wants and what he expects from his Dragonheart. To really cement the flavor I recommend writing up the actual oath for him. You can look to this (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SgS5_TAdbPc)video for examples on draconic behavior, ideals and values. That's more Tawmis' area of expertise, and I'm sure he can whip up something beautiful for your player on his backstory thread ^^
Going for spells outside paladin might heavily affect balance, since you are likely to cherry-pick. Using just the paladin spell list ensures that won't happen. If there's a particular spell that your REALLY need, just make a channel divinity version of it.

Dragons are a bit like the ranger class; everyone has their favorite version. I think you'll get much closer to your player's expectation by giving him some options and ultimately letting him decide.

For example, I'd probably go with something like
Family
Honor
Whatever the word is for striving for perfection in whatever your do
Whatever the word is for trusting in your self and standing on your own too feet.

Spells:
Command, Detect Magic
Aid, Zone of Truth
Elemental Weapon, Remove Curse
Banishment, Locate Creature
Destructive Wave, Geas


Channel Divinity
1. You can use your Channel Divinity to exude a terrifying presence. As an action, you force each creature of your choice that you can see within 30 feet of you to make a Wisdom saving throw. On a failed save, a creature becomes frightened of you for 1 minute. The frightened creature can repeat this saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success.
2. Your weapon deals 1d6 extra acid, cold, fire, lightning, or thunder damage for 1 minute.

7th Level Passive Bonus
Immune to disease and the frightened condition
But I am by no means the most creative homebrewer out there, but this hopefully demonstrates that a character identity is not at all decided by his race or class, but what his goal is, why he does what he does and what he does during his downtime. Having mechanics that support these aspects does help, though. So ask him what he thinks it 'means' to have a dragonheart. If that is the dragon's greed, use things like locate object or detect magic to sniff out magic items. If it is their animosity against giants, give him a 'turn' an enemy that's larger than him as a channel divinity or the ability to grow in size to gain +2 to damage rolls for 1 minute. If it is the draconic appearance, give him channel divinity that enhances his scales and allows him to use his reaction when taking damage to reduce the incoming damage by an amount equal to his charisma modifier. Homebrewing is easy once you have the design goal, the intended use and what feeling it's supposed to give the player. Well, coming up with mechanics in line with existing mechanics is easy. Coming up with completely original mechanics takes a bit more practice.

For players with strong 'single-player' stories I use downtime to help them progress their character. Every three sessions or so I ask "You have 30 uneventful days, how do you spend your time". This is likely to get him thinking about his characters story, and will flat-out tell you what he expects. I have run a character like this, and I really hated it that my DM never gave my character a break from HIS story to advance my own. You can run a small 10-minute storyline just for him before going to the next player. He might even give your group an adventure hook they later decide to follow up on. Waterdeep does this pretty well if you're looking for precedent. The 1st level is a search-and-rescue mission, then the entire 2nd level is just "the players do whatever, here are some examples" and then the story starts at 3rd level.

I also recommend you use the first 3 levels as "character introduction" rather than "character advancement". This post is already getting long, but you can read about that in my houserule document.

[DevilMcam]

A paladin with a dragon heart sounds very much like a Sorcadin with the draconic bloodline for the sorcerers level.

Everything is availlable from PHB so it is not THAT overpowered and you ca just go with it.
It let you do most of the things these homebrew allows to do as well.
And if the player is just looking for power, it up there already

[loki_ragnarock]

What he should get is your very, very best Sir Thomas Sean Connery impression.


Give him a specific story line where he is the damsel that saves dragons.


But the progress as a sorcadin with the draconic bloodline is probably the best option. No fuss, no muss, and relatively balanced.

[Sigreid]

So, is he your only player? It he is, you can give him whatever you want and no harm done. If you've got other players, this all screams it's all about me attention whore and that will cause problems.

[moonfly7]

If you give everyone custom goodies as a " you get one special thing to start the game" deal then that's fine. But I agree with the other posts that if you don't, then he should just multiclass into sorcerer.

[Brawnspear]

You could allow him to take the Dragon Hide feat from Xanathar's. If worried about balance, give everyone access to a free racial feat that fits them, improvising which of them would be allowed for non-phb races in your party. If he is worried about not having dex, allow him after taking the feat to consume gems and gold because of his dragonlike nature. Once he's consumed enough to hit an armor threshold treat him like he's wearing that armor in perpetuity. Consuming 200 for splint would get him up to 17 AC and then start the long road to plate.

This also gives him claws and a buff to 1 of the 3 stats that pallies and dragons love. Works out very nice I think.

[Okamigekido]

Oh gosh! Thank you everyone for throwing in all these ideas, I really appreciate it! I'll talk to the Paladin and see which he likes the best (while making sure he doesn't become to OP). This all really helps,,,so again, thank you all! ; w ;