Draconic feats: how good are they?

[Trandir]

Well just a thread to discuss about feats, I'll probably do one for most category of feats.
This first thread is about draconic feats.

The feats that this thread talks about are:
all draconic feats obv
feats that have as prerequisite either dragon or dragonblood type or that are enhanced by having that type
feats that have as prerequisite a breath weapon


As far as my knowledge of the game goes they are pretty bad overall for players, draconic aura being one of the one more intresting to put on companions, but maybe an actual dragon can get the full value out of them.
Metabreath feats as their metamagic counterpart are good.

What does the playground say?

[pabelfly]

Well just a thread to discuss about feats, I'll probably do one for most category of feats.
This first thread is about draconic feats.

The feats that this thread talks about are:
all draconic feats obv
feats that have as prerequisite either dragon or dragonblood type or that are enhanced by having that type
feats that have as prerequisite a breath weapon


As far as my knowledge of the game goes they are pretty bad overall for players, draconic aura being one of the one more intresting to put on companions, but maybe an actual dragon can get the full value out of them.

What does the playground say?

Metabreath feats work well for characters with dragon breath, which you can add to a character by being a Dragonfire Adept or being a Dragonborn character (and probably through a bunch of other methods, it is 3.5 after all).

[Trandir]

Metabreath feats work well for characters with dragon breath, which you can add to a character by being a Dragonfire Adept or being a Dragonborn character (and probably through a bunch of other methods, it is 3.5 after all).

I forgot them.
Probably matabreath are the best in this bounch.

[Cygnia]

Dragon shaman can use them too.

[Zaq]

Most feats with the [Draconic] tag are lackluster. There’s an occasional exception here and there (Draconic Claw is surprisingly useful on a gish, for instance, and Dragonfire Inspiration is legitimately amazing), but usually they aren’t worth the cost, and it’s basically never optimal to take more of them just to prop up their “gain a bonus equal to the number of [Draconic] feats you have” language.

[FaerieGodfather]

I think Draconic Senses is really good, but I have admittedly weird optimization priorities. The bonus to Listen, Spot, and Search checks isn't great, but blindsense 20 on a character with a lot of AOE abilities isn't terrible.

In a 3.PF environment, Draconic Senses andDraconic Knowledge stack with Bardic Knowledge and the Archeologist's Canny Explorer.

Green Dragon Lineage is pretty sick on someone who likes Enchantment spells.

Draconic Aura [Vigor] may not be useful in combat, but it'll save the party a ton of money in healing wands, even if you don't have the [Dragonblood] subtype.

[ezekielraiden]

Dunno about you guys but Practical Metamagic is pretty boss IMO. To the tune of "makes Sorcerer/Sublime Chord noticeably* better," and is a major component of Sorcerer mailmen IIRC. (Technically it's also useful for Wizards with Uncanny Forethought, Alacritous Cogitation, or other "spontaneous Wizard" tricks, but some DMs may not approve.)

*If Dragon Mag MM cost reducers aren't allowed, anyway, since they are both more general and easier to get...and people wonder why Dragon content gets banned so often...

[Nifft]

Most feats with the [Draconic] tag are lackluster. There’s an occasional exception here and there (Draconic Claw is surprisingly useful on a gish, for instance, and Dragonfire Inspiration is legitimately amazing), but usually they aren’t worth the cost, and it’s basically never optimal to take more of them just to prop up their “gain a bonus equal to the number of [Draconic] feats you have” language. Mostly agree. I tend to re-write them if I want them to be relevant in a campaign.


I think Draconic Senses is really good, but I have admittedly weird optimization priorities. The bonus to Listen, Spot, and Search checks isn't great, but blindsense 20 on a character with a lot of AOE abilities isn't terrible.

In a 3.PF environment, Draconic Senses andDraconic Knowledge stack with Bardic Knowledge and the Archeologist's Canny Explorer.

Green Dragon Lineage is pretty sick on someone who likes Enchantment spells.

Draconic Aura [Vigor] may not be useful in combat, but it'll save the party a ton of money in healing wands, even if you don't have the [Dragonblood] subtype. Draconic Aura (Vigor) is not accepted at every table, since Vigor isn't one of the options on the page referenced, but IMHO it's not that bad -- and it does make the feat worth taking.

Agree about Draconic Senses being a cut above the rest.

[LordBlades]

Not Draconic feats in the strictest sense, but being a Dragon is one of the ways to meet the prerequisites and they're from the Draconomicon: Rapidstrike and Improved Rapidstrike are very good on a natural weapons build.

[FaerieGodfather]

Draconic Aura (Vigor) is not accepted at every table, since Vigor isn't one of the options on the page referenced, but IMHO it's not that bad -- and it does make the feat worth taking.

That does jog my memory a little about wondering if it was legit at the time. It really is too good for one feat, even better if you... incidentally had the subtype.

The games I played back then had a different sort of social contract than most 3.X games seem to.


Agree about Draconic Senses being a cut above the rest.

For a game about going "back to the dungeon", people really seem to undervalue special senses. Needing to put three more feats into it hurts, though.