Breath Weapons (And How To Get Them)

[Fax Celestis]

How on earth do I get a breath weapon that scales with level yet still lets me be able to acquire large quantities of breath-weapon altering spells via levels in Sorceror?

On a related note, the dragon breath spell (SC 73) doesn't have an energy descriptor. How odd.

[Sacrath]

The Dragonfire Adept has a breath weapon as a class feature.
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x...060912a&page=2

[Ivius]

The first thing that comes to mind is Dragon Shaman. You can even qualify for metabreath feats. But that's basically the only useful thing the class does, apart from being a decent healbot with it's lay-on-hands-ish ability and Vigor aura.

[Prince_of_Blades]

Dragonborn can choose to have a breath weapon that starts at 1d8, plus 1d8 per 3 HD. The type can be acid, cold, electricity, or fire, with a choice on each individual use.

[13_CBS]

IIRC, said Dragon born must use their breath weapons in the shape of a line, but are allowed to use them every 1d4 rounds.

[Prince_of_Blades]

The Shape Breath feat can change that, and it's very easy to qualify for, if you really need it cone-shaped.

[ArmorArmadillo]

The Dragonheart Adept PrC from races of the dragon has a BW effect that lets you sacrifice spell slots (which as a Sorcerer you'll have plenty of) to produce a breath weapon that produces xdy damage X spell level.

The damage for the Breath Weapon scales with level and you'll get nearly full spellcasting potential.

[AtomicKitKat]

Half-Dragon is pretty crap and doesn't scale, but you can get the improved Breath Weapon Feat from RotD so that you get the 1d4 cooldown. After that, apply Meta-Breath to taste.

[ClericofPhwarrr]

I'd also recommend the Dragonborn race for the breath weapon. They're in the Draconomicon, and also get +2 Con, -2 Dex. You can be creative with their base race too if you really want to optimize it; a Dragonborn Dwarf gets +4 Con, -2 Dex, -2 Cha, for instance. A Dragonborn Fire Elf gets +2 Int, -2 Cha; a Dragonborn Grey Elf gets +2 Int, -2 Str.

[Person_Man]

Races of the Dragon has a feat called Draconic Breath. As a supernatural ability, you can expend a spell use for the day it into a breath weapon that deals spell level * 2d6 damage. The Save is even based on your Cha, making it perfect for a Sorcerer.

There's also a prestige class in RotD built specifically around the Draconic Breath feat that increases the damage dice, but I wouldn't suggest it, since it doesn't get full caster level progression.

RotD and Draconomicon also have a number of metabreath feats. They add all sorts of powerful effects to your breath weapon (Entangling Breath, Maximize Breath, Quicken Breath, etc). And the only thing they increase is the number of rounds you have to wait before using your breath weapon again.

And as you noted, there are also a wide variety of Sorcerer spells that alter breath weapons as a Swift action, making them more powerful.

So you could have a Sorcerer/PrC, fire off a spectacularly powerful breath weapon on your first round of every combat, and still have a large complement of spells and full spell progression to do everything else you want.

[Saph]

How on earth do I get a breath weapon that scales with level yet still lets me be able to acquire large quantities of breath-weapon altering spells via levels in Sorceror?

Be a dragon? I mean, that's what those breath-altering spells were designed for. :P

But seriously, most of the good breath spells are quite high-level, so taking levels in Dragonfire Adept or Dragon Shaman isn't going to work. The best choices are probably either the Draconic Breath feat (has the Draconic Heritage feat as a pre-req) or just being a dragonborn with the Heart feature.

- Saph

[blue_fenix]

If you really like breath weapons and don't mind playing a warlock rip-off (at least in terms of mechanics) Dragonfire Adept is pretty sweet. It's breath weapon is usable every round, it qualifies for meta-breath feats, and it gets to pick a new variant breath weapon to add to it's repertoire every few levels.

The only thing to watch out for is that at low levels it's dealing almost nothing but fire damage. I wish I had known that before the DM put us in a dungeon full of fiendish rats. Once you start picking up more invocations and breath variants, though, a Dragonfire Adept can turn into a versatile battlefield controller with decent damage not limited by spells-per-day. The best part is that since the breath weapon is AoE (Your choice of line or cone every time!), you never have to make attack rolls if you don't want to! Just let the opponents try to make their reflex saves (or fort or will for some of the special breaths).

One last warning - Do Not Take Sleep Breath - it is an HD limited effect, therefore it is a TRAP that will become almost useless a few levels later.

[earlblue]

The Potion mixed from raw onions, fresh garlic and fermenting durian (a type of fruit).


O'BeQuiet UWannabe.

[Quietus]

I'd also recommend the Dragonborn race for the breath weapon. They're in the Draconomicon, and also get +2 Con, -2 Dex. You can be creative with their base race too if you really want to optimize it; a Dragonborn Dwarf gets +4 Con, -2 Dex, -2 Cha, for instance. A Dragonborn Fire Elf gets +2 Int, -2 Cha; a Dragonborn Grey Elf gets +2 Int, -2 Str.

Dragonborn are in Races of the Dragon.

As a warning; the Dragonborn breath weapon isn't too hot if you start at level 1, as it's a line of length 5 feet/level. Once you get a few levels under your belt it's nice, and Shape Breath makes it a cone of that length, which is fantastic, but in the first three or four levels it's not that great.

[MrNexx]

Or, you can change some of the flavor of reserve feats.

[ClericofPhwarrr]

Dragonborn are in Races of the Dragon.

As a warning; the Dragonborn breath weapon isn't too hot if you start at level 1, as it's a line of length 5 feet/level. Once you get a few levels under your belt it's nice, and Shape Breath makes it a cone of that length, which is fantastic, but in the first three or four levels it's not that great.

Whoops.

Your second point is true as well.

[Quirinus_Obsidian]

There is also the mightily expensive (50k gold and 6hp sacrifice ) Dragon breath weapon graft (forget the name) from Races of the Dragon. I prefer playing a Dragon shaman though. Hard to optimize, but who has the time for all that?

[AtomicKitKat]

There is also the mightily expensive (50k gold and 6hp sacrifice ) Dragon breath weapon graft (forget the name) from Races of the Dragon. I prefer playing a Dragon shaman though. Hard to optimize, but who has the time for all that?

Draconic Grafts are kind of Meh, in my opinion. Let's see, let's make up a new feat that is essentially "Graft Flesh(Dragon)", give it a fancy new name, and impose silly Eberron-based graft restrictions on it.