Half Dragon PC question

[qstor]

One of my players in my Dragonstar game is making a half dragon PC. The ECL in Dragonstar is only +3 but follows most of the same stuff form the template in the MM.

The game is starting at 4th level so the PC would have one character level. My question is..If he is a half dragon/half orc what's his starting HP?HD?
d8 for orc increased to one d10 then another d10 for the fighter level? So 2d10 hp's?

How would a half dragon/half human be made? The same way or would you have to figure out the NPC class of the human parent to figure the hit dice?

Thanks
Mike

 

[Snofox]

pls note, orcs as PC's DON'T use d8 for HP, they use whatever dice is appropriate for their class (d10 in this case) [see the advancement rules in the MM "humaoid or as per class" iirc], so a 1st level orc fighter would have 1d10+Conmod hp, maxed for first level. I can't remember exactly what the half-dragon template does, but iirc it increases the size of hitdice used by one. So a 1st level half dragon/half orc fighter would have 1d12+conmod hp, maxed for 1st level.

 

[qstor]

Snofox - wouldnt the hit dice be for the orc parent RATHER than the PC? So it would be 1d8 then increased to 1d10?

*confused*

Mike

 

[Sodalis]

IIRC- you can't take a half orc base creatur, cause that means that he is already half something else. Instead, you take a full orc, and give it the general stat and skill mods (ala DMG) and then slap the template on top of that.

So- at lvl 4, he would be a lvl 0 ftr half orc/ half dragon (orc is ECL+1 i think and half dragon is ECL 3)

but i could be wrong

 

[jollyninja]

if the dragon mated with a half orc, the base creature for the offspring would be the half orc race out of the PH.

also the orc in the MM is a generic "classless" orc the single d8 HD (which is the generic HD for humaniods and monsterous humaniods among others) is replaced by the appropriate HD of whatever class is taken. so this character based on what you have stated would be ecl 4 with a single d12 (maxed out) for hit di, two feats, no stat raise ect.

 

[Sodalis]

Qstor-

you should just do whatever is easiest for you-

and that would proly be the PHB 1/2 orc and 1/2dragon template slapped on

you should really watch for muchkinism... 1/2 dragons are usually a tell-tale sign

 

[FireLance]

Just a couple of comments:

1. According to various sources (DMG, FRCS, Dragon #293), an orc is an ECL+0 race. Hence, the ECL for a half-dragon/half-orc would only be adjusted for the half-dragon template.

2. An orc is a 1HD creature. Hence, its HD type is always by class. The MM orc has d8 HD because it is a warrior, not because it is a humanoid. An orc fighter would have d10 HD. An orc rogue would have d6 HD.

3. A half-dragon/half-orc would not be the PHB half-orc. An orc has different base stats from a half-orc (Str+4, Int-2, Wis-2, Cha-2). A half-dragon/half-orc would have base stats Str+12, Con+2, Wis-2 after applying the template.

4. A half-dragon/half-orc would improve its HD type by one step (up to d12) for the template. A half-dragon/half-orc Ftr1 would have 1d12 HD. A half-dragon/half-orc Clr1 would have 1d10 HD. A half-dragon/half-orc Bbn1 would still have 1d12 HD. In all cases, it would be ECL 4 (class+1, template +3, although Dragon #293 has increased it to +4)

5. As a side point, the character should have starting equipment as a character of its ECL.

Hope this helps.

 

[Hejdun]

Firelance is 100% correct.

Also, I think a large amount of the confusion is springing off of the term "half-orc". In the original example, I think the fighter wanted to be a half-dragon/half half-orc. Thus, 50% dragon blood, 25% human blood, 25% orc blood. A dragon and a half-orc mating. A half-dragon/half-orc would be 50% dragon, 50% orc. Thus, a dragon and an orc mating.

Be sure to specify to reduce confusion.

 

[Wolf72]

I'm pretty sure half-orc is a standard race ... mixing it with 1/2 dragon should be simple, just add in the template.

so you could have half-dragon/orcs and half-dragon/half-orcs.

here's some more on half-dragons, there's even some Sage Advice on the topic: http://www.enworld.org/messageboards/showthread.php?s=&threadid=6933

on page 2 is a link to the other thread (for your reading enjoyment)

 

[Sodalis]

that's exactly what i said (in original post)

but then reduced to use the 1/2 orc core class to make things easier.

if you use orc as base creature, you would first have to find the skill and stat mod for it, and its abilities. And then add teh template- quite a bit of work just to start a char- and then you have to roll out the normal char- and stuff like that.

I still think that the game has evolved into a game of "who can build the most unique char..."

What happened to playing a standard race (or even a nonstandard +1 ECL race) and workin within the skills alotted.

NOw, all I hear is people stacking templates, and using the weirdest races imaginable- even race combos that are idiotically meshed together like celestial fiend..... I wonder who came up wuith that...?

Anyhoo- I feel nobody is playing teh game for fun anymore. Instead, its a pissing contest on who can build the better PC. And the result is this odd mix of race and class for "flavor" and players arent relying on RPing skills anymore...