Dragonsborn Breath Weapon Issue

[Danceofmasks]

What's next, filling tubes of bamboo with cloudkill?
The breath weapon does not have any duration, therefore it doesn't have any duration.
Bottling cloudkill is more feasible.

 

[Keenath]

I would not allow this, if for no reason other than this:
There are no acid flasks in the game yet -- yet. I expect they'll show up in the Adventurer's Vault / Tome of Treasure / whatever it's called this week.

Therefore, acid flasks will have a value, probably more than a couple gold. If a guy wanted to make a dozen flasks per hour (with his encounter power recharging every five minutes), do you really want to deal with that? With him selling hundreds of flasks per day, or just having an infinite supply of acid at his fingertips?

No thanks.

 

[RyvenCedrylle]

There seems to be an amazing amount of resistance to reflavoring powers that I don't quite follow. Heck, I've got an unarmed dual-wielding Fighter that actually hits with both fists each round at level 1. How, you ask? Cleave. His off-hand always does his STR mod in damage and that's fine with me.

That being said, I agree with the post where you make your player take the Hurl Breath feat and reflavor it. Acid breath lasts only one round, so you can't bottle it before hand, but you can hack one up into a flask and launch it right away as a minor action according to the feat specifications. Your player gets his signature move and the game balance remains intact.

 

[Rabbitbait]

I've got no problem with it.

However I wouldn't give it a burst at all - It's just a small flask after all, so it wouldn't spread out like the full breath attack, and I would make it give the same damage as a basic ranged attack.

So say:

Flask of Dragonborn Acid Breath
Simple Ranged Weapon
Prof: n/a
Damage: 1d4 (Acid)
Range: 5/10
Weight: 1lb
Group: None

 

[Rabbitbait]

I've got no problem with it.

However I wouldn't give it a burst at all - It's just a small flask after all, so it wouldn't spread out like the full breath attack, and I would make it give the same damage as a basic ranged attack.

So say:

Flask of Dragonborn Acid Breath
Simple Ranged Weapon
Prof: n/a
Damage: 1d4 (Acid)
Range: 5/10
Weight: 1lb
Group: None

 

[Jhaelen]

I've got no problem with it.

Well, my experience as a DM tells me that being lenient about something like this invites abuse. Of course it isn't game-breaking to allow the player to do this once, rewarding his clever idea.

But what if the player decides to go into 'mass production'?
And why stop at using small bottles with single breath charges? Wouldn't big bottles with 10 breath charges each be a lot nicer?

 

[eamon]

You could allow it using a feat. Alternatively, make it a ritual, involving expensive flasks and concentrating equipment, and requiring several uses of the breath weapon just to get enough (since there's so much "waste" in the process). In either approach, make sure that the cost of performing the concentration is at least 1/5 of the cost of a flask of acid (whatever that is). If you don't require a feat, it should cost almost as much as buying it yourself (maybe a little less, as a reward for the good idea, but not much less). If you do require a feat, then 1/5 of the cost should be OK, just make sure you don't create an infinite money loop...

Finally, I've seen some rather high numbers for damage spread around here - since you can give those flasks to someone else, I don't think you want the damage to be too high - and you certainly don't want to add the CON modifier to the damage total.

If you explain the process as requiring multiple breath's and continual concentration; it makes sense that the con modifier isn't relevant to the final damage - you may need less rounds of concentration, but the maximum concentration achievable is no different.

 

[clearstream]

Well, i guess it all boils down too : "The Rule of Kewl"

If it's kewl for the player, then go along, restrict and organize so no munchkinism happens, but get's that feverish happiness when he unleashes if Can Of WhoopBreath on unsuspecting ennemies.

But if we go into "Regulated Environnement", then no Players Creations(TM) can happen

The rule of kewl rather sucks for those dragonborn who would like to be funky with lightning and fire, right? Oh wait, we can let them put lightning in a jar too. I wonder what they'll think of to do with that?

Bad judgements are bad. Imba is not fun for everyone who isn't imba.

-vk

 

[Fkewl]

The rule of kewl rather sucks for those dragonborn who would like to be funky with lightning and fire, right? Oh wait, we can let them put lightning in a jar too. I wonder what they'll think of to do with that?

Bad judgements are bad. Imba is not fun for everyone who isn't imba.

-vk

Bad judgement? That's going far, since my judgment will never affect your game or any others. Only my game will be affected, just like me and my players like it.

That doesn't stop lightning, fire and poison to come up with something equally kewl when they'll see what acid dragonborns can do. This is where a player can have fun with D&D, creativity! I understand that in any computer game where this is stiffled, since creativity can't be coded. For me, all these rules are just to help, not hinder the game.

Since this is a rules forum and asked for our opinion, we all gave it. But all of it is good since none will deter or break your game. As DM, he can munchkinize or simulate as either extreme or in the middle, which i prefer.

Anyway, he taketh or leaveth, you'll never know.

 

[clearstream]

Bad judgement? That's going far, since my judgment will never affect your game or any others. Only my game will be affected, just like me and my players like it.

...

Since this is a rules forum and asked for our opinion, we all gave it. But all of it is good since none will deter or break your game. As DM, he can munchkinize or simulate as either extreme or in the middle, which i prefer.

Anyway, he taketh or leaveth, you'll never know.

You make such a moderate and fair-minded response I feel bad about being so harsh myself.

I guess I want to draw attention to that balance isn't about one guy doing stuff relative to nothing, it's about one guy being able to do about as much as his buddies, so they all have fun together.

Letting one racial power go-inna-jar has the implication others can. Dwarven-resilience-inna-jar? Eladring-TP-inna-jar. And so on. Or you rule they don't, and you're not being fair any more; you're feeding whoever has the loud voice and the easy fluff.

But yeah, everyone should say what they think. Every DM should feel free to do the opposite of what everyone else thinks, if that works for them.

-vk