Dragonsborn Breath Weapon Issue

[Syrsuro]

My initial reaction is to say: "Nope, can't be done."

With that mindset, I would rule that what he breathes is NOT a liquid acid. It is a caustic gas. As such, he normally has no way to concentrate it. Thus he has a glass vial with a small quantity of caustic gas in it. And I would point out that tryng to fill a bottle with gas isn't as easy he probably thinks it is - that bottle is already filled with a gas and if he is blowing into the opening, how is the air already present supposed to escape?

Bottom Line: I'd complement him on it being an interesting idea and explain why its just not going to work out the way he wants it to.

My new and improved (?) reaction is to try to say "Yes, but..."

Whether I would allow him to do it by default or would require him to take a feat would depend on the group and how fast and loose I am playing with the rules -- and the play style of the player. Lets face it: Some players are going to look for every tiny exploit then can find and push and push until they break the game for everyone, and some players are just looking for the chance to do something cool. And I have both types in my group.

Whichever way I allow it, I'd likely refer to page 42 and classify it as Low Normal damage targetting a single square, Dexterity vs. Reflex, no splash, with a moderate DC dexterity check to successfully breath into the bottle rather than on himself (note: he is not immune). If I felt he was abusing the approach (i.e. carrying more than a few on him at a time) I'd also likely start giving him a chance of breakage on a fall - maybe 1 in n chance of breakage where n is the number of bottles I considered to be a reasonable quantity.

But the key, imho, is that page 42 is supposed to allow for approaches like this, defining level appropriate damage for situations where the player chooses to step outside the box. Allowing it is, by that page, reasonable because the character is choosing to give up a normal attack to do it.

Whether I would allow it for other breath types, I dunno.

Carl

 

[Runestar]

I guess I will probably rule that its breath weapon rapidly loses its potency after being exhaled, so it is not possible to collect it and store it meaningfully for future use.

 

[Verys Arkon]

I wouldn't allow it, since it gives the players that choose an acid breathing dragonborn a distinct advantage over the other varieties of its race. Can you bottle lightning too?

 

[Ourph]

Game mechanics reasons:
1)the range of the breath is a 3x3 square, with NO way to make this smaller, he can't concentrate it enough to stick any meaningful amount in the bottle. congratulations you have a bottle with a thin gas in it, it deals (1d6+con divided by 64) damage, round down, minimum 0.

Even more importantly, the Dragonborn breath weapon is a close blast. It cannot be targeted to affect the Dragonborn's own space (unless the Dragonborn in question has somehow managed to become a large creature). From the PHB pg. 272

The blast must be adjacent to its origin square, which is a square in your space. The origin square is not affected by the blast.

So either 1) The bottle is being held by the Dragonborn PC and therefore isn't in the area of effect of the blast; or 2) the Dragonborn sets the bottle down in an adjacent square, in which case there's no way to funnel any concentrated amount of breath into the flask (as you point out above).

I think, despite the admonition to say "yes" to players whenever possible, this is one of those instances where it's just not going to work the way the player wants it to.

:edit to add:

Note that if the player does manage to become a large sized creature he can both hold onto the flask AND target one of his own squares, but then... well, he's targeting his OWN SQUARE, which means he takes breath weapon damage every time he fills a flask.

 

[Syrsuro]

I wouldn't allow it, since it gives the players that choose an acid breathing dragonborn a distinct advantage over the other varieties of its race. Can you bottle lightning too?

I wholeheartedly agree with this in theory, but in practice it only applies if you actually have players with other forms of dragonbreath in the group.

Carl

 

[starwed]

Even more importantly, the Dragonborn breath weapon is a close blast. It cannot be targeted to affect the Dragonborn's own space (unless the Dragonborn in question has somehow managed to become a large creature). From the PHB pg. 272

Do you think this explanation would satisfy a player?

I'd say allow it if you want, but make sure it's not an especially effective combat weapon. And maybe limit acid production to 1 or 2 jars/day. It sounds like the player just wants a cool use of his breath weapon; as long as it doesn't give him a combat advantage, why on earth would you forbid it?

I'd certainly allow a firebreathing dragonborn to light his pipe w/o matches, and a cold-breathing one to chill her glass of wine. This isn't really so different... it's about flavor and letting the player feel cool, not breaking the game.

 

[Larrin]

I still stand by my "no" answer but.....

I think the only way i'd allow it would be if it was completely non-combat effective...ie its a bottle of acid, but severly weakened. You could use it to polish weapons or dissolve paper or perhaps as an alchemical component in some ingredient list quest you need to complete, but its damage vs anything = 0. Its a situation that is derived from fluff, its powers should lie in fluff, but still something that a creative character could use for fluffy fun. He wins (a little), and i don't have to deal with a headache.

 

[NMcCoy]

As a minor action, he uses his breath weapon to fill the jar, then throws it as a standard: Thrown weapon 5/10, no proficiency unless he spends a feat for it, Dex vs. Reflex, 1d6+Con acid damage. The acid becomes inert at the start of his next turn if unused.

 

[MarkB]

Dragonborn have really wide mouths, and glass flasks have really narrow mouths. Unless he's also buying a huge, face-fitting glass funnel and then holds the flask really tightly over the spout so the pressure doesn't blast it off like a champagne cork, I don't see how he's getting any significant quantity of acid into the flask.

And if he does do all that, then the pressure of gas or fluid at the moment of breathing will likely shatter any ordinary flask. He'll need special, reinforced flasks - which will not only be heavier, but won't reliably shatter when thrown.

 

[mach1.9pants]

I personally wouldn't allow it.
However if I did I would rule that:
One jar at a time.
burst 1 type splash damage
and the jar only lasts 5 minutes before loosing its potency...it is an encounter power.