Favored enemy (dragon)!?

[ruleslawyer]

Also, I'd consider giving kobolds the dragon type (or maybe the "dragon blood" quality) and introducing a number of leveled kobolds as opponents. This has the advantage of conveniently folding into the upcoming Paizo adventure path...

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

They are also in Necromancer Games' Tome of Horrors. I ALWAYS use TOH in preference of wizards own bastardizations of old-school TSR.

I prefer dead tree products when we're talking hundreds of pages, myself.

The Draconomicon conversion is pretty good, other than the illustration that TOTALLY fails to capture the whimsy and spirit of the faerie dragon. (Seriously, the original Dragon magazine pieces over the years were so astonishingly good -- why were they ignored in favor of a new interpretation?)

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

The reason your PC took dragon at 1st level is not because he wants to face a bunch of dragons now. Its because the favored enemy bonuses get better with levels. At high level, he wants the best favored enemy bonuses against stuff he'll face at that level-- like dragons, or evil outsiders, etc.

Taking goblins as your favored enemy at 1st level might make sense in the sense that a 1st level character might likely face a goblin, but in the long run, is stupid, because at 20th level his best favored enemy stuff will be against a creature he does not need it against [he could kill a goblin with his eyes closed] and would almost never be facing anyway. Whereas against a dragon, he could need it.

So don't feel bad about not having dragon encounters for him-- he does not want them now. he is just getting prepared for them later.

This issue was only an issue in 3.0. It was fixed in 3.5.

 

[Sejs]

Advise on either whether to let him switch or how to incorporate it into the game?

Let the ranger use the retaining rules to adjust his Favored Enemy as time and need permits.

It's a major class feature and one of the definitive "mother may I" abilities. Using retraining goes a good way to making it so that neither the player nor the DM feel pidgeonholed by it.

 

[Nyeshet]

Doesn't the Half-dragon template give the dragon subtype? Just pop it onto various creatures - animals, magical beasts, various humanoid foes (bosses, perhaps, or thugs hired by the brains of an outfit, etc), and so forth. Best yet, the resistances / breath weapon changes based on the dragon type used, so it can differ markedly each time you use it.

You might also want to consider some other changes. Do you have UA? Give an intermediate draconic bloodline to an NPC foe and allow this to count in regards to FE (dragon). It's not too powerful an increase (a medium to strong +1 based on the bloodline, although by the rules they are all treated as a +2 for some reason), so it is readily manageable.

Or, if you like the idea of using the half-dragon template, what about trading out some of the options for new ideas? Trading out wings for increased DR perhaps? Or maybe losing the wings and breath weapon for a +1 caster level as a sorcerer (ie: can learn spells equal to those known to a first level sorcerer, and can cast those spells from a pool of slots equivalent to a first level sorcerer). It's not too much, but it can make for an interesting change, considering some of the spells available. It also re-enforces the idea of sorcerers (as a class) having magic due to draconic descent.

And of this work for you?

 

[FireLance]

The reason your PC took dragon at 1st level is not because he wants to face a bunch of dragons now. Its because the favored enemy bonuses get better with levels. At high level, he wants the best favored enemy bonuses against stuff he'll face at that level-- like dragons, or evil outsiders, etc.

Taking goblins as your favored enemy at 1st level might make sense in the sense that a 1st level character might likely face a goblin, but in the long run, is stupid, because at 20th level his best favored enemy stuff will be against a creature he does not need it against [he could kill a goblin with his eyes closed] and would almost never be facing anyway. Whereas against a dragon, he could need it.

So don't feel bad about not having dragon encounters for him-- he does not want them now. he is just getting prepared for them later.

That's not exactly correct. Under the 3.5e rules, when you get a second favored enemy at 5th level, you could advance that to +4 instead of the favored enemy you had from 1st level. You could still end up with the maximum bonus against dragons without taking them as your favored enemy from 1st level.

 

[Cthulhudrew]

Also, I'd consider giving kobolds the dragon type (or maybe the "dragon blood" quality) and introducing a number of leveled kobolds as opponents.

For some reason, I was under the impression that Races of the Dragon had already done this (given them the dragonblood subtype)- thought I'd even seen an article on the WotC website about it, but I don't seem to be finding it now. Was I imagining this?

In any event, I'd second this notion.

 

[DreadArchon]

Taking goblins as your favored enemy at 1st level might make sense in the sense that a 1st level character might likely face a goblin, but in the long run, is stupid, because at 20th level his best favored enemy stuff will be against a creature he does not need it against [he could kill a goblin with his eyes closed] and would almost never be facing anyway. Whereas against a dragon, he could need it.

So don't feel bad about not having dragon encounters for him-- he does not want them now. he is just getting prepared for them later.

Besides that Favored Enemy no longer works like that, I'd point out that this isn't necessarily true. (In fact, my players see goblins with class levels more often than they see dragons, and I'm hitting them with level 15 modules.)

 

[Angel Tarragon]

The character in question needs to choose a subtype of dragon.

 

[Piratecat]

The character in question needs to choose a subtype of dragon.

Goodness, why? No need to make a sub-optimal choice even worse!