Half Dragon/Half human pally

[Glacial]

Ok guys, first off let me start with saying sup! Just joined the site and look forward to getting new info tips and improving my knowledge on D&D as well as making new buds. I'm still a fairly new player i know i have tons to learn. I need some help in making my Half dragon half human paladin.
Im confused in the HD or im told the hitdie in making this specific character the dm wants us to start level 5 and he said it was ok I make this character. im just lost in how much hp I get or how many feats I get etc. I can build cahracters that are single origin in race but the half human half dragon thing is driving me nuts. If someone could svhool me up in how to or give me usefuls tips it would be much appreciated

 

[Dandu]

Do not take the template, it cripples you by setting you back in hit points, base attack bonus, saves, and skills*. If you must play a half dragon, use the Dragon Disciple class, which transforms you into a half dragon at the end**. A Paladin 3/Sorcerer2/DD10 should do it.

Prioritize Str and Con. Have 12 Int (bump up to 13 at level 4) so you can get Combat Expertise and Improved Trip later. Have a 12 or 14 in Cha. You will want to avoid negatives in Wis and Dex, but they are not too important.

Spell wise... Hm. True Strike has no spell failure for casting in armor as it lacks somatic components. Other spells such as Shield and Enlarge Person are handy but you risk failure unless you Apply the Still Spell metamagic feat somehow. Fortunately, metamagic rods of it are cheap.

By the way, you can follow your normal weapon attack sequence derived from your BAB with a natural weapon attack sequence if said natural weapons are not occupied, is holding something. You will want to take Multiattack to lessen the qttack penalty for doing his though.

* A Half Dragon has a level adjustment of +3, which means it counts as taking up 3 of your 5 allotted levels. This is vey bad for your ability to do anything.

**Acquiring the template via Dragon Disciple gets rid of that problem as you "pay off" the LA over the course of 10 levels.

 

[Runestar]

Taking half-dragon all at one shot is a bit too much at lower lvs, because you still have just 1 HD, and are way too fragile. 1 lucky crit, or 1 AoE spell, and you are pretty much toast.

What you can however, is slowly take the template over the course of many lvs.

I recommend using the template class here.

Savage Progressions: Half-Dragon and Wererat Template Classes

 

[azura13000]

i currently play a sorceror8/dragon disciple10
i do have to advise that if you are after a half dragon character and you are just applying the template then u will lose out on the ability to fly. wings are not granted as part of the template unles your character is of large size or larger. however it is a class feature of the dragon disciple that u can fly at ur base land speed. when u reach 10th level DD you become a half dragon completely and a half dragon flies at double its base land speed so your speed would increase while flying.

i know this would cut into your paladin levels a lot but it is a useful and fun class. mage armour, shield, enlarge person and alter self are great spells to have as a half dragon. especially when u consider if you use alter self to create a larger version of yourself you would have to apply the monster rules for enlarging a dragon as u are technically not a humanoid anymore. this means +8 str and only -4 dex while giving a natural armour bonus that is higher than the dex bonus to ac that is lost.
as armour if u use a mithril shirt with the "twilight" ability its spell failure chance becomes 0% and therefore you would be free to cast any spell you choose. also there is a feat called "dragon breath" in the races of the dragon book that allows you to breathe as often as a dragon raher than once a day and is a must have feat. you may wish to speak to your DM and see if he will allow your breath weapon to deal holy damage as you are going for a paladin as well however his would be up to you and you DM. hope some of this has helped

 

[Dandu]

i currently play a sorceror8/dragon disciple10

Just curious, but what do you do? I don't really see any significant spellcasting or melee ability in that particular build.

 

[Aran Thule]

Just to add another option, im playing a pal 8 / sorc 1/ dragon devotee 4 at the moment, and as mentioned being able to use true strike with a power attack is very useful.

Dragon Devotee is in the Races of the Dragon book and is similar to the Dragon Disciple class but you become draconic rather then a half dragon.
Its a 5 level prestige class that has several nice abilities and increases your spellcasting and feat.

Or you could just go for the draconic template.
+2 to Str, Con, Chs
Claws (d3)
Low light and dark vision
+2 intimidate and spot
+4 to saves vs sleep and paralysis
Its a +1LA but thats not half as damaging as the +3 from half dragon

 

[azura13000]

Just curious, but what do you do? I don't really see any significant spellcasting or melee ability in that particular build.

including items my str is +8 modifier and i have the improved damage feats for claws and multi attack. although being able to grapple a creature and keep flying up and then drop it causes a lot of damage to things that cant fly. especially when i can use alter self to create a larger version of myself with another +4 modifier added on to str. i know its not a very powerful build but its mostly for the fun aspect of it. i like dragons and my DM wouldnt allow me to play one but would allow the class. i tend to be frowned upon by most NPC's to start with as they all think dragons are big and nasty but i have a big charisma score and a lot of ranks in diplomacy to tackle that issue. the dwarves that were supposed to hate me ended up bringing me into their inner layer and to their king who also liked me despite his big diplomacy bonus. i dont have access to the massive spells but by 20th level im going to have 5th level spells and a lot more hp than most sorcerors. also cash isnt that hard to get hold of in our DM's campaign's as long as you go looking for it. it probably helps that im a few levels higher than most characters in our party due to luck. the only character that can beat me on damage most rounds is our level 17 wizard.

but when my claws are dealing 2D6+8 without any bufs other than my str item im looking at an average of 15 per claw and 11.5 per bite. my ac is quite high due to natural armour and mithril shirt+1 (i think its +1 might be more) that i am going to add twilight to so i dont have an arcane failure chance. along with ring of protection and bracers of armour. its not easy to hit me short of using a spell and im immune to fire for being a gold DD.

currently the only thing that has really put me in any danger was trying to grapple a dracolich of 2 size categories bigger than me. or maybe hitting me with magic missile a lot cos that did a bit of damage. but taking about 10 missiles a round can quickly eat away at anyone's health.

 

[Dandu]

the only character that can beat me on damage most rounds is our level 17 wizard.

but when my claws are dealing 2D6+8 without any bufs other than my str item im looking at an average of 15 per claw and 11.5 per bite.

I don't mean to rain on your parade, but that's the amount of damage your average 10th level Fighter is doing. 2d6 Greatsword base damage, +6 assuming a strength score of 18, +1 or 2 extra damage from enchantment... kinda makes me wonder what the rest of the party looks like, but I guess that's off topic.

Well, anyways, I think the point is that for a melee focused character with a bit of magic and who wants to become a half dragon without advancing his casting abilities, Dragon Disciple is a fitting class.

 

[azura13000]

the party is about 4 levels behind me in general due to certain items and things done in game. but none of them are really power builds its mostly characters based on fun ideas.

back on topic it depends how you set up the character. if u explain the first level was human paladin you have 2 feats for first level. then 3 levels in half dragon gaining you another feat. and one level in paladin putting you at 5th level. this is because you can apply the template at a level after first. if your first level isnt human then you dont get the extra feat for being human.
as for hitdie because it is done over 3 levels u have effectively taken 3 levels of dragon to make u a half dragon. so you would have 3 half dragon hit dice (D12) and 2 paladin hit dice for a total of 5 levels.

now if it was done by just applying the template you would only gain 1 hit dice for half dragon and you would lose out a lot so i suggest saying that you used the 3 level advancement that applies the same template but over 3 levels