Half Dragon Template?

[Virsconte]

Hi folks,

I am playing a wizard X/1st level fighter and I was just recently reincarnated. While I was able to remain a human, this got me thinking about other possible races and templates I could play. I found one in particular which would go well with my character concept; the half dragon template. My question is whether it is worth it to shell out the money for a Wish/Savage Species ritual in order to play one. Also, would it negatively impact my characters survivability to the point where it would be unplayable?

P.S.- The players in this campaign are not optimized beyond simply being able to survive the challenges presented, so this is more about flavor.

 

[Nifft]

If you intend to be a spellcaster at all, a high LA template is indeed going to hinder your survivability.

If you were a pure Fighter then it'd be halfway decent: lose some BAB, gain Str which partially makes up for the lost attack bonus. But as a Wizard you'd get nothing.

Cheers, -- N

 

[amethal]

In my experience, the loss of hit points caused by a high LA template can be a major drawback.

Have you considered the Dragon Disciple prestige class instead? Its a pretty weak class, but has the same flavour without a level adjustment.

 

[Theroc]

In my experience, the loss of hit points caused by a high LA template can be a major drawback.

Have you considered the Dragon Disciple prestige class instead? Its a pretty weak class, but has the same flavour without a level adjustment.

Unless he has an option that allows a Wizard to spontaneously cast a spell, he doesn't qualify yet. If he doesn't, a level in Bard or Sorcerer will correct that problem. If he does, then he's set to go.

Dragon Disciple gives plenty of HP (d12 hit dice) and various buffs(mostly for melee-ish combatants though), though it doesn't help spellcasting progression.

 

[Dragonwriter]

Half-dragon (and I speak from experience) will probably hurt you. Your wizard HD are squishy enough as it is. Sure, the template will give you a Con bonus, but you have small HD and the +3 LA will seriously delay your spellcasting. Like Nifft said, it's better for a melee-heavy character, rather than a caster.

If you like the dragon-style stuff, check out the book Races of the Dragon. You could turn yourself into a Dragonborn. It would get you a Con bonus (but lose a little Dex), draconic flavor and a breath weapon, wings or draconic senses (but you pick one of those three, though there are cheesy work-arounds). And you are dragonblood subtype, which means you count as dragon type for purposes of effects relating to race. Could be better, and it has no LA.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

With or without the template, Dragonborn or not, you could still make a fun and viable draconically themed spellcaster...like my Mage-Brute
http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/239192-forked-thread-mage-brute-revisited-3.html

I wouldn't actually suggest you play the PC I designed there, though, unless you're up for a challenge...and the nearly exclusive use of spells without somatic components is that indeed. OTOH, you DO have armor to alleviate some of that "squishyness," and you do get that fun, fun, fun breath weapon.

By taking Draconic Heriage + Draconic Breath, you're getting a lot of draco-flavor, and more exists in that feat chain. And as was pointed out in that thread, Dragontouched (from Dragon Magic) gives non-Sorcerers access to that chain, in case you want to stay a Wiz.

Also, if you DO go with the Half-Dragon template, be sure to check out the Draconomicon- the template gets expanded into more dragon types, including Oriental dragon types, aka Lung.