Half dragons - underpowered?

[Grog]

Half-dragons have a +3 level adjustment. Let's look at what you get for that (all this is assuming you're playing some kind of warrior class, otherwise, why take a half-dragon?):

+8 Strength - Unquestionably, very nice, probably the best thing about the template. But since you're down 3 BAB, you only get a net +1 to hit, and it knocks your attack progression back significantly.

+2 Con - This in no way makes up for losing 3 hit dice worth of HP

+2 Int and Cha - Not really very useful for a warrior

Immunity to an element - This is nice, as elemental immunities are hard to come by. Usefulness depends on the element in question and how often you encounter it.

Breath weapon - Good at low levels, but the damage quickly becomes insignificant. Also, the save DC will probably always remain quite low.

Natural attacks - These seem fairly weak

+4 natural armor - Good up until you can acquire amulets of natural armor, then much less useful.

Flight - Only Large or larger half-dragons get wings, which means PCs won't have them.

Does anyone think this is worth 3 character levels (meaning you'll be behind on an attack 60% of the time)? I'm just not seeing it.

 

[Camarath]

Does anyone think this is worth 3 character levels (meaning you'll be behind on an attack 60% of the time)? I'm just not seeing it.

Welll if you count you additional Bite attack you get as a secondary natural weapon (-5) You should have the same number of attacks 60% of the time and +1 attack 40% of the time.

 

[Camarath]

+4 natural armor - Good up until you can acquire amulets of natural armor, then much less useful.

In 3.5 it stacks with Amulets of Natural Armor which now give an enhancement bonus.

 

[Grog]

The bite attack will be considerably weaker than your weapon attacks (although if there's a druid in your party, Greater Magic Fang could help to some degree). I forgot about the change to amulets of natural armor in 3.5, though - that makes the half-dragon's natural armor a lot more useful.

 

[Camarath]

Immunity to an element - This is nice, as elemental immunities are hard to come by. Usefulness depends on the element in question and how often you encounter it.

Depending on your party this should be about every combat since your caster can now let off some area spell in the middle of combat with out worrying about killing you.


But is the Template worth LA+3 that depends on your Charater build. LA do tend towards the high side but if you are a Large Melee Character it could well be more than worth it. But a Medium Character who does not take advantage his abilities may well find himself on the weak side. I tend to lower LA is the propesed character build is not as storng as it could be but that is a house rule thing.

 

[CRGreathouse]

+4 natural armor - Good up until you can acquire amulets of natural armor, then much less useful.

In 3.5, this is actually really powerful, as amulets of natural armor stack. [Edit: Camarath beat me to it on this one, while I was working out the numbers below!]

While the half-dragon does often lose an iterative attack vs. a human of equal ECL, their damage bonus is much better.

A human Ftr9 has, on average, 10 more hit points than a half-dragon Ftr6. For a quick comparison, let's assume a human and a half-dragon with similar builds. Say the human uses a +1 shield and a +2 longsword (GWF, IC, WF & WS). The half-dragon can use a +2 greatsword (WF, & WS) to deal about 10 points more per hit than the human at the same attack bonus. The half-dragon's AC will be a point higher, too.

The human will have all the feats the half-dragon has, of course, plus GWF, IC, and 1 more. Does this make up for the damage, let alone the immunity/natural attacks/mental stat bonuses?

 

[Deset Gled]

The +8 to strength also affects damage, tripping, and grappling. Honestly, +8 to any stat is nuts. In order to copy it with an item, it would be an epic item.

The +2 to con will net 34 extra hit points at ECL 20, so it may be even more than 3 hit dice from class, depending on what you are.

The +2 to int is very useful. It gives extra skill points (which are always good), and helps fighters qualify for the Combat Expertise chains.

The +2 to cha is excellent for a paladin or rogue.

Natural weapons aren't great, but it can be very handy to be armed when you don't have a weapon (caught by surprise, disarmed, robbed, etc).

Flight may only be work if you're large, but if you're in a campaign that's powergamed enough to let you play a half dragon, it wouldn't be out of the question to be a large race on top of it. Do you get the flight ability if you are Enlarged?

Summary: Yes, I feel that the half dragon template is worth +3 LA.

 

[Camarath]

If your Half-Dragon is just not up to snuff you could take Soul Eater from BoVD.

 

[Camarath]

The Natural weapons aren't great, but it can be very handy to be armed when you don't have a weapon (caught by surprise, disarmed, robbed, etc).

And you still threaten 5ft while using reach weapons.

 

[Grog]

A human Ftr9 has, on average, 10 more hit points than a half-dragon Ftr6. For a quick comparison, let's assume a human and a half-dragon with similar builds. Say the human uses a +1 shield and a +2 longsword (GWF, IC, WF & WS). The half-dragon can use a +2 greatsword (WF, & WS) to deal about 10 points more per hit than the human at the same attack bonus. The half-dragon's AC will be a point higher, too.

True. But two levels later, the human's getting three attacks, while the half-dragon is stuck at two for three more levels. Also, the human can grab a two-hander and Power Attack for 3 points, which puts him even with the half-dragon for damage. AC won't be as good, true, but he'll have more HP, more feats, and more iterative attacks.