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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Libertad" data-source="post: 9699913" data-attributes="member: 6750502"><img src="https://i.imgur.com/8c41ZK3.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="width: 440px" />By far the meatiest and lengthiest part of the character creation options, Draconic Gifts for D&D and Feats for Pathfinder allow one to fine-tune one's dragon PC with just a little bit of everything. As can be expected, a lot of the traits that would be part of the Dragon class (and some subspecies) in D&D are repurposed as feats in Pathfinder. Most of the latter are Ancestry Feats, with a few further restricted by being locked into the Ravager or Mage archetype feat trees. Both the Draconic Gifts and Ancestry feats have the same tiers of progression: starting out with simple 1st level Gifts/Feats, some more substantial ones at 5th level, even more powerful ones at 9th level, and the 13th and 17th level ones representing mighty abilities associated with adult and ancient dragons. D&D goes one step farther and has 19th level Gifts, which in Pathfinder are 18th and 20th level dedication feats. But even Gifts/feats with the same name don't always map to the same level, for there's quite a bit of shift level-wise between the two systems, particularly for Pathfinder where some identical feats are higher-level than D&D Gifts.The low-level options include nice little abilities that can be useful but aren't too powerful, such as Animal Shape (Bliss or Havoc Dragon, can change into a Tiny animal indefinitely and back again as an action, is 1st level in D&D and 5th level in Pathfinder), Animal Speaker (Bliss or Havoc Dragon, can cast Speak with Animals once per long rest in D&D and speak to all animals and +1 bonus to Make an Impression Pathfinder, is 1st level in D&D and 5th level in Pathfinder), Change Shape (can take the form of a Small or Medium humanoid, 1st level),* Collective Aid (bliss or toadstool dragons, can use Help as a bonus action in D&D or +4 to Aid in Pathfinder, 1st level in both), Draconic Advance (Draconic Ravager, can make a free melee attack against a target after Dashing/Striding twice as either a bonus action or 2-action ability depending on system, is 4th level in Pathfinder), Draconic Cantrip (learn a cantrip, 1st level), Draconic Resistance (Pathfinder only, you gain resistance equal to half your level against your associated damage type, 1st level),** Dragon Breath (Pathfinder only, gives you an AoE breath weapon that can be used once every 10 minutes or 1d4 rounds 3rd level onwards, deals 2d4 damage plus 1d4 every 2 levels thereafter, 1st level), Exaggerate Strength (Vermillion Dragon, can reroll a failed Wisdom save in D&D and once per long rest, treated as two levels higher against an incapacitation effect in Pathfinder once per day, 1st level), Ghostbane Breath (Crypt and Umbral Dragons, creatures damaged by breath weapon cannot benefit from incorporeal movement in D&D, while in Pathfinder the damage type is changed to positive/force instead of negative damage and undead take one additional damage die, 1st level in D&D and 5th level in Pathfinder), Hellfire (Infernal Dragon, can opt to turn your fire damage breath weapon into dealing half fire and half necrotic/evil damage, is 1st level in D&D and 5th level in Pathfinder), Hoard Hauler (gain proficiency/training in Athletics, as well as doubled carrying capacity in D&D or the Hefty Hauler feat in Pathfinder, 1st level), and Read the Threads (Time Dragon, use Perception checks or Dimension of Time Lore as your initiative; in D&D you cannot be surprised while conscious and in Pathfinder the initiative substitution can be used only once per hour, 1st level).*There's a sidebar suggesting granting this Gift/feat for free in campaigns where dragons are mythical, in hiding, or otherwise have a good reason to keep their presence unknown.**Quite a bit of dragon heritages get this feat for free. They'd be the ones who gain resistance as part of their ancestry in D&D.We also get some nifty situational utility options for low-level dragons, such as Far Traveler (Cerulean Dragon, is automatically part of that subspecies in D&D, gain increased movement speed for overland travel, 1st level), Forest Shape (Forest Dragon, can take the form of an immobile tree, is 1st level in D&D and 5th In Pathfinder), and Weren't You At That Party? (Indigo Dragon, can arrange a meeting with a contact you met in the past after spending 8 hours/1 day of downtime in a settlement, is 1st level in D&D and 5th level in Pathfinder).<img src="https://i.imgur.com/Nb29qGZ.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="width: 535px" />The mid-level (5th and 9th level) options start granting more significant powers. They include Aeternal Stride (can move twice your speed once per short or long rest in D&D or once per day in Pathfinder, can automatically avoid reactions that would ordinarily be triggered by movement, is 5th level in D&D and 9th level in Pathfinder), Antipodal Duality (gain limited features of the subclass/archetype dedication you didn't pick, 5th level in D&D and 9th in Pathfinder), Astral Eyes (Astral Dragon, can see invisibility creatures for a limited duration whose length depends on its refresh rate of rest/hour/day, 9th level in both), Channel Wings (Pathfinder only, once per day gain a fly speed equal to your speed for 10 minutes, 9th level), Deep Breath ( can "supercharge" your breath weapon to have a doubled AoE and range [and double damage in Pathfinder] in exchange for a longer refresh rate, 5th level in D&D and 9th level in Pathfinder), Draconic Haste (can cast Haste on self once per long rest/day), Dragon's Instincts (can roll initiative twice and take higher result once per long rest/day, is 5th level in D&D and 9th level in Pathfinder), Earthbound (can force a flying target to descend to the ground on a failed saving throw once per long rest, is 5th level in D&D and 9th level in Pathfinder), Gouging Claws (Rift Dragon, 9th level in both, critical hit with claws deal persistent damage due to bleeding wound until healed), Ground Slam (can create a shockwave that deals damage and can knock foes prone in an AoE effect, 9th level in D&D and 10th level Draconic Ravager feat in Pathfinder), and Lingering Breath (after-effects of breath weapon continue to exist in affected area for 1d4 rounds while dealing less damage, 9th level in D&D and 12th level Draconic Ravager feat in Pathfinder).The 9th and 10th levels are also where we see the bulk of new uses for breath weapons coming into play, such as a Rift Dragon's Dissolving Breath that can remove/lower resistance against acid and physical damage types to affected targets, a Harlequin Dragon's Laughing Gas Breath that can debuff targets as they collapse with laughter, or an Apocalypse Dragon's Slime Breath that becomes a long-term infesting disease.At 8th to 14th levels, we see a lot of great options, with many being good enough in scope and utility of use for many builds. They include Draconic Reflexes (gain an additional reaction every round that must be used to make a natural weapon attack, 13th in D&D and 14th in Pathfinder), Draining Bite (gain temporary hit points after making a bite attack against a target, 13th in D&D, 9th in Pathfinder), Magic Resistance (grants advantage on saves against spells and magical effects in D&D and +1 on saves vs the same stuff in Pathfinder, is 9th level in D&D and 13th level in Pathfinder), Miasma (Green Dragon, emanates a concealing cloud dealing poison damage around body after using their breath weapon, is 13th level in D&D 14th level in Pathfinder), Overwhelming Spice (Vermillion Dragon, infuses breath with burning spice that can stun targets who crit fail/fail save by 5 or more against the breath weapon, is 13th in D&D and 12th in Pathfinder), and Reflect Spell (9th level in D&D and 12th level Dragon Mage feat in Pathfinder, is pretty much what it sounds like).<img src="https://i.imgur.com/80Ryy3J.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="width: 442px" />The 13th to 19th level Gifts and feats represent the harnessing of aeternal power, the cumulation of a dragon's journey of rapid self-improvement where they become more like the elder wyrms of their traditionalist brethren. They include Adamantine Claws (Underworld Dragon and Draconic Ravager, claws are treated as adamantine and can thus deal more damage to objects along with getting past certain creature resistances, 19th level in D&D and 18th in Pathfinder), Cloud Form (Cloud Dragon, can transform into a gaseous form for a limited time, 13th level in D&D and 17th in Pathfinder), Expanded Resistance (gain resistance to one more damage type in D&D or resistance 5 to a bunch of non-physical damage types in Pathfinder, is 13th level in D&D and 17th in Pathfinder), Golden Luck (Gold Dragon, turn a failed save into a successful one once per long rest in D&D or reroll a failed save in Pathfinder and can't use it again for 1d4 rounds, is 19th level in D&D and 18th level Draconic Ravager exclusive in Pathfinder), Hyperfocus Speed (magically increase their speed for 10 minutes once per long rest or day, doubling in D&D or +120 foot fly speed in Pathfinder, is 13th in D&D and 17th in Pathfinder), Inspire Envoy (Sovereign Dragon, can bless a mortal gain various stat buffs, and in D&D takes on a Geas from you, is 19th level and Dragon Mage restricted in D&D and 20th level Draconic Ravager feat in Pathfinder), Living Breath (Dragon Mage, can turn your breath into a movable 10 foot square form of a dragon like yourself, deals damage to those in it and requires concentration to have it persist for up to 1 minute, 19th level in D&D and 18th level in Pathfinder), Redemption (Paradise Dragon and Dragon Mage, can speak to a dead creature's soul and offer it a chance of redemption, if accepts grants a free casting of Raise Dead and creature moves one step closer to good on alignment or lawful if already good, 13th level in D&D and 17th in Pathfinder), Tidal Wave (Sea Dragon and Draconic Ravager, while in a sufficiently large body of water can slam into it to create a damaging AoE wave that also can knock prone and carry off targets), and Transforming Breath (Tumult Dragon, can polymorph one creature affected by breath weapon once per long rest/day, 13th level in D&D and 17th level in Pathfinder).Thoughts: While it might look like there's an awful lot of Gifts/Feats, the fact that many are specific to particular subspecies means that the choices aren't actually that overwhelming. The subspecies-specific options tend to be more specialized, particularly in regards to roles, such as the Amber and Indigo dragons getting good social-based gifts/feats, or the healing-focused options being mostly consigned to the Bliss Dragons. I would like to note that the Time Dragon gets redeemed a bit with some rather strong options to make up for its otherwise lackluster base features.Thoughts So Far: Much like the dragon subspecies, the Gifts and feats run the gamut from "good for anyone" to "useful only in particular campaigns." For instance, being able to take the form of an immobile tree isn't going to be as appealing as using Help as a bonus action/+4 to Aid attempts. And while the Draconic Diehard is meant to cover for this, the fact that certain Pathfinder feats are strongly associated with dragons as a whole (like Breath Weapon and the size increase ones) means that a lot of players will be going for those ones first and foremost. This isn't as much of a problem in 5th Edition, where such feats are Evolutions instead. I do appreciate that there's a lot of Gifts/feats that have out-of-combat uses, which helps draconic PCs be more than just scaled brutes, even if many of those are subspecies-specific.Join us next time as we wrap up this review with some fluff and worldbuilding in Dragons and the Lux Aeterna Ritual and the Hoards of Power optional subsystem!</blockquote>

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