Racial attacks and damage

[AbdulAlhazred]

Yeah, I have to agree. The fact that the dragonborn breath weapon is a minor action pretty much says it all. The damage is decent and you can boost it up a couple of ways to a modest degree. It is also one of the few easy to get blasts fighters (and several other classes) can get.

It just isn't intended to be a devastating attack. Instead its intended to be a very nice extra you can expend at practically any ideal moment at close to no cost which can serve any of a number of useful purposes. If it was stronger than it is now, it would practically HAVE to be a standard action.

Overall it is one of the better racial powers.

 

[ForbidenMaster]

...they dont get any relative damage bonus.

[...]

Increase to +4 bonus and 2d6 + Constitution modifier damage at 11th level, and to +6 bonus and 3d6 + Constitution modifier damage at 21st level.

PHB page 34

 

[BobTheNob]

Increase to +4 bonus and 2d6 + Constitution modifier damage at 11th level, and to +6 bonus and 3d6 + Constitution modifier damage at 21st level.

PHB page 34

I already had that taken into account (in my mind at least...even if I hadnt mentioned) which meant its base damage at least scaled up, even if its enhancement didnt.

But lets move on from DragonBreath, and I will ask. What about the Scion powers? Or any other of the racial PP's that share the same fate.

It just doesnt feel like a deliberate balancing mechanism. It feels more like an oversight.

 

[Flipguarder]

Talking about racial powers and racial pp Powers are two completely different discussions.

 

[BobTheNob]

Talking about racial powers and racial pp Powers are two completely different discussions.

Thanks

This has been informative

 

[ChristopherA]

Your dragon breath doesn't truly need an implement bonus to keep up with your other attacks, because it starts out much weaker to begin with and thus doesn't need to improve as fast. Assuming Con is not a primary or secondary statistic for your class, some primitive calculations:

At L1, your weapon focus morkenkrad with Str 18 does 13 points on average. Your Con 12 dragon breath does 4.5 damage (35% as much).

At L11, maybe your weapon focus +3 morkenkrad with Str 22 does 19 points of damage. Your Con 13 dragon breath does 8 damage (42% as much).

I would guess the reason your player is disappointed is that dragon breath is not the kind of power you might intuitively expect it to be. It is not a standard action class encounter power, it is a minor action freebie power, some extra damage you get in addition to your main attack. I myself find that the damage "feels" disappointing low for something called "dragon breath", but that doesn't change the fact that the power is plenty good for what you pay for it.

 

[Flipguarder]

Thanks

This has been informative

Umm.... Is this sarcastic? Because if it is, I would like some clarification on why you would like to group paragon path powers with racial powers you get at your 1st level.

If you don't want to discuss racial powers and look at a few paragon path powers that you feel are underpowered, I would suggest you make a thread about those. And not jam them into a thread about racial powers.

Sure I may be playing "forum police" but the discussion won't be clear with the current thread if that's what you wish to discuss.

 

[Turtlejay]

Seems like sour grapes because not everyone jumped on board to agree with him. I think some good points were made though.

As far as racial paragon paths go, they are going to be a little less optimal. They have to be available to a wide range of classes, and will be better for some classes and worse for others. If you are upset about that, then feel free to wave the DM wand and perk some of the aspects up. Wizards won't do that though, because it starts to define *even more* which races go with which classes.

I had a player run with the dragonborn racial PP in a one shot. I thought it was really cool flavor wise, and seemed to do him just fine.

Jay

 

[BobTheNob]

This thread did exactly what I needed it to do. It provided me with counter-points to my own understanding to aid me in the decision process. When I said thanks for the feedback, I meant it

It wasnt sacastic in the slightest, nor was it sour grapes. Seriously, it was very informative. I take alot away from these forums.

Couldnt give a rats-arse whether people "jump on board". Im not trying to prove Im right...Im trying to figure out if I am.