Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Aleolus 09-11-07, 11:24 PM	OK, this is not my idea, I am simply bringing it here to get the opinions of the people on Wizards about it. The concept is what is granted for non-core Dragons as totems for the Dragon Shaman, Planar, Gem and Faerunian dragons. Here is a link to the original thread (http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?t=203907). Planar Dragons Battle Dragon; Dra 176; LG, NG, CG; Concentration, Diplomacy, Perform; Courage (Ex): You gain a +2 morale bonus to saving throws against charm or fear effects. Always active.; Cone of sonic energy Chaos Dragon;Dra 179; CG, CN, CE; Bluff, Hide, Move Silently; Entropic Shield (Sp): As the spell, except you can target yourself only (at will).; Line of random energy (20% chance of acid, cold, electricity, fire, or sonic chosen randomly each breath; your resistance aura and immunity are chosen randomly at character creation but do not change after) Ethereal Dragon; Dra 179; NG, LN, N, CN, NE; Appraise, Hide, Spot; Ethereal Vision (Ex): You can see ethereal creatures as if they were visible. Always active.; Cone of force Howling Dragon; Dra 180; CN, CE, NE; Bluff, Listen, Move Silently; Feral Hunter (Ex): You gain a +5 bonus to Spot checks and to Survival checks made to track a creature. Always active.; Cone of sonic energy Oceanus Dragon; Dra 181; LG, NG, CG; Spot, Survival, Swim; Water Breathing (Ex): You can breathe underwather indefinitely and can freely use spells and other abilities underwater (always active).; Line of electricity Pyroclastic Dragon; Dra 183; LN, LE, NE, CE; Bluff, Jump, Spot; Resist sound (Sp): As the spell resist energy, sonic energy only, except you can target yourself only, (at will).; Cone of ash (damage is half fire and half sonic; associated immunity is to fire only) Radiant Dragon; Dra 185; LG, NG, LN; Diplomacy, Heal, Sense Motive; Protection from Evil (Sp): As the spell, except that you can target yourself only (at will).; Line of force Rust Dragon; Dra 186; LG, LN, LE, NE; Knowledge (dungeoneering), Move Silently, Survival; Improved Sunder (Ex): You gain Improved Sunder as a bonus feat. Always active.; Line of acid Styx Dragon; Dra 187; LE, NE, CE; Spot, Survival, Swim; Water Breathing (Ex): You can breathe underwather indefinitely and can freely use spells and other abilities underwater (always active).; Line of acid Tarterian Dragon; Dra 189; LE, NE, CE, CN; Bluff, Diplomacy, Sense Motive; Strength of Will (Ex): You gain a +2 morale bonus on saving throws against charm and compulsion effects. Always active.; Line of force Faerunian Dragons Brown Dragon; Mon 38; LE, NE, CE; Bluff, Hide, Survival; Endure Elements (Sp): As the spell, except that you can target yourself only. At will.; Line of acid Deep Dragon; Mon 40; CN, NE, CE; Hide, Move Silently, Swim; Treasure Seeker (Ex): You gain a +5 competence bonus on Appraise and Search checks (always active).; Cone of acid Fang Dragon; Mon 41, Dra 159; CG, CN, CE; Bluff, Jump, Survival; Ventriloquism (Sp): As the spell (at will).; Instead of a breath weapon, you gain a claw attack as a primary natural weapon; your claw attack deals as much damage as the breath weapon of other dragon shamans does (Instead of an energy immunity, you gain immunity to ability drain, and your resistance aura gives a bonus to saving throws against ability damage or drain) Shadow Dragon; Mon 42, Dra 191; CN, NE, CE; Hide, Jump, Move Silently; Mirror Image (Sp): As the spell (at will).; Cone of energy drain; you deal as one negative level for every two hit dice of damage other dragon shaman deal with their breath weapons (Your associated immunity is to energy drain, and your resistance aura provides a bonus to saves versus illusions) Song Dragon; Mon 44; NG, CG, CN, CE; Bluff, Disguise, Jump; Feather Fall (Sp): As the spell, except that you can target yourself only (at will).; Cone of electricity Gem Dragons Amethyst Dragon; MM2 79; NG, LN, N, CN, NE; Bluff, Hide, Move Silently; Body Equilibrium (Ps): As the psionic power (at will); Line of force Crystal Dragon; MM2 81; CG, CN, CE; Gather Information, Jump, Swim; Resilient Mind (Ex): You gain a +2 bonus on saves vs enchantment effects (including psionic powers from the telepathy discipline) (always active); Cone of light (associated immunity is to cold, as is your resistance aura) Emerald Dragon; MM2 82; LG, LN, LE; Gather Information, Hide, Swim; Defensive Precognition (Ps): As the psionic power (at will); Cone of sonic energy Sapphire Dragon; MM2 84; LG, LN, LE; Jump, Knowledge (history), Move Silently; Wall Walker (Ps): As the psionic power (at will); Cone of sonic energy Topaz Dragon; MM2 85; CG, CN, CE; Hide, Survival, Swim; Water Breathing (Ex): You can breathe underwather indefinitely and can freely use spells and other abilities underwater (always active); Cone of dehydration (Your associated immunity is to cold, as is your resistance aura)
Amaril 09-12-07, 08:57 AM	Thank you for this! These will fit well into my homebrew, dragon-themed campaign setting.
Aleolus 09-12-07, 11:52 AM	Edited the first post to include a link to the original thread.
freyar 09-12-07, 10:55 PM	So these were my work originally, taking into account suggestions by Aleolus and some others. :cool: Hope people here like them. I'll be posting others every so often at EN World (at that thread) and in a more organized fashion on this page (http://www.physics.mcgill.ca/dnd/creations.html). I'll try to keep this thread up-dated too. :D
freyar 09-13-07, 11:33 PM	Ok, here are the epic dragons I posted at EN World tonight. Let me know what you think, if you like!:) I'll probably update my web page with these tomorrow, with links to the appropriate dragons. Epic Dragons Force Dragon; SRD; NG, LN, N, CN, NE; Concentration, Knowledge (the planes), Spellcraft; Mage Armor (Sp): As the spell, except you can target yourself only (at will); Cone of force Prismatic Dragon; SRD; NG, LN, N, CN, NE; Knowledge (arcana), Perform (singing or oratory), Search; Mage Armor (Sp): As the spell, except you can target yourself only (at will); Cone of light (Immunity and resistance aura are to spells with the Light descriptor and to blindness)
freyar 09-14-07, 11:36 PM	More Gem Dragons Ectoplasmic Dragon; Psionic Bestiary; CG, CN, CE; Knowledge (psionics), Knowledge (the planes), Use Psionic Device; Chameleon (Ps): As the psionic power (at will); Glob of flaming ectoplasm with a range given by the length of a dragon shaman's breath weapon line at your class level. This glob then explodes as a energy burst of fire of radius equal to 1/4 the range (round down to the nearest 5 ft) as the psionic power (nonaugmentable) with the damage given by your dragon shaman level. Associated immunity and resistance aura is to fire. Obsidian Dragon; Psionic Bestiary; LE, NE, CE; Appraise, Psicraft, Survival; Inertial Armor (Ps): As the psionic power, except not augmentable (at will).; Cone of fire
Sleepwalker13666 09-15-07, 01:47 AM	:clap: It's nice to see some work on the dragon shaman, and you did a good job at that. Nice work, would you be interested in having this added to the "Tome of Secrets"? The link is in my sig.
freyar 09-28-07, 11:58 AM	:clap: It's nice to see some work on the dragon shaman, and you did a good job at that. Nice work, would you be interested in having this added to the "Tome of Secrets"? The link is in my sig. Thanks! Feel free to add this to the Tome of Secrets if you like. I'm also adding more quite a bit, though I haven't kept this thread quite updated. The best place to go is this page (http://www.physics.mcgill.ca/~frey/dnd/dragonshaman.html). I've added a couple of chromatic dragons as well as the mist, mercury, and steel dragons.
Johnny_Angel 09-28-07, 12:24 PM	I'd like to see a Fang Dragon Dragon Shaman if possible.
freyar 10-02-07, 12:21 PM	There's one there, with a claw attack rather than breath weapon. However, I'm still thinking about how to improve that. Maybe in a day or two. Check the web page in my sig!
jradd777 10-02-07, 05:49 PM	Thanks, I like the Dragon Shaman a lot and I had considered working on this project myself... saved me a lot of time, ha ha.
bkdubs123 10-02-07, 06:07 PM	One thing to note however is that any Dragon Totem with a force breath is automatically better than any other Dragon Totem that does not have a force breath. I'm not sure what to tell you to do about that, but I felt compelled to point that out for the sake of balance.
Aleolus 10-02-07, 08:35 PM	How's that work? The only advantage I can see Force having over other energy types is that it can affect incorporeal creatures, plus there's no immunity/resistance to it. Sonic is similar, since it's quite difficult to get Sonic resistance, unless you know exactly what you're doing.
Aleolus 10-02-07, 08:42 PM	How's that work? The only advantage I can see Force having over other energy types is that it can affect incorporeal creatures, plus there's no immunity/resistance to it. Sonic is similar, since it's quite difficult to get Sonic resistance, unless you know exactly what you're doing.
jradd777 10-02-07, 08:59 PM	Being able to affect incorporeal could be a pretty substantial benefit, right? Pun intended. :D
bkdubs123 10-02-07, 09:17 PM	Yeah... no resistance and can effect incorporeal creatures. What's the downside? Oh, right there isn't one. That's the problem. From an optimization standpoint, why would you ever choose anything BUT dragons with the force breath? the Force Breath breath effect is high level for a reason.
freyar 10-02-07, 11:05 PM	Yeah... no resistance and can effect incorporeal creatures. What's the downside? Oh, right there isn't one. That's the problem. From an optimization standpoint, why would you ever choose anything BUT dragons with the force breath? the Force Breath breath effect is high level for a reason. Yeah, I agree, not perfectly balanced. Then again, I am not paid to do this and therefore don't have to be too picky. ;) I guess I hope for people to pick based on flavor rather than purely power... The real thing is that it just doesn't make sense to assign a breath weapon that isn't really what the dragon has. If I ever get around to all the conversions from the creature catalog (http://www.enworld.org/cc/), things are going to start getting funky.
freyar 10-02-07, 11:08 PM	While I'm here, anyone have any ideas about the Fang Dragon? I've thought of changing it so that the claw attack gets fixed damage but starts to gain the ability to overcome various types of damage reduction at the same levels the breath weapon would get more powerful. Does that sound reasonable?
bkdubs123 10-02-07, 11:18 PM	Hmm, I actually rather like the way the Fang Dragon's claw attack is devestating. **Whoa. I just realized I was looking these and thinking the Dragon Shaman and the DFA were the same class.** Anyway, how exactly does the Fang Dragon's claw attacks work? If they deal as much damage as a standard dragon's breath weapon then don't worry about it. If they don't well... model it exactly after how the Fang Dragon's claws progress. As far as the Force Breaths are concerned I completely understand the desire to grant a breath weapon matching that of the Totem Dragon. What you ought to do however is say that the damage dice is lowered to d4s or couple all Force Breath Totems with drawbacks.
Aleolus 10-03-07, 02:38 AM	Hmmm, a drawback to having your Totem dragon having a Force breath weapon... Maybe, after using your breath weapon, you are stunned for 2d4 rounds, then have to wait for the weapon to recharge as normal. The rational for this being that the amount of power behind a Force breath weapon is so strong, it overwhelms the Shaman for a short time.
bkdubs123 10-03-07, 02:52 AM	Whoa, now! Stunned?! For 2d4 rounds?! That's a bit harsh don't you think? Maybe dazed for 1 to possibly 1d4 rounds, and the weapon charges as normal while you are dazed. Honestly I'd be just fine with the breath weapon dealing less damage, or a simple 1 round daze effect. Those alone would force it to be a compelling mechanical and flavor choice.
DM Zoc 10-03-07, 04:42 AM	Force and sonic breath weapons should deal one less die-size of damage. I think most get d6, so force and sonic should be d4. The cone of energy drain is also fairly overpowered.
Spikes01k 10-03-07, 08:53 AM	You forgot how much damage a fang dragons shaman drains form, or maybe I have forgotten something.
jradd777 10-03-07, 11:00 AM	Whoa, now! Stunned?! For 2d4 rounds?! That's a bit harsh don't you think? Maybe dazed for 1 to possibly 1d4 rounds, and the weapon charges as normal while you are dazed. Honestly I'd be just fine with the breath weapon dealing less damage, or a simple 1 round daze effect. Those alone would force it to be a compelling mechanical and flavor choice. Yeah, stunned is crazy harsh, ha ha, you go from everyone wanting the force breath weapon to NO ONE, basically. I'd agree with dazed a couple rounds or something... maybe an effect similar to being blind or deaf... shellshocked, where you get similar miss chance etc. or something?
Aleolus 10-03-07, 12:19 PM	Whoa, now! Stunned?! For 2d4 rounds?! That's a bit harsh don't you think? Maybe dazed for 1 to possibly 1d4 rounds, and the weapon charges as normal while you are dazed. Honestly I'd be just fine with the breath weapon dealing less damage, or a simple 1 round daze effect. Those alone would force it to be a compelling mechanical and flavor choice. ...I can't tell if you're being sincere or sarcastic. Either way...
bkdubs123 10-03-07, 12:29 PM	I was being sincere. However, I do like Jradd's suggestion of a blind or deaf effect. That way you can still act, just not as well. So after a standard Force breath you are blinded until it is charged for another blast. After a standard Sonic breath you are deafened. The problem being is that Force is still stronger than Sonic, although I think for these purposes, being blind is a bigger drawback than being deaf.
DM Zoc 10-03-07, 07:33 PM	I would speak against blindness as a drawback for force breath. If you breath, and it causes you to go blind, your options on your next turn are pretty much limited to blowing another force line. I would suggest taking 1d6 damage, or making a Fort save against your breath weapon to avoid being stunned for just the one round.
freyar 10-03-07, 10:00 PM	You know, folks, you guys can do what you like, but I think I'm doing this: Sonic unchanged. Sonic is more useful at damage than fire/cold/acid/electricity, but it's not as useful as an immunity or resistance aura. So I think that's relatively balanced. Force breath will go to d4 damage die, basically because of the increased utility of the breath. For the shadow dragon energy drain breath, maybe make the negative level last only 1d4 rounds. Not sure if it says in this thread, but the dragon shaman is not supposed to gain temp hit points for bestowing negative levels. What do you think? Still thinking about the fang dragon, though.
Rechan 10-04-07, 04:05 AM	I don't like that the Fang Dragon just gives you damage equal to the breath weapon. Namely because Breath Weapons provide Area of Attacks. The Fang Dragon Shaman is only doing damage to one person. My suggestion? An ability drain effect. Str, Dex, (or a slow scaling) Con. Maybe if the individual hit makes his save, he is immune to the effects for the next attack. Switch the save to a Fort save (rather than Ref). I'm curious about applying the Dragon Shaman class to non-dragon totems.
jradd777 10-04-07, 10:57 AM	I would speak against blindness as a drawback for force breath. If you breath, and it causes you to go blind, your options on your next turn are pretty much limited to blowing another force line. I would suggest taking 1d6 damage, or making a Fort save against your breath weapon to avoid being stunned for just the one round. I was also suggesting maybe a new condition, maybe called "Shell-shocked" as soldiers have experienced in war as an effect of being near impacts of heavy artillery of tanks etc. The condition, I thought, should have some sort of miss chance associated with it, from being shaken from the force of the blast (let's face it force breath wouldn't be breath exactly, it would be concussive motion of air particles that began at someone's mouth)
DM Zoc 10-04-07, 11:28 AM	I was also suggesting maybe a new condition, maybe called "Shell-shocked" as soldiers have experienced in war as an effect of being near impacts of heavy artillery of tanks etc. The condition, I thought, should have some sort of miss chance associated with it, from being shaken from the force of the blast (let's face it force breath wouldn't be breath exactly, it would be concussive motion of air particles that began at someone's mouth) It's somewhat frowned upon to create new status conditions, because the game is supposed to remain modular with all other d20. I'm not saying it would be inaccurate for such a condition to exist, but being near a heavy explosion would be more accurate for describing those on the receiving end of the force breath. I can definitely see someone being "shell-shocked" as a result of surviving a fireball spell, and that's the major reason why I would advice against adding new conditions; it would be internally inconsistent between the various blast effects.
jradd777 10-04-07, 03:16 PM	It's somewhat frowned upon to create new status conditions, because the game is supposed to remain modular with all other d20. I'm not saying it would be inaccurate for such a condition to exist, but being near a heavy explosion would be more accurate for describing those on the receiving end of the force breath. I can definitely see someone being "shell-shocked" as a result of surviving a fireball spell, and that's the major reason why I would advice against adding new conditions; it would be internally inconsistent between the various blast effects. That's true, I understand. At the same time, I just see it as a need that would be out there to be filled. If you open the door for a force blast as a PC breath weapon, which hasn't been there before, as far as I know, there's going to be a need for some type of change. I know D&D isn't emulating reality perfectly but there's still a sense, a method, to the fantasy that makes logical sense most of the time (when it doesn't, it's normally so that it retains that modular nature that you're talking about). But that's the whole thing... if there wasn't a need for changes, why is 4E coming out and will probably not be anywhere close to the lastE? Aren't they redoing the skills system to some extent? Plus, aren't there any rules out there that only apply to certain classes, exceptions and variations? This would only be for PC's with a breath weapon and only those with force breath... is that really that bad? Further, only for people that want to use this home-brewed system of new totems... What were we talking about again?...
Voran 10-25-07, 05:04 AM	Force breath is a toughie. If we apply the idea of force effects for everything that would otherwise be an elemental effect on a DS, we'd get something like: Energy Shield: 2pts of Force dmg per point of aura bonus. Resistance: Resistance to totem dragon's energy type (force) of 5 x aura point bonus. Then you add in the personal immunity to [Force] at level 9. Funkiness ensues. [Force] has a weird scaling, at first, its just mostly magic missiles right? And then for a fairly decent stretch of spell levels, nothing, but then suddenly BOOM, you've got the ability to grant decent protection versus all the Bigby Spells, Blade Barrier, Mordenkainen's sword, etc. And at 9th level technically you'd have personal immunity to all such [Force] based effects. The idea of getting stunned by your own breath weapon seems a bit off, particularly since as the DS gains levels, they typically become immune to whatever effect their breath weapon represents. As an alternative, I wonder how it'd go if we did a hybrid sorta breath weapon instead. Basically, if you follow a radiant dragon, you don't get a force blast, but you do get a heat/light blast. Congrats, you can now spit laser beams. In game terms, I'd guess it'd be more like spitting a "Searing Light" spell of some sort.
Voran 10-25-07, 05:48 AM	Some additional musings (since forum maintenance nearly cut me off the last post) Switching Radiant from Force to "Searing Light" can make it a bit more manageable. I was thinking something along the lines of d4s for damage plus Fort saves or be blinded 1d4 (1d6?) rounds for any creatures caught in the searing line of effect. Damage would be boosted up to d6s vs undead, or d8s vs undead/creatures particularly vulnerable to light (Vampires/spectres/whatever). Alternately you could stick with the 'generic' d6 damage base with no additional effects. the Damaging aura shield could be a burst of heat (I'd assume fire resistance would counter it?) to enemy attackers. the resistance shield would be a combination of heat resistance (maybe half as effective versus fire?) plus resistance to light-based blinding. thoughts?
Voran 10-26-07, 06:15 PM	Anyone know offhand if a 3rd party has made DS alternate totems (officially?), or are we going to be stuck with our own homebrews for the time being?
freyar 11-03-07, 12:08 PM	Anyone know offhand if a 3rd party has made DS alternate totems (officially?), or are we going to be stuck with our own homebrews for the time being? Sorry to take a long time to reply to this; I haven't worked up any new totems in a while and haven't checked this thread. Anyway, I don't believe a 3rd party can write up alternate totems because the DS is not OGC. I have put these up on my web page (http://www.physics.mcgill.ca/~frey/dnd/creations.html), but, if WotC asks, I'll have to take them down. Interesting thoughts on the force effects. I'm just going to leave things the way they are, I guess, and let DMs make their own judgments, since I'm not an amazing balance expert or anything. I am probably going to post a few new totems soon, though. :D
Voran 11-03-07, 04:30 PM	Sorry to take a long time to reply to this; I haven't worked up any new totems in a while and haven't checked this thread. Anyway, I don't believe a 3rd party can write up alternate totems because the DS is not OGC. I have put these up on my web page (http://www.physics.mcgill.ca/~frey/dnd/creations.html), but, if WotC asks, I'll have to take them down. Interesting thoughts on the force effects. I'm just going to leave things the way they are, I guess, and let DMs make their own judgments, since I'm not an amazing balance expert or anything. I am probably going to post a few new totems soon, though. :D Ooh hey. Nicely done :)
hurk 05-30-08, 10:20 AM	I understand this thread has bin dead for some 6 months, but i just realized that there is a Half-dragon templates for all of the dragon types here. www.crystalkeep.com/d20/rules/DnD3.5Index-Templates.pdf This may help y'all work out some of the bugs if you still want to.
Voran 06-24-08, 04:49 AM	*Sniffle* I wish DS's got transferred into the new 4.0 setting somehow.
Aleolus 06-24-08, 04:16 PM	I agree!
VanGrue 08-03-08, 09:32 PM	I'm sure most people have forgotten about this thread, though I just happened upon it today, as I decided to research if anyone had made rules for non-core dragon shaman totems. I'm impressed with the majority of the dragon totems, though a couple seem to jump out at me with red flags. Whether going by the initial entry on the first page of this thread or by the updated one on Freyar's site (http://www.physics.mcgill.ca/~frey/dnd/dragonshaman.html), the Fang Dragon's special attack ability just seems too unbalanced. I know everyone's been trying to figure out how to scale it so it balances with the rest of the totems, but the Fang Dragon seems to fit as a totem for the sort of character I'm going for. My Dragon Shaman is a Draconic Human, meaning it already gets claw attacks, and I added the Dragon Tail feat for that as well. Basically, I'm looking to maximize on the potential of my natural weapons, and that fits right in line with the Fang Dragon. I wouldn't mind a different totem, but I'm curious to see if it's possible to find a happy medium as far as the Totem's special attack goes. As it is, it either provides a claw attack with increasing damage or a static claw attack with extra abilities added on. However, there are no rules mentioned for waiting, as it's just an added natural weapon. This means you either get scaling damage every round (and given the interpretation, for each claw you've got; this potentially doubles the damage in a round), or Energy Drain that out-paces the Shadow Dragon Shaman's breath weapon by a huge degree (1 negative level per DS damage die as opposed to every 2 damage dice, and potentially usable once or even twice every round). Can you imagine a level 8 DS bestowing up to 8 negative levels in a round (4 dice per claw; or up to 16 if both hits were somehow crits)? For those keeping track, at that level that's generally at least enough to drop an enemy in one or two rounds (If negative levels meet or exceed class levels or hit dice, a creature is instantly slain (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/specialAbilities.htm#energyDrainAndNegat iveLevels)). Given this, I believe we can do better to balance the issue. Simply saying that the Fang Dragon Shaman can only use a claw attack once every 1d4 rounds doesn't make sense. I can understand allowing the energy drain effect every 1d4 rounds, if that was supposed to be the original intention. The issue that gets me with this is that Fang Dragons doesn't have an Energy Drain attack, they've got Ability Drain (Con), with their bite attacks. So, that said, is there any way to balance these mechanics? Is there any way to do use utilizing a con-drain ability? I'm eager to work something out with this since I'll need it for Saturday, but if not then I'll just go with one of the other totems. If that's the case, which other dragons are a good match for a barbarian-type character? While developing the character, I was initially going for a paladin-like tank build, going for Silver Dragon, but the alignment and behavior don't match the current character I've got.
VanGrue 08-10-08, 01:46 PM	I ended up going with the Mercury Dragon as my totem/heritage, having the Draconic template and being allowed to follow the racial class levels to eventually get up to Half Dragon. Fits my character pretty well, with Lion-totem Barbarian for pouce, 8 levels of DS, and one racial level putting me at ECL 10. Generally people advise against Half-Dragon, but this time it's appropriate for the campaign and my character, even if Dragonborn would technically be more optimal, my choice lets me avoid the whole 'quest for righteousness' fluff. :) Plus, what's cooler than having laser-breath? (Besides fire being the most prominent energy immunity, of course) Anyway, I had to modify the Mercury Dragon entry on freyar's site. It was based off of the old entry on the Monster Mayhem page, but the dragon's actually been updated in the Dragons of Faerun book with a slightly different description and very different racial skills. The original DS skills were Bluff, Disguise, and Survival. So, I combined the two versions for my use, keeping bluff and adding Jump (which is featured prominently in both sources) and tumble, as Mercury dragons are supposed to have superior maneuverability. Besides, I never need to disguise myself, and we've got both a ranger and druid, so survival can easily be left to them. I played my first game with the new build last night, and while I didn't get much chance to use my breath weapon early on (first thing that happened was getting ambushed by two unknown demons and a couple vrocks, so fire damage is right out), I still managed to both aid my party with the auras and lay on the hurt with my natural weapons. With some really well-placed hits, I managed to get over 40 damage in a round several times. Rolling all those dice felt really good. So did almost never getting hit. :D
Atsettam 08-13-08, 07:38 PM	I understand this thread has bin dead for some 6 months, but i just realized that there is a Half-dragon templates for all of the dragon types here. www.crystalkeep.com/d20/rules/DnD3.5Index-Templates.pdf This may help y'all work out some of the bugs if you still want to. The list of half-dragon varieties given above is incomplete and has a few errors. This list is more accurate (Link (http://forums.gleemax.com/showthread.php?t=1020042)).
Zuriga_Sungama 08-13-08, 09:26 PM	Plus, what's cooler than having laser-breath? Having roar-breath. :D
VanGrue 08-13-08, 10:30 PM	Having roar-breath. :D That's called a roar sound. Or "Roar" for short. :D
Zuriga_Sungama 08-13-08, 10:44 PM	That's called a roar sound. Or "Roar" for short. :D Bah! Battle Dragons have ROAR-BREATH! :D
VanGrue 08-14-08, 12:16 AM	Well, that would be a sonic attack, and in that case so do Howling, Emerald and Sapphire Dragons. I can see where you're coming from though. :D Li Lung dragons have an actual Roar (at least, Half Li Lung dragons get that, according to RotD 71-72. I don't have OA in front of me to reference, but that would make sense by proxy). (I still say Laser Breath is cooler! Also, poisonous flesh! :D)
Zuriga_Sungama 08-14-08, 03:17 AM	Also, poisonous flesh! Buh?
VanGrue 08-14-08, 11:06 AM	It's not something that is built into any Dragon Shaman totem. Mercury Dragons don't have any poison attacks, but their flesh is highly poisonous if ingested. My DM allowed me to use that trait since my character is becoming a Half-Dragon as well as being a Dragon Shaman. That info isn't in the web article, as they've changed a few things about the Mercury dragon when they released the Dragons of Faerun book. Mostly I believe they're just recreating the hazardous effects of ingesting actual mercury, which is also poisonous.