Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Fishonahorse 01-22-08, 08:58 PM	As many a group member asked me, I find it my solemn duty to dechiper the weak points and/or balances of the Dragonborn "template." What would be a way for an eligible first level character to aquire this "template" through a backstory (and a sack of 100 gold) and remain within a first level party's ideal power level?
Crimson_Concerto 01-22-08, 09:00 PM	Um, well you don't get to keep anything from your original race except for ability modifiers and creature type, so it's not like it's free bonuses...
Suspect_Unusual 01-22-08, 09:13 PM	Um, well you don't get to keep anything from your original race except for ability modifiers and creature type, so it's not like it's free bonuses... In some cases, it can be beneficial to lose some of one's racial traits... consider the Orc. Sure, the orc loses Darkvision, but it also loses Light Sensitivity. A Dragonborn Orc Barbarian would be a troublesome opponent.
Crimson_Concerto 01-22-08, 10:12 PM	Point taken. Another example is the Warforged, who loses his composite plating, which is beneficial to arcane spellcasters, and keeps all features of his type and subtype, including all of those delicious little immunities. However, GENERALLY speaking, for most races, they do actually have to give up significant racial features to gain dragonborn ones.
AZNsupermarket 01-25-08, 02:53 AM	Yea, most of the time the things lost balance out the things gained from this pseudo-template. If you really need to make this balanced at first level and explain the gp issue, you can just say that your character took out a small lone, which he will repay at the first chance he he gets... maybe with considerable interest.
Xerj 01-25-08, 04:47 PM	Am I the only person who's played a dragonborn as-is as a race rather than a template?
Spikes01k 01-26-08, 12:00 AM	Am I the only person who's played a dragonborn as-is as a race rather than a template? Written, it is only a template, you can not be born as a dragonborn in 3.5.
Spiritwalker 01-30-08, 04:40 AM	Well, lets take a look at what you gain and what you lose then, shall we? Ability scores can be really benificial - have a bonus to a spellcasting ability but a troublesome minus to con? There's your Dragonborn, Additionally, the Aspect, and the ability to take draconic and dragonblood feats can come in handy for the average gamer, Additionally, you keep type and subtype of your original race - the obvious best being living construct and Plant for their inherrent immunities. From your base race - you keep all your movement modes, and base ability scores, but lose pretty much everything else. I tend to houserule that you'd keep certain things that are generally an anatomical feature - bite and claw attacks for example, as the illustrated Dragonborn appear to have large tooth-filled maws, and if you've been biting people your whole life, you're not going to forget how to do that. I also rule that heritage-style bonuses should be kept - elven weapon proficiancy, or dwarf bonuses against goblinoids (i hope that's the right bonus) as these would be the equivilent of learning gained during adolecence, and just as a dragonborn doesn't forget how to speak its native tongue, it also wouldn't forget hours spent on a practice field learning how to effectively kill things. So what are the best races to play as under such conditions (assuming people agree with the above statements)? Sun Elves - bonus to Int poisondusk lizardfolk - claws and bite, bonuses with poison, etc (possibly one of the best races out there anyway for a +1LA) Warforged - living construct Raptorans - ability to fly Anthropamorphic bat - ugly, but can fly and gets some nice bonuses there are others, but i won't go into them here. Here is the biggest part of becoming a dragonborn, and the thing i demand of any of my players before i allow them to take the template - a decent backstory. What drove you to bahamut? how did you find out about the dragonborn? when did you swear your life to destroying evil dragon-kind. Additionally, that is a point to be remembered - your entire reason for existing is to seek out and destroy evil dragons, no matter the cost to oneself. If your players don't live by that, feel free to punish them horribly and painfully - taking a quest that doesn't involve dragons should be okay once in a while, but if there are going to be none of the spawn of Tiamat in your campaign, then seriously question what a dragonborn would be there for in the first place.
Neutronium_Dragon 01-30-08, 07:52 PM	> Additionally, that is a point to be remembered - your entire reason for existing > is to seek out and destroy evil dragons, no matter the cost to oneself. No. Your purpose is to seek out and destroy evil dragons, but you're expected to use intelligent judgement about it, not throw away everything on a Charge of the Light Brigade stunt. Further, there's nothing preventing them from taking on other projects which indirectly contribute to the cause - which most non-evil adventuring groups fit into quite naturally. RotD talks about this fairly clearly.
baby_kamikaize_kobold 02-01-08, 10:41 AM	Wait dragonborn get an extra 100 gold pieces? where does it say this?
Neutronium_Dragon 02-01-08, 07:40 PM	They don't get 100 extra - they get 100 less, since that's the cost of the ritual of rebirth.
baby_kamikaize_kobold 02-02-08, 05:38 PM	ok that clears some of it up but where is the cost of the ritual? in the book I've never come across it before (maybe I'm not reading well enough)
TifRhal 02-03-08, 12:31 PM	ok here is the text Time: The Rite of Rebirth requires 24 hours of meditation and fasting followed by 24 hours of sleep. If the ceremony is interrupred, the prospective child of bahamut must start the rite from the beginning. Cost: The symbolic egg crafted by the prospective dragonborn costs 100gp to create, abd requires a handful of scales from a metallic dragon.
baby_kamikaize_kobold 02-04-08, 03:18 PM	ok thanks for clearing that
PhantomMike 02-06-08, 10:22 AM	Lest we forget that if they don't uphold their code to fight evil dragons and be good in the service of Bahamut, they get a rash and shed scale till they return to their original race. Its like being a paladin, but instead of loosing your powers you loose your skin and dragon parts.