I just played Playing D&d and I had a idea for creating a human character that was half-silver dragon but didn't know it as first,as most GM's won't allow me to play any kind of Metallic Dragon,period,even if I could create it. But I don't seem to have the tools I need to do so. I don't want to use the DragonBorn class for RP reason,as I want my character to gradually learn what he/she is over time,so what would be best options be? Ideally I'd want the half-dragon class if that exists,but no clues if that's a locked option or just not available?
First, Dragonborn is a race, not a class. The distinction is important in D&D. Half-dragon is not a player race option. If your DM is open to it, you might be able to homebrew it. But I don’t think it will give you what you want. Half dragons aren’t any less obviously dragons than Dragonborn, at least not according to the artwork for them. And mechanically they are very similar to Dragonborn.
Some possibilities for you:
-use the Dragonborn race, but don’t make use of all their abilities initially.
-play a draconic bloodline sorcerer. Sorcerer is a class, not a race, but it does gradually mimic dragon traits.
-work out a homebrew race with your DM
-choose variant human and homebrew a feat that gives you one of the Dragonborn or dragon abilities (I would suggest resistance to cold damage, since you want to be the descendant of a silver dragon, and that trait isn’t dependent on you knowing you are a dragon) Then, when your chosen class gives you a choice between an Ability Score Improvement or a Feat, choose another homebrew feat that adds an ability. These feats would all need to be homebrewed and worked out with your DM.
A note about homebrew: some DMs don’t allow homebrew. Almost all DMs reserve the right to veto particular homebrew options, as they can be way overpowered.
I would play a silver Draconic bloodline sorcerer because RAW that’s how you can play a half dragon. The description states that one way to be a Draconic bloodline sorcerer is if one of your ancestors is a dragon, which could mean one of your parents.
In 3.x editions of D&D there were templates you could add to a base creature and alter its abilities. Half-dragon was one of them. It was a very potent option, as such the rules placed a CR or Character level cost to the template reflecting the greater potency of that template. For instance a level one human fighter with the Half-Dragon template was equivalent to a 4th level character IIRC. Lack of templates is one of the things I miss most about 3.x because it made my job easier as a DM when fiddling with monsters.
In 3.x editions of D&D there were templates you could add to a base creature and alter its abilities. Half-dragon was one of them. It was a very potent option, as such the rules placed a CR or Character level cost to the template reflecting the greater potency of that template. For instance a level one human fighter with the Half-Dragon template was equivalent to a 4th level character IIRC. Lack of templates is one of the things I miss most about 3.x because it made my job easier as a DM when fiddling with monsters.
There are some templates for monsters (including half dragons), but none for player characters (that is what variant races are for).
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I just played Playing D&d and I had a idea for creating a human character that was half-silver dragon but didn't know it as first,as most GM's won't allow me to play any kind of Metallic Dragon,period,even if I could create it. But I don't seem to have the tools I need to do so. I don't want to use the DragonBorn class for RP reason,as I want my character to gradually learn what he/she is over time,so what would be best options be? Ideally I'd want the half-dragon class if that exists,but no clues if that's a locked option or just not available?
First, Dragonborn is a race, not a class. The distinction is important in D&D. Half-dragon is not a player race option. If your DM is open to it, you might be able to homebrew it. But I don’t think it will give you what you want. Half dragons aren’t any less obviously dragons than Dragonborn, at least not according to the artwork for them. And mechanically they are very similar to Dragonborn.
Some possibilities for you:
-use the Dragonborn race, but don’t make use of all their abilities initially.
-play a draconic bloodline sorcerer. Sorcerer is a class, not a race, but it does gradually mimic dragon traits.
-work out a homebrew race with your DM
-choose variant human and homebrew a feat that gives you one of the Dragonborn or dragon abilities (I would suggest resistance to cold damage, since you want to be the descendant of a silver dragon, and that trait isn’t dependent on you knowing you are a dragon) Then, when your chosen class gives you a choice between an Ability Score Improvement or a Feat, choose another homebrew feat that adds an ability. These feats would all need to be homebrewed and worked out with your DM.
A note about homebrew: some DMs don’t allow homebrew. Almost all DMs reserve the right to veto particular homebrew options, as they can be way overpowered.
Trying to Decide if DDB is for you? A few helpful threads: A Buyer's Guide to DDB; What I/We Bought and Why; How some DMs use DDB; A Newer Thread on Using DDB to Play
Helpful threads on other topics: Homebrew FAQ by IamSposta; Accessing Content by ConalTheGreat;
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I would play a silver Draconic bloodline sorcerer because RAW that’s how you can play a half dragon. The description states that one way to be a Draconic bloodline sorcerer is if one of your ancestors is a dragon, which could mean one of your parents.
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In 3.x editions of D&D there were templates you could add to a base creature and alter its abilities. Half-dragon was one of them. It was a very potent option, as such the rules placed a CR or Character level cost to the template reflecting the greater potency of that template. For instance a level one human fighter with the Half-Dragon template was equivalent to a 4th level character IIRC. Lack of templates is one of the things I miss most about 3.x because it made my job easier as a DM when fiddling with monsters.
There are some templates for monsters (including half dragons), but none for player characters (that is what variant races are for).