I've out this post on the Sorcerer thread as well for some feedback. Thought I would get some other DM view. I have a Dragonborn Sorcerer who seems convinced they get a second breath weapon because they are Dragonborn and a Sorcerer. I couldn't find anything in the PHB to suggest this is the case, and does appear twice on the character sheet. I would think that if one was dragonborn and they chose draconic for their sorcerer ability, it wouldn't double the breath weapon. Any thoughts or any references for this?
They might have learned the Dragon Breath spell and have it customized to show as an attack. This would give them two listing. One for their innate racial ability, one for the spell.
Yes, they only get one kind of resistance, and it's based on the type of Dragon they descended from.
Are they using the PHB version of the Dragonborn, or the one that's currently out in UA? The UA version does get uses tied to proficiency bonus per long rest, which at low levels would be two.
This is true. They only get protection from a specific type of damage as a draconic bloodline?
This is everything they get from the Draconic Sorcerous Bloodline. Starting at 6th-level they gain a feature that can grant them a temporary damage resistance. I have taken the liberty of highlighted the relevant features for you:
Your innate magic comes from draconic magic that was mingled with your blood or that of your ancestors. Most often, sorcerers with this origin trace their descent back to a mighty sorcerer of ancient times who made a bargain with a dragon or who might even have claimed a dragon parent. Some of these bloodlines are well established in the world, but most are obscure. Any given sorcerer could be the first of a new bloodline, as a result of a pact or some other exceptional circumstance.
Dragon Ancestor
At 1st level, you choose one type of dragon as your ancestor. The damage type associated with each dragon is used by features you gain later.
Draconic Ancestry
Dragon
Damage Type
Black
Acid
Blue
Lightning
Brass
Fire
Bronze
Lightning
Copper
Acid
Gold
Fire
Green
Poison
Red
Fire
Silver
Cold
White
Cold
You can speak, read, and write Draconic. Additionally, whenever you make a Charisma check when interacting with dragons, your proficiency bonus is doubled if it applies to the check.
Draconic Resilience
At 1st level, your hit point maximum increases by 1 and increases by 1 again whenever you gain a level in this class.
Additionally, parts of your skin are covered by a thin sheen of dragon-like scales. When you aren’t wearing armor, your AC equals 13 + your Dexterity modifier.
Elemental Affinity
Starting at 6th level, when you cast a spell that deals damage of the type associated with your draconic ancestry, you can add your Charisma modifier to one damage roll of that spell. At the same time, you can spend 1 sorcery point to gain resistance to that damage type for 1 hour.
Dragon Wings
At 14th level, you gain the ability to sprout a pair of dragon wings from your back, gaining a flying speed equal to your current speed. You can create these wings as a bonus action on your turn. They last until you dismiss them as a bonus action on your turn.
You can’t manifest your wings while wearing armor unless the armor is made to accommodate them, and clothing not made to accommodate your wings might be destroyed when you manifest them.
Draconic Presence
Beginning at 18th level, you can channel the dread presence of your dragon ancestor, causing those around you to become awestruck or frightened. As an action, you can spend 5 sorcery points to draw on this power and exude an aura of awe or fear (your choice) to a distance of 60 feet. For 1 minute or until you lose your concentration (as if you were casting a concentration spell), each hostile creature that starts its turn in this aura must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw or be charmed (if you chose awe) or frightened (if you chose fear) until the aura ends. A creature that succeeds on this saving throw is immune to your aura for 24 hours.
Here is everything they get from being Dragonborn, I have likewise highlighted the relevant passages here as well:
Dragonborn Traits (The generic bits are in the spoiler)
Your draconic heritage manifests in a variety of traits you share with other dragonborn.
Ability Score Increase. Your Strength score increases by 2, and your Charisma score increases by 1.
Age. Young dragonborn grow quickly. They walk hours after hatching, attain the size and development of a 10-year-old human child by the age of 3, and reach adulthood by 15. They live to be around 80.
Alignment. Dragonborn tend to extremes, making a conscious choice for one side or the other in the cosmic war between good and evil (represented by Bahamut and Tiamat, respectively). Most dragonborn are good, but those who side with Tiamat can be terrible villains.
Size. Dragonborn are taller and heavier than humans, standing well over 6 feet tall and averaging almost 250 pounds. Your size is Medium.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and Draconic. Draconic is thought to be one of the oldest languages and is often used in the study of magic. The language sounds harsh to most other creatures and includes numerous hard consonants and sibilants.
Draconic Ancestry
DRAGON
DAMAGE TYPE
BREATH WEAPON
Black
Acid
5 by 30 ft. line (Dex. save)
Blue
Lightning
5 by 30 ft. line (Dex. save)
Brass
Fire
5 by 30 ft. line (Dex. save)
Bronze
Lightning
5 by 30 ft. line (Dex. save)
Copper
Acid
5 by 30 ft. line (Dex. save)
Gold
Fire
15 ft. cone (Dex. save)
Green
Poison
15 ft. cone (Con. save)
Red
Fire
15 ft. cone (Dex. save)
Silver
Cold
15 ft. cone (Con. save)
White
Cold
15 ft. cone (Con. save)
Draconic Ancestry Draconic Ancestry. You have draconic ancestry. Choose one type of dragon from the Draconic Ancestry table. Your breath weapon and damage resistance are determined by the dragon type, as shown in the table.
Breath Weapon. You can use your action to exhale destructive energy. Your draconic ancestry determines the size, shape, and damage type of the exhalation.
When you use your breath weapon, each creature in the area of the exhalation must make a saving throw, the type of which is determined by your draconic ancestry. The DC for this saving throw equals 8 + your Constitution modifier + your proficiency bonus. A creature takes 2d6 damage on a failed save, and half as much damage on a successful one. The damage increases to 3d6 at 6th level, 4d6 at 11th level, and 5d6 at 16th level.
After you use your breath weapon, you can’t use it again until you complete a short or long rest.
Damage Resistance. You have resistance to the damage type associated with your draconic ancestry.
The Dragonborn in the PHB has always been a bit… “lackluster” for lack of a better adjective. I personally recommend the Variant Dragonborn lineages that are currently in UA instead of the PHB version. (https://www.dndbeyond.com/races/draconic-races-ua) The UA variants are better balanced to be on par with the other PHB races IMO.
Important to note is the fact that a “Double Dragon” can choose one draconic ancestry for their race and a different one for their subclass if the choose. However, if they do, the one from their race will not interact with their subclass features, and the one from their subclass will not interact with their racial traits. Those two things have absolutely nothing to do with each other whatsoever.
Also, since 2014 folks have generally concurred that Sorcerers got kinda boned in this edition. Judging by the newest subclasses in Tasha’s Cauldron, WotC agrees. I know more than a few DMs who have added similar subclass specific spells to the pre-Tasha’s Sorcerer subclasses, but this particular one is not as easy to do that for. Some of the more “draconic” spells are a little redundant, or don’t fit any specific ancestry well. Things get even more constrained for Double Dragons. However, there are other ways of adjusting Sorcerers upwards besides adding spells. (Some got discussed recently here: https://www.dndbeyond.com/forums/dungeons-dragons-discussion/rules-game-mechanics/111721-no-reward-sorcerer-after-short-rest) However, one of the more interesting bumps I have ever heard of specifically for Draconic Bloodline Sorcerers was to give them a Pseudodragon (familiar variant) at 1st level as a class feature they could use whenever they finished a long rest. At the time it just didn’t work, but since Tasha’s came out I have been thinking about giving the little critter the (PB) treatment. That would let it scale as the sorcerer leveled up. Between that and giving the Sorcerer a bonus action to command it to attack (like Artificers get for their [Tooltip Not Found]), I think it might just be the ticket.
Sorcerers do not get an innate breath weapon. They only get access to the Dragon's Breath spell. So a Dragonborn Sorcerer CAN have two breath weapons, so long as they cast Dragon's Breath on themselves. But by default? Nope.
They might have learned the Dragon Breath spell and have it customized to show as an attack. This would give them two listing. One for their innate racial ability, one for the spell.
Yes, they only get one kind of resistance, and it's based on the type of Dragon they descended from.
I was also thinking they could be referring to the Dragon Breath spell, thus the confusion.
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I've out this post on the Sorcerer thread as well for some feedback. Thought I would get some other DM view. I have a Dragonborn Sorcerer who seems convinced they get a second breath weapon because they are Dragonborn and a Sorcerer. I couldn't find anything in the PHB to suggest this is the case, and does appear twice on the character sheet. I would think that if one was dragonborn and they chose draconic for their sorcerer ability, it wouldn't double the breath weapon. Any thoughts or any references for this?
Sorcerers don't get breath weapons. Period. Therefore the character only has one - the one from race.
This is true. They only get protection from a specific type of damage as a draconic bloodline?
They might have learned the Dragon Breath spell and have it customized to show as an attack. This would give them two listing. One for their innate racial ability, one for the spell.
Yes, they only get one kind of resistance, and it's based on the type of Dragon they descended from.
<Insert clever signature here>
Are they using the PHB version of the Dragonborn, or the one that's currently out in UA? The UA version does get uses tied to proficiency bonus per long rest, which at low levels would be two.
This is everything they get from the Draconic Sorcerous Bloodline. Starting at 6th-level they gain a feature that can grant them a temporary damage resistance. I have taken the liberty of highlighted the relevant features for you:
https://www.dndbeyond.com/classes/sorcerer#DraconicBloodline
Draconic Bloodline
Your innate magic comes from draconic magic that was mingled with your blood or that of your ancestors. Most often, sorcerers with this origin trace their descent back to a mighty sorcerer of ancient times who made a bargain with a dragon or who might even have claimed a dragon parent. Some of these bloodlines are well established in the world, but most are obscure. Any given sorcerer could be the first of a new bloodline, as a result of a pact or some other exceptional circumstance.
Dragon Ancestor
At 1st level, you choose one type of dragon as your ancestor. The damage type associated with each dragon is used by features you gain later.
Draconic Ancestry
Black
Acid
Blue
Lightning
Brass
Fire
Bronze
Lightning
Copper
Acid
Gold
Fire
Green
Poison
Red
Fire
Silver
Cold
White
Cold
You can speak, read, and write Draconic. Additionally, whenever you make a Charisma check when interacting with dragons, your proficiency bonus is doubled if it applies to the check.
Draconic Resilience
At 1st level, your hit point maximum increases by 1 and increases by 1 again whenever you gain a level in this class.
Additionally, parts of your skin are covered by a thin sheen of dragon-like scales. When you aren’t wearing armor, your AC equals 13 + your Dexterity modifier.
Elemental Affinity
Starting at 6th level, when you cast a spell that deals damage of the type associated with your draconic ancestry, you can add your Charisma modifier to one damage roll of that spell. At the same time, you can spend 1 sorcery point to gain resistance to that damage type for 1 hour.
Dragon Wings
At 14th level, you gain the ability to sprout a pair of dragon wings from your back, gaining a flying speed equal to your current speed. You can create these wings as a bonus action on your turn. They last until you dismiss them as a bonus action on your turn.
You can’t manifest your wings while wearing armor unless the armor is made to accommodate them, and clothing not made to accommodate your wings might be destroyed when you manifest them.
Draconic Presence
Beginning at 18th level, you can channel the dread presence of your dragon ancestor, causing those around you to become awestruck or frightened. As an action, you can spend 5 sorcery points to draw on this power and exude an aura of awe or fear (your choice) to a distance of 60 feet. For 1 minute or until you lose your concentration (as if you were casting a concentration spell), each hostile creature that starts its turn in this aura must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw or be charmed (if you chose awe) or frightened (if you chose fear) until the aura ends. A creature that succeeds on this saving throw is immune to your aura for 24 hours.
Here is everything they get from being Dragonborn, I have likewise highlighted the relevant passages here as well:
https://www.dndbeyond.com/races/dragonborn#DragonbornTraits
Dragonborn Traits (The generic bits are in the spoiler)
Your draconic heritage manifests in a variety of traits you share with other dragonborn.
Ability Score Increase. Your Strength score increases by 2, and your Charisma score increases by 1.
Age. Young dragonborn grow quickly. They walk hours after hatching, attain the size and development of a 10-year-old human child by the age of 3, and reach adulthood by 15. They live to be around 80.
Alignment. Dragonborn tend to extremes, making a conscious choice for one side or the other in the cosmic war between good and evil (represented by Bahamut and Tiamat, respectively). Most dragonborn are good, but those who side with Tiamat can be terrible villains.
Size. Dragonborn are taller and heavier than humans, standing well over 6 feet tall and averaging almost 250 pounds. Your size is Medium.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and Draconic. Draconic is thought to be one of the oldest languages and is often used in the study of magic. The language sounds harsh to most other creatures and includes numerous hard consonants and sibilants.
Draconic Ancestry
Draconic Ancestry Draconic Ancestry. You have draconic ancestry. Choose one type of dragon from the Draconic Ancestry table. Your breath weapon and damage resistance are determined by the dragon type, as shown in the table.
Breath Weapon. You can use your action to exhale destructive energy. Your draconic ancestry determines the size, shape, and damage type of the exhalation.
When you use your breath weapon, each creature in the area of the exhalation must make a saving throw, the type of which is determined by your draconic ancestry. The DC for this saving throw equals 8 + your Constitution modifier + your proficiency bonus. A creature takes 2d6 damage on a failed save, and half as much damage on a successful one. The damage increases to 3d6 at 6th level, 4d6 at 11th level, and 5d6 at 16th level.
After you use your breath weapon, you can’t use it again until you complete a short or long rest.
Damage Resistance. You have resistance to the damage type associated with your draconic ancestry.
Important to note is the fact that a “Double Dragon” can choose one draconic ancestry for their race and a different one for their subclass if the choose. However, if they do, the one from their race will not interact with their subclass features, and the one from their subclass will not interact with their racial traits. Those two things have absolutely nothing to do with each other whatsoever.
Also, since 2014 folks have generally concurred that Sorcerers got kinda boned in this edition. Judging by the newest subclasses in Tasha’s Cauldron, WotC agrees. I know more than a few DMs who have added similar subclass specific spells to the pre-Tasha’s Sorcerer subclasses, but this particular one is not as easy to do that for. Some of the more “draconic” spells are a little redundant, or don’t fit any specific ancestry well. Things get even more constrained for Double Dragons. However, there are other ways of adjusting Sorcerers upwards besides adding spells. (Some got discussed recently here: https://www.dndbeyond.com/forums/dungeons-dragons-discussion/rules-game-mechanics/111721-no-reward-sorcerer-after-short-rest) However, one of the more interesting bumps I have ever heard of specifically for Draconic Bloodline Sorcerers was to give them a Pseudodragon (familiar variant) at 1st level as a class feature they could use whenever they finished a long rest. At the time it just didn’t work, but since Tasha’s came out I have been thinking about giving the little critter the (PB) treatment. That would let it scale as the sorcerer leveled up. Between that and giving the Sorcerer a bonus action to command it to attack (like Artificers get for their [Tooltip Not Found]), I think it might just be the ticket.
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Sorcerers do not get an innate breath weapon. They only get access to the Dragon's Breath spell. So a Dragonborn Sorcerer CAN have two breath weapons, so long as they cast Dragon's Breath on themselves. But by default? Nope.
I was also thinking they could be referring to the Dragon Breath spell, thus the confusion.