Hey i have a question. I'm kind of new to dming. One of my players has requested a stunted copper dragon wyrmling as a pet. how do i make that balanced?
Hey i have a question. I'm kind of new to dming. One of my players has requested a stunted copper dragon wyrmling as a pet. how do i make that balanced?
It is really up to you since you can make pets range from simply cosmetic to having mechanical features.
However, first, what is a "stunted" copper dragon wyrmling?
How you balance it, if you choose to allow it, is up to you. This depends on the level of the players. A player in my game has a black dragon wyrmling companion but the characters are in tier 3 (currently level 14 but have had the wyrmling since level 11 or so) and the dragon really isn't a balance issue. The player is more concerned with making sure they survive most of the time so the dragon isn't a factor.
In a tier 1 game (levels 1-4), the dragon is roughly equivalent to a character - it has one attack and a fairly weak breath weapon. However, if the dragon is in fights, it will be a target which means that it could die and likely won't be replaced. If this is made clear to the player then the odds are good that if they actually care about their pet then it won't be a big factor in most combats since the character will likely try to keep the dragon safe.
The main concern with something like this is the "coolness" factor. There is a decent chance that if you give one player a cool dragon, other players will feel that the situation isn't fair unless something comes along which they like in an equivalent way. It wouldn't have to be a dragon pet but awarding something like that to one player can be perceived negatively by other players, especially if the creature has mechanical benefits like helping in combat or serving as a mount for the character.
P.S. You will also want to consider how you will handle the dragon growing up, maturing and getting larger. It isn't a concern in a campaign with a short game world time span but if the characters take some game world time off between adventures then eventually the dragon may grow up and you will want to have an idea of how you will handle that.
Hey i have a question. I'm kind of new to dming. One of my players has requested a stunted copper dragon wyrmling as a pet. how do i make that balanced?
That's a good question with luckily an easy answer (for once). :)
Depends on whether it's for the Find Familiar spell or for a ranger companion or just a pet.
A) Use a flying beast with the appropriate CR. 1/4 or 1/8 should be fine if they just want a familiar. Ranger companion also starts at cr 1/4. In both cases you can say it doesn't have the breath weapon yet. Something like Giant Bat.
B) Use the pseudodragon statblock. It's cr 1/4. It's a bit more gifted than a typical beast, but pretty much useless in combat unless it's a ranger companion- Especially as a Familiar the pseudodragon works great. If it's a ranger companion, then the magic resistance might turn out to be a bit strong later, but other than that it shouldn't be a balance issue. Maybe just remove that and up the damage to match some other similar companion choices. :)
C) If it's just an extra pet. I wouldn't grant a party member a pet that has combat abilities if I were a new DM, unless it's a class with specific features for that. So for a normal pet I'd choose some sad little critter. A combat pet could have unpredictable balance and/or combat pacing issues. But Familiars and Ranger Pets can be reflavored however you see fit without any problems, as long as you follow the feature's rules. :)
Hey i have a question. I'm kind of new to dming. One of my players has requested a stunted copper dragon wyrmling as a pet. how do i make that balanced?
It is really up to you since you can make pets range from simply cosmetic to having mechanical features.
However, first, what is a "stunted" copper dragon wyrmling?
How you balance it, if you choose to allow it, is up to you. This depends on the level of the players. A player in my game has a black dragon wyrmling companion but the characters are in tier 3 (currently level 14 but have had the wyrmling since level 11 or so) and the dragon really isn't a balance issue. The player is more concerned with making sure they survive most of the time so the dragon isn't a factor.
In a tier 1 game (levels 1-4), the dragon is roughly equivalent to a character - it has one attack and a fairly weak breath weapon. However, if the dragon is in fights, it will be a target which means that it could die and likely won't be replaced. If this is made clear to the player then the odds are good that if they actually care about their pet then it won't be a big factor in most combats since the character will likely try to keep the dragon safe.
The main concern with something like this is the "coolness" factor. There is a decent chance that if you give one player a cool dragon, other players will feel that the situation isn't fair unless something comes along which they like in an equivalent way. It wouldn't have to be a dragon pet but awarding something like that to one player can be perceived negatively by other players, especially if the creature has mechanical benefits like helping in combat or serving as a mount for the character.
P.S. You will also want to consider how you will handle the dragon growing up, maturing and getting larger. It isn't a concern in a campaign with a short game world time span but if the characters take some game world time off between adventures then eventually the dragon may grow up and you will want to have an idea of how you will handle that.
That's a good question with luckily an easy answer (for once). :)
Depends on whether it's for the Find Familiar spell or for a ranger companion or just a pet.
A) Use a flying beast with the appropriate CR. 1/4 or 1/8 should be fine if they just want a familiar. Ranger companion also starts at cr 1/4. In both cases you can say it doesn't have the breath weapon yet. Something like Giant Bat.
B) Use the pseudodragon statblock. It's cr 1/4. It's a bit more gifted than a typical beast, but pretty much useless in combat unless it's a ranger companion- Especially as a Familiar the pseudodragon works great. If it's a ranger companion, then the magic resistance might turn out to be a bit strong later, but other than that it shouldn't be a balance issue. Maybe just remove that and up the damage to match some other similar companion choices. :)
C) If it's just an extra pet. I wouldn't grant a party member a pet that has combat abilities if I were a new DM, unless it's a class with specific features for that. So for a normal pet I'd choose some sad little critter. A combat pet could have unpredictable balance and/or combat pacing issues. But Familiars and Ranger Pets can be reflavored however you see fit without any problems, as long as you follow the feature's rules. :)
Finland GMT/UTC +2