I can imagine a wizard having a spark of inspiration to get new spells or a fighter figuring out techniques to swing his sword faster in a 6-second period, but a draconic bloodline sorcerer or a dragonborn who just gained the ability to non-magically fly, both immediately and with wings they previously didn't have is a bit more farfetched.
I have not played a Dragonic Bloodline Sorcerer yet, but I already made one (in my head) that I want to play in the future. (male Fire Genasi)
The Draconic Bloodline text says:
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.
*emphasis mine
Because of that, I thought that my chara's grandmother would be a Gold Dragon. So far so good. You don't get your wings till Lvl 14th, so he would slowly grow more and more into his draconic blood until his wings start to sprout.
You don't get your wings till Lvl 14th, so he would slowly grow more and more into his draconic blood until his wings start to sprout.
That's just it, though. At 14th level, they just flat out gain the ability without any prior capabilities to sprout wings or practice. It feels awkward, as this sort of thing sounds more like a biological phenomenon than magic.
How would it feel to sprout/retract wings? Would you grow a hunchback to conceal them in, or just forever keep your wings revealed to avoid the hassle? Is the creation/retraction of said wings magical in nature, thus throwing logic out the window?
You don't get your wings till Lvl 14th, so he would slowly grow more and more into his draconic blood until his wings start to sprout.
That's just it, though. At 14th level, they just flat out gain the ability without any prior capabilities to sprout wings or practice. It feels awkward, as this sort of thing sounds more like a biological phenomenon than magic.
How would it feel to sprout/retract wings? Would you grow a hunchback to conceal them in, or just forever keep your wings revealed to avoid the hassle? Is the creation/retraction of said wings magical in nature, thus throwing logic out the window?
I don't agree with the "flat out gain the ability without any prior capabilities to sprout wings or practice", because the Lvl 1 feature of Draconic Bloodline says:
Draconic Resilience
As magic flows through your body, it causes physical traits of your dragon ancestors to emerge. 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.
*emphasis mine
So it is already there, it just takes longer for the wings to manifest.
Imo that second part (conceiling/not conceiling) is up to you/your DM, cause the text of the wings says
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.
*emphasis mine
So if you want to keep them out all the time, why not? It is Draconic Magic flowing through your veins. Dragons are magical creatures by nature. I don't see how that would throw logic out of the window.
The level 1 features talk about bloodline, hardiness, language and scales, not wings. They don't have the capability to do anything with wings until level 14, assuming they get there.
I suppose I'm looking at this too much from a real-life viewpoint. I've played games where the party would level up mid-session, and suddenly having some new abilities that would seem to require practice or knowledge without taking any downtime bothers me a bit. I'll chalk it up to instinct or intuition.
Edit: On second reading, that first bolded line makes things a lot clearer. With that one line, it can theoretically allow a character to have underdeveloped wings that gradually grow to full strength at level 14. Thank you for that.
Focusing back on the original question about role playing character advancement, for me as a DM I still require my players to have a long rest before they can level up. For a lot of level advancements it can be explained away as waking up the next morning finally understanding something they've been working on. However I do try to reward my players when they take time to practice/learn on their own, and for more fantastical abilities are great fun to roleplay finding out about the next morning!
I'm more insistent about finding teachers/tutors/a reason to suddenly be able to multiclass. Did you spend time with a weapons master to multiclass into fighter? Were you inspired by that Instrument of the Bards you found to start practicing to become a bard? Did you pledge yourself to a God to become a paladin, or become blessed by one to become a cleric? Were you fascinated by the clockwork apparatus you saw in town and spent time learning about being an artificer? The requirement of a long rest to level up gives my players a clear point to work towards.
I can imagine a wizard having a spark of inspiration to get new spells or a fighter figuring out techniques to swing his sword faster in a 6-second period, but a draconic bloodline sorcerer or a dragonborn who just gained the ability to non-magically fly, both immediately and with wings they previously didn't have is a bit more farfetched.
How do you all do this?
I have not played a Dragonic Bloodline Sorcerer yet, but I already made one (in my head) that I want to play in the future. (male Fire Genasi)
The Draconic Bloodline text says:
Because of that, I thought that my chara's grandmother would be a Gold Dragon. So far so good.
You don't get your wings till Lvl 14th, so he would slowly grow more and more into his draconic blood until his wings start to sprout.
That's just it, though. At 14th level, they just flat out gain the ability without any prior capabilities to sprout wings or practice. It feels awkward, as this sort of thing sounds more like a biological phenomenon than magic.
How would it feel to sprout/retract wings? Would you grow a hunchback to conceal them in, or just forever keep your wings revealed to avoid the hassle? Is the creation/retraction of said wings magical in nature, thus throwing logic out the window?
I don't agree with the "flat out gain the ability without any prior capabilities to sprout wings or practice", because the Lvl 1 feature of Draconic Bloodline says:
So it is already there, it just takes longer for the wings to manifest.
Imo that second part (conceiling/not conceiling) is up to you/your DM, cause the text of the wings says
So if you want to keep them out all the time, why not? It is Draconic Magic flowing through your veins. Dragons are magical creatures by nature. I don't see how that would throw logic out of the window.
The level 1 features talk about bloodline, hardiness, language and scales, not wings. They don't have the capability to do anything with wings until level 14, assuming they get there.
I suppose I'm looking at this too much from a real-life viewpoint. I've played games where the party would level up mid-session, and suddenly having some new abilities that would seem to require practice or knowledge without taking any downtime bothers me a bit. I'll chalk it up to instinct or intuition.
Edit: On second reading, that first bolded line makes things a lot clearer. With that one line, it can theoretically allow a character to have underdeveloped wings that gradually grow to full strength at level 14. Thank you for that.
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InsiderFocusing back on the original question about role playing character advancement, for me as a DM I still require my players to have a long rest before they can level up. For a lot of level advancements it can be explained away as waking up the next morning finally understanding something they've been working on. However I do try to reward my players when they take time to practice/learn on their own, and for more fantastical abilities are great fun to roleplay finding out about the next morning!
I'm more insistent about finding teachers/tutors/a reason to suddenly be able to multiclass. Did you spend time with a weapons master to multiclass into fighter? Were you inspired by that Instrument of the Bards you found to start practicing to become a bard? Did you pledge yourself to a God to become a paladin, or become blessed by one to become a cleric? Were you fascinated by the clockwork apparatus you saw in town and spent time learning about being an artificer? The requirement of a long rest to level up gives my players a clear point to work towards.
Find me on Twitter: @OboeLauren
I would just say from a storytelling standpoint that your character has *developing* wings, that are just not usable until 14th level.