Homebrew Half-Dragon Race Details

The silhouette of a man drew near to the city's gates and lowered his cowl, revealing crimson scales and a pair of horns curling from the back of his head. He drew a sword, and before the guards could do more than cry for help, he unleashed a blast of fire from his maw. A sneer tugged at his face as he stepped over their corpses and his father's titanic shadow fell across him from overhead. Half-Dragons are begotten from the union of a polymorphed dragon and some other creature, often a humanoid. There are other methods of creating Half-Dragons, most of them magical and some of them profane, and Half-Dragons are just as unique as the methods used to create them.

Few and Far Between

As fertile as dragons usually are, half-dragons do not occur particularly often, especially among metallic dragons. When they appear, half-dragons are dealt with cautiously at best, and with blunt hostility at worst. Though chromatic halfdragons are notably feared, even metallic half-dragons are met with distrust. Merchants, innkeepers, and other people may be unwilling to speak or deal with you.

Draconic Parentage

The first thing to consider about playing a Half-Dragon is: how am I a half-dragon? Perhaps you were begotten by the union of a gold dragon and a human. Perhaps you were cursed by a powerful wizard or deity for some act of hypocrisy. Perhaps you pledged yourself in service to a particular dragon and undertook a ritual to change yourself physically to emulate them. Once that is decided, decide the race of your other parent. This race will hereafter be referred to as your "base race." The most common races are human, elf, and half-elf, though the others are not impossible. Then decide your relationship with your parents. Did your draconic mother take you in and raise you as her own? Were you considered an abomination at birth and disowned? Is your draconic parent a tyrant who expects you to follow her every command? Or is she a kind mentor, offering guidance and assistance? Take into account the dragon's type when determining this. Black dragons tend to be cruel, while a red dragon is simply too prideful to accept you would do anything but his will. Consider how many children your dragon parent has. What is your relationship with your half-siblings? Are they your rivals, or are they your companions and close friends? Work with your Dungeon Master to decide these things and build a character background that both of you are happy with.

Draconic Features

As a Half-Dragon, you look like your draconic parent. You take on the appearance of your parent, including teeth and horns, and you have scales and saurian legs, though you stand upright like any other humanoid.

Half-Dragon Traits

Your draconic lineage gifts you with traits and abilities that set you apart from other humanoids.

Age

You are expected to live about twice as long as your base race.

Ability Score Increase.

Your Strength, Constitution, and Charisma scores each increase by 1

Alignment

 A Half-Dragon's alignment is strongly influenced
by its parentage. Chromatic half-dragons tend to be evil, and
metallic half-dragons tend to be good, but there are
anomalies. You may also retain the tendencies of your base
race. For example: if your other parent was an elf, you still
might be inclined towards chaotic alignments.

Size

Half-dragons are larger than their base race; the size
difference usually ranges between a few inches and a foot.

Speed

 Your base walking speed is 30 feet.

Draconic Parentage

You were begotten in some way by a
dragon. Choose one type of dragon from the Draconic
Parentage table. Your damage resistance and breath weapon
type are determined by your parent, as shown in the table.
Draconic Parentage

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)

Breath Weapon

You can use your action to exhale destructive energy. Your draconic parentage 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 parentage. 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, roll a d6 at the beginning of each of your turns. If you roll a 6, your breath weapon recharges and you can use it again.

Damage Resistance

You have resistance to the damage type associated with your draconic parentage.

Senses

 You have blindsight with a radius of 10 feet, and darkvision with a radius of 60 feet.

Language

 You can speak, read, and write Draconic, in addition to any languages offered by your base race (or that you knew before you were transformed).