It‘s a shame that you‘re not moving to downstate NY; I‘d want to give you a call!
My props to Kahoolin, you probably run a wonderful campaign, and I regret I can't participate in it.
Valegrim, I'm afraid I can't comprehend your point of view. Do dragons have no desire to breed within their own species??? Do reptiles frequently breed with warm-blooded creatures??? Are there a lack of dragons available for reproducing with each other? Does every eligible male dragon feel compelled to go chasing every elf maiden in sight simply for the novelty? Do female dragons prefer to hump smelly 7 INT hill giants or vomit scented trolls instead of male dragons? Let's keep it simple and have creatures breed within their own species, shall we.
Sure; dragons of course mate with their own species most of the time, but love can happen at any time; the books are full of these types of stories for whatever reason; I just pointed it out; I didn't make it up. I imagine some do it for love; others for power, who knows.
Lol Saern; that was funny; am thinking of using my master of shapes to become a dragon; seduce a dragon and push the quota some, am curious what some of you posters have against sex; it is the most common way to make offspring; just because we can make test tube babies doesnt mean most of us want to; if you think most of these half breeds are coming from test tubes and wierd rituals; hehe I have to laugh and the simplest answer is usually right; them is breeding the old fashion way.
hehe welcome Marin to the boards.
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Actually, the inability to cross breed is one of the defining characteristics of a species. If you have, say, two forms of similar animals and they can interbreed, it is my understanding they are the same species. If they can't, they are distinct species.
That said, I have two words that fix everything: "Fantasy" and "Magic."
Obviously, there are steps taken by the game to make it more believable and "realistic," but in the end, there are certain premises that have to be overriden to make it a fantasy game. No one complains about half-orcs and half-elves when they complain about half-dragons.
I think a lot of people realize this, and the theoretical capability of the animals to interbreed with other organisms isn't the issue at all- it's the over use of an admittedly bizarre situation, and the cheesy nature in which many people perpetrate such overuse that galls so many DMs, me thinks.
This reminds me of a bizarre scene in one of the John Carter of Mars books by Edgar Rice Burroughs (so we are talking ancient stuff here - 1920's I think) where our human hero and his beautiful martian wife gaze down lovingly at their son - who at this point is an egg in a glass incubator on the roof. And this was, by the way, "serious" science fiction at the time.
(Smacking myself on the forehead) Duh! I completely forgot- if two animals can breed and create reproductively viable offspring, then they are the same species. If the result of a mating of any to given representatives of a form of life cannot create offspring capable of reproducing itself, then they are separate species. Thus, you get mules, ligers, etc., but they can never have their own descendants.
You know, there's nothing in the rules that I know of which states that any "half", be it half-elf, half-orc, or half-dragon, is fertile....
If you're saying they're a naturally occuring, fertile hybrid, you'll have to take that up with my AP Bio teacher, Heathansson. :)
heh well, then there is magic; when a master of shapes, for example, takes a form; that is his true form and type so the biology would be viable; not sure with other shapechangers and use of spells; Races of the Dragon talks about half dragons and those of draconic decent; to have a dragon ancestor your parents obviously cannot be mules, nor their parents; you can even change your draconic ancestry so there enters just pure fantasy rules to please players and the whole viablility of said biology goes out the window. But even so, dragons should be rare and not serve as mounts in most cases.
I did not know this.
"It's pretty much my favorite animal. It's like a lion and a tiger mixed... bred for its skills in magic."
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Does anyone remember the old 2nd edition Draconomicon? There were rules there that allowed you to give stats to a mixed breed "true" dragon. Basically, what happens if a Blue and Red dragon mate -- you get a purple dragon. I am kind of surprised I haven't seen anything official to do something similar in 3.5.