Upon reading the description of Half-Dragons I noticed the breath weapon is dependent upon racial HD. What about humans and other races that do not have racial HD? Do these just not get a breath weapon?
Races with no racial hit die are considered to have 1 HD, because that is the minimum any creature can have.
Creative Director
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Correct; a half-dragon with no racial HD would have a breath weapon that deals 1d6 points of damage. Not an awful lot, but this was a purposeful design choice because the flavor of a humanoid half-dragon isn't one that we at Paizo particularly like, and it's one that a LOT of our customers have expressed exasperation with. Primarily because back in the 3.5 days, half-dragon was probably THE most overused template of them all. We (Paizo and our readers) mostly got sick of them, causing the half-dragon to go on the LIST for the last 50 or so print issues of Dungeon. That meant that if someone put a half-dragon into an adventure, they had to have a GREAT reason and GREAT background for that half-dragon.
Half-dragons in Pathfinder are intended to skew toward monsters. Things like the dracolisk would be a perfect example, but other creatures with racial HD work well, particularly animals, vermin, magical beasts, and aberrations.
Now... I do understand that dragonpeople are a popular choice for players as PC races. And even though a half-dragon PC or NPC would have a pretty weenie breath weapon, his ability score increases and defense alone should MORE than make up for that fact.
I could certainly see a feat like the following existing though:
Your breath weapon gains power as you gain class levels.
Prerequisite: Half-dragon with 0 racial HD, Ability Focus (breath weapon)
Benefit: Your breath weapon now deals 1d6 points of damage per character level (Reflex half; DC 10 + 1/2 your character level + you Con modifier). You can use your breath weapon a number of times per day equal to your Constitution modifier (minimum of 1/day), but must wait 1d4 rounds between each use.
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So is a humanoid/half-dragon still a kiss of death in an adventure (not necessarily from Paizo, but in general)?
The idea is the half-dragons exist as fluff, and may never even see stage time in the flesh. I can't go into a great deal of detail at the moment, but suffice to say the PCs are expected to become morally outraged at the existence of these half-dragons.
Aren't HD Hitpoint Dice? So, a level 1 barbarian would have 1d12 hp which is 1 HD that uses a d12. Different creature types use different dice sizes for their hitpoints as well.
No, the difference here is in the Racial HD versus character advancement. A calss level is advancement gained through skill, talent, and training, while a racial HD is advancement based on the Creature type. Abilities that are dependent on HD are not affected by Class level, which is where your Barbarian's hitpoints come from.
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Aren't HD Hitpoint Dice? So, a level 1 barbarian would have 1d12 hp which is 1 HD that uses a d12. Different creature types use different dice sizes for their hitpoints as well.No, the difference here is in the Racial HD versus character advancement. A calss level is advancement gained through skill, talent, and training, while a racial HD is advancement based on the Creature type. Abilities that are dependent on HD are not affected by Class level, which is where your Barbarian's hitpoints come from.
Yeah that is why I was wondering if a humanoid half-dragon gets a breath weapon...
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Personally I think that feat's a bit much. I'd take that feat, remove the Ability Focus, and change it so that it's 1d6 for every 2 HD. Make it like the dragon shaman, or warlock for how it progresses. Heck, put it on par with the 3.5 dragonborn at least. And if you're really hard up for the 1d6 every HD, then take a Greater version of the feat, and make that have the Ability Focus requirement. Heck, add in that it can even be used every 1d4 round at that point too.
Considering Pathfinder removed LA, and if you did put it back in it's basically one less adjustment, add that in with the LA-buyoff that a substantial number of people use from Unearth Arcana, and you've got one heck of a PC playing in your game. Heck, an NPC would be even worse with that.
Now... I do understand that dragonpeople are a popular choice for players as PC races. And even though a half-dragon PC or NPC would have a pretty weenie breath weapon, his ability score increases and defense alone should MORE than make up for that fact.
Maybe something that looks like this: Dragon girl
I once tried to make it as a LA +0 race in 3.5 (obviously getting rid of most of the stat boost and a few other things)
Well, that feat is one way to get the hal-dragon's breath weapon... after that, you might want to check out a feat in Races of the Dragon. While it's 3.5, it barely requires a change for Pathfinder:
DRAGON BREATH
You can use your breath weapon as often as a normal dragon.
Prerequisites: Half-dragon, 6 HD, breath weapon.
Benefit: You can use your breath weapon every 1d4 rounds.
Normal: A half-dragon’s breath weapon can only be used once per day.
Racial hit dice are entirely separate from class hit dice. Racial hit dice are essentially hit dice in the class of (insert race type here). They are not usually an option for player characters, and are often an inferior option to taking a level in a real class.
What racial hit dice provide is outlined in the back of the bestiaries, and they determine saves, BAB and access to special abilities.
If class hit dice were supposed to work, racial hit dice would not be specified. Instead just "hit dice" would be used. See the half-celestial and half-fiend templates for examples.
I have several 'dragonoid' races in my game, such as the 3.5 Spellscales, of which only two have any form of breath weapon (Well, not without taking a feat or three...). If I remember correctly, Volume and DC are affected by level and feats.
3.5 half-dragons were not dependent on racial HD for their breath weapon. Pathfinder half-dragons are. Porting over 3.5 material does not change how Pathfinder material works without houserules.