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Greatest Hits 2011: Exploiting Racial and Class Powers: Dragon Breath

While the Dungeon’s Master team enjoys some well-deserved vacation time, we’re breaking out the greatest hits and shining a spotlight on a few of our favourite articles from 2011. We’ve searched for hidden gems that our newer readers might have missed and our long-time readers will enjoy reading again. Enjoy a second look at these greatest hits from Dungeon’s Master.

My very first LFR character was a Dragonborn Warlord. For years I played this character with no clear direction of how I wanted him to develop. I only thought of him as a Warlord and a leader. Then he reached level 11 and I discovered the Honor Blade paragon path. After that everything fell into place. Instead of focusing on a paragon path that was tied to his class, I decided instead to focus on a paragon path that focused on his racial abilities, in this case the dragon breath. It didn’t take long for this character to get a reputation as a Dragonborn first and a Warlord second. It was the first time in 4e that I’d seen a character with such intense specialization in his racial powers or abilities.

The first time any of the Dungeon’s Master gaming group saw my LFR Dragonborn in action was at GenCon last summer. It was Wimwick’s first GenCon and his first LFR experience. He was so impressed by the power my Dragonborn PC possessed that he started playing with character builder that night to see if there was a way to refine the build and maximize the powers even more. It didn’t take long before he had a Dragonborn Warden that could deal more damage more often with his dragon breath than my Warlord. Even though we promised ourselves that we’d never run an article that was nothing more than “let me tell you about my character” he felt he had to share our builds with our readers. From there, this series on exploiting racial and class powers was born.

What was supposed to be a clever insight into one racially superior build became a series that featured some of the most popular races in 4e D&D. In a very short time we had an article on the DragonbornEladrin, Dwarf, Elf, Drow, Tiefling and Warforged. They were extremely popular and people had a lot of additional suggestions on how to really take advantage of a racial powers to make a truly unique (and often unstoppable) character.

Since we ran these articles we’ve discovered the immense role-playing satisfaction that comes from playing a PC that focuses on his race before focusing on his class. In my regular group three of six PC have taken paragon paths that only have a racial prerequisite. This campaign is certainly one of our best and it’s due in no small part to the excellent role-playing and character development that’s come from a really focused examination of the most unique aspects of those races. These paragon paths may not always be the most powerful in terms of numbers, but the character development that this choice has encouraged makes up for any shortcomings in the combat mechanics. – Ameron

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Exploiting Racial and Class Powers: Dragon Breath

Be All You Can Be. This was the recruiting slogan for the U.S. Army for over twenty years. When you create your D&D character do you design them to be the best they can be?

Of course, the term ‘best’ is subjective. Everyone has their own idea of what the best really is. It is also situational, what is best for one situation may not be the best for another. However, there are undeniably certain power builds that exist within D&D. Some are certainly better than others, but all are worth examining.

The Dragonborn’s dragon breath is an interesting power. At first glance it’s a useful and intriguing encounter power that only requires a minor action to use. It gives these characters an extra option during combat and if we’re honest the idea of breathing fire or acid is pretty cool. It lets us get our geek on.

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A Beginner’s Guide to Dungeons & Dragons (Part 2)

Welcome to the second installment of our Beginner’s Guide to Dungeons & Dragons. In our previous article we discussed the history of D&D and what a new player requires to get started in the hobby.

Today’s installment tackles the issue of character creation. There is a lot that goes into this aspect of the game and considering all of the elements carefully will lead to long term enjoyment while running your player character (PC). If you don’t give character creation proper consideration then you may not enjoy the campaign.

This series is primarily aimed at new players, but I would encourage long time fans of the game to chime in with any tips they have when considering character creation.

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A Beginner’s Guide To Dungeons & Dragons (Part 1)

Welcome to the first article in a series aimed at new player’s who’ve just discovered the great game of Dungeons & Dragons. I remember when I discovered D&D, I was left to my own devices to learn the game beyond the rules. Fortunately we have the Internet today to assist new player’s and answer any questions they might have.

While this series is certainly aimed at new players, seasoned veterans are just as likely to find nuggets of useful information within and I certainly encourage existing players to add their own nuggets of information in the comments section.