3 uses per long rest is still 3x as good as their natural breath weapon, and the attack is better. What we're discussing giving the character is 100% bonus, possibly earnt through roleplay but it is an option which is closed to all the other players who aren't dragonborn, and that makes it a potential cause of imbalance which is remedied by giving them limited use of it. To pre-empt a potential rebuttal, whilst you could give the dwarf barbarian a magical item or two to keep them in line, there's nothing to stop the half-dragon barbarian from also having magical items. Meanwhile, the level 20 dwarf barbarian just has the rages, and feels somewhat outclassed. Dragonborn are their own race entirely, theyre native to another world, Abeir, where they were slaves of dragons (to be fair, so were everyone else) Nobody. For example, if this player is a level 20 barbarian, now they will have unlimited rages and infinite ranged magical attacks. Half-dragon is an inherited or acquired template that can be added to any living, corporeal creature (referred to hereafter as the base creature). This isn't something rewarded for leveling up, it's something else. What we're talking about here is a racial trait, and as such is independent of player level. Ok, but both of these are reliant on the level of the character (we don't have that) and dedication to their chosen class, in the case of the barbarian, absolute dedication.

And a Wizard does get practically unlimited spell slots starting at 18th-level. Giving them 3 uses per long rest with a 6 turn cooldown still makes them think about whether it's worth using, whilst it still clearly being an upgrade.Ī Barbarian does get infinite rages at 20th-level.

As said, if they have access to a breath weapon for every encounter, they will use it for every encounter, and it goes from being something special as it is now to just their default opening move, which to my mind is so much of an upgrade as to make it less fun. It would be the equivalent of letting a barbarian have infinite rages, or a wizard infinite spell slots - these things are balancing mechanics put in place to make people think 'should I or shouldn't I?'. The half-breed is fiercely draconic, more draconic even than many dragons in its behavior, morals, world view 2. If you need some inspirational tropes: 1. Plus, in my opinion, abilities which players have to ration themselves with are much more interesting than ones which they can basically use every chance they get with impunity. Answer (1 of 2): Moody Loner’s answer starts exactly as mine was going to: make something up. Not a problem if they are on their own, but it could cause a character to outshine everyone else, which detracts from everyone else's experience. Getting effectively one free powerful spell every 6 rounds is quite a boost, particularly if it comes with other bonuses like wings, blindsight and darkvision and no negatives.

It would become a bit unbalanced, in my opinion.

How to become a half dragon 5e