Demi-Dragon

A single crimson-scaled runt of a dragon is trapped amidst an orcish warband, waving axes and spears—eager for an easy kill. Fire lights up the forest clearing as the dragon charges fearlessly, driving the startled orcs back as she attacks with a ferocity that belies her modest size.

The azure dragon studies the wizard's arcane runes, his companions waiting close by. Jotting a note down in his beloved journal, he inhales deeply, leeching the magical energy right out of the protective ward. With a satisfied smirk, he leads his companions deeper into the wizard's sanctum.

The dragon presses himself further into the jungle mud, his scales rapidly adapting to hide him from his pursuers. Confident in his camouflage, he watches as his pursuers rush past. Soon, he settles in to awaken a new flame within him. His pursuers would return, and he would be ready.

Though each of these demi-dragons tell a different story, they share a similar background—they were once humanoids who later in their lives were changed into the form of a dragon, and must now deal with the consequences.

Some demi-dragons are ostracized by those around them, while others are celebrated. Some relish their new form, while others loathe it, but all are linked by the circumstances surrounding their unique form.

Quick Build

You can make a demi-dragon quickly by following these suggestions. First, make Strength your highest ability score, followed by Constitution and Charisma. Second, choose the Hermit background. Last, choose a cone of fire for your Dragon's Breath feature.

Demi-Dragon Traits

• Ability Score Increase. Your Strength score increases by 2, and your Constitution score increases by 1.
• Age. You can live for roughly two hundred years. You do not advance in size categories as you age like a dragon would.
• Type. Your creature type is dragon.
• Size. You are a draconic quadruped. Your size is Medium.
• Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
• Darkvision. You have superior vision in dark and dim conditions. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can’t discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.
• Dragon Scales. Your scales protect you from harm. While you are not wearing armor, your Armor Class equals 8 + your Dexterity modifier + your Constitution modifier + your Charisma modifier, to a maximum of 20.
• Incompatible Build. You have disadvantage on attack rolls made with weapons, and receive no benefit from wielding shields. In order to wear armor, you must have it specially constructed for you, costing three times the normal rate.
• Natural Weapons. You have access to an arsenal of natural weapons. You can use these natural weapons, with which you are proficient, to make melee weapon attacks. Your fanged maw deals piercing damage equal to 1d12 + your Strength modifier. Your lashing tail has a reach of 10 ft. and deals bludgeoning damage equal to 1d10 + your Strength modifier. Your claws deal slashing damage equal to 1d6 + your Strength modifier. When you take the Attack action and attack with your claw, you can use your bonus action to make an additional claw attack.
• Powerful Build. You count as one size category larger when determining your carrying capacity and the weight you can push, drag, or lift.
• Product of Design. You have advantage on saving throws made to resist effects that attempt to change your form.

Dragon Spark

1st-level Demi-Dragon feature

When you become a demi-dragon, you internalize a spark of inherent magical power that fuels your new form and allows you to mimic the extraordinary abilities of a true dragon.

Charisma is your ability modifier for specific class abilities. You use this ability score whenever a feature gained through this class refers to your spellcasting ability. In addition, you use this ability score when setting the saving throw DC for such a spell and when making an attack roll with one. Your Dragon's Breath and Devour Magic features use this Spell save DC.

Devour Magic

1st-level Demi-Dragon feature

You have developed an innate ability that lets you consume magical effects.

As an action, choose one creature, object, or magical effect within a range of 30 as a target. Any spell of a level lower than one third your demi-dragon level (minimum 1, rounding down) or lower on the target is dispelled. For each spell of a level higher than that, make an ability check using your Dragon Spark spellcasting ability. The DC equals 10 + the spell's level. On a success, the spell is dispelled. If at least one effect is dispelled, you regain hit points equal to your demi-dragon level + your Constitution modifier (minimum 1).

You can use this feature once, and must finish a long rest before you can use it again. Starting at 13th level, you can use it twice before a rest.

Elemental Adaptation

2nd-level Demi-Dragon feature

Your form continues to change as you adapt to your newly-attained elemental nature. You gain resistance to the elemental damage type you chose for Dragon's Breath.

Glide

2nd-level Demi-Dragon feature

Your wings grow powerful enough to slow your fall. As a reaction to falling, you can spread your wings and glide, slowing your rate of descent to 20 feet per round. While gliding, you can move up to 35 feet in any horizontal direction. When you land, you take no falling damage and can land on your feet.

The speed at which you can glide increases as you gain demi-dragon levels, as shown in the Glide & Fly Speed column of the Demi-Dragon table.

Draconic Embodiment

3rd-level Demi-Dragon feature

You choose an aspect of draconic might to dedicate yourself to. Choose between the Embodiment of the Juggernaut, the Scion, the Shadestalker, the Arbiter, and the Metamorph, each of which is detailed at the end of the class's description. Your choice grants you features at 3rd, 6th, 10th, and 17th level.

Absorb Magic

4th-level Demi-Dragon feature

You gain the ability to absorb the magical enchantment of a weapon or piece of equipment. This confers the magical effects granted by that item to you, and removes it from that item. You can use the enchantment as if you were wearing or wielding the item. The stolen magic flows harmlessly through your veins.

You can have a maximum of 5 such enchantments active. If the item requires attunement to use, it follows normal attunement rules, and you count as being attuned while the enchantment remains absorbed by you. You cannot absorb an item's magic if doing so would cause you to be attuned to more than three items.

You can return the enchantment to the original item if you have it in your possession, or it can be dismissed entirely, ruining the enchantment permanently. You cannot return the enchantment to an item different from the original item.

Absorbing or returning an enchantment must be performed as part of a long rest, during which the item must be in your possession. You cannot absorb the power of items classified as artifacts. Additionally, the Dungeon Master may rule that a specific item's enchantment cannot be absorbed.

Only enchantments on items that are designed to be equipment (wearable or wielded as a weapon) may be absorbed. You cannot combine these enchantments in any way that would not normally be possible—you cannot, for instance, benefit from more than one weapon enchantment when making an attack, but if multiple such enchantments are available to you, you can decide which one to use each time you make an attack.

Ability Score Improvement

4th-level and higher feature

When you reach 4th level, and again at 8th, 12th, 16th, and 19th level, you can increase one ability score of your choice by 2, or you can increase two ability scores of your choice by 1. As normal, you can’t increase an ability score above 20 using this feature.

Extra Attack

5th-level Demi-Dragon feature

You can attack twice, instead of once, whenever you take the Attack action on your turn.

Stride

5th-level Demi-Dragon feature

You've become better used to your still-growing body. Your walking speed increases by 10 feet while you aren't wearing heavy armor.

Additionally, a Medium or smaller creature can ride on your back if you allow it. In such a situation, you continue to act independently, not as a controlled mount.

Leeching Claw

6th-level Demi-Dragon feature

Your stolen magic empowers your attacks. All of your natural weapons count as magical for the purpose of overcoming resistance and immunity to nonmagical attacks and damage.

Flight

7th-level Demi-Dragon feature

Your wings grow powerful enough to sustain flight. You gain a flying speed of 45. You may only use this flying speed if you are not wearing heavy armor and are not encumbered.

The speed at which you fly increases as you gain demi-dragon levels, as shown in the Glide & Fly Speed column of the Demi-Dragon table.

Eye of the Dragon

9th-level Demi-Dragon feature

Your senses sharpen, and you learn how to detect even the smallest of details.

Strength of Body

11th-level Demi-Dragon feature

Your body has grown into a mighty weapon, capable of crushing your enemies. Your natural weapon dice improve.

Claws. 2d4 per claw

Bite. 2d8

Tail. 1d12

Strength of Self

14th-level Demi-Dragon feature

Different from those around you, you've developed a strong sense of self and an iron will to see your wishes realized. You gain proficiency in Charisma saving throws.

Assimilate

18th-level Demi-Dragon feature

You've come to view even the most powerful of magics as little more than sustenance. You can use your action to immediately end one spell effect on you, gaining temporary hit points equal to twice its spell level.

Forged From Trial

20th-level Demi-Dragon feature

You have become a true dragon of your own making. Your expected lifespan is expanded to well over a thousand years, and starting from this point on you begin advancing through age and size categories as a dragon would (refer to the Monster Manual).

Your Strength and Constitution scores increase by 4. Your maximum for those scores is 24.

Draconic Embodiments

As a demi-dragon, you must choose to embody one aspect of what it means to be a dragon. Some seek to attain a purer connection to true dragons, while others choose to use their body to express their fury. Others again follow a path of transformation that is entirely their own.

Embodiment of the Scion

Scions are those demi-dragons who commit themselves fully to dragonkind, seeking to become indistinguishable from a true dragon in the hope that through this purity, they may inherit the strength of dragonkind. To this end, Scions dedicate themselves to a specific draconic bloodline from which they draw their power.

Frightful Roar

17th-level Scion feature

Your heritage lets you inspire fear in those around you. As an action, each creature of your choice within 60 ft. of you are forced to make a Wisdom saving throw against your Dragon Spark Spell save DC. A target automatically succeeds on the save if it can't hear or see you. On a failed save, a target becomes frightened of you for 1 minute. If the frightened target takes any damage, it can repeat the saving throw, ending the effect on a success. You can use this feature once, and regain the ability to do so after finishing a long rest.

Embodiment of the Shadestalker

Some demi-dragons are rejected or feared by those around them, and soon learn the value of subterfuge and a quick get-away. These demi-dragons may opt to pursue the role of the Shadestalker, honing their senses and learning to act both as predator and prey. By altering their breath to confound their foes with smoke or mist, Shadestalkers lure their enemies into giving chase, then strike when they have the advantage.

Weave and Unweave

17th-level Arbiter feature

You've learned how to fuel your own spells with the sundered power of your enemies. Whenever you use your action to Devour Magic or cast Dispel Magic, you can use your bonus action to cast a spell you know that has a range of self or touch.

Embodiment of the Metamorph

To most demi-dragons, their initial transformation is their only one. To some, it is just the beginning. Metamorphs are demi-dragons that learn to master and manipulate the secrets that drove their own transformation. They grasp the ability to reshape their own bodies, adapting themselves to overcome the challenges that are brought on by their surroundings.

Ceaseless Metamorphosis

17th-level Metamorph feature

You are ever-changing, always cycling through different forms at your leisure. If you spend 1 minute in deep focus, you can assume a new morph from among those you have learned. The chosen morph becomes your Active morph, and you discard old morphs as if you had changed morphs during a rest.

Morphs

Heritage

• Blasting Breath. Your lungs and chest expand, and you feel as if your dragon's breath is just waiting to burst forth. You can use your action to exhale a bolt of elemental energy and spit it at a creature you can see within a range of 120. Make a ranged spell attack. On a hit, the target takes 1d10 + your Charisma modifier damage. The damage is the same elemental type as your Dragon's Breath. The number of damage dice increases by one at levels 5, 11, and 17.
• Brass Tongue. You draw on the brass dragon's penchant for conversation. You have advantage on Charisma (Persuasion) and Wisdom (Insight) checks. Additionally, you learn two languages of your choice. Once chosen, these languages cannot be changed with subsequent morphs.

Endurance

• Branching Ivory. Your horns split into great jagged antlers, with which you can hold off attackers. Add a gore attack to your list of natural weapons. You can use it to make melee weapon attacks, with which you are proficient. Your great antlers deal piercing damage equal to 3d4 + your Strength modifier. Other creatures provoke an opportunity attack from you when they enter the reach of your gore attack.
• Survivor's Heart. Your heartbeat slows, and your body quickly grows gaunt as it acclimates to endure extreme hardship. The severity of your exhaustion level, if any, is decreased by 1. While you remain motionless or when you are reduced to 0 hit points, you appear to be dead to any casual observer. Additionally, you have advantage on death saving throws.

Aid

• Gold Luck. You harness the inexplicable luck of the gold dragon. Whenever you or an ally makes an attack roll, an ability check, or a saving throw, you can choose to roll an additional d20. You can take this action after you roll the die, but before the outcome is determined. You choose which of the d20s is used for the attack roll, ability check, or saving throw. You can use this feature once, and regain the ability to do so after finishing a short or long rest.
• Breath of Life. You alter your breath. When you use your Dragon's Breath feature, you can choose to convert your breath into a burst of invigorating energy. Instead of dealing damage, yourself and any number of targets of your choosing within the area of your Dragon's Breath are instead healed for an amount equal to your Dragon's Breath Damage.

Instinct

• White Instinct. You instil yourself with the primal awareness of the white dragon. You have advantage on initiative checks and you ignore non-magical difficult terrain.
• Rending Maw. Your jaw muscles grow more powerful, and your fangs grow serrated and cruel, capable of puncturing armor and rending flesh. When you hit with a bite attack, the target suffers a -2 to Armor Class until the end of your next turn.

Strategy

• Reverberating Roar. Your voice grows deeper, seeming to come from a much larger creature. As a bonus action, you can roar, inciting fear and hesitation in your enemies. Each creature of your choice within 20 ft. of you are forced to make a Wisdom saving throw against your Dragon Spark Spell save DC. A target automatically succeeds on the save if it can't hear or see you. On a failed save, a target cannot take reactions until the start of your next turn. A creature that succeeds on this saving throw is immune to your roar for 24 hours.
• Sheltering Wings. Flexible armor plating grows across your wings, allowing you to use them as shelter for your allies. When a creature you can see attacks a target other than you that is within 5 feet of you, you can use your reaction to grant the target three quarters cover, increasing their armor class and Dexterity saving throws by +5 for that attack. Refer to the Player's Handbook page 196.

Creation

• Stone Scales. You assimilate available minerals in order to create a thick layer of defensive stone scales. Your Armor Class becomes equal to 16 + your Constitution modifier. You are considered as wearing heavy armor, but do not suffer any penalties to your Dexterity (Stealth) or due to a lack of heavy armor proficiency. You lose access to the Flight feature, as well as the speed benefit of Stride.

Feats

Class Feature Variants

If your table makes use of the Unearthed Arcana Class Feature Variants optional rules, the following are available to the demi-dragon.

The DM decides which of these options are available to the characters in a campaign. A DM is free to prohibit these variants, allow all of them, or make a subset of them available to you.

Design Notes

The Juggernaut

The fantasy I was aiming for with the Juggernaut subclass was one of a ferocious multi-limbed fighter. In order to reflect this in gameplay, I adapted the Battlemaster's maneuver system to let the player choose special moves, with most of them being readily available as a bonus action. However, compared to the Battlemaster's Superiority Dice, which can be spent after already confirming a hit in order to force the target to make a save, the Juggernaut must both hit with their chosen maneuver and hope that their target fails their saving throw. To combat this weakness, most of the Juggernaut's other features are focused on improving their odds of landing a maneuver.

The Juggernaut also has a particular theme of combat mobility, with many of its maneuvers letting it ignore or gain a bonus to avoiding attacks of opportunity. While this subclass doesn't specialize in Dragon's Breath, it does give it an interesting advantage to consider when trying to position the character to get the best Dragon's Breath, which gives the player multiple things to think about each round.

I also gave the Juggernaut a few extra natural weapons. These are intentionally balanced to be bad, but they come into play when they are used by a maneuver. By including these natural weapons, it makes it much easier to add additional homebrewed maneuvers.

The Scion

Unlike the other subclasses, who must all make detailed choices for maneuvers, spells, and morphs, the Scion is relatively straightforward, and is the only way to actually make a clear choice that relates directly to the classic metallic and chromatic dragons. Since the point of the demi-dragon is that it isn't necessarily bound by the same heritage as the metallic and chromatic dragons, offloading those features to a subclass made the most sense, as some people wouldn't be satisfied if there wasn't an option to just be a regular dragon. As a result, the Scion gets a few features which various types of dragons are known for, with the lair actions of different dragons being featured prominently. I would have liked to include metallic alternative breaths, such as slow and weaken, but I felt that the subclass would be too bulky and inconsistent with up to ten different variations on Ardent Breath.

Unfortunately, there wasn't a clean way to both provide a new take on a dragon class, with effects such as Devour Magic and Assimilate to give it a flair of its own, and to simultaneously enable a 'just a regular dragon' subclass, so the Scion will still have access to those features. I expect that this won't sit well with many people. To change it, I'd have to consider a drastically different way of structuring the base class, which in my opinion would be thematically weaker. Perhaps in a future revision!

The Arbiter

The Arbiter is a classic gish, with a focus on also dispelling magical effects, since that is thematic for the demi-dragon.

As they don't gain access to Dispel Magic and Counterspell until level 13, Devour Magic and Spellsnap act as stand-ins, and ensure that the character always has access to these spells.

Despite this, Scale Bind is the primary feature, and will be immensely powerful regardless of what else the character is doing simply because it is a way to buff without spending an action doing so, AND without having to concentrate on the spell. This breaks the action economy, but in a way that I hope is controllable, since the player must choose their spell effect beforehand, spend a moment of downtime on it, and must announce in which way their effect will be activating—and they must still spend a reaction to activate their spell effect once a condition triggers it. Even so, I suspect that Scale Bind is very much the kind of thing that a minmaxer might be inclined to create entire builds around. By all means, let me know if it is super broken with any specific multiclass combinations.

The Metamorph

The Metamorph was born of the first version of the Arbiter from my original concept, which has now been split into two separate things. Although an odd concept, it fit with my goal of making meaningful choices. The Metamorph's strength lies in its impermanence, and in always having the right tool for the right job, but it isn't a "playmaker" in the same way that the others might be.

My primary concern with this subclass is the confusing Adaptive Morph description. Although not a complicated concept, explaining it in a way as to be clearly and concisely understandable is tough, and isn't made easier by the optional Misfits Adaptation feat. Hopefully actually playing the Metamorph should help make it clear how things fit together.

The Shadestalker

The Shadestalker was built upon the idea of 'what if the character could use their breath in a different way?' combined with the concept of an agility archetype. In concept, the Shadestalker borrows directly from the Rogue, yet is still entirely different. The Shadestalker wants to define where a fight takes place, and if they can be allowed to set up, they can be immensely powerful by locking down enemies and beating them with advantage. However, they can just as easily disrupt their allies' plans.

Changelog - 27/11/2019

• Added Class Feature Variant Package: True Dragon, and it's features, Spitfire, Vanity, Elemental Heritage, Legendary Action, and Legendary Resistance to Feature Design, pending further review and feedback.

• Slightly increased Dragon's Breath damage scaling. Added Vaporous Breath to Class Feature Variants. Added Broadened Breath to feats. Dramatically increased Dragon's Breath Line Range level scaling, from 30-80 to 35-130. Removed the trigger clause from Scale Bind, which can now be cast at any time as a reaction. Clarified that Metamorph's that take the Misfit's Adaptation feat must know the relevant morph category in order to change the morph from the feat.

• Published version 2.5.5 here

• Added Class Feature Variants as a section. Baked Expanded Breath and Insatiable into the descriptions of Dragon's Breath and Devour Magic, and changed the effect of Insatiable to instead provide two uses per long rest instead of recharge on short rest. Added Maneuver Versatility to Class Feature Variants, and moved Indefinite Mind, Climb, Swim, and Burrow Speeds, multiclassing options, and Size variant rules to Class Feature Variants. Added level denominations to all feature descriptions, after recent UA fashion. Assimilate now additionally grants temporary hit points. Added several flavor descriptions to various features that were lacking them. Reversed the action order of Weave and Unweave, enabled Devour Magic to trigger it, and removed the clause about not needing Dispel Magic as a known spell. White Instinct now provides advantage on initiative rolls instead of preventing being surprised. Added Shadestalker Design Notes section.

• Added Dragon's Hoard to Feats. Added Bestow Breath, Manifest Breath, and Disciple's Contemplation to Feature Design as experimental features for a new subclass, the Dragon Adept. Returned Spellsnap to recharging on a long rest to prevent coffee shenanigans. The Shadestalker can now move their Veil of Smoke as a bonus action, and changed Spring Attack to using a bonus action instead of a reaction. Changed the requirement for Goring Charge to 20 ft. from 15 ft., to match existing charge mechanics.

• Published version 2.4 here

• Moved to GM Binder, and made a number of internal changes. Added Esoteric Ward, Reverberating Roar, White Instinct, Draining Scales, Warriors Will, Gold Luck, and Brass Tongue to the Metamorph's available morphs. Replaced Ironscale Weaving with Stone Scales. Changed the pairing on several morph categories to provide (in most cases) a situational and a reliable morph. The Metamorph can now change out a known morph category every time it gains a class level, rather than whenever it gains a new morph, and gains 2 additional morph categories at 6th, 10th, and 17th levels, up from 1. Increased the damage of Skewering Quills to 1d6 -> 2d4, from 1d4 -> 1d8. Added dim light to Chameleon Scales. Ardent Breath now gains a second charge at 6th level, down from 10th. Glacial Chill now reduces speed by half, up from 10. Spellsnap now recharges on a short rest. Renamed Snapping Takedown to Lockjaw. Added persuasion to class skill proficiencies.

• Published version 2.3 here

• Added a frontpage. Added two additional pieces of artwork. Added custom footers and link colors. Improved image blending. Implemented the Shadestalker. Completely reworked the Metamorph's Adaptive Morph, Ceaseless Metamorphosis, and all available morphs. Removed the lingering effect on Fueling the Transformation. Reworked Misfit's Adaptation. Added Twinned Adaptation.

• Added Shape Breath to feats. Increased the amount of class skill proficiencies gained from 2 to 4, to make up for the dragon's lack of other proficiencies. Changed Eye of the Dragon to offer expertise if you already have proficiency, but reduced the blindsight from 30 to 20. Added Veil of Smoke, Harrying Predator, Spring Attack, Mist Lurker, and Veiled Predator as experimental features for a new subclass, the Shadestalker. Added Dragon Scales segment to Design Notes section.

• Published version 2.2 here.

• Dragon's Breath now regains all charges on completing a short rest, up from 1. Moved Flight to 7th level, and Eye of the Dragon to 9th level. Changed Dragon Scales to 8 + Con + Dex + Cha (max 20) from 10 + Con + Dex in order to address stathungry MAD issues. Changed Indefinite Mind to an optional rule, and added Dragon Spark to replace it. Changed Ardent Breath Fiery Eruption back to dealing damage in a 5 ft. wide 20 ft. high box, from a 10 ft. wide area and increased its casting range to line range from cone range. Changed the Juggernaut's Battering Ram to actively make use of the Attack action, so that it balancewise better respects whether or not you have Extra Attack. Removed the Juggernaut's Reckless Advance because it was weird and not that interesting. Added prone to Brutal Dive but removed the double damage dice effect, to better reflect how diving onto a target should work and to balance it as a good grapple initiator. Changed the Metamorph's Fueling the Transformation to now retain the old morph for 10 minutes. Added an 'appears as dead' effect to Survivor's Heart Major. Added Glide to Veiled Wings Major. Snatching Tail Major now requires spending a bonus action to use.

Feature Design

Dragon Adept

Dragon Adepts devote themselves to contemplation and worship. Some Adepts are monks who once followed the Way of the Dragon Disciple, while others choose to worship a god or have a natural inclination for introspection and meditation. Whatever their beliefs, a Dragon Adept is a staunch ally to have at your back.