Half Dragons and Human forms.

[DonPedro9669]

Hi I'm new to the forum and only made an account to ask this question but it looks like a good place for me as a 5e GM so I'll stick around.

According to other things I have read and how the monster manual is written it appears only metallic dragons are able to take on other forms such as human or elf. (I am excluding using spell casting dragons for the perpose of this question.) However under the half dragon monster description in the monster manual there are rules for making half dragons out of both chromatic and metallic dragons.

I am planning a homebrew campaign so I can always change how chromatic dragons work but something is always nice about playing... Properly... I was wondering if anyone had any thoughts on whether chromatic dragons could take on human form or if not how chromatic dragons are able to produce half dragons.

[Unoriginal]

Not all half-dragons are literally children of dragons, in 5e. There are rituals to become one, too (involving bathing in dragon blood, IRRC).

[DonPedro9669]

Not all half-dragons are literally children of dragons, in 5e. There are rituals to become one, too (involving bathing in dragon blood, IRRC).

Having read it again I think I missed that to be honest. Do you think that is therefore the only way a chromatic half dragon could come about?

[thoroughlyS]

The way I understand it, the stat blocks in the Monster Manual are deliberately kept simple so that they are easier to use, and represent the most basic level of a specific monster. The reason certain metallic dragons have Shape Change in their core stat block is because those dragons are thematically more likely to covertly exist among mortals. Storm King's Thunder introduces a blue dragon who also has the Shape Change feature, so it stands to reason that any type of dragon might be capable of it. It bears mentioning that all dragons with this ability are Adult or Ancient, so that might be a harder limit.

[RazDelacroix]

If you need a Chromatic Dragon to be able to Shape Change without use of the polymorph spell, do not worry! Precedents exist as in Storm King's Thunder & in Dragonlance's world! I do agree that there should be some sort of limit as to when a dragon may acquire this ability (adult age seems most reasonable).

There are of course the additional methods of getting half-dragon's into your world setting beyond smooth jazz emanating from the mountain cave. What those methods are may color your world's view of half-dragons and their placement in your story.

[DonPedro9669]

Thanks a lot, that's really helpful, I'm going to run a campaign where from the off the quest giver is an ancient red dragon in human form trying to get back to its ancient red dragon mate kept in a zoo. The half dragons aren't important therefore, I was just using them as a reason chromatic dragons could take on a human form. I see no reason why my ancient red dragon old retired couple can't have the ability now.

[PhoenixPhyre]

Thanks a lot, that's really helpful, I'm going to run a campaign where from the off the quest giver is an ancient red dragon in human form trying to get back to its ancient red dragon mate kept in a zoo. The half dragons aren't important therefore, I was just using them as a reason chromatic dragons could take on a human form. I see no reason why my ancient red dragon old retired couple can't have the ability now.

I've generally taken it as a fact that

a) any adult or ancient dragon can learn to shapechange
b) most chromatics are either too hateful or disdainful of humanoids or just too proud of themselves, so even if they know how they don't usually
c) most metallics are more people-lovers, so they tend to.
d) since metallics are "good", they're more likely to be quest-givers, and having a full dragon swoop down on you may cause alarm. So for mechanical/game purposes, noting the shapechange ability in the stat block is more important for metallics than chromatics (who are most frequently enemies).