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There's no specific prohibition against applying the half-dragon template to a dragon.
However, applying templates to monsters is DM business. It's not something that will happen just randomly out of nowhere, or by a player's initiation — templates are tools, and most exist only to get a job done as needed by a DM. A DM who needs to make a half-dragon ...
30
Yes, and that really isn't weird.
A Half-Green Dragon Red Dragon is a dragon with a green dragon mummy and a red dragon daddy, aka, two dragon parents, just of different hues. A bit stronger than your average specimen ('hybrid vigour'), a bit tougher, a bit higher in CR, has two different breath weapons. Not objectionable in the slightest compared to a ...
22
Half-celestial does not make any requirements on your alignment, and you cannot fall as a half-celestial the way a paladin can; there is no such thing as an “ex-half-celestial,” no way to lose the template or its powers. They list “Always Good” as an alignment, but always does not actually mean always with alignment; you can have non-Good half-celestials. ...
21
The Monster Manual feats aren't limited to monsters
A feat can be taken by any creature that qualifies for the feat based on the feat's type (for example, the most common type of feat is general, but the Player's Handbook also includes the feat types item creation and metamagic) and that meets the feat's prerequisites and that fulfills any conditions ...
20
It's a specific template
This is the Advanced simple template. Simple Templates are like normal templates, but they barely change anything; they're intended to quickly and easily improve, or nerf, a creature in a way you can do with a minimum of effort. The "Advanced" simple template is a specific simple template.
17
Follow the steps when creating a character
The steps listed on page 6 of the Player's Handbook are the steps in order for creating a character ("[T]hen follow these steps to create a 1st-level character").
Choose Your Class and Race is third on that list. Select a Feat is eighth.
A creature with an inherited template like the template proto-creature (...
14
Base classes are base classes because they are assumed to be things that just about anyone can do, join, or become. That is why you are able to freely choose among them when selecting your next level.
Prestige classes are special classes that are not simply assumed to be things that just about anyone can do at the drop of a hat—they require special ...
14
Things are about to get spooooooooky...
In the thirteenth Unearthed Arcana, "Gothic Characters", there is a revenant subrace template that one can apply to a PC and, I suggest, would work just fine for your purposes.
The first bit of the description is poorly written and deals with subraces, which your orc-chieftan doesn't have to worry about. Basically it ...
13
MM 3.5 on Nonabilities:
Some creatures lack certain ability scores. These creatures do not
have an ablitiy score of 0 - they lack the ability altogether.
If the template adds a bonus, as most templates do, they cannot improve an ability that does not exist - unless the template specifically says so.
13
GURPS models quite a few things very well, but an AI that doesn't live in a traditional 'body' isn't one of them. In GURPS, your body and your mind are inextricably linked (at least at character creation), and your point value is based on a combination of what your mind and body let you do. Because of this, GURPS is very poor at modeling 'infomorphs' that ...
12
If it has a Level Adjustment, it is intended to be playable
Creatures and templates that cannot be played (according to Wizards) have LA: —. Any actual numerical LA (LA: 0 to LA: some_number) can be played, by the Level Adjustment rules (basically, you could as a higher level than you actually are for determining your “effective character level&...
12
It is pretty strongly implied (PHB p 14) that it would not apply to a monk's nor barbarian's unarmored AC abilities - they provide a full calculation in lieu of worn armor.
DMG Page 276 specifies how natural armor bonus works.
A monster that doesn't wear armor might have natural armor, in which case it has an AC equal to 10 + its Dexterity modifier + its ...
12
Saint is immensely powerful. You are missing a whole lot of what it offers. Its defenses are top-notch and then some. Some highlights:
Wisdom to AC, regardless of armor. Stacks with monk or monk’s belt or any number of other AC bonuses.
+2 to each and every save DC ever. Since DCs generally scale with half-level, that’s effectively an extra four levels of ...
11
Dragonborn is an LA +0 template from Races of the Dragon (an official book) with a bit of backstory and gp requirements, but it's fairly practical for a suitably rich level 1 character (100 gp, if memory serves).
Arctic, from Dragon Magazine (aka DrMag; semi-official) #306, is also an LA +0 template. Little bit more backstory. (Nothing to do with arctic ...
10
Can you tell when something has a template?
No
a "template" is a game mechanic/rule mechanic and nothing your character could perceive.
That said, depending on the template, the targets game world appearance to normal eyesight or detection spells might change. You can perceive that. But that has nothing to do with being a template or not. If you recognize ...
9
The feat Wild Cohort provides no option for the wild cohort to have a template
The benefit of the feat Wild Cohort says, in part, that
You gain an animal cohort.... Provided the DM gives her approval, at 1st level you can choose from a badger, camel, dire rat, dog, riding dog, eagle, hawk, horse (light or heavy), owl, pony, snake (Small or Medium viper),...
9
The stat blocks on the Orc War Chief and the Revenant are very similar, as is their base damage (1d12 vs 2d6, with two attacks). Although the Orc has better armor, it has fewer HP (this may balance out). The main differences are the Revenant's resistance/immunuties, undead traits, and bonus damage.
Revenant Variant:
Revenants that wore armor and ...
8
Note: for 3.5 edition, the Half-Ogre has been reprinted in Races of Destiny (p. 96), in which it has a level adjustment +2. Since LA is generally inflated, sticking with the Savage Species edition is probably better.
You are not telling how many levels of Barbarian this Half-Ogre has; with a level adjustment of 1, an ECL 2 (Effective Character Level), the ...
8
Note: What the question posits doesn't do what the querent wants it to, but I've gone through the steps anyway so it can be seen where the process falls apart. Skip to the end if uninterested in the process's nuts and bolts.
First, apply inherited templates in a legal order...
Officially, the Dungeons and Dragons 3.5 rules from the Monster Manual for ...
8
This is a nitpick, but I'm not actually sure that a high-level saint has DR 5/magic at all. Reading the table you linked, it seems to say that the DR 5/magic is applied to a saint that has HD between 4 and 7. Once the saint's HD are higher than 7, the table seems to imply that the DR 5/magic actually goes away (replaced by DR 5/evil and later DR 10/evil). ...
8
Nothing. Your ECL is 20 + the LA, which is used to calculate the XP necessary for the next level, but there is no XP necessary for the next level because there is no next level, so your ECL no longer has any relevance.
8
“Vampire” is an acquired template that can be added to any humanoid or monstrous humanoid creature (referred to hereafter as the base creature).
Doppelgangers are monstrous humanoids, so they are eligible to become vampires, yes.
A vampire uses all the base creature’s statistics and special abilities except as noted here.
So no, a doppelganger does not ...
8
In 3.5, Templates are always applied consecutively:
Adding More Than One Template
In theory, there’s no limit to the number of templates you can add to a creature. To add more than one template, just apply each template one at a time. Always apply inherited templates before applying acquired templates. Whenever you add multiple templates, pay ...
8
Hit Dice
Zombie's drop all Class HD, if existent, down to a minimum of 1 HD. Their new racial HD are d8. A general Ogre has no Class HD and will simply gain the 2 Zombie HD. Their HD were already d8, so no change in size. Their bonus HP is now determined by Charisma, which is set to 10.
Oddly, dropping their Constitution bonus and adding 2 HD (plus ...
7
The Features of a type are specifically features of racial hit dice for creatures of that type. Since the alienist (presumably) has no racial hit dice, none of those apply.
So that means no change in HP, BAB, or skill points.
The Traits, on the other hand, do, so the alienist gets all of those (and loses the Traits of his or her previous type).
Moreover, ...
7
The ghost template specifically says (from the link you provided):
Type: The creature's type changes to undead. Do not recalculate the creature's base attack bonus, saves, or skill points. It gains the incorporeal subtype.
RAW, the base save doesn't change when the Adult Silver Dragon becomes a ghost.
7
While an argument can be made for the atavism spell as written allowing the stacking of the benefits from both the spell's description and the template the spell grants, this reader has several reasons for viewing the atavism spell as, instead, trying to be helpful by providing in its description a summary of the advanced template.
First, the spell's ...
6
Yes, it has No Manipulators. It's connected into a network where it can remotely access manipulators, but it has none of its own, personally. Consider what happens when it for some reason can't access the network: does it have manipulators now? No, the No Manipulators disad would assert itself, and in a SS13 scenario that might be very relevant at some point!...
6
Per James Jacobs on the Paizo forums, you should use the character's effective druid level as the animal companion's CR for purposes of this feat specifically and also similar feats/abilities:
Following up on the Celestial Servant question, how am I supposed to calculate the CR of my mount, to figure out its spell resistance? I ...
6
There is no limit.
Some creatures on the summon monster list will also have a template applied, such as giant or dire creatures. Even multiple templates before you even apply anything.
A few examples are:
Young frost giant
Dire Shark
Dire Crocodile
Human natural wererat rogue 2
So if you have anything that allows you to apply a template on the summoned ...
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