D&D 3E/3.5 [3.5] Would a half-dragon treant still have plant traits?

[Particle_Man]

On the one hand the character type changes to "dragon". On the other hand the half-dragon template says that a half-dragon has all the special qualities of the base creature, and a special quality of the treant is "plant traits", which include some nice immunities. So are those plant traits retained or lost?

 

[Theo R Cwithin]

I'd keep the plant traits along with the template.

 

[TanisFrey]

Was the dragon a fire-breather???

If so then he shjould be afraid of his own breath weapon.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

He'd sure look good!

SNAPDRAGON – Montego Mix | Parks Wholesale Plants

 

[Particle_Man]

Was the dragon a fire-breather???

If so then he shjould be afraid of his own breath weapon.

It would be a baseless psychological fear, as fire-breathing half-dragons are conveniently immune to fire.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

If it was a Green Dragon, it would be just like in that bad horror movie, The Happening.

 

[the Jester]

I think Savage Species addresses this in the "how to add a template" chapter, but I don't recall exactly what the rule is. (Haven't played 3.x in several years now.)

 

[frankthedm]

I say as a general thing, keep immunities on the creatures when you template them, otherwise the CR will need to be recalibrated and playtested. Templates are supposed to make the game less work, not more.

Edit: IMHO this is why creature types with major immunities get their Type Traits mentioned in Special Qualities, ensuring those are not lost when the creature is templated.

 

[Jacob]

On the one hand the character type changes to "dragon". On the other hand the half-dragon template says that a half-dragon has all the special qualities of the base creature, and a special quality of the treant is "plant traits", which include some nice immunities. So are those plant traits retained or lost?

At first I thought, "that can't be right..."
Then I was like, "How about that!"
So I'm very curious as to how such a union of creature came about. I can get a Half Dragon Mind Flayer, but this makes me confuzzled.

 

[Runestar]

Apparently yes.

Elite Opponents: Treants

In this article, the half-dragon treant is conspicuously missing the plant traits, while in the article below, the author wonders if undead traits would cancel out the plant traits, and decides taht the former would override the latter anyways, so it is a non-issue.

Elite Opponents: Creatures That Cannot Be II

So yeah, some templates just don't work as well on certain creatures.