A Player's Guide to Feats - Dragon Hide
The game's name is Dungeons & Dragons, so it should be no surprise that there are dragon-focused feats. Who wouldn't want their skin to become as hard as dragon scales, especially if you're already playing a dragonborn? And let's not forget about essentially growing claws akin to a dragon. Should dragonborn characters everywhere rejoice and grab this feat whenever possible? One thing is for sure. Those wanna-be dragons known as kobolds are green with envy.
What is the Dragon Hide Feat?
The Dragon Hide feat is the second dragonborn feat found in Xanathar’s, the other being dragon fear. The description for the Dragon Hide feat is as follows:
You manifest scales and claws reminiscent of your draconic ancestors. You gain the following benefits:
Increase your Strength, Constitution, or Charisma score by 1, to a maximum of 20.
Your scales harden. While you aren’t wearing armor, you can calculate your AC as 13 + your Dexterity modifier. You can use a shield and still gain this benefit.
You grow retractable claws from the tips of your fingers. Extending or retracting the claws requires no action. The claws are natural weapons, which you can use to make unarmed strikes. If you hit with them, you deal slashing damage equal to 1d4 + your Strength modifier, instead of the normal bludgeoning damage for an unarmed strike
Xanathar’s Guide to Everything
Dissecting the Feat
The prerequisite to the feat is that you must be dragonborn, which is incredibly limiting. I understand the creators are trying to build upon the race's lineage. It's just that feats with the dragonborn racial requirement feel forced like the creators are trying to make up for a design flaw in the original racial concept. Maybe that's just me. I think the dragonborn race is excellent, just the way it is.
The +1 to Strength, Constitution, or Charisma is great. You usually get a maximum of two ability score choices. With three, a wide range of classes is in play if ASI is a deciding factor in whether you will take the feat. Of course, any time Constitution is a choice, as far as I'm concerned, every class can benefit. I've said it before and I'll say it again: more hit points is always a good thing.
You get dragon claws! Unfortunately, they look cooler than they actually are. I don't know about you, but I could care less about any benefit that involved 1d4 damage. Sure, you can say you have natural weapons, and if your Strength modifier is something ridiculous, then you could use them in a pinch. Unless every creature you'll fight is immune to bludgeoning damage and your world has no sharp swords, the benefit feels like a ribbon ability dressed up to look worthwhile.
The meat of the feat is your new unarmored AC of 13 plus your Dexterity modifier. It's underwhelming, and that's putting it mildly. Don't get me wrong. A base unarmored AC of 13 is outstanding at lower levels. The problem is the benefit falls off hard at higher levels for classes that require you to wear nothing more than a loose-fitting shirt or loincloth. Any AC bonuses you may gain with the feat do not stack with the monk and barbarian class AC bonuses. Depending on your build, the feat becomes utterly obsolete for those two classes starting by the 5th level.
Before we look at whether or not the feat is a fit for your character's class, let me offer a potential fix. There is no synergy between your ASI increase and the modifier for this part of your feat. Adding one's Dexterity modifier is standard practice when calculating Armor Class, but it didn't need to be here. Instead, why not use a character's Constitution modifier? It fits thematically since the feat speaks of hardening scales. It allows you to 'double dip,' taking the +1 to Constitution and potentially increasing your AC. It wouldn't make the feat a must-have, but it would surely be more appealing to some classes.
The Dragon Hide Feat Useability by Class
Artificer: Not worth taking.
Barbarian: It feels like this would be the perfect feat for a low-level barbarian, but you’d be mistaken. At best, you will have a +1 in Dexterity, equating to 14 AC. Unarmored Defense is 10 + Dex modifier + Con modifier, so you’ll probably be a 13 AC at worst. There’s no reason to take the feat over the ASI increase, let alone any other worthwhile feats a barbarian could use.
Bard: Not worth taking.
Cleric: The only reason your cleric wouldn’t be wearing armor is that they royally pissed off their deity, who literally stripped it from them. Not worth taking.
Druid: Not worth taking.
Fighter: Not worth taking.
Monk: It’s the same issue as the barbarian. It’s even worse since you can’t effectively carry a shield, your primary ability stats are Wisdom and Dexterity, and you have the feat’s unarmed strike bonus baked into your class.
Paladin: If you’re not wearing armor as a Paladin, something has gone very wrong in your campaign. Not worth taking.
Ranger: Not worth taking.
Rogue: Not worth taking.
Sorcerer: You have access to mage armor, so unless you can’t be bothered casting the spell every morning, it’s not worth taking.
Warlock: While I’m not recommending it since there are too many better feats out there for this class, you can make an argument for the Dragon Hide feat here. Even with access to light armor, the best you can have is a 12 AC + Dexterity modifier. With your spellcasting ability being Charisma, the +1 also helps make the case for this being a feat you could consider. Ok, probably not.
Wizard: Not worth taking.
Conclusion
Unless you’re playing a kobold who, in their mind, is a mighty dragon and will do whatever it takes to prove it, the Dragon Hide feat is one to best left on the sidelines.
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Art Credit - Wizards of the Coast.
