A Dragon and his Paladin...

[Vargo]

Hi, all!

I'm playing a Human Half-Celestial Paladin in a campaign, who is approaching 5th level with some rapidity. He's not riding optimized (something about having wings just makes it unnecessary for the most part) and it almost feels like a mount would be more of a hindrance than a benefit for him.

So, I was flipping through "Defenders of the Faith," and noticed the part where it talks about Dragon mounts for your Paladin, and I thought I'd ask people who've done this what their experiences have been, both from a DM and a player experience.

 

[JohnClark]

In a game where I played a half-celestial paladin (I did it as a progression instead of starting out with it, was pretty neat), my DM gave me a lantern archon instead of a mount, sort of like the celestial companion that holy liberator gets. Worked out pretty well, having an intelligent companion is always fun.

 

[Dash Dannigan]

It can be alot of work and alot of trouble but the experience is a rewarding one. I've played a halfling paladin with a copper dragon mount and the roleplay experience was quite rich.

Game balance-wise be sure the DM gives you all the benfits of having a dragon mount along with all the drawbacks. This will include a dragon personality that may or may not be willing to do everything the Paladin rider wants, has it's own demands and whimsical wants, and needs a lair with a sizeable treasure. Your paladin should be spending alot of off-time taking care of his mount, upkeep of a permanent household and protecting it.

A permanent residence may also later have lasting repercusions within the local area (political, disasters, raids, rumors, etc.) and potential bad ones if the Paladin also fails upholding The Code.

Dragons are powerful but depending on the situation may be targeted by enemies who consider a dragon a powerful threat. I found this to be the case many times and so having and keeping a mount may be difficult. There aren't too many Wizards that wouldn't target the dragon with a powerful spell turn One, or a large monster that wouldn't consider a dragon the primary threat.

Best thing to do for a permanent place is to have a lair sponsored by a large clergy/temple that is already staffed, you just pay for upkeep. As for keeping the dragon alive in combat, well that's another story. When I played my paladin and his mount they were devout cowards so they lasted considerably longer than most, lol. Best of luck!

 

[nameless]

As unfortunate as it is, dragons just aren't really appropriate as a mount. Even very weak dragons are many times more powerful than a warhorse or other more mundane mount. So is boils down to the dragon either overshadowing the party in terms of power, or the dragon is so weak as to be a liability in combat. DotF suggests dragons as mounts starting around level 15, with significant caveats.

By far, my favorite solution to mountless Paladins is in the Dragonstar setting by FFG. Paladins (and only Paladins) have access to a thing called Divine Spellware. It is basically a permanent enhancement (similar to a slotless magic item) that the Paladin can buy with XP, and is applied by his church.

 

[Vargo]

Just a note: I'm not concerned about overshadowing the rest of the party - there is none. I'm soloing.

 

[John Smallberries]

How about a Half-Dragon Warhorse?

Heck, top it off with a Celestial template and you're all set!

 

[TroyXavier]

Or a Celestial Warhorse....there are options. Dragons are fun mounts, but they must be run carefully.

 

[Dr. Strangemonkey]

I don't have any personal experience to draw from, but a half-dragon warhorse sounds like a great idea.

Maybe a mount is something that would really help your character so you might look into working up an appropriate mount-like companion or helper in which case a low level dragon or half-dragon thing that can fly and has a lot of useful skills that a paladin lacks, spot, listen, wilderness lore, and search in particular though thiefy things might be useful too, might be what you should aim for.

A very very young dragon can still gain class levels, somehow, and function as a helpful companion without being overshadowing or having nearly the nasty requirments that an older dragon would. As an orphan you are caring for, giving money to the dragon will also count as a good deed.