A Small/Tiny Dragon PC race

[Ambrus]

A friend of mine is in the process of starting up a new Pathfinder campaign and I'm considering what character I might propose to play. I once played a gold dragon PC using Dragon Magazine 320's monster classes and loved it. Ever since having tried my hand at a big front-line melee dragon I've been toying with the idea of making a smaller dragon focused on draconic magic rather than draconic might; something akin to a pseudodragon or a faerie dragon spellcaster. To make an effective caster however, I have to avoid those high ECL races in favor of something a little more tame.T

he first idea I had was to try a Dragonwrought kobold but I grew dismayed that it'd only gain flight at 6th level at the earliest, and then only a gimped version of it at best. So to get a suitably small character with flight and aspects of dragonkind while maintaining an ECL of 0 it occurred to me to try apply the Dragonborn aspect (from WotC's Races of the Dragon) to a Loresong Faen (from Monte Cook's Arcana Evolved). The result is a small-sized dragonborn faen that, at 3rd level, can permanently metamorphose into a tiny-sized fey with draconic qualities; in essence a fairy dragon of sorts. Except for a few cosmetic tweaks to adapt it to the Pathfinder system and campaign setting the character is entirely in keeping with the rules, albeit using elements from two separate sourcebooks. My question is, does the resulting race seem balanced? Would you allow it in your game?


Dragonborn Faen
Racial Traits

• +2 Intelligence, +2 Constitution, –2 Strength, –2 Dexterity. Dragonborn faen are clever, surprisingly resilient, though relatively weak due to their size and somewhat awkward until they master flight.
• Humanoid (faen, dragonblood): Dragonblood Faen are humanoids with the dragonblood and faen subtypes. For all effects related to race, a dragonborn faen is considered both a dragon and faen.
• Small: Dragonborn Faen begin as Small creatures and gain a +1 size bonus to their AC, a +1 size bonus on attack rolls, a –1 penalty to their Combat Maneuver Bonus and Combat Maneuver Defense, and a +4 size bonus on Stealth checks.
• Slow Speed: Dragonborn faen initially have a base speed of 20 feet.
• Draconic Dodge: +2 dodge bonus to Armor Class against creatures of the dragon type. The dragonborn faen have an innate sense of how best to defend themselves against their potential rivals.
• Immunity to Frightful Presence: Dragonborn faen are immune to the frightful presence ability of dragons, just as if they were dragons.
• Draconic Aspect: Dragonborn faen are blessed with aspects combining some of the best attributes of good dragons. At creation, a dragonborn faen must choose one of the following aspects. Once made the choice cannot be changed.
  • Heart (Su): A dragonborn faen who chooses the heart aspect gains a breath weapon. The breath weapon is a bright, shining line that coruscates with every metallic color. The line's length is 5 feet per Hit Die the dragonborn faen has, up to a maximum of 100 feet at 20 HD. The breath weapon deals 1d8 points of damage, plus an extra 1d8 points for each 3 HD the dragonborn possesses (2d8 at 3 HD, 3d8 at 6 HD, and so on). The damage can be acid, cold, electricity, or fire, changing on each use as the dragonborn chooses. A successful Reflex save (DC 10 +1/2 the dragonborn's HD + her Con modifier) halves the damage. A dragonborn can use her breath weapon once every 1d4 rounds.
  • Mind (Ex): A dragonborn faen who selects the mind aspect sharpens her senses, gaining immunity to paralysis and magic sleep effects. She gains darkvision out to 30 feet and low-light vision, plus a +2 racial bonus to Perception checks. At 6 HD, the dragonborn faen's darkvision extends to 60 feet. At 9 HD, the dragonborn faen's darkvision extends to 90 feet, and her low-light vision allows her to see three times as far as a human in shadowy illumination. At 12 HD, the dragonborn faen's darkvision extends to 120 feet, and her low-light vision allows her to see four times as far as a human in shadowy illumination. At 15 HD, the dragonborn faen gains blindsense out to 30 feet.
• Low-Light Vision: Dragonborn faen can see twice as far as humans in conditions of dim light.
• Metamorphosis: A dragonborn faen of at least 3rd character level in any class(es) may choose to undergo a metamorphosis by entering a chrysalis. This can occur only at a time when the character normally would gain a new or bonus feat—the metamorphosis is in lieu of the feat. The process takes 1d4+3 days, after which she emerges from the chrysalis in a completely different form. Even smaller than before, the dragonborn now has wings that can carry her aloft; she has become a dragonborn spryte. A dragonborn’s gear taken into the magical chrysalis emerges sized appropriately for the character’s new stature. Following their metamorphosis, dragonborn sprytes apply apply the following changes to their racial traits:
  • +2 Dexterity, –2 Strength. These modifications stack with the dragonborn faen's original ability modifiers.
  • Fey: Dragonborn sprytes are no longer Humanoid in type, but Fey. They retain the dragonblood subtype.
  • Tiny: Because they are Tiny creatures, sprytes gain a +2 size bonus to Armor Class and attack rolls (instead of the +1 bonus they had while Small), a –2 penalty to their Combat Maneuver Bonus and Combat Maneuver Defense (instead of the –1 penalty they had while Small), and a +8 size bonus to all Stealth checks (instead of the +4 bonus they had while Small). They must use Tiny-sized weapons and equipment and can lift and carry only half as much as Medium characters. Despite being Tiny, dragonborn sprytes still occupy a 5-foot by 5-foot area, threaten the areas around them, and do not need to enter another’s area to make a melee attack.
  • Slower Speed: Dragonborn spryte base speed is reduced to 10 feet.
  • Flight: Dragonborn sprytes have wings that allow them to fly at a speed of 30 with average maneuverability.
• Languages: Dragonborn faen begin play speaking Common, Draconic and Sylvan.
• Bonus Languages: Any

 

[Sigurd]

Interesting, tell us how it works out.


S

 

[GlassEye]

My gut instinct is that it is a bit too much (but my gut has been wrong before) and would probably not allow it as is. Ironically, one change I would make is drop the initial -2 Dex penalty. If I did that, I would also drop the Draconic Dodge; it's very circumstantial anyway and unless dragons are going to figure in the campaign a lot it's a non-ability. The draconic Aspects seem a bit powerful. For Heart, I would likely require the player to choose one type of energy for the breath weapon and limit it to a number of times per day instead of the 'every 1d4 rounds' as it is now; probably make it x+ability mod. the same as other Pathfinder abilities. For Mind, I would drop the darkvision entirely and tone down the low-light vision.