Dragon Cohort Question

[IamTheTest]

Well, a Paladin1 with full plate and a heavy steel shield would still have AC 20. Not great for a party level 12 but enough to stand between me and a bad guy. Would my human form cohort get 2 feats (1 for first level and 1 human bonus)? Would he keep his breathe weapon (after all, he still has a mouth)? It might not be as bad as it seems. Heck, if he gets the feats making him a fighter1 may not be a bad idea. Full plate + Tower shield= AC 22. Not a bad defender I suppose.

Now suppose I can buy magical armor...it wouldnt be unheard of to get to AC 24 or 26 (+2 armor and +2 shield) not to mention the ring of protection...

All in all, it all depends on how the DM rules. Honestly, Im thrilled with just the dragon, I think its flavorful enough.
I tried the link but it doesnt seem to work for me...gogo 440 error.

 

[IamTheTest]

Drat, Hypersmurf you are (as usual) correct. I cant beleive I overlooked that even after it was pointed out. I suppose I could get a Wyrmling (ECL 11-3=8) and have it age with me (Wyrmling is 0-5 years, Very Young is 6-15). The stats would be a little lower, but they would increase after I get to clvl 13. Right?

 

[glass]

I have access to Draconomicon. The feat Dragon Cohort allows me to subtract 3 from the ECL of the dragon. Table 3-14 Dragon Cohorts (pg 139) has a Very Young Silver labeled as ECL 14. Subtracting 3 from 14, due to Dragon Cohort, gives it an ECL of 11 which is within my Leadership capabilities.

At 12th level with a good leadership score, you can have a 10th level cohort.

You can't pick a cohort that is 11th level equivalent. If you pick one that is 10th you can't add any paladin levels. If pick one that is 9th level equivalent, you can add one class level (to bring it up to 10). If you pick one that is 8th level, you can add 2 class levels, and so on...

(with you DMs approval of course, as with any cohort).

Upon even closer inspection it seems as if I can simply have the Alternate Form be a Human. The next question is, how do I stat that (What is his AC for example)? Would I use the dragon's stats? Forgive me if this is a silly RAW question, it's very late and I may be overlooking the obvious.

You don't have to have the alternate form be anything. You (or your dragon) can pick any form the ability allows each time he uses it.


glass.

 

[glass]

Would my human form cohort get 2 feats (1 for first level and 1 human bonus)?

No. Your dragon would have the same feats, whatever form he was in, although he may not be able to use them in his new form (and he may loose access to feats for which he no longer meet the prereqs).

The exception for specific racial bonus feats (those marked with a (b) in the MM). He looses any of these he had in his original form, and gains any for his new form. For example, if he changed into a small animal, he would generally gain weapon finesse, but not the new forms other feats. He would still have all his normal feats, but couldn't use (for example) Power Attack if the change had caused his Str to drop below 13

Would he keep his breathe weapon (after all, he still has a mouth)?

No, he'd lose the supernatural abilities of his dragon form while in human form.


glass.

 

[glass]

Drat, Hypersmurf you are (as usual) correct. I cant beleive I overlooked that even after it was pointed out. I suppose I could get a Wyrmling (ECL 11-3=8) and have it age with me (Wyrmling is 0-5 years, Very Young is 6-15). The stats would be a little lower, but they would increase after I get to clvl 13. Right?

Sounds like a Wyrmling would be ideal: you could give him 2 levels of paladin. OTOH, you might not want to: you may just want to give him dragon hit dice.

The reason being, once your cohort is in play, he will advance using the normal rules for cohort advancement. He won't just leap from very ECL 11 Wyrmling to ECL 14 Very young, but will pass through 12 and 13 as he gains hit dice. So, if you really want a very young dragon, start him as an ECL 13 (10 for you) advanced wyrmling (say, a 5 year old), and then when he gets enough XP you can advance him to very young with a single HD.

After that, you might want to start adding paladin levels as he advances, as (depending on campaign pacing) he will probably advance in levels quicker than he can go up in age categories.

Hope this helps.


glass.

 

[glass]

The exception for specific racial bonus feats (those marked with a (b) in the MM). He looses any of these he had in his original form, and gains any for his new form. For example, if he changed into a small animal, he would generally gain weapon finesse, but not the new forms other feats. He would still have all his normal feats, but couldn't use (for example) Power Attack if the change had caused his Str to drop below 13.

As a more specific example (with thanks to this post), if your cohort changes into a cat, he would gain Weapon Finesse but not stealthy.

I haven't been able to get the the SRD to load, so I can't check if dragons have any bonus feats to lose.

EDIT: Woohoo -four replies in a row!

glass.

 

[Goolpsy]

Doesn't the polymorph spell stats that you just lose you physical stats, but retain your special abilities and such

Of which the dragon might keep the natural armor amoung other things. Btw
the Alter shape thing the dragons have.... im sure if its just a alter self, or a polymorph

i mean, Does it just alter shape i.e. look like a human but With all the dragons scores and abilities and capabilities..

Or does it polymorph itself into a Human?

according to 3.0 (dont have the 3.5 mm) its a polymorph,

 

[IcyCool]

Doesn't the polymorph spell stats that you just lose you physical stats, but retain your special abilities and such

Of which the dragon might keep the natural armor amoung other things. Btw
the Alter shape thing the dragons have.... im sure if its just a alter self, or a polymorph

i mean, Does it just alter shape i.e. look like a human but With all the dragons scores and abilities and capabilities..

Or does it polymorph itself into a Human?

according to 3.0 (dont have the 3.5 mm) its a polymorph,

Alter Self only lets you change shape into something with the same type (dragon to dragon, humanoid to humanoid, etc.). The dragon's alternate form ability operates like the polymorph spell. According to polymorph, while you are in a different form, you get that form's average physical (Str, Dex, Con) ability scores instead of your normal ones. So your Silver Dragon Paladin polymorphed into a human will have Str 10, Dex 10, Con 10. Read the Polymorph spell for more detail on what happens.

 

[Laman Stahros]

Does your DM have access to Dragon #320? If so, then on page 45, there is a Silver Dragon monster class that you could use for your cohort.

 

[glass]

The reason being, once your cohort is in play, he will advance using the normal rules for cohort advancement. He won't just leap from very ECL 11 Wyrmling to ECL 14 Very young, but will pass through 12 and 13 as he gains hit dice. So, if you really want a very young dragon, start him as an ECL 13 (10 for you) advanced wyrmling (say, a 5 year old), and then when he gets enough XP you can advance him to very young with a single HD.

This assumes that the LA doesn't change between Wyrmling and Very Young. If it does, you dragon might have to wait and save up enough XP for two levels so that he is still 'in sync' with the new LA, or use a monster class as Laman Stahros suggested.

EDIT: SRD is working again on my computer. Just checked and the LA does not change, so I was right first time.


glass.