Dragon Disciple PrC

[CRGreathouse]

But he has abysmal spell ability and mediocre combat ability. I have a Dragon Disciple PC in my current campaign and, while I absolutely love her character concept and background, I have to say that it's a very weak character. Now, she could have consciously tried to maximize the character -- maybe started with a 17 or 18 strength, picked up a few levels of fighter or barbarian, etc., but she instead is playing a more "traditional" sorceror. The DD abilities gained over 10 levels do not, IMHO, equal those she would have as a straight sorceror.

You're right - it's not designed for pure sorcerers. A dwarf Wiz14 can take the Dwarven Defender prestige class, but won't benefit overmuch.

 

[Madfox]

While I do not know if the sage made a ruling on the size part, Monte Cook did. On his message board he stated that the PC would gain all benefits and hindrances associeted with a size increase. So that would be an other +8 strength, +3 con, -2 dex, +3 natural AC and so on. I agree that the prestige class still is better for multi-class sorcerers. If you think about it, that is exactly the same as with half-dragon template. Which is also more useful to none-spell casting classes.

 

[nharwell]

As best as I can tell, the Sage has made conflicting rulings in two different emails (posted on various messageboards). In the first, he states that the dragon disciple gains all the effects of size change as described in the Monster Manual. In the other email, he says that only the changes listed in the class description apply. So at this point, there is no "official" ruling -- hopefully it will be added to the FAQ at some point. I personally feel that giving the full enlargement bonus makes the class more playable, but also more vulnerable to min-maxing. And if interpreted more narrowly, the enlargement feature at 5th level is actually more of disadvantage. I actually removed the enlargement effect entirely from the class in my game (the character gains about 1 inch/level -- not enough for a size change) and allow any size Dragon Disciple to grow wings.

 

[el Voz]

Where is this dragon disciple PrC located? I do not see it in the core books. Is this a homemade PrC?

 

[Crothian]

Where is this dragon disciple PrC located? I do not see it in the core books. Is this a homemade PrC?

Tome and Blood

 

[SpikeyFreak]

I'm confused.

The +8 str, +3 con, etc isn't for gaining a size category.

It's for scaling monsters to a size larger.

Why on earth would a character get that when they go from medium to large in addition to the other stated effects?

A character getting a total of +16 to strength sounds a bit rediculous to me.

In fact it sounds just plain stupid.

--Disgusted Spikey

 

[Madfox]

The other changes are due to becoming a half-dragon and gaining the benefits of that template. Unlike the template though, characters with this prestige class also increase their size. Without all the benefits of the growth in size, the class should gain better spellcasting abilities. After all, the template costs 3 levels. The prestige class costs '10 spell levels' in return for a few spells, size increase and when starting as a medium-sized creature flying and the abilities of the half-dragon template.

So in effect from the template:
+4 natural AC, Str +8, Con +2, Int +2, Cha +2, claws, bite and breath weapon, increased HD, not humanoid

From the prestige class:
Size increase, flying (under certain conditions), a few more spells known.

IMO the size increase should give all benefits of that increase and not only the limited selection given as an example on the description of the prestige class. It more or less balances the magic loss of this prestige class.

Size increase: +8 str, -2 dex, +4 con, +2 Natural AC, -1 base AC/Attack rolls, reach

 

[gfunk]

Yep, Madfox is right, the Sage has ruled that you get all the benefits of size increase.

 

[CRGreathouse]

Yep, Madfox is right, the Sage has ruled that you get all the benefits of size increase.

Didn't he later contradict himself and say you don't?

 

[Crothian]

Didn't he later contradict himself and say you don't?

Ya, I remember reading that. But I have no idea where it was. I think that's about the time people really started to get on the Sage's case.