Dragon PC

[Jeremy]

As has been noted in other threads, my group is testing out some of the draconomicon rules and is going to doing a prehistoric stint game starring a 4 dragon PC party.

The dragons are all going to be CR 14 or 15. The reason we are judging by CR is because we are only receiving gear as per the Draconomicon. 45,000 GP I believe. The equivalent character levels of the party would be something near 30 and there being no core races around to be "equivalent" to, we thought it ridiculous to have millions and millions of gold pieces in gear.

In any case, here's my problem, my group feels that there is plenty of customization available in creating a CR 14-15 dragon. One of my fellow players has generated a very effective melee/grapple fighter with feats like rapid strike and some of the magical dragon weapons of the draconomicon. Being that I am already playing a warrior in a concurrent game that is going on right now, I figured a spellcaster would be nice.

Unfortunately 3 to 7 levels of casting ability is not much of a caster and is more of a complement to a dragons melee capability. The same could be said of his breath weapon at that level. It's good for instilling fear in legions of kobold servitors, but against challenges of CR 16-17 it's not going to do much more than tickle.

So are there any non-warrior ways to construct a CR 14-15 dragon without adding class levels of some sort? Some trick of feats or tactics that I'm missing?

I want my character to be some what of a librarian, but combat is to be expected as we'll hardly be testing the draconomicon rules if we fail to get in there and test the mechanics that all this character generation work results in.

Any help please?

 

[Gez]

Class sorcerer levels will stack with innate sorcerer levels, so there are no much efficient choices for a dragon spellcaster. Alternatively, cleric/mystic theurge.

 

[Jeremy]

Indeed. But that I have been prohibited from starting with class levels.

 

[Scion]

Then I would suggest talking with him about making feats to simulate having extra caster levels. That way you are giving up something to gain what you want. If he doesnt go for it point out that making a melee dragon is easy, casters hard.

Possibly something like:

Dragon Sorcery (monstrous)

Prereq's: Be able to cast spells and be a dragon

Benefit: You gain one caster level with all benefits as though gaining a level of a caster that you already posses.

Penalty: You lose 1 point of BAB.

Special: You may not have more caster levels than hd. When you take this feat you may choose to lose any number of BAB up to the amount of caster levels you would be able to gain. This lose corresponds to a equivalent amount of caster levels gained.

This would knock you out of the melee race and put you up on the casters. Just get something similar, I know this one isnt properly balanced. But then the campaign you are in isnt balanced properly for casters anyway so something has to give

 

[Jeremy]

True indeed.

 

[jgsugden]

A few ideas ...

Take leadership. Your 17th level cohort (how about a kobold sorcerer?) can provide your spellcasting while you provide protection for it.

If you really want your dragon to be a spellcaster, try a brass dragon. At CR 15, you can get a mature adult brass dragon which casts as a 9th level sorcerer. It won't be able to blow enemies over with spells, but it will be able to take greater advantage of some spells due to its size and abilities.

Don't forget that dragons can choose arcane or divine spells. You could always be a the party healer. Taking the empower spell feat and cure serious wounds allows you to heal 33 hit points per 5th level spell.

 

[Jeremy]

Those are some good ideas.

 

[Scion]

I'd like to hear what happens with the campaign. Let us know on here how things turn out?

 

[Jeremy]

Sure. I'll give ya a summary after Sunday's game.

 

[Jeremy]

Sjachpersvekthurkear
“Kumori”

MATURE ADULT SHADOW DRAGON (207 years old)
Large Dragon (Shadow)
Hit Dice: 22d12+132 (270 hp)
Initiative: +2
Speed: 80 ft, fly 150 ft (poor)
AC: 36 (-1 size, +2 Dex, +25 natural)
Grapple: +34
Attacks: Bite +29 melee, 2 claws +27 melee, 2 wings +27 melee, tail slap +27 melee
Damage: Bite 2d6+8, claw 1d8+4, wing 1d6+4, tail slap 1d8+12
Face/Reach: 10 ft / 5 ft (10 ft with bite)
Special Attacks: Breath weapon, spell-like abilities, frightful presence
Special Qualities: dragon immunities, DR 10/magic, blindsense, keen senses, SR 25
Saves: Fort +19, Ref +15, Will +17
Abilities: Str 26, Dex 14, Con 22, Int 24, Wis 18, Cha 24

Skills: Bluff +32, Concentration +31, Diplomacy +32, Gather Information +19, Hide +23*, Intimidate +32, Listen +29, Move Silent +27, Search +32, Sense Motive +29, Spellcraft +19, Spot +29, Survival +16
Feats: Wingover, Multiattack, Power Attack, Recover Breath, Reckless Attack, Quicken Breath, Monster Slayer, Leadership

Challenge Rating: 15
Alignment: Neutral Evil

SA–Breath Weapon (Su): Cone of negative energy, 40 feet long, every 1d4–1 rounds; damage 4 negative levels, Reflex half DC 27. The fortitude save to remove the negative levels is DC 27.
SA–Frightful Presence (Ex): Dragons can unsettle foes with their mere presence. This ability takes effect automatically (radius 210 ft) whenever the dragon attacks, charges, or flies overhead. A potentially affected creature (one with less than 22 HD) that succeeds at a Will save (DC 28) remains immune to that dragon's frightful presence for one day. On a failure, creatures with 4 or fewer HD become panicked for 4d6 rounds and those with more than 5 HD become shaken for 4d6 rounds. Dragons ignore the frightful presence of other dragons.
SA–Spell-Like Abilities: 3/day–mirror image; 2/day–dimension door.
SQ–Shadow Blend (Su): During any conditions other than full daylight, a shadow dragon can disappear into the shadows, giving it nine-tenths concealment. Artificial illumination, even a light or continual flame spell, does not negate this ability. A daylight spell, however, will.
SQ–Immunities (Ex): Immune to sleep, paralysis, energy drain.
SQ–Blindsense (Ex): Dragons can ascertain creatures by nonvisual means (mostly hearing and scent, but also by noticing vibrations and other environmental clues); this dragon's range is 60 feet.
SQ–Keen Senses (Ex): Dragons can see four times as well as humans in low-light conditions and twice as well in normal light. They also have darkvision (range 120 feet).

Spells Known (cast 6/8/8/6; as a level 7 sorcerer): 0–detect magic, read magic, ghost sound, prestidigitation, mage hand, cure minor wounds, create water; 1–mage armor, divine favor, entropic shield, shield, disguise self; 2–shimmering scales, lion’s charge, mirror image, 3–fireball, stinking cloud.

Skills: *Shadow Dragons receive a +18 circumstance bonus to hide checks when not in darkness due to their shadow blend ability. (Invisibility granting +20, 9/10’s of 20 being 18)

***

SHIRANUI KAGE (23 years old)

Small Monstrous Humanoid (Reptilian)
Hit Dice: 14d8+42 (154 hp)
Initiative: +2
Speed: 20 ft, climb 20 ft
AC: 14 (+1 size, +2 Dex, +1 natural)
Grapple: +2
Attacks: Sickle +12/+7, Bite +7
Damage: Sickle 1d4–3, Bite 1d6–3
Face/Reach: 5 ft / 5 ft
Special Attacks: spells, turn undead
Special Qualities: darkvision 60’, eyes of Shar, shadow talk 500’
Saves: Fort +13, Ref +6, Will +18
Abilities: Str 4, Dex 14, Con 16, Int 10, Wis 25, Cha 4

Skills: Balance +10, Bluff –1, Climb +10, Concentration +15, Hide +8, Move Silent +4, Perform +1
Feats: Weapon Finesse, Iron Will, Spell Focus (Necromancy), Shadow Weave Magic, Tenacious Magic, Quicken Spell

Challenge Rating: 14
Alignment: Neutral Evil

SQ–Eyes of Shar (Ex): Nightcloaks of eyes that are totally black. They have 60-foot darkvision. They can also see through magical darkness to a range of 10 feet. They cannot be blinded by magical effects.
SQ–Shadow Talk (Su): Nightcloaks are able to communicate mystically through the shadows of the mind. Nightcloaks can whisper short messages to other worshippers of Shar within 500 feet.

Skills: Lizards have a +8 racial bonus on Balance checks. They also have a +8 racial bonus on Climb checks and can always choose to take 10 on Climb checks, even if rushed or threatened. Lizards use their Dexterity modifier instead of their Strength modifier for Climb checks.