Dragon Shaman: does anyone have any in-game experience playing one?

[Wraith Form]

I must be the oddball of the DMs here.

I had a group of 3 players, and the DS's healing aura, combat aura, spider climb (the totem was copper, IIRC) and decent fighting ability consistantly handed my opponents' arses to them on a plate. ....Dunno, maybe the player just rolled very lucky during combat.

I got very tired of having him completely unchallenged by sometimes significantly superior CR threats when he could simply heal himself or spider climb away from danger.

And that was only at 3rd level.

I regretted not enforcing a "Core classes only" rule for that game.

 

[Patrick O'Duffy]

We have a dragon shaman in my Eberron campaign, and the impression I get from the player is that he finds his character a lot of fun. He's currently the main melee character in the group, thanks to his medium armour and heavy flail (spending a feat on martial proficiency made the character significantly more effective), and his auras makes him the main healer as well (and will become even more effective when he gets the healing touch power). The power and DR auras have been very useful in combat, and once he gets the energy shield aura I expect that to be a major benefit for the party.

(The character is also the group detective and social infiltrator, but that's because of race and skill choices.)

All that said, it's hardly the most effective or powerful class out there. A lot of the PC's effectiveness comes from the rest of the party not filling the traditional niches - it's a party without a arcane caster, a divine caster or a fighter (for the record, we have a halfling ranger, a warforged ninja and a human psion, with some kind of divine caster/archer hybrid coming in next session). If there was a focused fighter or healer in the group, the DS wouldn't be as needed or (I suspect) as interesting to play. Similarly, if I was more of a hardcase GM, the group would feel the lack of focused fighters/healers - but instead I tailor my plots to fit the group, and they manage just fine despite not being super-effective.

I like the dragon shaman a lot, and I'd be happy to play one, but I think the real strength of the class is its simplicity; a D&D neophyte like my player can play one easily while feeling effective. A more experienced player may chafe against the restrictiveness of the class, or look for something with more one-on-one effectiveness.

 

[Darklone]

The only thing I don't like about the class is the flavor. Why a breath weapon and why auras? Having him as a positive energy warlock like class would have been more fluffy IMHO.

 

[Nifft]

Why a breath weapon and why auras?

Wait. Those are his main class abilities. What exactly would you have kept?

I got very tired of having him completely unchallenged by sometimes significantly superior CR threats when he could simply heal himself or spider climb away from danger.

And that was only at 3rd level.

He's constantly at half or fewer hit points, and you think he's unchallenged? May I ask what challenged would look like?

Cheers, -- N

 

[MarkB]

I only played a Dragon Shaman for a few sessions, but had a lot of fun with him. He was a kobold who took a Copper Dragon as his totem, and had the feats Dragon Tail (gains a Tail Slap natural weapon), Ability Focus (Breath Weapon), and Entangling Exhalation.

I put a unique spin on him as a character, having had him taught in only the most basic aspects of the class by his tribe's shaman before he had to run away (they paid homage to a black dragon, but he had become fascinated by a copper dragon that lived nearby) and was self-taught after that, leaving him with lots of little quirks in his understanding of his own abilities - for instance, he first healed a friend involuntarily, whilst touching them with his prehensile tail, and subsequently believed that his tail had magical healing powers, using it to deliver his healing whenever he provided it.

He used a Longspear as his primary weapon, which let him stay a little back from the front line, and allowed him to be useful in combat, through providing flanking to the fighter and/or rogue.

His favourite trick was to put up the Energy Resistance aura and then use Entangling Exhalation on a mixed group of friends and foes, leaving his allies unhurt whilst their opponents were scorched and entangled. When not doing that, he'd use the Senses aura out of combat and the Energy Shield or healing auras in combat.

 

[Darklone]

Wait. Those are his main class abilities. What exactly would you have kept?

Misunderstanding. I like the class as it is, but what does it have to do with dragons? It does not need the draconic stuff, it would IMHO be better with other fluff stuff.

He's constantly at half or fewer hit points, and you think he's unchallenged? May I ask what challenged would look like?

Cheers, -- N

Well... Challenges: half of the PCs are in the singledigit hp range and the rest below, all spells wasted and the PCs pull out their last scrolls and emergency necklace of fireball

 

[Nifft]

Misunderstanding. I like the class as it is, but what does it have to do with dragons? It does not need the draconic stuff, it would IMHO be better with other fluff stuff.

Ah, gotcha. Breath weapon, and as a source of power?

IMHO it's kinda nice to have a draconic power dude who's not a Cleric or Sorcerer. And as a shaman for a Dragon's village of minions, he's almost perfect -- simple for the DM, lots of little minions to multiply the power of his auras, and a "surprise!" gift for the low-Reflex front line PCs.

As to alternate flavor, there are plenty of things that throw around energy damage. Winter Wolves would be great totem replacements for White Dragons, Behirs or Storm Giants for Blue dragons, Lammasu for the Gold Dragon, and some kind of spider-thing for the Copper -- or maybe something that spits acid, the Digester? The Delver?

Cheers, -- N

 

[Wraith Form]

He's constantly at half or fewer hit points, and you think he's unchallenged? May I ask what challenged would look like?

When did I ever talk about half or fewer hit points?

 

[Nifft]

When did I ever talk about half or fewer hit points?

Er, so how is he healing himself if he's below 6th level?

-- N

 

[GoodKingJayIII]

When did I ever talk about half or fewer hit points?

Well you mentioned that he's constantly healing himself. And if I remember correctly, the DS healing aura only works when the recipient of the healing is below half HP. I think Nifft was surmising that, because he is constantly healing himself, he is constantly at or below half HP. But I think dragon shamans also get a Lay on Hands, don't they? So there's that as well.