Dragon Shaman - Gimme something to go on here...

[Andor]

Didn't your player decide to play something else anyway?

From what you've told us of your campaign I would change the name to 'Dreamers of the *Dragon's dream' and make them a mystical arm of the sect of knights that protect the sleeping dragon. When the knights go to battle they provide buffs and area damage in support of their brother knights. They wander in the dragons dreams every night as they sleep and get progressively weirder and weirder the longer they stay in the class. If they travel outside the lands under the dragons sway then they must take something to maintain their link to the dreaming dragon or their powers fade.

I would also probably give them some creepy physical side effects of their link like amber dragon eyes or some such.

* Feel free to insert the dragons proper name if the order knows it.

 

[Shadowsmith]

In the campaign that I've been running dragon shamans are available in two cultures. Only one of these cultures is available as PCs however.

Here is how I explained them:

Dragon shamans worship Brother as the source of life. They revere dragons as the ultimate expression of Brother’s power. The journey to becoming a dragon shaman begins during the ritual manhood dragon hunt. When a hunt actually brings down a dragon, the child being tested is granted the opportunity to drink some of the dragon’s blood; those who do and survive have taken their first step to becoming a dragon shaman. Dragon shamans are rare and found only among the Weston tribes. Dragon shamans cannot multiclass with an aligned class.

Now a quick explanation of what that means. Brother, Bright Sister, and Pale Sister are the 'gods' of creation. According to official religious sources Brother died in battle with Darkness (a nihilistic evil force). The sisters took his body and used it to form the world. Some religious beliefs hold that dragons formed from the drops of Brother's blood.

 

[Nightfall]

*thinks the only pale thing is Pale Night*

Anyway Psion, you could always just say this "Any chance you want to be maybe paladin of Bahumut instead?"

That might work...

 

[Psion]

Didn't your player decide to play something else anyway?

Yep. So I'll pocket this discussion until the need arises. Now he wants to play a dread necromancer. Not my preference for how to handle theme mages, but I think I have an angle with some story potential.

 

[Aus_Snow]

Do you really want to know? Because I have an explanation.

I'd like to hear it, if you feel so inclined (even though I'm not the person to whom you responded there, of course).

 

[Psion]

I'd like to hear it, if you feel so inclined (even though I'm not the person to whom you responded there, of course).

http://www.enworld.org/showpost.php?p=3152428&postcount=12

 

[Tzarevitch]

Venerating an iconic creature isn't shamanesque? Someone forgot to tell all those bear/eagle/wolf/coyote/whale/turtle/raven worshipers....

Administering to a tribe's religious needs isn't shamanesque?

And how precisely how do its combat auras and piddly fire-breathing administer to the tribe's religious needs? The class is a misnomer. It is some sort of strange half-dragon Marshall thing. It has more in common with the Marshall class than it does with any of the ways the game portrays religious figures.

I can't speak for the class at high levels, though I think the fact that they only really sort of half-need one high ability score can lead to a lot of customisability, and a constant reliable breath weapon is pretty nice (remember, this was before the warlock, but I still think that it compares favorably with the eldritch blast).

I think the Dragon Shaman came after the Warlock not before. Also, it does NOT have a lot of customizabiliy. That is it's problem. There are few if any feats that support its class abilities and no prestige classes tailored for it.

Tzarevitch