Hi Halivar, welcome to the club. I've likewise been playing a gold dragon hatchling from Dragon #320 for over a year now. I've made it up to level 8 so far. I'll share what information I've learned by playing one; hopefully you'll find something useful in there.
Everyone keeps asking what your second level abilities are. At that level a gold dragon's abilities are... a little eclectic. In all it's got 2d12 hit dice, +2 BAB, +3 to all saves, 30+(Int x 5) skills points, 1 feat, +2 Cha, +1 natural armor, water breathing, bite 1d8+Str, land and swim speeds of 30 each, +8 to swim checks, immunities to sleep and paralysis, immunity to fire, a vulnerability to cold, 120 ft. darkvision and can see four times as well as a human in dim light. All in all, it's an interesting skill set but it's hardly a combat monster. I've found that when teamed up with a group of humanoid PCs it's best to think of a dragon as filling the role of a dual-wielding ranger. Your combat abilities will most likely never surpass a straight classed fighter but you make up for it with a few nifty class features. Eventually the dragon takes on the role of the party's advanced scout, watchman and secondary fighter; like a ranger usually would.
Quickleaf said:
I would take the Mobility feat and some kind of house-ruled free diving feat (reduce pressure & cold damage from water, bonus to jump check to avoid damage from falling into water, and ability to hold your breath twice as long than normal).
A dragon gets very few feats so you can't afford to spend any on anything but the essentials. With the ability to breathe water, a swim speed and a natural +8 to swim checks, you won't generally have to worry about any water hazards.
Quickleaf said:
And get some other class skills if you have another feat handy
Dragons never have another feat handy since feats are granted by Hit Dice, which for a hatchling is always lagging behind other PCs. As a gold dragon, you'll get one feat at 1st, one at 3rd, one at 9th and another at 13th; that's it. To get a much needed extra feat, I took a flaw from the Unearthed Arcana book. I chose Shaky since dragons rarely ever use missile weapons. A the dragon's skill list is already very good. The most important thing to max out is your Use Magic Device skill. With it you can keep a stock of low level spells (from any spellcasting class) on scrolls to use whenever you want without having to hassle your fellow party members to keep buffing you. Keep a good roster of useful spells that bolster your natural abilities close at hand. Since they're class skills, max out your Listen, Search and Spot skills to take full advantage of your superior senses. All Knowledges are class skills for you, so take advantage of your many skill points and become a sage of sorts in your chosen field(s). I keep my Knowledge (Arcana) maxed out to be the party's dragon expert as well as to identify magic items (DC 30).
Quickleaf said:
I would set up as many battles as I could near a body of water and send you in as a the aquatic unit, diving under and holding your breath to leap from the water at the last minute and drag your foes into the watery depths to drown them like a crocodile.
Although you'll be the best person in the water you can hardly count on having a sufficiently deep pool of water at hand very often unless you're campaign is centered around sailing and the sea. And, although I've given it a try, the drowning tactic isn't really that practical. To drag your opponent under the waves you'll have to win grapple checks with him to grab a hold of him, another to move him down and more to hold him down there until he succumbs. If you're strong you'll probably win most of the time, but if he ever gets lucky he'll break free and swim to the surface. It'll take upwards of ten consecutive rounds under water before he starts running out of air. If he breaks surface and gets a breath then you have to start all over. It's just too bloody slow. If someone falls in the water great, but just keep biting him; it's more efficient.
Quickleaf said:
If they are on foot, try sneaking around the enemy and attacking them from a different direction.
This is a good tactic for any character. Eventually you'll get a superior land and fly speeds and will quickly and easily be able to reach your opponents which is good. The thing to remember though is that by that time you'll have multiple attacks and that's where your strength will be so don't waste time moving around too much when you'd be better off performing full attacks to get the best millage out of all your natural weapons.
Quickleaf said:
Of course, there is the humiliating option of being ridden by a Small creature like a gnome or halfling; if they have the Mounted Combat feat they can ward off blows against you.
This isn't a bad idea if you've got a amenable companion. Just brush up on the particulars of characters as mounts by checking out Skip Williams' Rules of the game articles:
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/rg/20050125a
Quickleaf said:
Even if your allies fall I would flee from battle. A captured gold dragon in the wrong hands could be devastating.
This is sound advice for any PC, but I'm not sure I understand what difference being a gold dragon makes to being captured; it's bad for any PC.
SidusLupus said:
When you do get your breath weapons you'll probably want to use them as much as possible.
Actually, I think you'll find that your breath weapons are really just for show; they're pretty useless most of the time since the damage is fairly negligible. For instance, the 1d10 fire damage you'll be dealing between 6th and 8th levels is a joke. An average roll is 5.5 damage with a successful save (which at that level is often easy for most opponents) only dealing 2.75 damage on average to each opponent. The only time that it is advisable is when you are facing many opponents in a tight clump. In that case just count how many natural attacks you could do and compare the overall damage of each option. For instance, if you can perform a full attack with your three natural weapons (bite/claw/claw) and assuming you'll hit with all three then you'll be dealing (assuming a 16 Str) on average 16.5 damage during the round (1d8+3/1d6+1/1d6+1). To do similar damage with your 30 ft. cone of fire however, you'd have to have 6 or more targets all clumped together. Even then though it's usually preferable to attack a single target and kill it faster than to slowly damage a large group of individuals. Usually the only times that it's preferable to use your breath weapon are when you're limited to a single attack (during a surprise round or when your opponents are out of reach for a full attack) or when you're flying overhead and your opponent(s) have no ranged attacks (like most stupid monsters with natural weapons). Your weakening gas breath weapon is just not really viable at this low level though. By only dealing a single point of Str damage to several most likely low level creatures you're essentially having no appreciable effect on their combat ability and not really hurting them. It would take five or six consecutive breaths and many failed saves to even start affecting your opponents Strength significantly. Just don't bother.
SidusLupus said:
When you get the alternate form abilities, you'll become a pretty good infiltrator, and your combat abilities might open up some depending on the animals you shape into.
The alternate form ability is, according to the article, gained at 4th level. This is my one and only beef with the article and the Gold Dragon class in general. Since a dragon can turn into birds at 4th but only gains its own flight speed at 6th, that means that the dragon will be able to fly with its alternate form's feathered wings before it learns to use its own natural wings. To me, that's just dumb. A dragon should be better at using its own wings than some other form's. The other issue is, that the dragon can turn into animals (like black bears, wolverines or mountain lions) with multiple natural attacks ahead of being able to use its own claw attacks (which it likewise gains at 6th). To me that just doesn't make much sense. A dragon is supposed to be the ultimate predator, and even though it has claws and teeth of its own, it's better off fighting as a mountain lion rather than in its own dragon form?!? For these reasons I asked and received permission from my DM to switch the two abilities to gain natural flight (speed 100 ft.) at 4th ahead of the alternate form ability at 6th. I'd recommend doing the same to avoid any silliness, but that's just me.
Like SidusLupus said however, once you get the alternate form ability you will indeed become a great infiltrator. The best part of your special ability is, that unlike a druid, you aren't limited to small or medium sized animals, just anything smaller than medium. That means that, unlike a lower level druid, you can turn into fine sized animals right away. Turning into a field mouse or sparrow is almost like becoming invisible and is, in my opinion the best part of the alternate form ability. A field mouse can sneak in anywhere, including an enemy's backpack and be virtually undetectable. Also, don't forget that some animal forms have natural bonuses to some skills that you can take full advantage of, like eagles and owls for spotting when you're keeping watch.
SidusLupus said:
If someone tries to trip you however, they wont have an easier time since you have 4 legs.
SidusLupus is exactly right, and this is the strategy that I've focused on myself. I've taken the Combat Expertise and Improved Trip feat and haven't regretted it. Don't ignore the necessity of getting Multiattack and Improved Multiatttack ASAP to make your secondary attacks as viable as your primary. Having multiple natural weapons is only useful if they all hit. With a high strength, the +4 to opposed Strength checks for the Improved Trip feat and a natural 4 legged defense against being counter-tripped, dragons make great trip-monkeys. Since your BAB will lag behind other fighters a bit, that -4 AC penalty for your prone opponent helps to keep you competitive. With my multiple natural attacks, I can attempt trip attacks with each one, downing my opponent and then follow up with free attack at a significantly lower AC target. My target also suffers a -4 to hit me in return for lying prone. If he ever tries to get up or crawl away I get a free attack of opportunity to hit him again. I usually describe the trip as sweeping an opponent's legs out from under him with a tail sweep and then pouncing on him with tooth and claw. It's fun.
For the real hidden power of tripping though you have to try fighting opponents in the air. Check out Skip Williams' article on aerial combat:
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/rg/20040706a By tripping flying opponents in the air you cause them to stall and fall towards the earth on their turn. With this trick I managed to deal 12d6 falling damage to a medium sized green dragon who charged me in the air.
For all this fun though, dragons do have their problems; some of which can be easily resolved while others are more tricky. First off, get yourself a ring of feather falling. It's cheap and it'll ensure that if you ever got knocked below 0 hit points or somehow immobilized or tangled while in the air that you won't fall to your death automatically. This is key if you want to try the aerial tripping trick since, without four feet on the ground, you're just as vulnerable to a counter-trip as your opponent is to yours.
Another big issue is acquiring magic items and equipment. Improving your natural attacks with items is a pricey endeavour as compared to a fighter who simply has to invest in one magic weapon. Look seriously into getting something akin to an Amulet of Mighty Fists from the DMG to improve all your natural attacks at once but check out Skip Williams' guidelines for creating a slightly cheaper but properly slotted version in his Rules of the Game article on creating magic items:
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/rg/20050111a Also, improving your strength via magic belts is always good for dealing more damage, but also for winning opposed strength checks if attempting to trip like I do. Very Important. Also, as you mentioned, armor is a good if somewhat silly looking idea. Since you don't have any armor proficiencies you'll suffer armor check penalties to all your attacks. The way around this is to simply select armors that have no armor check penalties. So get the best you can afford. Leather at first is dirt cheap, followed by masterwork studded leather and finally a mithral shirt if you can get it. Also, check out the dastana in the Arms and Equipment Guide if you have it. It can offer an extra +1 AC without incurring an armor check penalty and can be worn over a chain shirt. Don't bother enchanting your armor overmuch though since you'll eventually grow out of it and have to replace it anyways. For magic items, I myself at eight level currently have an amulet of natural armor +2, a ring of feather falling, armbands of Ogre Power +2, a pectoral gem of mighty fists +1 (counts as a shirt) and mithral chain shirt barding +1 and a wide selection of potions and scrolls.
The only other big issue with playing a dragon is overcoming Damage Reduction. While fighting with natural weapons it becomes particularly tricky to get special material qualities and such. A mighty fists item changes all your natural attacks into magic but everything else is a bit trickier. One solution I've found is to wear a special material tail blade for special opponents (mine is cold iron). The tail blade can be found described in the Savage Species book and is an exotic weapon. I usually wield mine untrained suffering the -4 to hit but compensate for the penalty by first using my other natural attacks to trip opponents. Damage Reduction doesn't affect special combat manoeuvres like trip or bull rush so it's a good alternative to trying to overcome the DR with straight damaging attacks. I also keep potions of silvered weapons (Book of Exalted Deeds) for converting my natural attacks into silvered ones and oil of bless weapon for making them holy in reserve.
Anyways, this is some of the advice I can offer with my experience in playing a gold dragon hatchling. I hope you find something useful in there somewhere. Let me know what you think. Good luck.
Edit: Oh and don't forget that you have the Fire subtype. That means that clerics with the Fire or Water domains can affect you with their special turning abilities. With it they can turn you away or even try to gain control of you and turn you against your allies. Check out which deities in your campaign grant either of those domains and then keep a keen eye open for any signs of activity from those churches in your adventure. The last thing you want is to have a fire priest show up and command you.
