Good PrC for a Dragon-riding Gnome Wizard

[mattcolville]

Here's my quandary;

I'm thinking of swapping out my 12th level Monk in my friend's Greyhawk campaign, for a 12th level gnomish dragonriding Wizard.

The premise of the character is that he's into dragons, has Leadership, Improved Cohort, and Draconic Cohort so he can get a Young Brass Dragon (I think) as a cohort and since the dragon is M and the gnome is S, the Gnome can ride his dragon cohort.

This character is a wizard for a couple of reasons; 1) the party has no wizard. Lots of damage-dealing both ranged and melee, but no wizard. I want to have a wide variety of useful, non-damage-dealing spells to fill the gap we currently have (hell, we're 12th level and we don't have Identify!)

So; he has a draconic cohort whom he rides. This is his shtick. He's a gnomish wizard. I'm looking for a cool, dragon-oriented PrC to level into.

So far, all the stuff I've found has been decidedly sorcerer-oriented. Is there no room in D&D for a wizard who's devoted himself to studying dragons? I'd like something that grants me the +1 level of spellcasting class per level as a benefit, so I'd really BE a 12th level wizard, but if the class abilities were cool, I'd be willing to give that up. But I don't want to play a Sorcerer or Bard.

Halp!

 

[avr]

The Loremaster PrC is a possibility - just say that you're interested in ancient dragon lore (10 ranks of Knowledge [history] for the class prereq.) and that the class benefits of Loremaster derive from that. With the feats you've picked you'll probably have something like Wizard 10/Loremaster 2.

 

[Thurbane]

Isn't there a Wyrm Wizard or smilar PrC in one of the many dragon themed books from last year or so? (Draconomicon, Races of the Dragon, Dragon Magic, Dragon Underpants etc.)

 

[Mistwell]

Isn't there a Wyrm Wizard or smilar PrC in one of the many dragon themed books from last year or so? (Draconomicon, Races of the Dragon, Dragon Magic, Dragon Underpants etc.)

Yeah there the Underpants-Gnome Dragonrider.

 

[Nifft]

Dragonslayer (Draconomicon) is actually quite good. Immunity to Fear, all martial weapons & armor & shields, +1 BAB, +1 level Spellcasting, and you do extra damage to Dragons ... so it's nice if you're fighting evil dragons. Also, it dovetails nicely with Spellsword (Complete Warrior). If you don't mind losing a level of spellcasting, three levels of Dragonslayer are pretty sweet.

You'll need Dodge and Iron Will to enter Dragonslayer, but it's worth it IMHO. Also, you'll need BAB +5, so a Wizard 10 qualifies nicely. Then off you go into Spellsword (for one level), and you've got the ability to wear Light armor & still cast spells.

Complete Mage has the Abjurant Champion, which is very nice for a martial-minded Wizard (after your Dragonslaer & Spellsword levels). From the same book is the Holy Scourge, which might be nice if you see yourself as an Arcane Paladin type... it'll cost you one level of spellcasting, too, though.

Gnome Wizard 10 / Dragonslayer 1 / Spellsword 1:

1/ Wizard 1 -- [Scribe Scroll], Dodge
3/ Iron Will
5/ [Craft Wondrous Item]
6/ Combat Casting
9/ Draconic Cohort
10/ [Craft Magic Arms & Armor]
11/ Dragonslayer 1
12/ Spellsword 1 -- Improved Cohort
13-17/ Abjurant Champion 1-5

Your BAB won't ever be great -- you'll go from BAB +7 at 12th level to BAB +12 at 17th level -- but your HP will be decent, and you'll have a lot of defensive options.

There's a variant Wizard in Unearthed Arcana which gets bonus Fighter feats instead of bonus item creation feats. You might consider taking that, and getting Mounted Combat + Ride-By Attack. If your Dragon has Fly-By Attack, I think you can both get in one smack each.

Do you need Leadership and Draconic Cohort? It looks to me like Leadership won't give you any benefit over Draconic Cohort. (Even without Improved Cohort, you could get a Very Young Bronze, which is IMHO superior to a Young Brass.)

Cheers, -- N

 

[Mistwell]

On a serious note, the Dragonlance Campaign Setting book has a prestige class called Dragonrider on page 77. Over the 10 levels of the class you get a Dragon Cohort, Mounted Attack, three Feats, Empathic Communication, Inspire Fear, Defensive Tactics, and Defensive teamwork.

 

[Nifft]

On a serious note, the Dragonlance Campaign Setting book has a prestige class called Dragonrider on page 77. Over the 10 levels of the class you get a Dragon Cohort, Mounted Attack, three Feats, Empathic Communication, Inspire Fear, Defensive Tactics, and Defensive teamwork.

Any spellcasting? He wants to stay primary spellcaster, which is why I'm not recommending the Dragonrider (in Draconomicon).

Cheers, -- N

 

[Mistwell]

Any spellcasting? He wants to stay primary spellcaster, which is why I'm not recommending the Dragonrider (in Draconomicon).

Cheers, -- N

No it is not a spellcasting class.

 

[Thurbane]

Got home and looked at my books - Wyrm Wizard (Dragon Magic, p. 55) was the one I was thinking of. Nice Dragon themed PrC for non-spontaneous arcane casters...

 

[mattcolville]

Got home and looked at my books - Wyrm Wizard (Dragon Magic, p. 55) was the one I was thinking of. Nice Dragon themed PrC for non-spontaneous arcane casters...

That's very much along the lines of what I was looking for. Though I am loathe to give up the three spellcasting levels. I'm not sure the special abilities I'd get are worth losing 6th level spells.

I wish the Dracolexi wasn't a freakin' bard PrC.