How would you do this campaign with D&D 4th?

[Gundark]

I'm cooking up a fantasy campaign where the players are descended from Dragons. Early on in the campaign they will learn of their draconic heritage and learn that they can change into dragons (probably young adults). In game terms I'm thinking the "change" can only happen once per day and takes a full round or two to finish (and maybe only last for a limited time). The campaign would require the PCs to be in Humanoid form as well as sometimes being in Dragon Form.

4th is a game system that I'm contemplating doing this with, there are a lot of mechanics that would have to be thought out (like finding "appropriate" challenges while in dragon form)

How would you go about doing it? Specifically changing into dragons and fighting other larger creatures/armies?

 

[Kingreaper]

Personally, and this is just me, I'd treat Dragon like a class, with homebrew powers and features.
Possibly certain classes could be rethemed (and boosted slightly) to make dragon-class versions. Fighter, Bard, Sorcerer and Wizard seem like plausible ones for that

They build their PC as per usual, but also build its dragon equivalent.

Then, I would control the shift: perhaps they automatically shift at certain times? I would do this for one main reason:

If one PC is shifted, and the others aren't, it seems likely that the shifted PC would majorly outshine the others. Make them all shift together, and the problem goes away. It also gives you control over which encounters are fought by dragons, and which by normal-form.

 

[UnderThePale]

I actually tried something similar to this, once. Had a player who absolutely wanted to shift into the "Exarch of Bahamut" figure from one of the minis sets. It didn't work very well, but I learned from my mistakes.

For what you're planning, I would probably create monster stat blocks for each dragon type you want to use, and probably multiple levels of each, with increasingly powerful and dramatic abilities (including, possibly, auras at the higher levels), so that the were-dragons are never far stronger or weaker than the monsters. If anything, you'd want the dragons to be better than the players at any given level, but your mileage may vary.

However, in pursuit of this, simply make the "shift" a Daily power that can't be recharged in any fashion, save an Extended Rest. Likewise, minimize bookeeping and have the power last only to the end of combat. (This is in keeping with most powers in 4e that last longer than a round or don't have a "save ends" condition.)

Study the various Dragons and see what powers you want them to have. Try to keep them consistent with the way Dragons are built. Naturally, this ought to include a breath weapon with a recharge of 6 or 5/6.

Combat encounters shouldn't be too much easier as dragons overall, though if you want some "Oh, crap!" moments, definately throw things that would require dragon power: Tons of minions, multiple Large or Huge enemies, that sort of thing. Also areas that require flight... Don't trivialize what characters can do in 4e, though. It may be hard to find a balance, but if you've run 4e before, you should have a good feel for how she handles.

I hope this was of some help.

 

[Nytmare]

A daily power that turned you into a dragon and gave you access to a suite of other abilities would be neat.

Leveling up both your character and the dragon form seems neat too. Something where the player had a bunch of options to choose from though, instead of just a single path of growth.

I like the idea of the base character shining through, even when they're a dragon, but I don't necessarily like the idea of them being able to use all of the powers and abilities that they have in their base form. Magic makes sense, and weapon abilities that can be applied to claws and teeth seem fine, but my suspicion would be that powers tied to weaponey weapons will lead to problems, only because it opens the door to large characters with large weapons.

 

[Kzach]

I'd do something similar to what Kingreaper said although I'd make the power level of either form equal to the power level of the PC's so it wouldn't matter which form they were in, they'd all still be on a roughly equal footing.

I'd also maintain restrictions on power usage. So if you used your one daily power in your human form, switching to your dragon form wouldn't give you an extra daily power. In fact, I'd link the encounter and daily powers to each forms equivalent so that if you expend one, you effectively expend the other.

The primary advantage of the dragon form would be flight and I'd take advantage of that fact by making sections of the adventure which could only be completed by flying or fighting whilst flying.

The primary disadvantage of the dragon form would be size and again, I'd take advantage of that by creating various situations which would require them to shift back into humanoid form to complete.

Another possible thing to consider is magical items. My gut instinct is to say that magical items don't function, at all, in dragon form, but to instead give inherent bonuses that equate to having roughly the same level and amount of items they have in their humanoid forms.

 

[Aloïsius]

As a 4e heretic, I will make something different than what has been wisely proposed here.

So, each dragon has 4 "forms" : young, adult, old, venerable. Great.

1) I won't tell anything to the players about their characters being dragons (the last dragons alive, precisely...). There maybe some kind of obscure foreshadowing ("why are those guys trying to kill/capture us ? we have not done anything wrong !"), but both the players and the characters would remains ignorants of the fact.

Then, when they are roughly level 3 or so, I corner them into a desperate situation like an un-winable fight or being prisoners soon to be sacrificed by someone who wants to take their power. I then choose the PC who has have the least exposition time, the one who seemed the least efficient/powerful/optimised. I make sure he is the first "victim" to fall unconscious and dying. And while the other PC are busy keeping themselves alive (let's say there is a cave-in that let them think a few minutes about how to escape, while their enemies and their fallen comrade are on the other side), I talk to the other player, alone, explaining him that, while unconscious, he has a strange feeling of anger and power. Maybe he can discover and talk to his inner dragon, who will be very unhappy about the situation. I then hand him the stats of "his" new form : a young dragon, that is a level 3 or solo brute (if white dragon, I don't care about alignment, they don't exist anyway). I explain him that he will awaken himself in this state, but ask him to wait for my signal.

Then, I go back to the rest of the group. They probably have imagined a cunning plan. Or not. Anyway, the odds are against them, the enemy is close to defeat them... they can already see the body of their comrade, chained against the wall and looking barely alive. And when I think the time is right, I describe a sudden explosion, a hurricane of freezing cold, and I describe the apparition of the white dragon, a species that was supposed to be extinct for centuries. And I say the other player "enjoy yourself" while he probably crush the bad guys in a few round of awesome crushing power.

When he finish his job, he reverts to his human form, and fall unconscious on the ground. Now, the PC will have to find what happened (1). They will have to find that each of them is a dragon in human form (2). They will have to find what kind of dragon each of them is (3). And they will have to find how to control their power (4 and last part of the campaign).

I make each of them a different kind of dragon, who will need a very different kind of stuff to master his true form. I change their "true form" as they level up, but I make sure that, until they are able to master the transformation, the "true form" is far, far more powerful than their human shell. Damn ! We are talking about draconic might ! This is supposed to be overwhelmingly powerful and marvellous. I want the player to say "whoa !" each time a new transformation happens.

It's not bad to have one of the player take ALL the spotlight from time to time, provided it's not always the same player, and that each of them has his moment of glory.

At high level, when they are ALL able to master their draconic form, I will have to adjust them so that they are of roughly equal power. But for the rest of the campaign, I don't care, because I chose when they can transform.

The two forms are totally distinct ; they don't share the same hit-dice (wounding one does not wound the other), and they don't benefit from each other magic items. Those are really two different characters, rolled in one. The only trick is that one of them is not often present...

 

[Greatwyrm]

I'd probably try to model them after the way bloodline feats are handled. Like the half-vampire or dhamphir or whatever they called it. A series of feats they can choose as they level up that gives them more abilities.

Shifting could be handled by various stance powers. If you want them to be uncommon, I'd make them dailies.

You could also add feats for other stuff like natural weapons, enhanced senses, limited winged flight, stuff like that.