So assuming a DM is crazy enough to run an all-Purple Dragon Knights party, what's a good level to actually pair up the rider and the mount? Because if you start the characters at 5th level per the "epic fantasy" suggestions of the new books, that's not a bad starting point for some squires on the cusp of knighthood. Maybe the first adventure is their "test quest" that the dragons send them on . . . fail and you'll never be a full dragon knight. End of the quest, everyone levels up to 6, everyone gets their dragon.
Would you run the dragons as PCs? Would the same player run dragon and rider?
Cormyr must be crawling with embittered failed squires. I'd build up the idea that the bulk of the Purple Dragons are actually sergeants-at-arms or esquires-at-arms --- former squires who have sort of aged out of being contenders to pair with a dragon, but remain loyal servants of Cormyr.
I'm wondering if you'd need to "Power Rangers" this campaign. The Knights and dragons fly over to wherever the adventure starts, and then the dragons kinda go off and do dragon stuff off-screen. The players do the investigation and the exploration and some level-appropriate tussles. Then the situation suddenly escalates. Summon the dragons! But then we'd skip the part where the situation escalates further and the dragons all merge into a mega-dragon. Probably.
Glory paladins would be first in line, obviously. Cavaliers, eldritch knights, bannerets, maybe a war cleric, maybe a valor bard.
Would you run the dragons as PCs? Would the same player run dragon and rider?
Cormyr must be crawling with embittered failed squires. I'd build up the idea that the bulk of the Purple Dragons are actually sergeants-at-arms or esquires-at-arms --- former squires who have sort of aged out of being contenders to pair with a dragon, but remain loyal servants of Cormyr.
I'm wondering if you'd need to "Power Rangers" this campaign. The Knights and dragons fly over to wherever the adventure starts, and then the dragons kinda go off and do dragon stuff off-screen. The players do the investigation and the exploration and some level-appropriate tussles. Then the situation suddenly escalates. Summon the dragons! But then we'd skip the part where the situation escalates further and the dragons all merge into a mega-dragon. Probably.
Glory paladins would be first in line, obviously. Cavaliers, eldritch knights, bannerets, maybe a war cleric, maybe a valor bard.
