Why is Dragon Disciple still around?

[Saeviomagy]

Like a lot of people, you assume the dragon disciple is a prestige class for a spellcaster. It is not. It is a fighting class. +8 to strength over 10 levels, wings, breath weapon, natural armor, etc. A 30 strength at 17th level doesn't appeal to you? All without any magic. Ad12 Each level, con bonus, along with the int and cha bonus just makes this a sweet class to play. For a character who is primarily a fighter. For a true caster, it sucks rocks. A fighter 4/sorceror1 qualifies. Use the extra slots to load up on true strikes and power attack to your heart's content.

One level of sorceror and 4 levels of dragon disciple give you +5 to hit and +2 to damage, +2 natural armour 1d4+4d12 = ~28.5 hp (average roll), as well as some nifty spells, natural weapons (amounting to 3 attacks as soon as 7th level) and a breath weapon.


5 levels of fighter would give you +6 to hit and +2 to damage and a limited +1 to AC (weapon focus, weapon specialisation, dodge), along with 27.5 hp (average roll), plus a leftover feat.

So - bad for spellcasting, but great for melee.

 

[Jolly Giant]

I love the concept of the Dragon Disciple, but my girlfriend loves it even more! She used to try a new race or class whenever she rolled up a new character, but after she tried DD she doesn't want to play anything but a DD. In my current campaign she's know a human SOR6/DD17. She's grown to huge size and can now use her breathweapon 3/day (epic DDs get more uses of bw/day and keep growing in size).

We've been using the 3.0 version, though; the 3.5 version is too boring. It doesn't increase in size, doesn't grow wings... Also, I've ruled that DDs get stat-modifers as per the MM when they increase in size. The class is still far from over-powered.

 

[Shadowdweller]

As Saeviomagy mentioned, the dragon disciple gives natural attacks that can be used alongside weapons. At DD2, you can use a two-handed weapon AND attack with a bite attack in the same round, or alternately a one handed weapon, a claw attack, and a bite attack...all regardless of having TWF or not.

Rules for which can be found in various places, including the half-dragon entry in the 3.5 MM.

 

[Ycore Rixle]

Yep, definitely a great melee class. There is a Barbarian 8/Sorceror 2/ Dragon Disciple 6 IMC, and he is fearsome in melee. It is muscle mayhem with just the right dash of magic thrown in. Fun for the guy to play. Plus, it has led to some nice storylines where his dragon blood "awoke" after killing a red dragon, a tangled family relationship with a great white wyrm and its half-dragon son, silver/white dragon rivalries, and more colorful nicknames/insults than you could ever need. Basically, it's well-balanced and has added a lot of flavor to the campaign. What more can you ask from a prestige class?

 

[pawsplay]

I came up with an odd combination I liked. Half-orc Barbarian/Sorcerer/Dragon Disciple. Besides the stylish looks, the extra spell slots synergize nicely with the strong melee caster, and the Charisma increase compensates for the natural shortcomings of the half-orc.

 

[Nightfall]

Eh. It's fine for others, but for me, I prefer to do the savage progression shown in WotC for half-dragon IF I want to go half dragon. But whatever floats anyone else's boat.

 

[Darklone]

DD gives more hitpoints IIRC than Half dragon. And if you stick the halfogre template on a PC ... and turn towards DD later...

 

[Ferret]

Dragon disciples are far more a flavour/melee class that anything else that I can think of. A spell caster version should be made.

 

[Wippit Guud]

Dragon disciples are far more a flavour/melee class that anything else that I can think of. A spell caster version should be made.

Why?

We don't have spellcater versions of duelist, or melee versions of loremaster...

 

[James McMurray]

Half-ogre template? Where is that?