The Dragon Knight

[Aleolus]

This here's a class I came up with, and I'm wanting to get opinions on it!


The Dragon Knight
Hit Die: d12

Skill Points per level: 2+Int (x4 at first level)
Class Skills: Climb (Str), Handle Animal (Cha), Intimidate (Cha), Jump, Knowledge (Arcana) (Int) (only for information relating to Dragons or draconic creatures), Listen (Wis), Ride (Dex), Sense Motive (Wis), Spot (Wis), Survival (Wis)


Level BAB Fort Ref Will Special
1 +1 +2 +0 +2 Totem Dragon, Dragon Friend/Foe, Draconic Form 1/day, Frightful Intimidation
2 +2 +3 +0 +3 Tooth and Nail, Powerful Build
3 +3 +3 +1 +3 Breath Weapon (1d8), Draconic Charm
4 +4 +4 +1 +4 Draconic Form 2/day, Spell-Like abilities
5 +5 +4 +1 +4 Tooth and Nail (Magic)
6 +6/+1 +5 +2 +5 Breath Weapon (2d8)
7 +7/+2 +5 +2 +5 Wings (40 feet, average)
8 +8/+3 +6 +2 +6 Draconic Form 3/day
9 +9/+4 +6 +3 +6 Breath Weapon (3d8)
10 +10/+5 +7 +3 +7 Wings (60 feet)
11 +11/+6/+1 +7 +3 +7 Greater Draconic Form, Spell-Like Abilities (Second tier)
12 +12/+7/+2 +8 +4 +8 Draconic Form 4/day, Breath Weapon (4d8)
13 +13/+8/+3 +8 +4 +8 Wings (Good maneuverability)
14 +14/+9/+4 +9 +4 +9 Summon Dragon
15 +15/+10/+5 +9 +5 +9 Breath Weapon (5d8)
16 +16/+11/+6/+1 +10 +5 +10 Draconic Form 5/day
17 +17/+12/+7/+2 +10 +5 +10 Tireless Draconic Form
18 +18/+13/+8/+3 +11 +6 +11 Breath Weapon (6d8)
19 +19/+13/+9/+4 +11 +6 +11 Action While Forming
20 +20/+15/+10/+5 +12 +6 +12 Draconic Form 6/day, Mighty Draconic FormWeapon and Armor Proficiencies: A Dragon Knight is proficient with all simple and martial weapons, and with light armor, but not with shields.

Totem Dragon: A Dragon Knight chooses a Totem Dragon from the list of totem dragons available for the Dragon Shaman. He one skill from the list of class skills from that dragon, and adds that skill to his list of Class Skills.

Dragon Friend/Foe (Ex): Any time a Dragon Knight and a Dragon speak, the Dragon's attitude towards the Knight is modified based on the Knights alignment. If either aspect of the Knights alignment matches that of the Dragon's, the Dragon's attitude starts off one step better. If the Knight's alignment matches the Dragon's, then the Dragon's attitude starts off two steps better. However, either aspect of the Knights alignment opposes the Dragons, the Dragon's attitude will start off one step worse. If they oppose completely, it starts off two steps worse.

Draconic Form (Ex): Once per day, a Dragon Knight may wreath himself in the illusion of the energy type associated with his totem dragon, completely obscuring himself from view for one round. After this round, the illusion breaks, revealing the Dragon Knight in his Draconic Form. While in Draconic Form, he gains +4 Str, +4 Con, and a +2 Natural Armor bonus, takes a -4 Dex penalty, and gains a Frightful Presence (DC= 10+ Cha modifier plus 1/2 his class level). He may remain in this form for a number of rounds equal to 2 plus his (newly improved) Con modifier. He may choose to end this effect at will, and when the effect ends, either from his choosing to or from the time expiring, he is exhausted. At 4th level, and every 4 levels after that, he gains one additional use of his Draconic Form per day.

Frightful Intimidation: A Dragon Knight may choose to replace his Frightful Presence DC with an Intimidate check as a full round action, which does not provoke attacks of opportunity. To do this, while in Draconic Form, the Dragon Knight makes an Intimidate Check, which then forces all creatures who can be affected by his Frightful Presence to remake their saving throws. If the creature was already shaken from his Frightful Presence, they must make the new saving throw or become Panicked. The effect of the increased DC lasts for 3 rounds. A creature who becomes panicked because of this remains panicked until they succeed on their Will Save, for the higher DC.

Greater Draconic Form: When a Dragon Knight reaches 11th level, his Draconic Form ability improves. The bonus granted by his Dragon Form rises to +6 Str and +4 Con, while his bonus to AC remains at +2, and his penalty to Dexterity falls to -2 In addition, after his Draconic Form ends, he is only fatigued.

Tireless Draconic Form: At 17th level, a Dragon Knight is no longer exhausted or fatigued at the end of his Draconic Form.

Mighty Draconic form (Ex): At 20th level, the bonuses given by a Dragon Knight's Draconic Form improve again. His bonuses to Strength and Constitution increase to +8 and +6, respectively, his natural armor bonus increases to +4, and his penalty to Dexterity remains at -2.

Tooth and Nail (Ex): Beginning at second level, while in Draconic Form, a Dragon Knight gains a bite attack and two claw attacks, as normal for those attacks of his size category. At 7th level, these attacks are considered magical for all applicable purposes (50% miss chance against incorporeal creatures, overcome DR as magic weapons)

Powerful Build: Beginning at second level, while a Dragon Knight is in his Draconic Form, he is treated as one size category larger than he really is, whenever doing so would be beneficial for him. A Dragon Knight of second level or higher qualifies for feats, classes and so forth as though he were one size category larger than he actually is, but he may only gain the benefits of such while in his Draconic Form.

Draconic Charm (Su): Beginning at 3rd level, a Dragon Knight may use Charm on any Dragon, or any creature with the Draconic subtype. The target is allowed a Will save as normal (DC 10 plus the Dragon Shaman's Charisma modifier, plus 1/2 his Class level). A dragon who successfully saves cannot be affected by any Dragon Knight's Draconic Charm ability for 24 hours.

Spell-Like abilities: Beginning at 4th level, a Dragon Knight begins to gain Spell-Like abilities, based on their Totem Dragon, which he may use a varying number of times per day, as given on the list below. Abilities gained at 4th level may be used a number of times per day equal to 4 plus the character's class level. Abilities gained at 12th level may be used a number of times per day equal to 2 plus 1/2 their class level, and abilities gained at 18th level may be used a number of times per day equal to 1 plus 1/4 their class level. Caster level equals 1/2 their class level.
4th level
Black: Acid Splash
Blue: Flare
Brass: Light
Bronze: Dancing Lights
Copper: Detect Poison
Gold: Burning Hands
Green: Acid Splash
Red: Burning Hands
Silver: Chill Touch
White: Ray of Frost
At 12th level, all Dragon Knights gain Fireball, substituting the element of their breath weapon for normal damage.
At 18th level:
Black: Horrid Wilting
Blue: Chain Lightning
Brass: Sunburst
Bronze: Chain Lightning
Copper: Disintegrate
Gold: Meteor Swarm
Green: Acid Fog
Red: Meteor Swarm
Silver: Polar Ray
White: Otiluke's Freezing Sphere

Breath Weapon (Ex): Beginning at 3rd level, while in his Draconic Form, a Dragon Knight has a breath weapon corresponding to his Totem Dragon. This breath weapon deals 1d8 points of energy damage per 3 class levels, with the standard Reflex save for half. This weapon uses the standard rules for breath weapons

Wings: Beginning at 7th level, when a Dragon Knight enters his Draconic Form, he grows wings. These wings allow him to fly at a speed of 40 feet, average maneuverability. If he already has a fly speed, use the speed and maneuverability from the better source.
At 10th level, his fly speed increases to 60 feet, and at 13th, his maneuverability improves to Good.

Summon Dragon (Su): Starting at fourteenth level, once per week, a Dragon Knight may summon an Adult Dragon of his totem dragon type to aid him. The dragon magically appears at his side, and will do whatever it can to assist him, though the dragon is not under any magical compulsions to do what is bidden of them and may refuse to help if it has a justifiable reason (example, no Dragon would perform a simple courrier mission unless there was sufficient danger to warrant it). If it agrees to aid the Knight, it will remain for as long as it takes to complete the task, though the dragon may decide it has done enough and leave at any time prior to this.

Action while Forming (Ex): Beginning at 19th level, a Dragon Knight may take one standard action while entering his Draconic Form. This action must be chosen from the list below.
A single attack
An Intimidate Check
A Grapple Check
Using one available Spell-Like Ability

[razada]

cool, i will make a character as an npc that has this class and try it out, i will pm you about the results and any advice.

[Aleolus]

Thanks alot! I've been wanting to try it out, 'cause I've gotten a lot of good reviews of them, but no one's tried them out!

[Anaesthesia]

cool, i will make a character as an npc that has this class and try it out, i will pm you about the results and any advice.

Ditto. Will fit nicely into my campaign (with an addition of a Draconic Cohort)

[Aleolus]

Well, so that you all know, here's the fluff for Dragon Knights.

Dragon Knights originate from the same type of society that produces Dragon Shamans. That is to say, mostly communities where dragons are venerated as the highest of all creations, if not divine beings themselves. The difference is that, while Dragon Shamans tend to come from communities with little or no contact with actual dragons, whereas Dragon Knights have typically had first-hand contact with dragons, in some way. The other difference between Dragon Shamans and Dragon Knights is that Dragon Shaman's see the power of dragons as something to be utilized for the benefit of all, including the dragons themselves. Dragon Knights, on the other hand, see their draconic power as a tool for them to use to fight for and in the name of their dragon counterparts.
Most Dragon Knights, towards the start of their career, attempt to acquire a talisman or charm from the dragon they associate with the strongest. This can come from any representative of that color dragon, but the Knights typically prefer it to be given willingly, as they see that as a sacrement of the dragon's trust. Anything can be acceptable, but it is preferable if it was a part of the dragon to begin with (an old claw, shed scale, etc). When Forming, they often bring out that charm and hold it aloft, that their foes might know they represent the dragons themselves.[/fluff]

Beyond that, they vary between individuals as much as anyone else does.

[rabkala]

This is far too powerful!
It gets Full BAB, A d12 for hit die, 2 good saves, overpowered spell like abilities, better shaping abilities than a druid, awesomely overpowered unlimited breath weapon, unlimited charming, frightful presence, etc. ... come on now, why not a familiar too. Try comparing this to any one class in the PHB and tell me it isn't completely broken. Try comparing this to the Dragon Disciple prestige class or similar prestige classes and it is still just wrong.

I think the spell like abilities are wonky, too powerful, and don't seem right.
I don't much like the dragon summoning as written.
What is the size of the dragon form, normal creature size?
Where does the dragon shaman come from?

I guess I have more problems with it, but I'll just stop there since I don't have the time to dive into the tomes tonight. I don't mean to sound condescending, hateful or anything of the sort. This does need serious work and I could probably be of more help at a later time, if you so wish.

[TAROT]

I'm a little rusty on the D&D, but it seems to me that it does everything that the Barbarian does, only much better and with fewer drawbacks.

I like the overall concept, but for a D&D implementation, I'd suggest dropping the hit die to a d10, use the intermediate progression for the Will save, tone it back a bit, and turn it into a 10 level prestige class that you could get to after four or five levels of barbarian (Prereqs. something along the lines of BAB +4, Rage ability, Knowledge (Dragons) 2 ranks)

[Aleolus]

This is far too powerful!
It gets Full BAB, A d12 for hit die, 2 good saves, overpowered spell like abilities, better shaping abilities than a druid, awesomely overpowered unlimited breath weapon, unlimited charming, frightful presence, etc. ... come on now, why not a familiar too. Try comparing this to any one class in the PHB and tell me it isn't completely broken. Try comparing this to the Dragon Disciple prestige class or similar prestige classes and it is still just wrong.

I think the spell like abilities are wonky, too powerful, and don't seem right.
I don't much like the dragon summoning as written.
What is the size of the dragon form, normal creature size?
Where does the dragon shaman come from?

I guess I have more problems with it, but I'll just stop there since I don't have the time to dive into the tomes tonight. I don't mean to sound condescending, hateful or anything of the sort. This does need serious work and I could probably be of more help at a later time, if you so wish.

...I'd be willing to accept more help if you're willing to be less aggressive in your presentations of percieved problems. The Dragon Shaman class is introduced in the PHBII, and it gets the following: 3/4 BAB, D10 hit die, totem dragon, good Fort and Will Saves, 2+int skill points, and auras they can project at will like the Marshal. Unlike the Marshal, they can only project one aura, which has a flat bonus (+1 at first level, an additional +1 at fifth and every 5 after). They also get a special ability based off their totem dragon, most of which give Water Breathing. They get a breath weapon which they can use as often as a dragon can (every 1d4 rounds), and they get their own version of Lay on Hands, called Touch of Vitality. Finally, they get natural armor, immunity to everything dragons are immune to, Commune 1/week to contact your dragon totem, and at 19th level, you get wings you can use to fly at 60 feet/round with good manuverability.

I took the idea behind the Dragon Shaman, and applied it to the Barbarian. This is what I came up with.

[rabkala]

Sorry if I seemed overly aggressive. :)

Ahhh... PHB2, I thought dragon shaman sounded familiar. That would sound about right knowing the power creep of WoTC supplements. I'll see if I can't look at some stuff and be more constructive later.

Dwarf needs sleep badly...

[DrAwkward]

I agree that it seems too powerful.

I like what you are trying to do, however. A more martial version for the same "clans" that produce dragon shaman.

If we go from the perspective that they want to take on the physical charactersistics of dragons as opposed to the magical ones, we can start by looking at dragon Hit Die:

d12, 6 skills points, all good saves, full BAB. By far the best creature type out there -- well worth reverence. Its also a little too powerful for a base class. It could stand as is with *no* class abiltiies, maybe, but thats kinda boring.

Barbarian is a good starting point.

Totem Dragon makes sense.

Draconic Friend/Foe is kinda strange, and as a DM I don't like abilities that decide how the NPCs react. I'd make it a bonus/penalty to all charisma-based skills in dealing with dragons.

Draconic Form is too Dragonball Z for me. I understand that you are trying to to convert the Rage into something thematically appropriate, but I think it throws the whole class out of whack. I like the Frightful Presense, though. I think if it was just Frightful Presence 1/day +1/5 levels we are good. That makes it about as useful (useless?) as a paladin's smite or a hexblade's curse.

Frightful Intimidation is a bit over the top. Replacing a DC and making them re-save is a bit harsh.

Tooth and Nail -- how about we just slowly add natural attacks that work all the time? at Nth level they get a claw attack, at M level they get a bite.

Powerful Build -- I'd rather this was worded to just upgrade the damage on his natural attacks, and was included in that power chain.

Draconic Charm -- ehrm... not seeing this fit.

Spell-like abilities -- not unless we nerf the base martial stats.

Breath Weapon -- at this point we are already a bit powerful. can't see adding this in without getting rid of something. May as well leave the breath weapon to the shaman. No real sense in overlapping since its the same tribe. Better to have different and complimentary abilties.

Wings -- ya, sure. add this in the "natural weapon" porgression, as an "all the time" thing. Should probably kick in right around when Favored Souls get thiers. With "powerful build" we may even get a wing buffet attack.

Summon Dragon -- Oh hell no. maybe give them a large plus on thier leadership score for a dragon cohort if they take Leadership as a feat.

I'd add in a slow progression of DR/magic. The idea here is this gives their natural attacks the ability to bypass DR/magic without having to call it out. This should kick in around the same time Monks get "magic" on thier attacks.

Perhaps near the end of this class we should go ahead and change thier type to "dragon"

I guess what I'm suggesting is that we take the hardiness of barbarian, and turn it into a natural-attack class like monk. Monks should still do more damage in the end, and have more attacks since that is our trade off for being able to wear armor and have a better BAB and HD.

Basically we end up with a very combat oriented class that has a very slight reason to have a better charasma. This puts it on par with Paladin, which is good. Paladin is to cleric what Dragon Knight is to Dragon Shaman.

[Aleolus]

OK, so you all know, the starting point I had for this class was the characters in a video game called The Legend of Dragoon. In the game, your characters transform into Dragoons, the Dragon Knights with the power to control dragons. In the game, they gain the ability to transform, gaining cool armor with wings that let them fly, and massively upgraded attack power. Once they max out their Dragoon abilities, they gain the ability to summon the dragon that gave them their power, at a massive MP cost. I took those abilities, and tried to render them as a D&D class, without making it too powerful. This is what I've gotten so far, and the people on Gleemax seemed to like it. Maybe if I repost it, I'll get more opinions and be able to fine-tune it more.

[DrAwkward]

OK, so you all know, the starting point I had for this class was the characters in a video game called The Legend of Dragoon. In the game, your characters transform into Dragoons, the Dragon Knights with the power to control dragons. In the game, they gain the ability to transform, gaining cool armor with wings that let them fly, and massively upgraded attack power. Once they max out their Dragoon abilities, they gain the ability to summon the dragon that gave them their power, at a massive MP cost. I took those abilities, and tried to render them as a D&D class, without making it too powerful. This is what I've gotten so far, and the people on Gleemax seemed to like it. Maybe if I repost it, I'll get more opinions and be able to fine-tune it more.

Ok.. you have the power to control dragons. From this power comes the ability to summon a dragon -- the summon starts as an internal manifestation with boosted abilities, and eventually caps out at actually manifesting the dragon externally. Interesting.

Should summoning a dragon use up one of your boosts, and only last that long? The long duration of the summon really concerns me. If you do want a long duration I'd phrase it like this:

A Dragon Knight's (why not Dragoon?) ability to control dragons has advanced to the point where he can call one to serve indefinately. This works like the leadership feat, except the silly modifiers do not apply. The Dragon Knight gets a +4 bonus to his Leadership score for determining the level of his dragon cohort. This ability does not attract followers. If the Dragon Knight takes the Leadership feat, it allows the Dragon Cohort to be 1 level less instead of capped at 2 levels less. The dragon arrives within 24 hours of his gaining this ability, and if it dies a new one arrives to replace it in approximately 24 hours.

The dragon is being controlled at a very fundamental level, meaning it is not dispellable and is not considered a "mind affecting" effect. The various morale modifiers for determining the Cohort's level are irrelevant to the dragon.

[Anaesthesia]

The Dragon Knight gets a +4 bonus to his Leadership score for determining the level of his dragon cohort. This ability does not attract followers. If the Dragon Knight takes the Leadership feat, it allows the Dragon Cohort to be 1 level less instead of capped at 2 levels less. The dragon arrives within 24 hours of his gaining this ability, and if it dies a new one arrives to replace it in approximately 24 hours.

The dragon is being controlled at a very fundamental level, meaning it is not dispellable and is not considered a "mind affecting" effect. The various morale modifiers for determining the Cohort's level are irrelevant to the dragon.

I don't know if it helps, but I believe in the Dragonomicon a character may take the Dragon Cohort at 9th level,which grants a draconic cohort, without having to attract minions also, as in the Leadership Feat.

[DrAwkward]

I don't know if it helps, but I believe in the Dragonomicon a character may take the Dragon Cohort at 9th level,which grants a draconic cohort, without having to attract minions also, as in the Leadership Feat.
yes, and it also has a feat for Frightful Presence.

[victim666]

I think you should throw the breath weapon out of the equation and leave that for the draconic form ability.

The Summon Dragon part should be more like a call for help than an actual poof their there.

As a special requirment you should have those chararacters form a Pact with a dragon which allows him to ask for assistance, as well as share a bond which lets them transform themselves.

I played Legends of Dragoon and the Knights didnt really become dragons. Ill have to agree that this class is overpowered unless you make it into a prestige class.

But other than that I think its a great class that would be fun to play.:)

[Shadow Dweller]

I think you should throw the breath weapon out of the equation and leave that for the draconic form ability.

The Summon Dragon part should be more like a call for help than an actual poof their there.

As a special requirment you should have those chararacters form a Pact with a dragon which allows him to ask for assistance, as well as share a bond which lets them transform themselves.

I played Legends of Dragoon and the Knights didnt really become dragons. Ill have to agree that this class is overpowered unless you make it into a prestige class.

But other than that I think its a great class that would be fun to play.:)
Whoops, someone has a case of the Thread Necro's!

[victim666]

Whoops, someone has a case of the Thread Necro's!

Thread Necros?:confused:

[Shadow Dweller]

The post before yours on this thread was almost 4 months ago. Thread Necro(Necromancy) is bringing a "Dead" thread back to life. Just giving ya a bit of hell.

[victim666]

The post before yours on this thread was almost 4 months ago. Thread Necro(Necromancy) is bringing a "Dead" thread back to life. Just giving ya a bit of hell.

:lol: I didnt even notice.

Thanks for the tip. Im new to the forums thing, now i can start learning the lingo.:)

[Shadow Dweller]

;) We were all Noobs once, even old geezers like Tesral! :cool:

just kidding Tesral!

[tesral]

;) We were all Noobs once, even old geezers like Tesral! :cool:

just kidding Tesral!

NOOB! NOOB? I was born old! Up hill, both ways, through a blizzard, in July!

Yea, I have to agree with the basic idea being more than slightly over the top.

Are there not enough dragon related p-classes in the Dragonomicon?