Brevik Dragonchild and the Class of the Dragoon [Archive] - Wizards Community

Brevik Dragonchild and the Class of the Dragoon [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Sikyanakotik
08-27-06, 04:45 PM Here's my problem up front: I have a pretty good concept for a character, but I really don't know how to best develop him within the rules.

I know nobody wants to read a novella of my character's early life, so here's the Coles Notes version. Brevik Dragonchild, the human known as the Red Dragon Knight, was abandoned as an infant by his birth parents, having been born with a horrible family curse. Simply put, any person who crosses his path (that is, interacts with him in some significant way) is doomed to horrible misfortune. He was found and rescued by a female red dragon, Tirvessla, who became like a mother to him. While her methods were sometimes cruel, she always meant the best for her adopted son, and Brevik grew up wanting little except the company of other humans. Tirvessla eventually let him leave to find his own place in the world, even though she knew about his curse by this point. After an unsuccessful year among the wider world, misfortune and mysterious deaths already surrounding him, he returned to find his mother dead, her hoard stripped to the last coin. He also learned the true nature of his curse, and that people are safe from it as long as they continue to associate with him. (After all, they have not "crossed his path", but are still walking beside him.) He quests now, his heart heavy with guilt, to learn the true nature of his curse and eventually break it, his mighty spear and red, dragon-styled plate his trademarks.

So the question becomes what class, exactly, this kind of background would impart. All Wizards' books are available, though I don't personally own near close to that. I was originally planning him to be a straight (Red) Dragon Shaman (Chaotic Neutral, of course), but after doing some reading, the class just doesn't seem as competent at melee as I'd hoped. Spellcasting is out, as in this campaign it requires me to buy a special ability which, while not particularly expensive, I just don't want to bother with right now. I really want him to be a good spear fighter, and his slight FF Dragoon influence requires me to take Leap Attack, but I still want him to do things in a particularly draconic manner. He doesn't want to be a dragon, nor does he feel any particular need to become more like his mother, but he'll do things the way he was raised to do. And having grown up among the hoard of one of the greediest of all dragons, having Appraise as a class skill would be quite a bonus. This, of course, is why I'm not immediately rushing out to become a Fighter or Barbarian, combined with the fact that apparently these classes don't scale well. I suppose this is, in part, an optimization question, since the character is supposed to be quite competent, but it's really mostly about what fits the character concept best, even though it seems to imply little about his actual abilities.

So yeah, I do tend to ramble, but I guess this is mostly because I'm pretty confused right now. Should I stick with DS or take some levels in a martial class? Maybe there's a perfect class that I'm just overlooking right now. Heck, maybe Dragon Samurai might be a good prestige class if I could somehow get around the implied requirement for clan membership. I'm really at a loss here; what should I do?
erbmjw
08-30-06, 11:27 AM Unless I'm really wrong - you are the last surviving member of a Dragon Clan

was abandoned as an infant by his birth parents ....He was found and rescued by a female red dragon, Tirvessla, who became like a mother to him. While her methods were sometimes cruel, she always meant the best for her adopted son .... he returned to find his mother dead

So unless the requirements for the Dragon Samurai class specify that your character must join a specifically named Clan the background covers you.

*********

One other point - since you are aware of your curse you shoud consider becoming a clan leader - because then people in your clan have not "crossed your path" only those who leave your clan ;) - that means the party members can join your clan then have side quests without ever "crossing your path"

Get the leadership feat soon as possible so less NPC's die - ie you have a small fort that you can always visit without having to worry about your curse :D

Just as a suggestion - consider having a secondary curse make it very difficult for you to speak about to the primary curse to others - it means that you will be better off having your group speak for you in some situations - until you can remove the secondary curse

ie Family curses
Primary curse: great-great-great-great-great granma cursed by BBEG - "You crossed my path which ultimately lead to my downfall ... now everyone crossing your family's path will be lead to their downfall"

Secondary curse: great-great-grandpa crossed LEG path which lead to LEG's downfall "You didn't communicate with me the nature of your family's curse ... now it's hard for any of your family(ancestors) to ever communicate with anyone about your family's two curses"

(LEG was not powerful enough to make it impossible for all ancestors to talk/write about the curses - just powerfull to make it difficult)

I would consider having the secondary curse being easier to talk about than the primary curse - ie With considerable effort your character can tell people that his family has been cursed to not speak about another subject - Only with supreme effort can you communicate about the primary curse.

*****

Oh final note - really enjoyed the concept - if you don't mind I may nab some of it later for a character
Sikyanakotik
08-30-06, 07:32 PM Thanks. I really wasn't looking for help on the background itself (and I still want to leave the question of his family and the origin of his curse open for later discovery) but I'm glad you enjoyed the greatly pared-down version of the story.

As for my orignal question, I ended up with taking levels of Dragon Shaman, aside from a level in Fighter at 2nd, until 7th level whereapon I can qualify for Dragon Samurai of the same type. And thanks to an e-mail to customer service, the breath weapons from the two draconic classes might actually stack with each other.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Sikyanakotik 08-27-06, 04:45 PM	Here's my problem up front: I have a pretty good concept for a character, but I really don't know how to best develop him within the rules. I know nobody wants to read a novella of my character's early life, so here's the Coles Notes version. Brevik Dragonchild, the human known as the Red Dragon Knight, was abandoned as an infant by his birth parents, having been born with a horrible family curse. Simply put, any person who crosses his path (that is, interacts with him in some significant way) is doomed to horrible misfortune. He was found and rescued by a female red dragon, Tirvessla, who became like a mother to him. While her methods were sometimes cruel, she always meant the best for her adopted son, and Brevik grew up wanting little except the company of other humans. Tirvessla eventually let him leave to find his own place in the world, even though she knew about his curse by this point. After an unsuccessful year among the wider world, misfortune and mysterious deaths already surrounding him, he returned to find his mother dead, her hoard stripped to the last coin. He also learned the true nature of his curse, and that people are safe from it as long as they continue to associate with him. (After all, they have not "crossed his path", but are still walking beside him.) He quests now, his heart heavy with guilt, to learn the true nature of his curse and eventually break it, his mighty spear and red, dragon-styled plate his trademarks. So the question becomes what class, exactly, this kind of background would impart. All Wizards' books are available, though I don't personally own near close to that. I was originally planning him to be a straight (Red) Dragon Shaman (Chaotic Neutral, of course), but after doing some reading, the class just doesn't seem as competent at melee as I'd hoped. Spellcasting is out, as in this campaign it requires me to buy a special ability which, while not particularly expensive, I just don't want to bother with right now. I really want him to be a good spear fighter, and his slight FF Dragoon influence requires me to take Leap Attack, but I still want him to do things in a particularly draconic manner. He doesn't want to be a dragon, nor does he feel any particular need to become more like his mother, but he'll do things the way he was raised to do. And having grown up among the hoard of one of the greediest of all dragons, having Appraise as a class skill would be quite a bonus. This, of course, is why I'm not immediately rushing out to become a Fighter or Barbarian, combined with the fact that apparently these classes don't scale well. I suppose this is, in part, an optimization question, since the character is supposed to be quite competent, but it's really mostly about what fits the character concept best, even though it seems to imply little about his actual abilities. So yeah, I do tend to ramble, but I guess this is mostly because I'm pretty confused right now. Should I stick with DS or take some levels in a martial class? Maybe there's a perfect class that I'm just overlooking right now. Heck, maybe Dragon Samurai might be a good prestige class if I could somehow get around the implied requirement for clan membership. I'm really at a loss here; what should I do?
erbmjw 08-30-06, 11:27 AM	Unless I'm really wrong - you are the last surviving member of a Dragon Clan was abandoned as an infant by his birth parents ....He was found and rescued by a female red dragon, Tirvessla, who became like a mother to him. While her methods were sometimes cruel, she always meant the best for her adopted son .... he returned to find his mother dead So unless the requirements for the Dragon Samurai class specify that your character must join a specifically named Clan the background covers you. ******* One other point - since you are aware of your curse you shoud consider becoming a clan leader - because then people in your clan have not "crossed your path" only those who leave your clan ;) - that means the party members can join your clan then have side quests without ever "crossing your path" Get the leadership feat soon as possible so less NPC's die - ie you have a small fort that you can always visit without having to worry about your curse :D Just as a suggestion - consider having a secondary curse make it very difficult for you to speak about to the primary curse to others - it means that you will be better off having your group speak for you in some situations - until you can remove the secondary curse ie Family curses Primary curse: great-great-great-great-great granma cursed by BBEG - "You crossed my path which ultimately lead to my downfall ... now everyone crossing your family's path will be lead to their downfall" Secondary curse: great-great-grandpa crossed LEG path which lead to LEG's downfall "You didn't communicate with me the nature of your family's curse ... now it's hard for any of your family(ancestors) to ever communicate with anyone about your family's two curses" (LEG was not powerful enough to make it impossible for all ancestors to talk/write about the curses - just powerfull to make it difficult) I would consider having the secondary curse being easier to talk about than the primary curse - ie With considerable effort your character can tell people that his family has been cursed to not speak about another subject - Only with supreme effort can you communicate about the primary curse. *** Oh final note - really enjoyed the concept - if you don't mind I may nab some of it later for a character
Sikyanakotik 08-30-06, 07:32 PM	Thanks. I really wasn't looking for help on the background itself (and I still want to leave the question of his family and the origin of his curse open for later discovery) but I'm glad you enjoyed the greatly pared-down version of the story. As for my orignal question, I ended up with taking levels of Dragon Shaman, aside from a level in Fighter at 2nd, until 7th level whereapon I can qualify for Dragon Samurai of the same type. And thanks to an e-mail to customer service, the breath weapons from the two draconic classes might actually stack with each other.