Post/Author/DateTime	Post
JulesCARV 01-06-06, 11:35 PM	My Eberron Half-Elf Paladin took the Knight Training feat, allowing him to gain levels in non-paladin classes and go back to paladin class when he wants. I plan on focusing him along a melée basher/diplomat route. I originally planned on making him a paladin/bard, but then I realized that LG characters can't take bard levels. Looking over the classes, I decided that the sorceror (one level, perhaps) and dragon disciple are good for me: I get bluff and speak language, two things that I wanted as class skills, as a diplomatic type. The thing is, my character is not lawful good by inclination. By inclination, he's a chaotic evil jerk. It's only his faith (Silver Flame) and his regret of his past actions that keep him "in line." Since dragon blood is hereditary, it seems like it should reflect more the character's innate character than his current behavior. If I picked a chromatic dragon as my type, say, White, Black, or Red, and as I progressed on the dragon disciple route, I began manifesting the physical features of such would people naturally be more suspicious of my character, being more likely to hold him "guilty until proven innocent?" Another concern: how likely is someone to have dragon blood? If the dragonmarked houses all have a bit of dragon blood, it might make sense: my character is the bastard son of a minor nobleman in Aundair, and all nobles are somewhat interbred, so maybe my great-great-great-grandmother was married to some noble of one of the Dragonmarked houses, but it seems like dragonmarks function more like natural spell-like abilities than like ordinary sorceror-esque spells.
Sluagh 01-07-06, 12:37 AM	I'm not sure about in Eberron, as I haven't really read through the CS, but in general, dragon blood, at least in a level that it manifests is pretty rare. Particularily in that it manifests visibly; sorcery is more common. It's rare enough that it's always pretty noteworthy. As for how people will react to a chromatic paladin... well that's going to be a mixed bag. There's no definative response for that. Some will see the chromatic dragon (or any dragon type for that matter) and make their assumptions of evil. Others will make the judgement based on your being a paladin. Still others won't know how to react. It's a gamble and a situation you're going to have to deal with anew each and every encounter, probably :P Good luck.
Baerdog7 01-07-06, 10:57 PM	Ah, but don't forget that this is Eberron! There are no alignment restrictions in Eberron and it is just as possible to have a CE gold dragon as it is to have a LG red dragon. People may look at you funny cause you've got claws and fangs, but they won't necessarily think that you are evil because you have red/black/white scales. -Baerdog7
Ivelios2 01-15-06, 07:00 PM	Im not sure about your version of the world but in ebberon their is pretty much no dragonblood in the non dragon population. In fact the only dragons that bred with mortals bred with elves and because of this both the dragons and every single one of the halfdragon offspring save 1 which escaped were killed and the survivor became undead soon after. In short it isnt really possiable at all for your character to have dragon blood. P.S. Of course Dm's make the rules so if hes fine with it your golden.
JulesCARV 01-15-06, 07:52 PM	Thanks, Ivelios. So, what is the explanation for sorcery and bards in Eberron, typically? Also, what are Dragonmarks, really? I take it they refer to the "metaphysical dragons" of Khyber, Eberron, and Syberis, and not the real, flesh-and-blood dragons? I hope I'm not asking for too much non-OGL material (I don't have the ECS yet), but if there's a Dragonshards article or anything anywhere, I'd like to understand what the various "dragons" in dragonmarks, dragonshards, etc are, and how spontaneous arcane spell casting is "powered." (not that the "dragon blood" thing makes all that much sense to me either, but it exists, at least) I'm now considering four paths. One is the Dragon Disciple path I discussed before. This would probably involve my character becoming very interested in his lineage and past, and possibly reconciling himself with his father and half-brother, and possibly looking deeper into his mother's past (dad = minor elf nobleman, mom = his human maid, who died giving birth to him). It would also mean that my character would focus a lot more on mêlée combat and less on skills like diplomacy. I'm also considering using a bard level instead of a sorceror level as a springboard into Dragon Disciple, and using the Devoted Performer feat to allow the bard level (I'd use the Knight Training feat to allow a sorceror level). I'm not sure if PrCs count against the "paladins can't multiclass and go back" thing or not, or whether they're considered "free multiclasses" as they are for XP penalties. Another route would be the to take ranger levels. This would probably involve my character's partial disillusionment with civilized society to manifest as him becoming more infatuated with the outdoors. My party already has a Warforged ranger, so my thought was that I would take the half-elf substitution level for ranger, with the "urban tracking" feat instead of "track" as a bonus feat (the warforged will take care of our non-urban tracking needs), and getting speak language and gather information as skills. I'd also take the "Devoted Tracker" feat. Technically, this requires "track," and not "urban tracking," but my GM would allow the substitution. He wouldn't get "bluff" as a skill, though, so he'd probably be a typical "straightfaced paladin," and not buy ranks in bluff as I'd planned. Optionally, I'd also take a level or two in the Horizon Walker PrC, and buy a few neat terrain abilities like darkvision, and possibly even dimension door if I really like being a Horizon Walker (I'd have to go six levels in it, to go that far). I probably wouldn't mess with Horizon Walker, though. A third route would be to take the Devoted Performer feat and a Bard level. With this, I'd probably become an "evangelist" for the Silver Flame, righteously preaching it with the perform (oratory) skill. (though the actual Evangelist PrC doesn't interest me much) He'd also become the party's main healer, probably, since we have no cleric and bards can take "cure" spells. A fourth route would just be to stick to Paladin through and through, and just get "speak language" and "bluff" with feats like "skill knowledge." I'm not sure what this would mean for my character's development.
pob38 01-17-06, 01:10 PM	you could be a chromatic dragon that can shapeshift like a silver dragon and then you would seem less whats the word threting so pollp wont be so quick to react but my charcter is a silver dragon and is lawful good but im still mistaken for an evil thing :mad:
WarDragon 01-18-06, 12:23 PM	Yes, taking a Prestige Class level prevents you from going back to Paladin. You can always take Knightly Training again, I suppose.
JulesCARV 01-19-06, 09:35 AM	Given the new information about how dragon blood isn't around in Eberron, with all of the half-dragons dying out, I think I've narrowed my choices down to the Devoted Tracker route or the Devoted Performer route. It's ironic that I'm coming to this conclusion in a thread in which I talked about playing a dragon disciple, from the title on, and I end up discussing playing a ranger or bard.
Xabre 01-19-06, 11:51 AM	If you can get your hands on Races of the Dragon, you could also take a look at the Dragon Devotee. 5 level class that slowly raises you up to the Draconic Template, instead of Half Dragon... you get a smattering of sorcerer power (which means you could take Draconic Heritage for a class skill if you want), plus some fighter feats and such. It's a great class for any non-spellcaster, in my opinion, because it ups Str, Con, and Cha at points, gives you some natural armor, and gives you bonuses to different classes based on what you were before. The requirements are fairly easy, also. On a less stat-related note, you could always use a dragon from Dracnomicon, instead of a Chromatic... the Planar dragons could be in any setting, since every setting usually has the other planes that these dragons come from...
Factol Rhys 01-19-06, 04:50 PM	In Eberron, people who manifest dragonmarks (sort of like tattoos that you have for no reason and grant you minor powers) generally have some kind of greater connection to the Draconic Prophecy. That is, the dragonmarked usually have some kind of destined role to play in the Prophecy which is read and recorded by the dragons of the world. At least, that's what the dragons say. You can believe in their divinitory powers or not. Dragonmarks also tend to be somewhat hereditary, so they have ties to the noble houses of Khorvaire. House Cannith and the Mark of Making, House Lyrandar and the Mark of Storm, etc. If you have a dragonmark, you can be in the Dragonmarked House, though if you were born into the house, you don't have to have a dragonmark to retain your title. In fact, most people don't have marks, even within the houses. In addition to dragons not being color-coded by alignment, they don't interbreed with the lesser races. Remember that House Vol's great mistake was crossing elves and dragons, and that it led to the complete elimination of the House. Except for one...