Post/Author/DateTime	Post
imakuni67 10-19-07, 03:48 PM	Requirements To qualify to become a Draconic Descendant, a character must fulfill all of the following criteria. Skills: Knowledge (Arcana) 8 ranks, Spellcraft 8 ranks. Speak Language (Draconic). Feats: Draconic Heritage Spellcasting: Must be able to cast 2st level arcane spells without preparation. Invocations: Must be able to invocate at least 1 draconic invocation. (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ex/20060912a&page=2) Special: Scales +2 class feature. HD: d6 Attack Fort Ref Will Level Bonus Save Save Save Special 1st +0 +0 +0 +2 Scales, Dragonkin 2nd +1 +0 +0 +3 Bonus feat 3rd +1 +1 +1 +3 Breath Weapon Bonus 4th +2 +1 +1 +4 Claws 5th +2 +1 +1 +4 6th +3 +2 +2 +5 Breath Weapon Bonus 7th +3 +2 +2 +5 8th +4 +2 +2 +6 9th +4 +3 +3 +6 Breath Weapon Bonus 10th +5 +3 +3 +7 Immunities The draconic descendant's class skills are Appraise, Bluff, Climb, Concentration, Craft, Decipher Script, Diplomacy, Intimidate, Jump, Knowledge (all skills, taken individually), Sense Motive, Speak Language, Spellcraft, and Use Magic Device. Skills: 2+Int mod per level. Weapon and Armor Proficiency: The draconic descendant gains no proficiencies with weapons or armor. Spellcasting When a new draconic descendant level is gained, the character gains new spells per day as if he had also gained a level in sorcerer. He does not, however, gain any other benefit a character of that class would have gained, except for an increased effective level of spellcasting. Draconic Invocations At levels 4 and 8, a draconic descendant gains new invocations and access to higher strength invocations as if he gained a level in dragon adept. He does not, however, gain any other benefit a character of that class would have gained. Scales (ex) A draconic descendant adds his class level to his draconic adept class level to determine the strength of his scales ability. Dragonkin (Ex): At 1st level, you gain a +4 competence bonus on Diplomacy checks made to influence the attitude of dragons or creatures of the dragonblood subtype. You are treated as a dragon for the purpose of determining whether frightful presence can affect you. If you already have this ability or later gain it, add +2 the competence bonus instead. Bonus Feat: At 2nd level, a draconic descendant may choose any Draconic feat as a bonus feat. Breath Weapon Bonus: Add 1 effective class level to your dragon adept class level to determine your breath weapon damage and breath effects. Claws (ex): At 5th level, a dragon descendant gains claws if he does not already have them. Use damage as appropriate for your size A dragon descendant is considered proficient with these attacks. When making a full attack, a dragon descendant uses his full base attack bonus with his bite attack but takes a -5 penalty on claw attacks. The Multiattack feat reduces this penalty to only -2. Immunities (Ex): At 10th level, you gain immunity to paralysis and sleep.
vorpo 10-19-07, 05:48 PM	Let's break it down. Your skill requirement makes entry requirement at least a 6th clvl char. So, you need at least sorc 3 for 2nd lvl spontaneous arcane spells and lvl 2 DFA for scales +2. Therefore, let's go with a base of Sorc 3/DFA 3/Draconic Descendant 10 and compare it with a Sorc 1/DFA 5/Dragon Disciple 10. (I added an additional level to DFA just so both classes have teh same total clvl) Descendant-build Disciple-build HP 3d4+3d8+10d6 1d4+5d8+10d12 BAB +1/+1/+5=+7 +0/+2/+7=+9 Fort +1/+3/+3=+7 +0/+4/+7=+11 Ref +1/+1/+3=+5 +0/+1/+3=+4 Will +3/+3/+7=+13 +2/+4/+7=+13 Caster lvl as Sorc 11 as Sorc 1 but with 7 more spells per day Spells/day 6/6/6/6/6/4 5/10 Invocations 2 least 2 least Natural AC +4 +2/+4=+6 Breath 4d6 3d6/6d8 Br Effects 2 2 Claws/Bites at clvl 11 at clvl 8 Immunity sleep, paralysis sleep, paralysis, energy as breath weapon Flight by spell, if any natural wings Bonus +4 Diplomacy +8 Str, +2 Con, +2 Int, +2 Cha Other bonus Draconic feat Blindsense 60', lowlight vision, darkvision 60' Type dragonblood dragon As you see, your Descendant build has superior spell casting with access to 5th level spells. However, the disciple build outshines in every other aspect. So, I'd seriously suggest a major boost in your descendant ability and drop the skill requirement to 8, not 9.
imakuni67 10-20-07, 12:27 PM	Thanks for the analysis, vorpo! I'm going to reworking some other aspects of the class here as well (other than requirements)
vorpo 10-20-07, 09:52 PM	Thanks for the analysis, vorpo! I'm going to reworking some other aspects of the class here as well (other than requirements) I just realized you need sorc 4 to cast 2nd lvl spells. So the analysis would have to be done as sorc 4/DFA 2 instead. Descendent retains its spell superiority but are even worse than before in other aspects listed in my comparison..
imakuni67 10-22-07, 10:45 AM	I changed it to being full-caster. I think it's fair, as it gives more opinions to a sorcerer in exchange for 2 levels, basically