Would this be a good idea?
Fluff-wise you are going to have some confused players when you introduce the Elf Dragon. Perhaps Half-Dragon would be more appropriate as the class name, as this is more of a template on top of race, similar to Vampire.
There was a "Dragon Disciple" prestige class in 3.5, and that might be an alternative view of the fluff. Mechanically you could base it off Druid, with Dragon Form instead of Beast Form . . .
The race issue is one reason I haven't gone ahead with this already, I mean a level 7 elf dragon sounds silly.
Dragon disciple however... that could work.
I am curious as to what role you imagine for this class, or if you intend to have different types fulful different roles. The only role I can't immediately picture for a dragon would be Leader, while the other three all seem natural fits, just for different colours.
Seems like a controller to me.
Not sure if it should be primal or arcane though.
Not sure if it should be primal or arcane though.
Need it be either?
Also, were you planning on making this as more of an essentials style class like the Vampire? Because if so then it's easy to make different sub-classes that fulfil different roles while having certain aspects in common.
As for the power source I've considered a few options.
Arcane is the standard catch all, but all of the major dragon types possess some elemental energy in their make up (some more than others), finally dragons have some connection to the primal spirits just like everything else native to the natural world.
What if Dragon is an arcane class, with different builds/sub-classes mixing in specific powersources?
Dragon King - Arcane + Psionic
Land Wyrm - Arcane + Primal
Hellkite - Arcane + Elemental
I need to either toss on some serious defensive boosts (especially since armor is a no-no), or boost the hp.
Made Dragon
My Heart is Ancient.
Source: Arcane?
Primary Role: Controller
Secondary Role: Defender, Striker
Primary Ability score: Constitution?
Secondary Ability scores: Strength?, Charisma?
HP at first level: 12 + constitution
HP per level: 5
Weapon Proficiencies: ???
Armor Proficiencies: Cloth
IMplements: Orbs (pearls), Ki foci
Skills: Arcana plus 4 chosen from the class skills list
Class Skills: Arcana, History, Nature, Dungeoneering, Insight, Intimidate, (suggestions please)
Build Options: Dragon Disciple, Hell Kite
Class Features: Fundamentum, Ritual of Apotheosis, Ritual casting,
Fundamentum: Choose a damage type: Fire, Cold, Electric, Thunder, Poison, Acid, Necrotic, Radiant, or Psychic. You gain resistance 5 + 1/2 your level to that damage type. Any Power you use with the Fundamentum Keyword deals this type of damage and gains the appropriate keyword.
Ritual casting: You gain the ritual caster feat. At level 1 you know a single 1st level ritual based on a skill you're trained in. At levels 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30 you learn another ritual of your level or lower based on a skill you have training in.
Ritual of Apotheosis: Choose one.
Hellkite Ascension: You may use your Strength? modifier in place of your dexterity or intelligence score bonus to ac when wearing light or no armor. Whenever you are hit by a power that deals the same type of damage as the resistance granted by your fundamentum class feature, you can regain the use of one of your encounter powers with the fundamentum keyword.
Disciple's Path: You may use your Charisma? modifier in place of your dexterity or intelligence score bonus to ac when wearing light or no armor. Whenever you are hit by a power that deals the same type of damage as the resistance granted by your fundamentum class feature you gain 5 + your Charisma modifier temporary hp.
Suggestions?
Another option might be to make a dragon race with an extensive racial power list.
I.E. is a class with a restricted race list a good idea?
Maybe look at it like the Savage species monster class?
or stick to an open design for any race?
I'm reading this thread from start, commenting as I read.
1#
"They did a vampire class, why not a dragon?"
Sure, I like challenges, let's make a dragonclass.
#2
"Fluff-wise you are going to have some confused players when you introduce the Elf Dragon"
This is true, Dragon is a creature, a combination of class and race. A "Dragonsoul" would be more appropriate name I guess. A mortal with the power (or taste of the power) of a dragon. Maybe a mortal who merged his soul with that of a dragon (perhaps to save the dragon, perhaps to "eat" his powers).
"...with Dragon Form instead of Beast Form".
I'm thinking more of a shifter-type thing. That is, you have a dragon-based fighting style and/or magic, but you don't gain access to "dragon form" until later in the game. When that happens I don't think it should be anything like Beast Form. Beast form only allows you to use certain powers. Dragon Form for a Dragon-based class shouldn't have any limitations, only benefits. It could be a stance, a daily power or something. Maybe even an epic tier thing "You fully convert to a dragon", and everything up do that just gives you stances and dragon-like abilities.
To me, dragons are the GODS of dungeons and dragons, and I call disrespect on anyone who makes a class that allows a player to turn into a dragon at heroic or paragon tier. The dragons are epic, majestic creatures, made by a god and are among the most powerful creatures of the world.
#4
"Dragon-synonyms"
Linnorm, Drakon and Drague all sound nice.
"Proto-Dragon, because they are still in the process of becoming a dragon..."
This is how I pictured the class. 
"What role?"
Well, dragons come in all roles... I guess Leader or Defender as primary and then many (many) different builds. Some of the PHB-classes have 5 different builds. I guess we should start with Leader/Defender and Leader/Controller and then slowly add Ranged striker and melee striker abilities... Maybe defender (a la paladin) would be most appropriate.
#5
"Arcane Controller?"
I think Paladin but with a lot of options. Like the rogue can go controller and the fighter can go striker, I think the Dragonsoul could become what he wants to. If you look at the class features for the weaponmaster and Rogue you can see how one class concept can become so much more. We can limit it to "colors" or types of dragons, but i think making our on categories would be ideal. Otherwise we'll have 1000 different powersources and there for 1000 different subclasses that each has 5 different builds. That sounds like more than migrain to me. Let's just stick with basic concepts like "Martial Melee Striker, Controller that uses Dragon-magic and area attacks" and such.
I think primal, since dragons are animals I think when they're dead or lending you their power they count as "animal spirits".
#8
"Essentials or not?"
Although essentials sounds the way to go at first-glance, I think it would not give the versatility needed for a dragon class.
#9
"Mixing power sources"
That would be over-complicating things. If you draw your power from a creature that's either dead or actively lending you its power, it's primal magic. Stealing power from something is arcane.
#??-14
"Size and stuff"
It's a "Dragonsoul" or "I'm becoming a dragon-like thing" or "A dragon died and gave me its powers" or "I defeated a dragon and stole its essence". It is not a creature, it's a class, a specilization of someone's fighting style and magic-usage.
Stop thinking about races, this does not have to be complicated.
#15
"Dragon-races", "Dragon Colors"
This means a player will have VERY limited selection when it comes to ANYTHING. The rogue has 4 builds, the ranger has 5 builds, the weaponmaster has 6 builds. The dragon's colours don't have to be anything but builds (class options) that give different bonuses (+x to damage with power that have the martial keyword or +x to attack with ranged powers etc). The "color" of the dragon can then be emphasized by selecting the appropriate PP. Blue dragon for example would allow you to change all your powers to lighting and give you more skirmish/artillery based features. (I think dracolich should be off-limits, just to keep them sacred)
#17
Let's make it an open class.
I think with a lot of work and many builds, we can do this. But we must keep things simple. I'm gonna go answer the two or the bigger posts in this thread.
What about calling it the Draconic? or the Dracomancer?
The role is gonna be controller because that's the one that works best with the majority of the various dragon powers from the mm which will form the backbone of the class powers
I'm going for two builds one build, the hellkite(?), is based on a much more intense transition focused on quickly gaining power to hurt and terrify (thus the striker leaning), and the dragon disciple a more disciplined and philosophical approach focused around gradually mastering the power of your new form and using it to control the world around you (thus the defender leanings).
I'd like advice on which ability scores to use.
Also I can't decide between arcane or primal, both could work.
a) A man who found a way to harvest the powers of the dragons (sort of like the warlock and hexblades). This would make the power source Arcane, and can be any role, since power can be manipulated for any kind of purpose.
b) A divine/primal connection to bahamut and the dragon-spirits of the world. This means that the dragons are willingly lending you power (like shaman or paladin) making the powersource Divine or Primal. We have divine heroes of all roles and primal heroes of all roles. The role of our Dragonsoul or w/e is not at all limited to the MM.
I think Defender would be the best default role, since it is so easy to go from one role to another from there. For example:
* A weaponmaster with combat superiority is a defender, he has a marking ability but also a class feature that does not use marking. This means a Dragonsoul can either be a defender or off-defender.
* Paladin has implement attacks and the warlord has a ranged build. This means converting the dragonclass into an "artillery" is easy.
* Rogue can daze, give penalties, slide and push. This means a melee class can become a controller just with the right class feature (ruthless ruffian) and power selection.
* A weaponmaster can forgo armor to boost his damage. This means that a defender can turn striker with a -2 to ac and +2 to damage.
We make the key ability score be Wisdom or Intelligence, based on the class' origin, and then we have a defender build with con rider, a slayer build with str riders, a leader with cha riders and so on.
I'm limiting this to two builds to start with to keep this from spiralling out of hand.
I see the transformation as being very stressful on body and mind, I figured constitution or charisma would be the best stats to use (physical health and sense of self you see). However I'm not sure how to arrange it.
My current idea is that constitution is primary since you need it just to survive the transformation, charisma is the secondary for the Disciple path which represents a more controlled progression from mortal to dragon. The hell-kite needs a different stat because it represents someone who is rushing whole hog and embracing the impulse and frenzy strength was the first idea but I'd love to hear better ideas.
The role needs to be clearly defined, and while it's true that dragons in the MM cover all monster roles, and could be easily tweaked to fit any role, I thinki it would be cool to have a melee controller, and it happens to match well with the basic dragon abilities.
I agree on the Con Cha thing, although it think the dragonclass should have mutliple key ability score. Which two builds are we starting with?
Possible Role Combinations:
Defender/Leader
Defender/Controller
Striker (ranged or melee)
Leader/Controller (ranged or melee)
Where should we start?
I'm thinking Con and Cha for most of the builds, different secondary score for some of the and then maybe one or two with a different main stat.
then basic class outline and features
Defender/Controller = Con, Cha (benefits from Wis or Int?)
Striker (melee) = Con, Str (benefits from Wis?)
Striker (ranged) = Is this a magic based build? Then I think we can keep the Cha/Con build. Wis sounds cool too.
Leader/Controller = Cha, Int?
The Defender/Leader
goes Con to survive not only combat but also the transformation that's constantly happening. Cha allows him to disipline himself and not lose control of himself during the animalistic transformation. His tertiary ability score would probably Int or Dex for his reflex, so we can just as well nail one of them down by building a class feature based on that score. That class feature would be something like virtue's touch or combat superiority, where you can choose from an array of class features that are each aimed at a specific build, but can be taken by any of them.
Still, if he has a heavy shield he already gains a bonus to reflex. We could also make him benefit from wis or str.
Weapon + Shield
Defender/Controller
Still has to survive a beating but focuses more on imbueing his hits with magic and hitting to give penalties and forced movement then damage or being sticky. Con would be your primary ability score, but you also benefit from a high char (magic) and wis/int (you need smarts to either know the techniques (int) or know when to use them (wis). Although all the riders of this build depend on Cha, int/wis would be a good stat for a class feature. Something like "You can add your intelligence modifier to all your push and pulls".
Weapon + Shield (using stuff like shield-bashing and feats that are available only to shield wearers)
or Weapon + Orb if we go more magical. I havent checked out the orbs so I don't know if they fit this class (enchant-wise) overrall.
Striker
Either we have the dragonsoul have proficiency with heavy armor, or give him a "+x to AC when not wearing heavy armor". Either way, this build's AC takes a penalty. Either in the form of "When not wearing heavy armor, you gain a +2 bonus to damage with all close and melee attacks" or "You do not gain your normal armor bonus for not wearing heavy armor. You instead gain a +2 bonus to damage with all close and melee attacks". we could even add a line that gives bonuses for dual-weilding or using weapons with the off-hand property. This class would simulate the claws and raw strength of the dragon. Con and Str is ideal. If we feel the need to add a tertiary score (which I don't) we can make it Dex (for instincts and initiative).
Ranged Striker
well... since the dragonsorcerer makes a very good job of being draconic ranged striker, this build is.... pointless....
Controller/Leader or Leader/Controller
This is the wizard of all the builds. Cha is its primary stat and are mostly ranged attacks. This means that the other /leader and /controller builds can take implement powers from this class, but won't we as powerfull. This build is not rider-heavy and therefor its powers will be very friendly towards the /leader and /controller. I would think that this class benefits from high CON (so he can pick some other powers that those that were meant for him) and then int, since he is the wizard of the group. This build emphasizes on area attacks, and often area attacks that penalize enemies and invigorates allies.
How does this sound?
Two very similar builds (both defenders), one strengthy-striker, and one area-controller/leader with a different main stat.
Constitution would be primary, possibly v shape it so that con and cha cover different powers, then each of the sub roles would key off a certain other stat for their riders and stuff