What have people done with these two character ideas?

[Talya]

I've got two different barely even partially formed character ideas, and not much clue what I'd do with them. One is a class variant, the other is a race. Both appeal to me, yet i haven't ever considered how I would build one. Note I prefer reasonably charismatic types, don't like completely dumping charisma.

(1) Mystic Ranger variant. Maybe ranged-focused, maybe mixed with wildshape variant. Seems like Mystic ranger has a natural stopping point, as its spellcasting only progresses to level 17. Can we mix it with the Sword of the Arcane Order feat? (Hey, is it still half-caster level?)

(2) Raptoran Dragonborn. Assume the debate over whether raptoran flight will still progress as a dragonborn is in favor of it progressing. What second dragonborn racial feature do you choose? What classes work best here? (Martial Adept of some kind, maybe?)

[Hiro Protagonest]

1. I don't have dragon magazine :P

2. Breath weapon. Now you fly and breathe fire! A warblade or swordsage can get Scent and Blindsense, so you can use that for keen dragon senses, plus maybe a Permanencied Darkvision. Alternatively, take the aspect that improves your senses, and go DFA.

[TehLivingDeath]

Mystic Ranger + SotAO is crazy good. Until level 10 you're essentially Lightning Warrior-lite. d8 HD, full BAB, two good saves, 6 skill points/level and full spellcasting. After that it loses a little steam but remains pretty good.

Be aware of severe MAD though. The only dump stat is Cha. Works best if you rolled your stats and got lucky. Otherwise, Wildshape variant is probably the way to go.