T.G. Oskar
2011-11-29, 07:51 PM
WYRMS AND DRAKES, WYRMLINGS OF ALL COLORS! COME ONE, COME ALL, FROM HATCHLING BREAKING ITS EGG, TO GREAT WYRM FACING ITS TWILIGHT*!!
*: that is, the end of its life, not the one with the "sparkling vampires", mind you...
As promised, I deliver yet another pompous, raucous retooling of a class, and this time, I'll break the mold.
If you've seen the Project Heretica thread, there's an appendix which details the procedure I usually take when retooling: in an essence, make classes, not builds. The class should work in the mechanical sense, but the fluff belongs exclusively to the player: whether you want the Paladin to be a beacon of shining light, a wrathful arm of the divine, a dour undead hunter...those options should be available, one way or another.
This time, what I'll do is different. Essentially, I'll be making a build, but this build is pretty unusual in that it fulfills one of the other ways to make a class. Nonetheless, it's gonna be a "build".
Now; will this be good for the class? In a way, but before, I need to explain:
The class I'll be presenting here is a retooling of the Dragon Shaman, one of the four new classes on Player's Handbook II that was meant to serve various purposes, but mostly offer non-traditional four-man party builds: the Beguiler would be the face/skillmonkey of the group, the Knight would tank but also do some minor crowd control, the Duskblade would be a blaster gish, and the Dragon Shaman...well...
That's the slight problem. Mechanically, the Dragon Shaman was meant to be a class that introduced draconic auras and would serve as the party "buffer", which with Touch of Vitality and the Vigor aura would cement its position as a leader. Yet, the Dragon Shaman would also get a breath weapon much like a dragon, and eventually immunities and the power of flight.
In the end, though, it was mechanically weak. However, the key point wasn't its mechanical weakness, but what exactly does the DS represents? The Dragonfire Adept was, essentially, the nail in the coffin for the Dragon Shaman: a class that made a pact with dragons for power, gaining far better abilities than the Dragon Shaman would ever have. A much better, much faster breath weapon, a variety of useful invocations, breath shapes that allowed them to change their main combat weapon in a flash, and more damage than Eldritch Blast would ever get in a lifetime, with a better range to boot! This interfered a bit in the archetype of the Dragon Shaman, which was...someone worshipping the dragons in admiration of their power. Which got...auras? Essentially, the Dragonfire Adept made a better fluff connection with the class abilities than the Dragon Shaman did with their own.
Thus, it would be hard to give the Dragon Shaman its own niche, but the solution came pretty quick. Remember the Dragon Disciple? It's one of the very first PrCs, allowing the character to "unlock" its draconic heritage in order to become a half-dragon. Now, giving the dragon shaman spells instead of auras and granting them draconic traits would be the easiest way to handle it, but unfortunately the Dragonfire Adept does that slightly better, and it would be mostly cheating. So, the challenge was to make the class slightly independent from spellcasting, but give it a flavor of its own. And thus: why not make the class a 20-level attempt to make any individual into a dragon?
The Wyrmlord exists as a "template class", which is a way to make a character start as one thing and end in another. In case you're wondering, the Dread Necromancer is the official example of a "template class": you get spellcasting, you slowly become undead, and by 20th level you become a lich if you're capable of doing so (being a humanoid, for example). Likewise, the main purpose of the Wyrmlord is to, within 20 levels, make you something akin to a dragon, with all that implies, but not abandoning the stuff it already has. Basically, you become a Wyrmlord because you desire draconic power so much, you wish you were a dragon.
Thus, without further ado, I present to you...
THE WYRMLORD
http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff312/Osky-kun/Dragonmaster20Outcast-1.jpg
Dragonmaster Outcast card art. Original by Raymond Swanbird. Released for Worldwake expansion for the Magic: the Gathering CCG
"It is not me commanding His majesty...nor I a pawn of His desires. We are brethren. You have wronged me for the last time...you see, my family is of the tight and unforgiving kind." - Erethria Darastrix-tibur-Munthrek Wyrmcaller, human wyrmlord
MAKING A WYRMLORD (and what has, and hasn't, changed from the Dragon Shaman)
Abilities: A wyrmlord prizes ability scores similar to those of dragons, to an extent. Charisma powers many of the class abilities such as the auras, their touch of vitality and their ability to duplicate magic power. Strength is important to take advantage of the natural weapons of the character, as well as the virtual increment in size. Constitution not only grants a large amount of hit points and Fortitude saves, but also deals with the Difficulty Class of the wyrmlord's breath weapon.
Races: Any race that feels kinship with dragons and seeks their power make great wyrmlords. Humans gravitate naturally towards the class, as well as dragonborn and spellscales (see Races of the Dragon for more information).
Amongst savage humanoids, classes that prize physical power without sacrificing force of personality make good wyrmlords. Particularly, hobgoblins make fearsome wyrmlords, and deadly leaders of hordes in combat. Oddly enough, kobolds that seek to emulate their dragon "kindred" follow the path, even though their small size and frailty make them unusual: kobold wyrmlords tend to be quite charismatic and rely on hit and run tactics, favoring breath strafing over physical combat, but eventually become every bit as powerful as larger creatures.
Alignment: based on totem dragon (see below). A dragon shaman may not be of an alignment more than two steps away from its chosen totem dragon.
Starting Gold: as Sorcerer
Starting Age: as Druid
Class Skills
The wyrmlord's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Escape Artist (Dex), Knowledge (arcana) (Int), Knowledge (nature) (Int), Knowledge (nobility and royalty) (Int), Knowledge (religion) (Int), Listen (Wis), Search (Wis), Sense Motive (Wis), Spot (Wis), Use Magic Device (Cha). See the Totem Dragon class feature for more information.
Skill Points at 1st Level: (4 + Int modifier) x4.
Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 4 + Int modifier.
The skill list was expanded quite a bit, adding various seemingly oddball skills such as Diplomacy and Escape Artist, while also adding essential skills such as Knowledge (arcana) (to know more about dragons), Knowledge (religion) (to know the nuances of the draconic faiths and those few dragons that aspire to godhood), Listen and Spot (which ARE skills given to dragons, not to mention useful for a scout) and Sense Motive (because a high Charisma, low Wisdom character is just ASKING to be bluffed).
The biggest addition, though, is Use Magic Device. As you can see, since the idea is to provide NO access to arcane magic, UMD becomes an excellent way to replicate magic power. Having high Charisma helps a lot, and many of the class features assist on the use of magic items meant to replicate the power of various dragons.
Hit Die: d10
Level
Base Attack Bonus
Fort Save
Ref Save
Will Save
Special
Minor Aura
Major Aura
Draconic Aura
1st
+0
+2
+0
+2
Aura (minor and major), breath weapon 1d6, totem dragon
2
1
0
2nd
+1
+3
+0
+3
Dragontouched, natural weapons (claw)
2
1
0
3rd
+2
+3
+1
+3
Breath weapon 2d6, draconic resolve (sleep)
2
1
0
4th
+3
+4
+1
+4
Draconic adaptation, draconic strength, natural armor +1
3
1
0
5th
+3
+4
+1
+4
Aura (draconic), breath weapon 3d6, natural weapon (bite)
3
2
1
6th
+4
+5
+2
+5
Draconic resolve (frightful presence), draconic wings (glide)
3
2
1
7th
+5
+5
+2
+5
Breath weapon 4d6, draconic magic affinity (arcane spells), natural armor +2
4
2
1
8th
+6/+1
+6
+2
+6
Natural weapons (wings), touch of vitality (heal wounds)
4
2
1
9th
+6/+1
+6
+3
+6
Breath weapon 5d6, draconic resolve (paralysis), energy immunity
4
3
1
10th
+7/+2
+7
+3
+7
Breath weapon (alternate or improvement), natural armor +3
5
3
2
11th
+8/+3
+7
+3
+7
Breath weapon 6d6 or 6d8 (increase size), draconic magic affinity (domain spells), natural weapons (tail)
5
3
2
12th
+9/+4
+8
+4
+8
Draconic adaptation (share with allies), draconic wings (flight)
5
3
2
13th
+9/+4
+8
+4
+8
Breath weapon 7d6 or 7d8, natural armor +4
6
4
2
14th
+10/+5
+9
+4
+9
Natural weapons (crushing pin), spell resistance, touch of vitality (remove conditions)
6
4
2
15th
+11/+6/+1
+9
+5
+9
Breath weapon 8d6 or 8d8, draconic resolve (extended immunities)
6
4
3
16th
+12/+7/+2
+10
+5
+10
Draconic magic affinity (effective caster level), natural armor +5
7
4
3
17th
+12/+7/+2
+10
+5
+10
Breath weapon 9d6 or 9d8, natural weapons (tail smash)
7
5
3
18th
+13/+8/+3
+11
+6
+11
Draconic polymorph 1/day, draconic wings (good maneuverability)
7
5
3
19th
+14/+9/+4
+11
+6
+11
Breath weapon 10d6 or 10d8, natural armor +6
8
5
3
20th
+15/+10/+5
+12
+6
+12
Breath weapon (improvement, increase size), draconic apotheosis, natural weapons (pounce)
8
6
4
Well ladies and gents, as you can see, it is a mammoth of a class.
For starters: d10!? One of the nicer stuff of the original dragon shaman is that it almost has the HP of a dragon, only one die step shy of the coveted d12. Being that this class isn't a melee combatant (though it has a LOT of natural weapons to show off), and it relies on Constitution pretty well, you can get lots of HP that way. However, if you want the d12...
Another thing is the medium BAB. As you know, most of the time when you make a full attack with all of your natural weapons, you use the highest BAB and then a -5 for all of the others, with a reduced penalty for Multiattack. Given the damage of all natural weapons, it's quite probable you'll need little BAB to hit, and with a decent Strength and bonuses to hit (from your auras, of course), that definitely means you'll have a pretty high attack bonus nonetheless. It's also part of the original Dragon Shaman. But, if you insist on making it full BAB...
The rest of the chassis should be familiar, as it shares the "commander" chassis of the Retooled Marshal, only with their Greater Auras replaced by the exclusive Draconic Auras. Note, of course, that they get Minor and Major Auras as well, but these auras are not copied verbatim in its entirety from the Marshal auras; there WILL be some differences around. Good Fort and Will with poor Reflex definitely suits the dragon feel.
There's one small disclaimer I must make as well. If you see parts that are extremely similar to another remake of Dragon Shaman, they are entirely coincidental. I found one that was extremely similar to this reinterpretation, but with some subtle differences, while attempting to find the art for the thread. All of this is basing the abilities of the class on what a dragon would get as it gains age categories, so it's pretty much a given that there will be some similarities.
Class Features
All of the following are class features of the wyrmlord.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A wyrmlord is proficient with all simple weapons, with light and medium armor, and with all shields (except tower shields).
Pretty standard; before you get your natural weapons, you'll be probably using a stout mace and some armor. Later on, you can keep the armor and ditch the weapon. Oh, and shields are also welcome too, in case you find that you want to get some protection while allowing your fangs, wings and tail to do the smack-down.
Bonus Language: A wyrmlord's bonus language options always include Draconic.
Pretty obvious. The real question should be: why not make Draconic an automatic language? The answer is, of course, because you'll probably have the chance for a bonus language, and Draconic fits. Plus, not ALL wizards know Draconic, and not ALL the Clerics know the alignment-planar languages. Still, if you want automatic knowledge of Draconic...
Auras (Ex or Su): The wyrmlord exerts an effect on allies in his vicinity. He can learn to produce different effects, or auras, over the course of his career. The wyrmlord may project one minor aura, one major aura and, starting at 5th level, one draconic aura at a time.
Projecting an aura is a swift action. The aura remains in effect until the wyrmlord uses a free action to dismiss it or activates another aura of the same kind (major or minor). A wyrmlord can have an aura active continually; thus, an aura can be in effect at the start of a combat encounter even before the wyrmlord takes his first turn.
Activating an aura involves haranguing, ordering, directing, encouraging, cajoling, or calming allies. A wyrmlord sizes up the enemy, allies, and the terrain, then gives allies the direction that they can use to do their best.
Unless otherwise noted, a wyrmlord's aura affects all allies within 60 feet (including himself) who can hear him. An ally must have an Intelligence score of 3 or higher and be able to understand the wyrmlord's language to gain the bonus. A wyrmlord's aura is dismissed if he is dazed, unconscious, stunned, paralyzed, or otherwise unable to be heard or understood by his allies.
A wyrmlord begins play knowing two minor auras and one major aura of his choice. As his wyrmlord level increases, he gains access to new auras, as indicated on the table above.
All bonuses granted by a wyrmlord's auras are either morale or circumstance bonuses that do not stack with each other.
If you've seen the explanation on the Marshal, it should be pretty self-explanatory.
The big difference to mark here is that nearly all auras are extraordinary (the one difference is draconic auras, which are supernatural, but that's because you're dealing with Energy Shield and Vigor). That means they work on an Antimagic Field, they work when supernatural abilities are suppressed, and they help the party immensely when spells can't. Yes, even Energy Shield and Vigor. This also helps whenever you want to make (or enter into) PrCs that advance auras, as little as they may be (the only ones are Mythic Exemplar, Legacy Champion and Uncanny Trickster, and the first really makes Bahamut cry).
Totem Dragon: The wyrmlord draws power from the true dragons which bless him as their champion, and the influence of the dragon bears strong weight upon him. Many of the abilities of the wyrmlord reflect that of the dragon he follows, such as his elemental affinity.
At 1st level, a wyrmlord must choose a totem dragon upon those indicated below. The wyrmlord must choose a dragon whose alignment is within one step of his. Once chosen, the wyrmlord's totem dragon determines a set of class skills alongside those he already has, the element of his breath weapon, his draconic affinity and other abilities. The list below indicates the true dragons presented in the Monster Manual; other true dragons may be chosen and adapted with the DM's permission; the list also indicates the acceptable alignment range and the list of class skills granted by the wyrmlord's totem dragon.
Black: A wyrmlord with a black totem dragon must be of chaotic neutral, chaotic evil or neutral evil alignment. A black wyrmlord gains Hide, Move Silently and Swim as class skills.
Blue: A wyrmlord with a blue totem dragon must be of lawful neutral, lawful evil or neutral evil alignment. A blue wyrmlord gains Bluff, Hide and Spellcraft as class skills.
Brass: A wyrmlord with a brass totem dragon must be of chaotic good, chaotic neutral or neutral good alignment. A brass wyrmlord gains Bluff, Gather Information and Survival as class skills.
Bronze: A wyrmlord with a bronze totem dragon must be of lawful good, lawful neutral or neutral good alignment. A bronze wyrmlord gains Disguise, Survival and Swim as class skills.
Copper: A wyrmlord with a copper totem dragon must be of chaotic good, chaotic neutral or neutral good alignment. A copper wyrmlord gains Bluff, Hide and Jump as class skills.
Gold: A wyrmlord with a gold totem dragon must be of lawful good, lawful neutral or neutral good alignment. A gold wyrmlord gains Disguise, Heal and Swim as class skills.
Green: A wyrmlord with a green totem dragon must be of lawful neutral, lawful evil or neutral evill alignment. A green wyrmlord gains Bluff, Hide and Move Silently as class skills.
Red: A wyrmlord with a red totem dragon must be of chaotic neutral, chaotic evil or neutral evil alignment. A red wyrmlord gains Appraise, Bluff and Jump as class skills.
Silver: A wyrmlord with a silver totem dragon must be of lawful good, lawful neutral or neutral goodl alignment. A silver wyrmlord gains Bluff, Disguise and Jump as class skills.
White: A wyrmlord with a white totem dragon must be of chaotic neutral, chaotic evil or neutral evil alignment. A white wyrmlord gains Hide, Move Silently and Swim as class skills.
You gain access to all chromatic and metallic dragons from the Monster Manual, as usual, but there's a little surprise for you on the next post.
Breath Weapon (Su): At 1st level, the wyrmlord gains a breath weapon corresponding to his totem dragon. The breath weapon deals 1d6 points of damage, the energy type determined by the totem dragon, and of an area equal to a 30 ft. cone or a 60 ft. line (the area is also determined by the totem dragon). A successful Reflex save halves the damage dealt ; the save DC is equal to 10 + 1/2 the wyrmlord's level + the wyrmlord's Constitution modifier. Much like a true dragon, a wyrmlord must wait 1d4 rounds before it can use its breath weapon again. A wyrmlord is immune to its own breath weapon, as well as any other breath weapon of the same energy type as that of his totem dragon. At 3rd level, and every two levels afterwards, the damage of the breath weapon increases by an extra 1d6 (2d6 at 3rd level, 3d6 at 5th level, and so forth).
The following is a list of breath weapon based on the wyrmlord's totem dragon:
Black: Line of acid
Blue: Line of electricity
Brass: Line of fire
Bronze: Line of electricity
Copper: Line of acid
Gold: Cone of fire
Green: Cone of acid
Red: Cone of fire
Silver: Cone of cold
White: Cone of cold
At 10th level, the wyrmlord's breath weapon improves based on its totem dragon. A wyrmlord that has a chromatic true dragon as its totem dragon (black, blue, green, red or white) increase the die size of their weapon from a d6 to a d8 (thus, a wyrmlord that has a chromatic true dragon as its totem dragon deals 5d8 points of damage with its breath weapon). A wyrmlord that has a metallic true dragon as its totem dragon (brass, bronze, copper, gold or silver) gains a new breath weapon based on their choice of totem dragon. The breath weapon's size and DC are based on the original breath weapon. A wyrmlord may not use a breath weapon if the other is recharging:
Brass: Cone of sleep (Will save or fall asleep for 1d6 rounds plus 1 round for every three class levels)
Bronze: Cone of repulsion gas (Will save or become compelled to move away from dragon for 1d6 rounds plus 1 round for every three class levels; mind-affecting compulsion effect)
Copper: Cone of slow (Fortitude save or slowed for 1d6 round plus 1 round for every three class levels)
Gold: Cone of weakening (Fortitude save or take 1 point of Strength damage for every three class levels)
Silver: Cone of paralysis (Fortitude save or paralyzed for 1d6 rounds plus 1 round for every three class levels)
At 11th level and again at 20th level, the wyrmlord's breath weapon increases in size. Cone-shaped breath weapons increase by 15 feet each time, while line-based breath weapons increase by 30 feet. At 20th level, the breath weapon damage increases by one die size (from d6 to d8, or from d8 to d10).
Breath weapons have received a pretty nice uplift. While at first that may not be the case, you do get a breath weapon at 1st level, and the size is twice as long as that of the original. It has a recharge time (so you can use metabreath feats!), and it scales faster than the original, just as fast as the one from the Dragonfire Adept.
Where it changes, of course, is after 10th level. Wyrmlords following chromatic dragons get a boost to their breath dice sizes (from a d6 to a d8), which makes the breath even more dangerous (essentially a 1 point increase in every breath, which can be magnified). Wyrmlords that follow metallic dragons might get a bit of the shaft because they get another breath weapon, but with a shared recharge time; the Dragonfire Adept by that moment gets the breath weapon of their choice. Dragons, of course (true dragons for that matter) get the same thing, so it's not like they really get shafted. Then, they get a size increase that's significative: a 45 ft. cone or a 90 ft. line, which is more (and one level earlier) than the original dragon shaman.
At 20th level, of course, you get the last increase, which is exactly as what the original dragon shaman got, but you get yet another size increase. This one applies to both, so the metallic wyrmlord gets its due (late but sure), while the chromatic wyrmlord gets a super breath weapon (10d10 is nothing to chafe at, mister!).
...Well, perhaps not THAT much, but hey; the reason why dragons deal exuberant amounts of damage with their breath weapons is because they're packed with almost twice your Hit Dice.
Dragontouched: A wyrmlord gains the Dragontouched feat (see Races of the Dragon or Dragon Magic) as a bonus feat.
A free bonus feat, and one that's pretty expected, given that you're essentially becoming a dragon. So it makes you realize, after all, you had a bit of dragon blood in you.
Now, one thing I want to clear, of course, is how the draconic auras stack with the Dragontouched feat. As you'll see later, wyrmlords progress their auras faster, so the benefit of Dragontouched may be lost, but it helps you if you mostly dabble into the class. If you decide to get a draconic aura before you could actually get them (i.e. at 1st level or 3rd level through the Draconic Aura feat), you abide by the dragontouched progression until that level. Then, you can take advantage of the faster progression via class levels.
Natural Weapons (Ex): At 2nd level, a wyrmlord's fervor for his totem dragon alters his composition, slowly developing a set of natural weapons much as a true dragon possesses. As he grows more and more powerful, his body slowly develops appropriate appendages and increases the lethality of the other weapons. At 2nd level, a wyrmlord gains access to a pair of claws that deal 1d4 points of damage. The wyrmlord may choose to attack with both as a full attack action, or use one of the claws as a secondary attack alongside a melee attack.
At 5th level, the wyrmlord gains a bite attack that deals 1d8 points of damage. His claws deal 1d6 points of damage instead of 1d4. The wyrmlord may use his bite and claw attacks as part of a full round action, and may elect to make his bite or his claws his primary natural weapons each time he attacks.
At 8th level, the wyrmlord gains a pair of wing attacks which he may use while flying (but not while gliding) as secondary natural attacks, each dealing 1d6 points of damage. His bite damage increases to 2d6 and his claw damage increases to 1d8.
At 11th level, the wyrmlord gains a tail slam attack that deals 1d8 points of bludgeoning damage and is treated as a secondary attack. His wing damage increases to 1d8 points as well.
At 14th level, whenever the wyrmlord succeeds on a grapple check to pin his opponent, he may constrict said opponent for 2d8 points of damage each round he maintains the pin. This is in addition to any attacks done by the wyrmlord as part of the grapple. His tail slam damage increases by 2d6, his bite damage increases to 2d8 and his claw attacks increase to 2d6.
At 17th level, the wyrmlord may make a tail sweep as a standard action. This attack hits automatically and deals 2d6 points of damage plus 1-1/2 times the wyrmlord's Strength modifier and grants a free trip attempt against all opponents within a half-circle with radius of 10 feet from the wyrmlord; opponents within the area may make a Reflex save to take half damage from the attack (save DC equal to the wyrmlord's breath weapon DC) and evade the trip. If the wyrmlord's trip attempt fails against any opponent, the latter may not elect to trip the wyrmlord back. As well, his tail slam damage increases to 2d6 points of damage.
At 20th level, whenever the wyrmlord charges, he may elect to attack with his claw, bite, tail slam and wing natural attacks at the end of the charge. He may also choose to attack with all of his iterative attacks plus one natural attack of his choice (except for a tail sweep) as a secondary natural attack. As well, his wing damage increases to 2d6.
If a wyrmlord chooses the Improved Natural Attack feat for any of his natural weapons, the natural weapon damage increases based on the table for dragon natural attacks on the Monster Manual, page 69. All natural attacks are done at the same reach as the wyrmlord's (thus, if the wyrmlord is of Medium size, all his natural weapons except his tail sweep have a 5 ft. reach). For creatures with increased reach with natural weapons or of larger size, the tail sweep range is equal to 1-1/2 times the wyrmlord's reach, reduced to the nearest 5 ft. increment (thus, a wyrmlord with a reach of 10 feet would have a tail sweep of 15 feet, a wyrmlord with a reach of 15 feet would have a tail sweep of 20 feet, while a wyrmlord with a reach of 20 feet would have a tail sweep reach of 30 feet).
If you notice very, very carefully, the wyrmlord basically gets ALL of the dragon's natural attacks, including crush (via crushing pin) and tail sweep, and by 20th level you deal damage as a dragon somewhere between Huge and Gargantuan.
Certainly, pounce comes hilariously late, but do note that you get pounce, whereas actual dragons don't. With how ridiculously easy it is to get pounce (and one that works with weapons), you could easily skip that last level (with wing damage as that of a Huge dragon). Range, of course, is the killer here: unless you physically increase in size, your natural weapons will require you to be within striking distance for them to work, which works as an advantage to larger creatures. Ways to increase your reach with natural weapons makes this a pretty nasty combination. It also makes you a fine target for Necklace of Natural Attacks, though you may need a really expensive one (the one that works for all four natural weapons).
Draconic Resolve (Ex): Beginning at 3rd level, the wyrmlord's body becomes immune to many of the things dragons are immune to. At first, this immunity is limited in scope, but as the wyrmlord progresses, his allies acquire the same benefit. The wyrmlord at this level gains immunity to sleep.
At 6th level, the wyrmlord becomes immune to the frightful presence of dragons, as well as any special ability that causes fear status in the same way as frightful presence. This does not imply the wyrmlord is immune to fear effects; it only becomes immune to a specific form of fear. At 9th level, the wyrmlord becomes immune to paralysis. At 15th level, all allies within range of the wyrmlord's aura gain the same immunities as the wyrmlord does, for as long as they remain within the range of the aura.
The way this feature has changed may make it bad at the beginning, but useful at the very end. As you see, whereas the original granted all immunities at a very early level (4th), this one spreads them between levels (3rd, 6th and 9th). All are acquired at moments in which they may be fought against, so the loss is quite minimal.
15th level, however, redeems this ability by making the immunities a passive buff. Sleep by that level is a thing of the past and fear is not something you might worry about (what with all the immunities to it lying around), but paralysis is a latent peril at every level, and one that is potentially lethal. Becoming immune to it just by taking advantage of another ability is pretty spectacular.
Draconic Adaptation (Ex or Sp): At 4th level, the wyrmlord takes an aspect of the totem dragon he chose to follow. Some adaptations are extraordinary abilities that are always active, while others are spell-like abilities that the wyrmlord can activate at will. Spell like abilities have a caster level equal to the wyrmlord's class level and a save DC (if any) of 10 + 1/2 the wyrmlord's class level + the wyrmlord's Charisma modifier.
Black, Bronze, Gold, Green--Water Breathing (Ex). The wyrmlord gains the ability to breathe underwater. If his breath weapon deals fire damage, he may use his breath weapon underwater (it instead becomes a breath of superheated steam). If the wyrmlord has the ability to cast spells or use abilities that are restricted underwater, he also gains free access to them. A wyrmlord does not gain a swim speed through this ability.
Blue--Create/Destroy Water (Sp). A blue wyrmlord may choose to, instead of create water, destroy large sources of water (a blue wyrmlord may not use this ability to cause damage to creatures composed of water, such as water elementals). Any liquid within the area of the spell becomes ruined, and any potion, magic item that holds water, or liquid item must succeed on a Will save or become spoiled.
Brass--Endure Elements (Sp). A brass wyrmlord that uses this ability on others (see below) also grants them immunity to his own breath weapon, as well as the breath weapon of any creature whose energy type resembles that of his totem dragon.
Copper--Spider Climb (Sp).
Red--Lavawalk (Ex) A red wyrmlord gains the ability to walk on top of lava if he so desires.
Silver--Feather Fall (Sp).
White-- Icewalking (Ex) The wyrmlord may walk across icy surfaces without reducing its speed or make Balance checks.
At 12th level, the wyrmlord may choose, as a swift action, to share the effect of his draconic adaptation's extraordinary or spell-like abilities with any or all allies within the range of its aura. In the case of spell-like abilities, the wyrmlord must make the decision when activating the ability. The benefit lasts until the wyrmlord spends a free action to rescind from the effect or (if the effect has a limited duration) the effect ends, whichever comes first. As well, the wyrmlord gains a secondary draconic adaptation, which he may not share with his allies.
Black, Bronze, Gold, Green--swim speed equal to its base land speed.
Blue, Brass, White--burrow speed equal to its base land speed.
Copper--Stone Shape (Sp).
Red--Locate Object (Sp).
Silver--Cloudwalking (Ex). A silver wyrmlord may tread on clouds or fog as if on solid ground. The ability works continuously but it may be resumed or dispelled at will.
Draconic Adaptation is the same as the dragon shaman's one, which grants minor abilities at will which are eventually shared. The main change is that they get a second tier of draconic adaptation, which applies only to themselves and usually grants one or two new things. Copper dragons are the winners here because they get two SLAs at-will, and judicious use of Stone Shape can be pretty potent on its own. Brass dragons get essentially Endure Exposure at will, so they don't have to worry about allies being on the area of breath weapons, which meshes well with their cone of sleep breath weapon (though, sadly, it's not Slow Breath).
Draconic Strength (Ex): At 4th level, the wyrmlord gains a surge of phenomenal strength as if he were a much larger creature. This improves his physical qualities and allows the wyrmlord to fight creatures of larger size on equal treading, but without the penalties of small size. The wyrmlord is treated as one size category larger than he is for purposes of opposed disarm, grapple or trip checks; furthermore, he is treated as if his base attack bonus was equal to his class level (or his actual base attack bonus, whichever is higher) for purposes of opposed grapple checks. The wyrmlord's weight limits are calculated as if the wyrmlord was a quadruped (if already a quadruped, the weight limits are doubled). Wyrmlords make Strength checks (but not attack rolls or damage rolls) with a +4 bonus.
The last sentence is not redundant: wyrmlords make Strength checks based on their improved size and get a +4 bonus on top of that. Since it only applies to Strength checks (and specifically opts attack and damage rolls out), that means you can get an impressive effective Strength without causing much trouble (unless you're going for lockdown builds or you really want to do crushing pin and most enemies are your size, unprotected by FoM and lacking any serious protection against Trip and Grapple).
Natural Armor (Ex): At 4th level, the wyrmlord's skin thickens, and develops faint scales that start to resemble that of his totem dragon. As he grows in power, the scales become slightly more noticeable. This grants the wyrmlord a +1 natural armor bonus to AC; if the creature already has a natural bonus, increase the amount by 1 instead. At 7th level, and every three levels afterwards, this improvement in natural armor increases by 1.
The rate of increase of the natural armor ability has been dutifully accelerated. You get a +6 before 20th level, which can be increased with Barkskin for a serious boost to AC. Or, you can use Scintillating Scales and get a serious deflection bonus to AC, which is even better.
Draconic Wings (Ex): At 6th level, the wyrmlord grows a pair of wings that resemble those of his totem dragon. These wings are real, and thus may interfere with the use of armor. A wyrmlord may choose to retract and expand his wings as a move action. If the wyrmlord already had racial wings, he may choose whether these draconic wings replace his own, but he nonetheless gains the same benefits.
The wyrmlord gains a +10 racial bonus on all Jump checks, and is treated as if making a running jump when using the skill. As well, the wyrmlord negates all damage from a fall of any height while his wings are unfurled, and may move 20 feet horizontally for every 5 feet of descent. A wyrmlord's total movement while gliding is equal to twice his base land speed. If the wyrmlord already has the ability to glide, he instead gains the ability to fly with average maneuverability; if the wyrmlord already has the ability to fly, he gains no further benefit.
At 12th level, the wyrmlord gains the ability to fly with his wings. He gains a fly speed of 60 feet with average maneuverability. A wyrmlord with the ability to fly improves his maneuverability to good instead. At 18th level, the wyrmlord gains the ability to fly with good maneuverability, and wyrmlords with an innate flight ability gain perfect maneuverability instead.
Getting the wings at 19th level was a horrible idea, much like with Favored Soul, because you have about 3 or more forms of flight with little effort. Hence, taking a page from the Dragonborn, they get wings that allow gliding, and ALSO allow for damage (at later levels), so they're slightly more complex than those of the Dragonborn.
You may find that wearing armor interferes with flight, so make sure you can make adjustments to that medium armor you're probably wearing. Between the natural armor, medium armor proficiency and shields, you can get a pretty high AC score with little effort.
Draconic Magic Affinity (Sp): At 7th level, a wyrmlord gains a unique attunement with items that hold magical power as part of his attunement with his totem dragon. Whenever he uses a wand, a scroll or a staff that holds an arcane spell that could be cast by a sorcerer with the Use Magic Device skill, he adds half his class level to the roll. He gains a further +2 bonus if the spell gains an increase in caster level for being cast as a sorcerer, a dragon (only applies to the wyrmlord's totem dragon), or a dragonblooded character. At 11th level, this attunement applies also to the following domains, based on the choice of totem dragon:
Black: Chaos, Evil and Water
Blue: Air, Evil and Law
Brass: Chaos and Knowledge
Bronze: Animal, Law and Water
Copper: Chaos, Earth and Trickery
Gold: Law, Luck and Good.
Green: Chaos, Plant and Water
Red: Chaos, Evil and Fire
Silver: Air, Good, Law and Sun
White: Cold* or Water
*: See Spell Compendium for more details.
At 16th level, this magical affinity improves, allowing the wyrmlord to use certain magic items without the need of Use Magic Device checks. The wyrmlord is treated as a sorcerer of his class level when activating scrolls, staffs or wands with arcane spells (or arcane versions of spells), as well as spells in the domains mentioned above.
Since the wyrmlords lack spells to work with, and they'll probably have enough UMD to emulate that part of the dragon, this is the closest thing a wyrmlord will get to spellcasting, barring multiclassing. Since you essentially add one-and-a-half times your level to the UMD check (if you get full ranks for it), that means you'll eventually activate most items by taking 1.
The odd point is the addition of domains. As you know, many of the dragons have access to their own domains, particularly the Red and Gold dragons, cast as arcane spells as a sorcerer would. Aside from the Cold domain, most of the domains presented are on the Player's Handbook, so it's no big deal. If I were to add spells to the Wyrmlord, either the domains go out, or the class becomes a tad TOO powerful; in this way, you can take advantage of magic items, perhaps get a bit covetous with them?
Touch of Vitality (Su): At 8th level, a wyrmlord with a Charisma score of 12 or higher can heal wounds (his own or those of others) by touch as a standard action. Once per encounter, the wyrmlord may heal an amount of damage equal to 5 plus twice his class level times his Charisma modifier (minimum of 1). He can choose to divide his healing among multiple recipients, and he doesn’t have to use it all at once. Using this ability in this way requires a successful melee touch attack that does not provoke attacks of opportunity. The pool of healing energy recharges at the beginning of each combat encounter, but may be spread outside of battle. This ability has no effect on undead. This ability is treated as lay on hands for the purpose of class features that advance the latter ability, as well as feats and spells that improve it.
At 14th level, the wyrmlord may choose to spend some of the healing bestowed by his touch of vitality to remove other harmful conditions affecting the target. The wyrmlord may remove a condition (or more than one) and heal damage with the same touch, so as long as he spends the required number of points:
For every 2 points expended, the wyrmlord may remove the dazed, fatigued, or sickened condition from one individual.
For every 5 points expended, the wyrmlord may cure 1 point of ability damage or remove the exhausted, nauseated, poisoned or stunned condition from an individual.
For every 10 points expended, the wyrmlord may restore 1 point of ability drain or remove the blinded, deafened or diseased condition from one individual.
For every 20 points expended, the wyrmlord may remove 1 negative level or remove the petrified condition.
Exactly why I kept Touch of Vitality may seem like a mystery, but it's no big deal, really. It evokes the concept of the "divine touch" or, most specifically, "royal touch", tying it to the religious feel and intended purpose of the class.
The main difference, however, is how the current Touch works. As with lay on hands and wholeness of body, Touch of Vitality has a pool of healing points; the retooled versions of the Paladin and the Monk add the ability to recharge the pool at the beginning of each combat encounter, which is as close as infinite healing, with a serious burst-heal property. Essentially, based on the points you expend, you can have anything from, say, 300 uses of Cure Minor Wounds to a recharging Heal spell that scales better.
Energy Immunity (Ex): At 9th level, the wyrmlord gains immunity to the energy type of his breath weapon. This applies to all attacks of the same energy type, not just breath weapons.
Rather obvious, actually: once you learn to manipulate a form of energy, a time will come where you get so used to it, you become resistant to that effect.
For other types of dragons, the benefit applies as a bonus to saves related to that ability, which with your huge Fort and very good Will saves you can essentially get immunity to that ability. So that's four immunities in a single class, but two of them are extremely useful.
Spell Resistance (Ex): At 14th level, the wyrmlord gains spell resistance equal to 10 plus his class level.
Any more obvious? You're turning into a dragon, and most (if not all) dragons have Spell Resistance, so you get spell resistance as well. The level is a bit late, but you get it right around the same time a dragon with equivalent HD gets its own.
Draconic Polymorph (Sp): At 18th level, a wyrmlord gains the ability to transform into the likeness of his totem dragon once per day. Treat this as the polymorph spell cast by a sorcerer of the wyrmlord's class level, except as follows: the wyrmlord transforms into a wyrm of the same type as his totem dragon. His physical stats become similar to those of the target dragon, but he retains his own mental scores. He does not gain any of the supernatural or spell-like abilities of the target dragon, and he loses all extraordinary and supernatural abilities from race; he retains all extraordinary, supernatural and spell-like abilities gained through class levels (but his flight maneuverability decreases to poor) as well as spell-like abilities gained by means of race. He gains the size, reach, natural weapons and natural armor bonus of the target dragon and temporarily loses the natural weapons and natural armor bonus gained by means of the class. He also gains the low-light vision, darkvision and blindsense special abilities of the dragon.
This ability could easily be the capstone ability of the class, but it's instead one of the high-level abilities. The ability to turn into a dragon (and not just ANY dragon, but a wyrm, which is one short of Great Wyrm) is pretty powerful, although spellcasters can basically pull this off more times than usual. Thus, it only works once per day, but when you DO use it, it can end a battle rather easily. Remember that, since you keep all extraordinary class abilities, when making a grapple or similar ability, you count as Colossal (because most, if not all, wyrms are Gargantuan), and you get to keep the auras, the boon with UMD and the breath weapon as well. Nothing can be more frightening than a dragon, and this is as close as you'll get to play one in a normal campaign.
Draconic Apotheosis (Ex): At 20th level, a wyrmlord becomes a physical manifestation of his totem dragon wherever he goes. His type changes to dragon, and he is treated as both a true dragon and as a creature of his former race for all purposes. The wyrmlord no longer ages as a creature of his former race and gains no bonuses or penalties from older age; he progresses in age as if a true dragon (treat the wyrmlord's as a dragon whose age is equal to his current age minus the wyrmlord's race adulthood age). The wyrmlord also gains damage reduction equal to 5 + half his class level bypassed only by epic weapons and blindsense up to 30 feet.
The capstone, obviously, turns you into a dragon. Perhaps not a dragon in body, but the closest thing to one. DR 15/epic is nothing to chage at, but one thing DOES beat it all.
Notice that you're treated as a true dragon for purposes of feats and magic items? A kobold can pull that off 19 levels ago with some shenanigans (a Dragonwrought of venerable age), but this one allows you to an extent take advantage of dragon-exclusive abilities, and even spells from magic items. With the judicious use of Draconic Polymorph, you can easily claim to be a dragon in disguise, and people WILL get fooled by it. If you get your hands on a scroll of Shapechange, you might as well abuse it, no?
*: that is, the end of its life, not the one with the "sparkling vampires", mind you...
As promised, I deliver yet another pompous, raucous retooling of a class, and this time, I'll break the mold.
If you've seen the Project Heretica thread, there's an appendix which details the procedure I usually take when retooling: in an essence, make classes, not builds. The class should work in the mechanical sense, but the fluff belongs exclusively to the player: whether you want the Paladin to be a beacon of shining light, a wrathful arm of the divine, a dour undead hunter...those options should be available, one way or another.
This time, what I'll do is different. Essentially, I'll be making a build, but this build is pretty unusual in that it fulfills one of the other ways to make a class. Nonetheless, it's gonna be a "build".
Now; will this be good for the class? In a way, but before, I need to explain:
The class I'll be presenting here is a retooling of the Dragon Shaman, one of the four new classes on Player's Handbook II that was meant to serve various purposes, but mostly offer non-traditional four-man party builds: the Beguiler would be the face/skillmonkey of the group, the Knight would tank but also do some minor crowd control, the Duskblade would be a blaster gish, and the Dragon Shaman...well...
That's the slight problem. Mechanically, the Dragon Shaman was meant to be a class that introduced draconic auras and would serve as the party "buffer", which with Touch of Vitality and the Vigor aura would cement its position as a leader. Yet, the Dragon Shaman would also get a breath weapon much like a dragon, and eventually immunities and the power of flight.
In the end, though, it was mechanically weak. However, the key point wasn't its mechanical weakness, but what exactly does the DS represents? The Dragonfire Adept was, essentially, the nail in the coffin for the Dragon Shaman: a class that made a pact with dragons for power, gaining far better abilities than the Dragon Shaman would ever have. A much better, much faster breath weapon, a variety of useful invocations, breath shapes that allowed them to change their main combat weapon in a flash, and more damage than Eldritch Blast would ever get in a lifetime, with a better range to boot! This interfered a bit in the archetype of the Dragon Shaman, which was...someone worshipping the dragons in admiration of their power. Which got...auras? Essentially, the Dragonfire Adept made a better fluff connection with the class abilities than the Dragon Shaman did with their own.
Thus, it would be hard to give the Dragon Shaman its own niche, but the solution came pretty quick. Remember the Dragon Disciple? It's one of the very first PrCs, allowing the character to "unlock" its draconic heritage in order to become a half-dragon. Now, giving the dragon shaman spells instead of auras and granting them draconic traits would be the easiest way to handle it, but unfortunately the Dragonfire Adept does that slightly better, and it would be mostly cheating. So, the challenge was to make the class slightly independent from spellcasting, but give it a flavor of its own. And thus: why not make the class a 20-level attempt to make any individual into a dragon?
The Wyrmlord exists as a "template class", which is a way to make a character start as one thing and end in another. In case you're wondering, the Dread Necromancer is the official example of a "template class": you get spellcasting, you slowly become undead, and by 20th level you become a lich if you're capable of doing so (being a humanoid, for example). Likewise, the main purpose of the Wyrmlord is to, within 20 levels, make you something akin to a dragon, with all that implies, but not abandoning the stuff it already has. Basically, you become a Wyrmlord because you desire draconic power so much, you wish you were a dragon.
Thus, without further ado, I present to you...
THE WYRMLORD
http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff312/Osky-kun/Dragonmaster20Outcast-1.jpg
Dragonmaster Outcast card art. Original by Raymond Swanbird. Released for Worldwake expansion for the Magic: the Gathering CCG
"It is not me commanding His majesty...nor I a pawn of His desires. We are brethren. You have wronged me for the last time...you see, my family is of the tight and unforgiving kind." - Erethria Darastrix-tibur-Munthrek Wyrmcaller, human wyrmlord
MAKING A WYRMLORD (and what has, and hasn't, changed from the Dragon Shaman)
Abilities: A wyrmlord prizes ability scores similar to those of dragons, to an extent. Charisma powers many of the class abilities such as the auras, their touch of vitality and their ability to duplicate magic power. Strength is important to take advantage of the natural weapons of the character, as well as the virtual increment in size. Constitution not only grants a large amount of hit points and Fortitude saves, but also deals with the Difficulty Class of the wyrmlord's breath weapon.
Races: Any race that feels kinship with dragons and seeks their power make great wyrmlords. Humans gravitate naturally towards the class, as well as dragonborn and spellscales (see Races of the Dragon for more information).
Amongst savage humanoids, classes that prize physical power without sacrificing force of personality make good wyrmlords. Particularly, hobgoblins make fearsome wyrmlords, and deadly leaders of hordes in combat. Oddly enough, kobolds that seek to emulate their dragon "kindred" follow the path, even though their small size and frailty make them unusual: kobold wyrmlords tend to be quite charismatic and rely on hit and run tactics, favoring breath strafing over physical combat, but eventually become every bit as powerful as larger creatures.
Alignment: based on totem dragon (see below). A dragon shaman may not be of an alignment more than two steps away from its chosen totem dragon.
Starting Gold: as Sorcerer
Starting Age: as Druid
Class Skills
The wyrmlord's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Escape Artist (Dex), Knowledge (arcana) (Int), Knowledge (nature) (Int), Knowledge (nobility and royalty) (Int), Knowledge (religion) (Int), Listen (Wis), Search (Wis), Sense Motive (Wis), Spot (Wis), Use Magic Device (Cha). See the Totem Dragon class feature for more information.
Skill Points at 1st Level: (4 + Int modifier) x4.
Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 4 + Int modifier.
The skill list was expanded quite a bit, adding various seemingly oddball skills such as Diplomacy and Escape Artist, while also adding essential skills such as Knowledge (arcana) (to know more about dragons), Knowledge (religion) (to know the nuances of the draconic faiths and those few dragons that aspire to godhood), Listen and Spot (which ARE skills given to dragons, not to mention useful for a scout) and Sense Motive (because a high Charisma, low Wisdom character is just ASKING to be bluffed).
The biggest addition, though, is Use Magic Device. As you can see, since the idea is to provide NO access to arcane magic, UMD becomes an excellent way to replicate magic power. Having high Charisma helps a lot, and many of the class features assist on the use of magic items meant to replicate the power of various dragons.
Hit Die: d10
Level
Base Attack Bonus
Fort Save
Ref Save
Will Save
Special
Minor Aura
Major Aura
Draconic Aura
1st
+0
+2
+0
+2
Aura (minor and major), breath weapon 1d6, totem dragon
2
1
0
2nd
+1
+3
+0
+3
Dragontouched, natural weapons (claw)
2
1
0
3rd
+2
+3
+1
+3
Breath weapon 2d6, draconic resolve (sleep)
2
1
0
4th
+3
+4
+1
+4
Draconic adaptation, draconic strength, natural armor +1
3
1
0
5th
+3
+4
+1
+4
Aura (draconic), breath weapon 3d6, natural weapon (bite)
3
2
1
6th
+4
+5
+2
+5
Draconic resolve (frightful presence), draconic wings (glide)
3
2
1
7th
+5
+5
+2
+5
Breath weapon 4d6, draconic magic affinity (arcane spells), natural armor +2
4
2
1
8th
+6/+1
+6
+2
+6
Natural weapons (wings), touch of vitality (heal wounds)
4
2
1
9th
+6/+1
+6
+3
+6
Breath weapon 5d6, draconic resolve (paralysis), energy immunity
4
3
1
10th
+7/+2
+7
+3
+7
Breath weapon (alternate or improvement), natural armor +3
5
3
2
11th
+8/+3
+7
+3
+7
Breath weapon 6d6 or 6d8 (increase size), draconic magic affinity (domain spells), natural weapons (tail)
5
3
2
12th
+9/+4
+8
+4
+8
Draconic adaptation (share with allies), draconic wings (flight)
5
3
2
13th
+9/+4
+8
+4
+8
Breath weapon 7d6 or 7d8, natural armor +4
6
4
2
14th
+10/+5
+9
+4
+9
Natural weapons (crushing pin), spell resistance, touch of vitality (remove conditions)
6
4
2
15th
+11/+6/+1
+9
+5
+9
Breath weapon 8d6 or 8d8, draconic resolve (extended immunities)
6
4
3
16th
+12/+7/+2
+10
+5
+10
Draconic magic affinity (effective caster level), natural armor +5
7
4
3
17th
+12/+7/+2
+10
+5
+10
Breath weapon 9d6 or 9d8, natural weapons (tail smash)
7
5
3
18th
+13/+8/+3
+11
+6
+11
Draconic polymorph 1/day, draconic wings (good maneuverability)
7
5
3
19th
+14/+9/+4
+11
+6
+11
Breath weapon 10d6 or 10d8, natural armor +6
8
5
3
20th
+15/+10/+5
+12
+6
+12
Breath weapon (improvement, increase size), draconic apotheosis, natural weapons (pounce)
8
6
4
Well ladies and gents, as you can see, it is a mammoth of a class.
For starters: d10!? One of the nicer stuff of the original dragon shaman is that it almost has the HP of a dragon, only one die step shy of the coveted d12. Being that this class isn't a melee combatant (though it has a LOT of natural weapons to show off), and it relies on Constitution pretty well, you can get lots of HP that way. However, if you want the d12...
Another thing is the medium BAB. As you know, most of the time when you make a full attack with all of your natural weapons, you use the highest BAB and then a -5 for all of the others, with a reduced penalty for Multiattack. Given the damage of all natural weapons, it's quite probable you'll need little BAB to hit, and with a decent Strength and bonuses to hit (from your auras, of course), that definitely means you'll have a pretty high attack bonus nonetheless. It's also part of the original Dragon Shaman. But, if you insist on making it full BAB...
The rest of the chassis should be familiar, as it shares the "commander" chassis of the Retooled Marshal, only with their Greater Auras replaced by the exclusive Draconic Auras. Note, of course, that they get Minor and Major Auras as well, but these auras are not copied verbatim in its entirety from the Marshal auras; there WILL be some differences around. Good Fort and Will with poor Reflex definitely suits the dragon feel.
There's one small disclaimer I must make as well. If you see parts that are extremely similar to another remake of Dragon Shaman, they are entirely coincidental. I found one that was extremely similar to this reinterpretation, but with some subtle differences, while attempting to find the art for the thread. All of this is basing the abilities of the class on what a dragon would get as it gains age categories, so it's pretty much a given that there will be some similarities.
Class Features
All of the following are class features of the wyrmlord.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A wyrmlord is proficient with all simple weapons, with light and medium armor, and with all shields (except tower shields).
Pretty standard; before you get your natural weapons, you'll be probably using a stout mace and some armor. Later on, you can keep the armor and ditch the weapon. Oh, and shields are also welcome too, in case you find that you want to get some protection while allowing your fangs, wings and tail to do the smack-down.
Bonus Language: A wyrmlord's bonus language options always include Draconic.
Pretty obvious. The real question should be: why not make Draconic an automatic language? The answer is, of course, because you'll probably have the chance for a bonus language, and Draconic fits. Plus, not ALL wizards know Draconic, and not ALL the Clerics know the alignment-planar languages. Still, if you want automatic knowledge of Draconic...
Auras (Ex or Su): The wyrmlord exerts an effect on allies in his vicinity. He can learn to produce different effects, or auras, over the course of his career. The wyrmlord may project one minor aura, one major aura and, starting at 5th level, one draconic aura at a time.
Projecting an aura is a swift action. The aura remains in effect until the wyrmlord uses a free action to dismiss it or activates another aura of the same kind (major or minor). A wyrmlord can have an aura active continually; thus, an aura can be in effect at the start of a combat encounter even before the wyrmlord takes his first turn.
Activating an aura involves haranguing, ordering, directing, encouraging, cajoling, or calming allies. A wyrmlord sizes up the enemy, allies, and the terrain, then gives allies the direction that they can use to do their best.
Unless otherwise noted, a wyrmlord's aura affects all allies within 60 feet (including himself) who can hear him. An ally must have an Intelligence score of 3 or higher and be able to understand the wyrmlord's language to gain the bonus. A wyrmlord's aura is dismissed if he is dazed, unconscious, stunned, paralyzed, or otherwise unable to be heard or understood by his allies.
A wyrmlord begins play knowing two minor auras and one major aura of his choice. As his wyrmlord level increases, he gains access to new auras, as indicated on the table above.
All bonuses granted by a wyrmlord's auras are either morale or circumstance bonuses that do not stack with each other.
If you've seen the explanation on the Marshal, it should be pretty self-explanatory.
The big difference to mark here is that nearly all auras are extraordinary (the one difference is draconic auras, which are supernatural, but that's because you're dealing with Energy Shield and Vigor). That means they work on an Antimagic Field, they work when supernatural abilities are suppressed, and they help the party immensely when spells can't. Yes, even Energy Shield and Vigor. This also helps whenever you want to make (or enter into) PrCs that advance auras, as little as they may be (the only ones are Mythic Exemplar, Legacy Champion and Uncanny Trickster, and the first really makes Bahamut cry).
Totem Dragon: The wyrmlord draws power from the true dragons which bless him as their champion, and the influence of the dragon bears strong weight upon him. Many of the abilities of the wyrmlord reflect that of the dragon he follows, such as his elemental affinity.
At 1st level, a wyrmlord must choose a totem dragon upon those indicated below. The wyrmlord must choose a dragon whose alignment is within one step of his. Once chosen, the wyrmlord's totem dragon determines a set of class skills alongside those he already has, the element of his breath weapon, his draconic affinity and other abilities. The list below indicates the true dragons presented in the Monster Manual; other true dragons may be chosen and adapted with the DM's permission; the list also indicates the acceptable alignment range and the list of class skills granted by the wyrmlord's totem dragon.
Black: A wyrmlord with a black totem dragon must be of chaotic neutral, chaotic evil or neutral evil alignment. A black wyrmlord gains Hide, Move Silently and Swim as class skills.
Blue: A wyrmlord with a blue totem dragon must be of lawful neutral, lawful evil or neutral evil alignment. A blue wyrmlord gains Bluff, Hide and Spellcraft as class skills.
Brass: A wyrmlord with a brass totem dragon must be of chaotic good, chaotic neutral or neutral good alignment. A brass wyrmlord gains Bluff, Gather Information and Survival as class skills.
Bronze: A wyrmlord with a bronze totem dragon must be of lawful good, lawful neutral or neutral good alignment. A bronze wyrmlord gains Disguise, Survival and Swim as class skills.
Copper: A wyrmlord with a copper totem dragon must be of chaotic good, chaotic neutral or neutral good alignment. A copper wyrmlord gains Bluff, Hide and Jump as class skills.
Gold: A wyrmlord with a gold totem dragon must be of lawful good, lawful neutral or neutral good alignment. A gold wyrmlord gains Disguise, Heal and Swim as class skills.
Green: A wyrmlord with a green totem dragon must be of lawful neutral, lawful evil or neutral evill alignment. A green wyrmlord gains Bluff, Hide and Move Silently as class skills.
Red: A wyrmlord with a red totem dragon must be of chaotic neutral, chaotic evil or neutral evil alignment. A red wyrmlord gains Appraise, Bluff and Jump as class skills.
Silver: A wyrmlord with a silver totem dragon must be of lawful good, lawful neutral or neutral goodl alignment. A silver wyrmlord gains Bluff, Disguise and Jump as class skills.
White: A wyrmlord with a white totem dragon must be of chaotic neutral, chaotic evil or neutral evil alignment. A white wyrmlord gains Hide, Move Silently and Swim as class skills.
You gain access to all chromatic and metallic dragons from the Monster Manual, as usual, but there's a little surprise for you on the next post.
Breath Weapon (Su): At 1st level, the wyrmlord gains a breath weapon corresponding to his totem dragon. The breath weapon deals 1d6 points of damage, the energy type determined by the totem dragon, and of an area equal to a 30 ft. cone or a 60 ft. line (the area is also determined by the totem dragon). A successful Reflex save halves the damage dealt ; the save DC is equal to 10 + 1/2 the wyrmlord's level + the wyrmlord's Constitution modifier. Much like a true dragon, a wyrmlord must wait 1d4 rounds before it can use its breath weapon again. A wyrmlord is immune to its own breath weapon, as well as any other breath weapon of the same energy type as that of his totem dragon. At 3rd level, and every two levels afterwards, the damage of the breath weapon increases by an extra 1d6 (2d6 at 3rd level, 3d6 at 5th level, and so forth).
The following is a list of breath weapon based on the wyrmlord's totem dragon:
Black: Line of acid
Blue: Line of electricity
Brass: Line of fire
Bronze: Line of electricity
Copper: Line of acid
Gold: Cone of fire
Green: Cone of acid
Red: Cone of fire
Silver: Cone of cold
White: Cone of cold
At 10th level, the wyrmlord's breath weapon improves based on its totem dragon. A wyrmlord that has a chromatic true dragon as its totem dragon (black, blue, green, red or white) increase the die size of their weapon from a d6 to a d8 (thus, a wyrmlord that has a chromatic true dragon as its totem dragon deals 5d8 points of damage with its breath weapon). A wyrmlord that has a metallic true dragon as its totem dragon (brass, bronze, copper, gold or silver) gains a new breath weapon based on their choice of totem dragon. The breath weapon's size and DC are based on the original breath weapon. A wyrmlord may not use a breath weapon if the other is recharging:
Brass: Cone of sleep (Will save or fall asleep for 1d6 rounds plus 1 round for every three class levels)
Bronze: Cone of repulsion gas (Will save or become compelled to move away from dragon for 1d6 rounds plus 1 round for every three class levels; mind-affecting compulsion effect)
Copper: Cone of slow (Fortitude save or slowed for 1d6 round plus 1 round for every three class levels)
Gold: Cone of weakening (Fortitude save or take 1 point of Strength damage for every three class levels)
Silver: Cone of paralysis (Fortitude save or paralyzed for 1d6 rounds plus 1 round for every three class levels)
At 11th level and again at 20th level, the wyrmlord's breath weapon increases in size. Cone-shaped breath weapons increase by 15 feet each time, while line-based breath weapons increase by 30 feet. At 20th level, the breath weapon damage increases by one die size (from d6 to d8, or from d8 to d10).
Breath weapons have received a pretty nice uplift. While at first that may not be the case, you do get a breath weapon at 1st level, and the size is twice as long as that of the original. It has a recharge time (so you can use metabreath feats!), and it scales faster than the original, just as fast as the one from the Dragonfire Adept.
Where it changes, of course, is after 10th level. Wyrmlords following chromatic dragons get a boost to their breath dice sizes (from a d6 to a d8), which makes the breath even more dangerous (essentially a 1 point increase in every breath, which can be magnified). Wyrmlords that follow metallic dragons might get a bit of the shaft because they get another breath weapon, but with a shared recharge time; the Dragonfire Adept by that moment gets the breath weapon of their choice. Dragons, of course (true dragons for that matter) get the same thing, so it's not like they really get shafted. Then, they get a size increase that's significative: a 45 ft. cone or a 90 ft. line, which is more (and one level earlier) than the original dragon shaman.
At 20th level, of course, you get the last increase, which is exactly as what the original dragon shaman got, but you get yet another size increase. This one applies to both, so the metallic wyrmlord gets its due (late but sure), while the chromatic wyrmlord gets a super breath weapon (10d10 is nothing to chafe at, mister!).
...Well, perhaps not THAT much, but hey; the reason why dragons deal exuberant amounts of damage with their breath weapons is because they're packed with almost twice your Hit Dice.
Dragontouched: A wyrmlord gains the Dragontouched feat (see Races of the Dragon or Dragon Magic) as a bonus feat.
A free bonus feat, and one that's pretty expected, given that you're essentially becoming a dragon. So it makes you realize, after all, you had a bit of dragon blood in you.
Now, one thing I want to clear, of course, is how the draconic auras stack with the Dragontouched feat. As you'll see later, wyrmlords progress their auras faster, so the benefit of Dragontouched may be lost, but it helps you if you mostly dabble into the class. If you decide to get a draconic aura before you could actually get them (i.e. at 1st level or 3rd level through the Draconic Aura feat), you abide by the dragontouched progression until that level. Then, you can take advantage of the faster progression via class levels.
Natural Weapons (Ex): At 2nd level, a wyrmlord's fervor for his totem dragon alters his composition, slowly developing a set of natural weapons much as a true dragon possesses. As he grows more and more powerful, his body slowly develops appropriate appendages and increases the lethality of the other weapons. At 2nd level, a wyrmlord gains access to a pair of claws that deal 1d4 points of damage. The wyrmlord may choose to attack with both as a full attack action, or use one of the claws as a secondary attack alongside a melee attack.
At 5th level, the wyrmlord gains a bite attack that deals 1d8 points of damage. His claws deal 1d6 points of damage instead of 1d4. The wyrmlord may use his bite and claw attacks as part of a full round action, and may elect to make his bite or his claws his primary natural weapons each time he attacks.
At 8th level, the wyrmlord gains a pair of wing attacks which he may use while flying (but not while gliding) as secondary natural attacks, each dealing 1d6 points of damage. His bite damage increases to 2d6 and his claw damage increases to 1d8.
At 11th level, the wyrmlord gains a tail slam attack that deals 1d8 points of bludgeoning damage and is treated as a secondary attack. His wing damage increases to 1d8 points as well.
At 14th level, whenever the wyrmlord succeeds on a grapple check to pin his opponent, he may constrict said opponent for 2d8 points of damage each round he maintains the pin. This is in addition to any attacks done by the wyrmlord as part of the grapple. His tail slam damage increases by 2d6, his bite damage increases to 2d8 and his claw attacks increase to 2d6.
At 17th level, the wyrmlord may make a tail sweep as a standard action. This attack hits automatically and deals 2d6 points of damage plus 1-1/2 times the wyrmlord's Strength modifier and grants a free trip attempt against all opponents within a half-circle with radius of 10 feet from the wyrmlord; opponents within the area may make a Reflex save to take half damage from the attack (save DC equal to the wyrmlord's breath weapon DC) and evade the trip. If the wyrmlord's trip attempt fails against any opponent, the latter may not elect to trip the wyrmlord back. As well, his tail slam damage increases to 2d6 points of damage.
At 20th level, whenever the wyrmlord charges, he may elect to attack with his claw, bite, tail slam and wing natural attacks at the end of the charge. He may also choose to attack with all of his iterative attacks plus one natural attack of his choice (except for a tail sweep) as a secondary natural attack. As well, his wing damage increases to 2d6.
If a wyrmlord chooses the Improved Natural Attack feat for any of his natural weapons, the natural weapon damage increases based on the table for dragon natural attacks on the Monster Manual, page 69. All natural attacks are done at the same reach as the wyrmlord's (thus, if the wyrmlord is of Medium size, all his natural weapons except his tail sweep have a 5 ft. reach). For creatures with increased reach with natural weapons or of larger size, the tail sweep range is equal to 1-1/2 times the wyrmlord's reach, reduced to the nearest 5 ft. increment (thus, a wyrmlord with a reach of 10 feet would have a tail sweep of 15 feet, a wyrmlord with a reach of 15 feet would have a tail sweep of 20 feet, while a wyrmlord with a reach of 20 feet would have a tail sweep reach of 30 feet).
If you notice very, very carefully, the wyrmlord basically gets ALL of the dragon's natural attacks, including crush (via crushing pin) and tail sweep, and by 20th level you deal damage as a dragon somewhere between Huge and Gargantuan.
Certainly, pounce comes hilariously late, but do note that you get pounce, whereas actual dragons don't. With how ridiculously easy it is to get pounce (and one that works with weapons), you could easily skip that last level (with wing damage as that of a Huge dragon). Range, of course, is the killer here: unless you physically increase in size, your natural weapons will require you to be within striking distance for them to work, which works as an advantage to larger creatures. Ways to increase your reach with natural weapons makes this a pretty nasty combination. It also makes you a fine target for Necklace of Natural Attacks, though you may need a really expensive one (the one that works for all four natural weapons).
Draconic Resolve (Ex): Beginning at 3rd level, the wyrmlord's body becomes immune to many of the things dragons are immune to. At first, this immunity is limited in scope, but as the wyrmlord progresses, his allies acquire the same benefit. The wyrmlord at this level gains immunity to sleep.
At 6th level, the wyrmlord becomes immune to the frightful presence of dragons, as well as any special ability that causes fear status in the same way as frightful presence. This does not imply the wyrmlord is immune to fear effects; it only becomes immune to a specific form of fear. At 9th level, the wyrmlord becomes immune to paralysis. At 15th level, all allies within range of the wyrmlord's aura gain the same immunities as the wyrmlord does, for as long as they remain within the range of the aura.
The way this feature has changed may make it bad at the beginning, but useful at the very end. As you see, whereas the original granted all immunities at a very early level (4th), this one spreads them between levels (3rd, 6th and 9th). All are acquired at moments in which they may be fought against, so the loss is quite minimal.
15th level, however, redeems this ability by making the immunities a passive buff. Sleep by that level is a thing of the past and fear is not something you might worry about (what with all the immunities to it lying around), but paralysis is a latent peril at every level, and one that is potentially lethal. Becoming immune to it just by taking advantage of another ability is pretty spectacular.
Draconic Adaptation (Ex or Sp): At 4th level, the wyrmlord takes an aspect of the totem dragon he chose to follow. Some adaptations are extraordinary abilities that are always active, while others are spell-like abilities that the wyrmlord can activate at will. Spell like abilities have a caster level equal to the wyrmlord's class level and a save DC (if any) of 10 + 1/2 the wyrmlord's class level + the wyrmlord's Charisma modifier.
Black, Bronze, Gold, Green--Water Breathing (Ex). The wyrmlord gains the ability to breathe underwater. If his breath weapon deals fire damage, he may use his breath weapon underwater (it instead becomes a breath of superheated steam). If the wyrmlord has the ability to cast spells or use abilities that are restricted underwater, he also gains free access to them. A wyrmlord does not gain a swim speed through this ability.
Blue--Create/Destroy Water (Sp). A blue wyrmlord may choose to, instead of create water, destroy large sources of water (a blue wyrmlord may not use this ability to cause damage to creatures composed of water, such as water elementals). Any liquid within the area of the spell becomes ruined, and any potion, magic item that holds water, or liquid item must succeed on a Will save or become spoiled.
Brass--Endure Elements (Sp). A brass wyrmlord that uses this ability on others (see below) also grants them immunity to his own breath weapon, as well as the breath weapon of any creature whose energy type resembles that of his totem dragon.
Copper--Spider Climb (Sp).
Red--Lavawalk (Ex) A red wyrmlord gains the ability to walk on top of lava if he so desires.
Silver--Feather Fall (Sp).
White-- Icewalking (Ex) The wyrmlord may walk across icy surfaces without reducing its speed or make Balance checks.
At 12th level, the wyrmlord may choose, as a swift action, to share the effect of his draconic adaptation's extraordinary or spell-like abilities with any or all allies within the range of its aura. In the case of spell-like abilities, the wyrmlord must make the decision when activating the ability. The benefit lasts until the wyrmlord spends a free action to rescind from the effect or (if the effect has a limited duration) the effect ends, whichever comes first. As well, the wyrmlord gains a secondary draconic adaptation, which he may not share with his allies.
Black, Bronze, Gold, Green--swim speed equal to its base land speed.
Blue, Brass, White--burrow speed equal to its base land speed.
Copper--Stone Shape (Sp).
Red--Locate Object (Sp).
Silver--Cloudwalking (Ex). A silver wyrmlord may tread on clouds or fog as if on solid ground. The ability works continuously but it may be resumed or dispelled at will.
Draconic Adaptation is the same as the dragon shaman's one, which grants minor abilities at will which are eventually shared. The main change is that they get a second tier of draconic adaptation, which applies only to themselves and usually grants one or two new things. Copper dragons are the winners here because they get two SLAs at-will, and judicious use of Stone Shape can be pretty potent on its own. Brass dragons get essentially Endure Exposure at will, so they don't have to worry about allies being on the area of breath weapons, which meshes well with their cone of sleep breath weapon (though, sadly, it's not Slow Breath).
Draconic Strength (Ex): At 4th level, the wyrmlord gains a surge of phenomenal strength as if he were a much larger creature. This improves his physical qualities and allows the wyrmlord to fight creatures of larger size on equal treading, but without the penalties of small size. The wyrmlord is treated as one size category larger than he is for purposes of opposed disarm, grapple or trip checks; furthermore, he is treated as if his base attack bonus was equal to his class level (or his actual base attack bonus, whichever is higher) for purposes of opposed grapple checks. The wyrmlord's weight limits are calculated as if the wyrmlord was a quadruped (if already a quadruped, the weight limits are doubled). Wyrmlords make Strength checks (but not attack rolls or damage rolls) with a +4 bonus.
The last sentence is not redundant: wyrmlords make Strength checks based on their improved size and get a +4 bonus on top of that. Since it only applies to Strength checks (and specifically opts attack and damage rolls out), that means you can get an impressive effective Strength without causing much trouble (unless you're going for lockdown builds or you really want to do crushing pin and most enemies are your size, unprotected by FoM and lacking any serious protection against Trip and Grapple).
Natural Armor (Ex): At 4th level, the wyrmlord's skin thickens, and develops faint scales that start to resemble that of his totem dragon. As he grows in power, the scales become slightly more noticeable. This grants the wyrmlord a +1 natural armor bonus to AC; if the creature already has a natural bonus, increase the amount by 1 instead. At 7th level, and every three levels afterwards, this improvement in natural armor increases by 1.
The rate of increase of the natural armor ability has been dutifully accelerated. You get a +6 before 20th level, which can be increased with Barkskin for a serious boost to AC. Or, you can use Scintillating Scales and get a serious deflection bonus to AC, which is even better.
Draconic Wings (Ex): At 6th level, the wyrmlord grows a pair of wings that resemble those of his totem dragon. These wings are real, and thus may interfere with the use of armor. A wyrmlord may choose to retract and expand his wings as a move action. If the wyrmlord already had racial wings, he may choose whether these draconic wings replace his own, but he nonetheless gains the same benefits.
The wyrmlord gains a +10 racial bonus on all Jump checks, and is treated as if making a running jump when using the skill. As well, the wyrmlord negates all damage from a fall of any height while his wings are unfurled, and may move 20 feet horizontally for every 5 feet of descent. A wyrmlord's total movement while gliding is equal to twice his base land speed. If the wyrmlord already has the ability to glide, he instead gains the ability to fly with average maneuverability; if the wyrmlord already has the ability to fly, he gains no further benefit.
At 12th level, the wyrmlord gains the ability to fly with his wings. He gains a fly speed of 60 feet with average maneuverability. A wyrmlord with the ability to fly improves his maneuverability to good instead. At 18th level, the wyrmlord gains the ability to fly with good maneuverability, and wyrmlords with an innate flight ability gain perfect maneuverability instead.
Getting the wings at 19th level was a horrible idea, much like with Favored Soul, because you have about 3 or more forms of flight with little effort. Hence, taking a page from the Dragonborn, they get wings that allow gliding, and ALSO allow for damage (at later levels), so they're slightly more complex than those of the Dragonborn.
You may find that wearing armor interferes with flight, so make sure you can make adjustments to that medium armor you're probably wearing. Between the natural armor, medium armor proficiency and shields, you can get a pretty high AC score with little effort.
Draconic Magic Affinity (Sp): At 7th level, a wyrmlord gains a unique attunement with items that hold magical power as part of his attunement with his totem dragon. Whenever he uses a wand, a scroll or a staff that holds an arcane spell that could be cast by a sorcerer with the Use Magic Device skill, he adds half his class level to the roll. He gains a further +2 bonus if the spell gains an increase in caster level for being cast as a sorcerer, a dragon (only applies to the wyrmlord's totem dragon), or a dragonblooded character. At 11th level, this attunement applies also to the following domains, based on the choice of totem dragon:
Black: Chaos, Evil and Water
Blue: Air, Evil and Law
Brass: Chaos and Knowledge
Bronze: Animal, Law and Water
Copper: Chaos, Earth and Trickery
Gold: Law, Luck and Good.
Green: Chaos, Plant and Water
Red: Chaos, Evil and Fire
Silver: Air, Good, Law and Sun
White: Cold* or Water
*: See Spell Compendium for more details.
At 16th level, this magical affinity improves, allowing the wyrmlord to use certain magic items without the need of Use Magic Device checks. The wyrmlord is treated as a sorcerer of his class level when activating scrolls, staffs or wands with arcane spells (or arcane versions of spells), as well as spells in the domains mentioned above.
Since the wyrmlords lack spells to work with, and they'll probably have enough UMD to emulate that part of the dragon, this is the closest thing a wyrmlord will get to spellcasting, barring multiclassing. Since you essentially add one-and-a-half times your level to the UMD check (if you get full ranks for it), that means you'll eventually activate most items by taking 1.
The odd point is the addition of domains. As you know, many of the dragons have access to their own domains, particularly the Red and Gold dragons, cast as arcane spells as a sorcerer would. Aside from the Cold domain, most of the domains presented are on the Player's Handbook, so it's no big deal. If I were to add spells to the Wyrmlord, either the domains go out, or the class becomes a tad TOO powerful; in this way, you can take advantage of magic items, perhaps get a bit covetous with them?
Touch of Vitality (Su): At 8th level, a wyrmlord with a Charisma score of 12 or higher can heal wounds (his own or those of others) by touch as a standard action. Once per encounter, the wyrmlord may heal an amount of damage equal to 5 plus twice his class level times his Charisma modifier (minimum of 1). He can choose to divide his healing among multiple recipients, and he doesn’t have to use it all at once. Using this ability in this way requires a successful melee touch attack that does not provoke attacks of opportunity. The pool of healing energy recharges at the beginning of each combat encounter, but may be spread outside of battle. This ability has no effect on undead. This ability is treated as lay on hands for the purpose of class features that advance the latter ability, as well as feats and spells that improve it.
At 14th level, the wyrmlord may choose to spend some of the healing bestowed by his touch of vitality to remove other harmful conditions affecting the target. The wyrmlord may remove a condition (or more than one) and heal damage with the same touch, so as long as he spends the required number of points:
For every 2 points expended, the wyrmlord may remove the dazed, fatigued, or sickened condition from one individual.
For every 5 points expended, the wyrmlord may cure 1 point of ability damage or remove the exhausted, nauseated, poisoned or stunned condition from an individual.
For every 10 points expended, the wyrmlord may restore 1 point of ability drain or remove the blinded, deafened or diseased condition from one individual.
For every 20 points expended, the wyrmlord may remove 1 negative level or remove the petrified condition.
Exactly why I kept Touch of Vitality may seem like a mystery, but it's no big deal, really. It evokes the concept of the "divine touch" or, most specifically, "royal touch", tying it to the religious feel and intended purpose of the class.
The main difference, however, is how the current Touch works. As with lay on hands and wholeness of body, Touch of Vitality has a pool of healing points; the retooled versions of the Paladin and the Monk add the ability to recharge the pool at the beginning of each combat encounter, which is as close as infinite healing, with a serious burst-heal property. Essentially, based on the points you expend, you can have anything from, say, 300 uses of Cure Minor Wounds to a recharging Heal spell that scales better.
Energy Immunity (Ex): At 9th level, the wyrmlord gains immunity to the energy type of his breath weapon. This applies to all attacks of the same energy type, not just breath weapons.
Rather obvious, actually: once you learn to manipulate a form of energy, a time will come where you get so used to it, you become resistant to that effect.
For other types of dragons, the benefit applies as a bonus to saves related to that ability, which with your huge Fort and very good Will saves you can essentially get immunity to that ability. So that's four immunities in a single class, but two of them are extremely useful.
Spell Resistance (Ex): At 14th level, the wyrmlord gains spell resistance equal to 10 plus his class level.
Any more obvious? You're turning into a dragon, and most (if not all) dragons have Spell Resistance, so you get spell resistance as well. The level is a bit late, but you get it right around the same time a dragon with equivalent HD gets its own.
Draconic Polymorph (Sp): At 18th level, a wyrmlord gains the ability to transform into the likeness of his totem dragon once per day. Treat this as the polymorph spell cast by a sorcerer of the wyrmlord's class level, except as follows: the wyrmlord transforms into a wyrm of the same type as his totem dragon. His physical stats become similar to those of the target dragon, but he retains his own mental scores. He does not gain any of the supernatural or spell-like abilities of the target dragon, and he loses all extraordinary and supernatural abilities from race; he retains all extraordinary, supernatural and spell-like abilities gained through class levels (but his flight maneuverability decreases to poor) as well as spell-like abilities gained by means of race. He gains the size, reach, natural weapons and natural armor bonus of the target dragon and temporarily loses the natural weapons and natural armor bonus gained by means of the class. He also gains the low-light vision, darkvision and blindsense special abilities of the dragon.
This ability could easily be the capstone ability of the class, but it's instead one of the high-level abilities. The ability to turn into a dragon (and not just ANY dragon, but a wyrm, which is one short of Great Wyrm) is pretty powerful, although spellcasters can basically pull this off more times than usual. Thus, it only works once per day, but when you DO use it, it can end a battle rather easily. Remember that, since you keep all extraordinary class abilities, when making a grapple or similar ability, you count as Colossal (because most, if not all, wyrms are Gargantuan), and you get to keep the auras, the boon with UMD and the breath weapon as well. Nothing can be more frightening than a dragon, and this is as close as you'll get to play one in a normal campaign.
Draconic Apotheosis (Ex): At 20th level, a wyrmlord becomes a physical manifestation of his totem dragon wherever he goes. His type changes to dragon, and he is treated as both a true dragon and as a creature of his former race for all purposes. The wyrmlord no longer ages as a creature of his former race and gains no bonuses or penalties from older age; he progresses in age as if a true dragon (treat the wyrmlord's as a dragon whose age is equal to his current age minus the wyrmlord's race adulthood age). The wyrmlord also gains damage reduction equal to 5 + half his class level bypassed only by epic weapons and blindsense up to 30 feet.
The capstone, obviously, turns you into a dragon. Perhaps not a dragon in body, but the closest thing to one. DR 15/epic is nothing to chage at, but one thing DOES beat it all.
Notice that you're treated as a true dragon for purposes of feats and magic items? A kobold can pull that off 19 levels ago with some shenanigans (a Dragonwrought of venerable age), but this one allows you to an extent take advantage of dragon-exclusive abilities, and even spells from magic items. With the judicious use of Draconic Polymorph, you can easily claim to be a dragon in disguise, and people WILL get fooled by it. If you get your hands on a scroll of Shapechange, you might as well abuse it, no?