Divine Dragon Disciple?

[Alphasez]

So I'm playing a PathFinder campaign, and I've asked my DM to let me sub the sorc/bard aspect of the DD requirements for cleric and other skills. He's agreed, so I am playing a LE half-elven cleric/black dragon disciple of our worlds god of death, who likes to tinker with the undead ;) I was just curious if anyone has seen/heard/tested a build like this in the past, and what sort of ideas for the build with feats, spells, and items you might have. Like I said, this is a PF campaign, and we are using the Core Rule Book, DM Guide, Ultimate Magic, and Ultimate Combat books only. Our group does not power-game or min-max, so we try to keep things fairly manageable. Thanks for any advice.

[Namfuak]

I totally missed that you were playing Pathfinder, you can pretty much ignore this whole post. Except the bit about wisdom being less important than strength, unless the role of the casting stat for gishes has changed with Pathfinder.

Hmm, I'd recommend that you get to at least 4th level spells, so you can take Divine Power to make up for your lost BAB. You are a divine gish, so anything that buffs your ability to hit people and not die in the process is going to be good (Bull's Strength, Bear's Endurance, etc). If you are starting before level 10, you should probably jump into the class as soon as possible, so Cleric 7/DD 10/??, since you don't really need more than 14 wisdom (just enough to cast 4th level spells, 15 if you go to cleric 9) your save spells are going to be less effective, relegating you to the "buffy/hitty cleric" role (unfortunately this role tends to feel a bit underpowered before you get to level 5 or so). If you are starting at or after level 10, you could afford to wait until cleric 9/10 for 5th level spells, or maybe dip Ordained Champion/Swordsage for some extra gishy spells or some nice maneuvers, respectively.

Speaking of spells, are you still preparing spells? Or are you using the spontaneous cleric variant?

[Alphasez]

I'm still preparing spells. I jumped straight into DD at 6th lvl. So as of now I am 5/5. And could you please elaborate on Divine Power? Not quite familiar what that is, or it's function.

[The Dark Fiddler]

Hmm, I'd recommend that you get to at least 4th level spells, so you can take Divine Power to make up for your lost BAB. You are a divine gish, so anything that buffs your ability to hit people and not die in the process is going to be good (Bull's Strength, Bear's Endurance, etc). If you are starting before level 10, you should probably jump into the class as soon as possible, so Cleric 7/DD 10/??, since you don't really need more than 14 wisdom (just enough to cast 4th level spells, 15 if you go to cleric 9) your save spells are going to be less effective, relegating you to the "buffy/hitty cleric" role (unfortunately this role tends to feel a bit underpowered before you get to level 5 or so). If you are starting at or after level 10, you could afford to wait until cleric 9/10 for 5th level spells, or maybe dip Ordained Champion/Swordsage for some extra gishy spells or some nice maneuvers, respectively.

Speaking of spells, are you still preparing spells? Or are you using the spontaneous cleric variant?

I'd like to point out that the Dragon Disciple advances casting in PF, so entering at the right level is a bit less important.

[the_david]

I'm still preparing spells. I jumped straight into DD at 6th lvl. So as of now I am 5/5. And could you please elaborate on Divine Power? Not quite familiar what that is, or it's function.

It's a spell, and it got nerfed in Pathfinder.
I thought about a Golden Divine Dragon Disciple/Paladin of Bahamut way before you did.

**Divine Power
School: Evocation
Spell Level: cleric/oracle 4, inquisitor 4
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Components: V, S, DF
Range: personal
Duration: 1 round/level
Targets: you
Source: PFRPG Core Rulebook
Calling upon the divine power of your patron, you imbue yourself with strength and skill in combat. You gain a +1 luck bonus on attack rolls, weapon damage rolls, Strength checks, and Strength-based skill checks for every three caster levels you have (maximum +6). You also gain 1 temporary hit point per caster level. Whenever you make a full-attack action, you can make an additional attack at your full base attack bonus, plus any appropriate modifiers. This additional attack is not cumulative with similar effects, such as haste or weapons with the speed special ability.

[ericgrau]

That's more of a change than a nerf. Half the time it's better. I'm not the biggest fan of PF (I did play it and had fun), but I think people like to complain about anything different.

[Runestar]

There's the legend of sardior (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/psm/20030124c) prc, though it is 3.0.