Dragonsoul Warrior (3.5 base class, WIP, help needed)

[The LOBster]

Our hero, our hero, claims a warrior's heart
I tell you, I tell you, the Dragonsoul comes
With a voice wielding power of the ancient Drake art
Believe, believe, the Dragonsoul comes...
Elien, Borean Bard.

Dragonfire Adepts, while having the power of a dragon in their soul, must forgo the use of martial weapons and heavy armor due to their craft. However, those with dragons deep in their bloodline merely need to shout ancient Draconic phrases to harness their power, and are free to wear armor and wield mighty weapons as they combine the fire of a dragon and the cold steel of a greatsword in battle.

Adventurers
Dragonsoul Warriors often train like Fighters in their youth, only to discover their inborn powers early in their teenage years. Through mere instinct, they gain great powers, and through tutelage from Dragonfire Adepts and even actual dragons, a Dragonsoul Warrior can set out in the world to battle evil in all its forms.

Dragonsoul Warriors adventure to learn the language of dragons, and gain more skill. Other than this, a Dragonsoul Warrior often adventures for many of the same reasons any other class does.

Characteristics
While lacking arcane skill, Dragonsoul Warriors are martial classes capable of tapping into their dragon invocations. They combine martial skill with dragon powers accessed by shouting draconic phrases.

In combat, a Dragonsoul Warrior can take to the frontlines easily, combining blasts of draconic might with varied weaponry and heavy armor. However, their dragon powers lack the versatility of arcane or divine magic.

Alignment
Dragonsoul Warriors can be of any alignment, although there are very few of the Neutral Alignments. They often follow the alignment of their patron dragons.

Religion
Good Dragonsoul Warriors often revere Bahamut, or they worship good gods such as Kord and Pelor. Evil Dragonsoul Warriors mostly revere Tiamat, and very rarely revere other evil gods such as Erythnul.

Background
Dragonsoul Warriors usually train as Fighters before discovering their Draconic powers. As such, they often come from societies with a strong military presence.

Races
Humans are particularly common, although any Dragonblooded race (Fireblood Dwarves, Deepwyrm Drow, and Forestlord Elves are good examples) can manifest the power of the Dragonsoul. The Holy Empire of Zarus, however, despises Dragonsoul Warriors, and actively purges them from their ranks as they do with all who aren't of pure human stock.

Other classes
Dragonsoul Warriors work well with members of other classes. They particularly get along well with Fighters and other martial classes. They often view Arcane classes with suspicion due to the experiments Wizards have conducted over the years on those with the Dragonsoul, and dislike Divine classes due to the purges Clerics of Zarus have executed on Dragonblooded races.

Role
A Dragonsoul Warrior is a frontline combatant, capable of defending allies and striking enemies with martial prowess or blasting enemies with the fire of dragons. They equal the average Fighter in combat skill, and surpass Dragonfire Adepts in draconic invocations due to their ability to wear heavy armor and use martial weapons without penalties.

Game rules

Abilities
Constitution is important to a Dragonsoul Warrior due to their Dragon invocations, as it affects how well a Dragonsoul Warrior's dragonbreath can harm his foes. Strength is important to effect how well a Dragonsoul Warrior can wear heavy armor and fight with his weaponry.

Dexterity is a tertiary skill - a Dragonsoul Warrior doesn't need Charisma as much as a Dragonfire Adept, as his invocations are fueled by his Constitution score. he can support his invocations with close range combat and has less variety in them. Dexterity is good for any class, including a Dragonsoul Warrior. However, his ability to use heavy armor makes this skill far less important than it is for a Dragonfire Adept.

Hit Die
d10

Starting Age
As a Paladin.

Starting Gold
As a Paladin.

Class Skills
Climb (STR, 4), Jump (STR, 4), Ride (DEX, 4), Swim (STR, 4), Intimidate (CHR, 4), Spellcraft (INT, 4), Concentration (INT, 4)

Skill Points at 1st level
(4 + INT modifier) X 4

Skill points at each additional level
4 + INT modifier

{table=head]Level|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special|Inv.

1st|
+1|
+2|
+0|
+2|Breath Weapon 1d6, Dragontouched, Least Invocation|1|

2nd|
+2|
+3|
+0|
+3|Breath effect, Scales + 2|1|

3rd|
+3|
+3|
+1|
+3|Breath Weapon 2d6|2|

4th|
+4|
+4|
+1|
+4|Dragonkin|2|

5th|
+5|
+4|
+1|
+4|Breath Weapon 3d6, Breath Effect, Cold Breath Weapon|2|

6th|
+6/+1|
+5|
+2|
+5|Damage Reduction 2/magic, lesser invocations|3|

7th|
+7/+2|
+5|
+2|
+5|Breath Weapon 4d6|3|

8th|
+8/+3|
+6|
+2|
+6|Scales +3|4|

9th|
+9/+4|
+6|
+3|
+6|Breath Weapon 5d6, Lightning Breath Weapon|4|

10th|
+10/+5|
+7|
+3|
+7|Double Breath Weapon range, Breath Effect|4|

11th|
+11/+6/+1|
+7|
+3|
+7|Breath Weapon 6d6, Greater Invocations|5|

12th|
+12/+7/+2|
+8|
+4|
+8|Breath Effect|5|

13th|
+13/+8/+3|
+8|
+4|
+8|Scales +4|6|

14th|
+14/+9/+4|
+9|
+4|
+9|Breath Weapon 6d6, Acid Breath Weapon|6|

15th|
+15/+10/+5|
+9|
+5|
+9|Breath Effect|6|

16th|
+16/+11/+6/+1|
+10|
+5|
+10|Damage Reduction 5/magic, Dark Invocations|7|

17th|
+17/+12/+7/+2|
+10|
+5|
+10|Breath Weapon 8d6|7|

18th|
+18/+13/+8/+3|
+11|
+6|
+11|Scales +5n|8|

19th|
+19/+14/+9/+4|
+11|
+6|
+11|Immunities|8|

20th|
+20/+15/+10/+5|
+12|
+7|
+12|Breath Weapon 9d6, Breath Effect|9|[/table]

Class Features
All of the below are class features of the Dragonsoul Warrior.

Weapons and Armor proficiency
Dragonsoul Warriors are proficient with all Martial and Simple Weapons, and are proficient with Light, Medium and Heavy Armors.

Invocations
A Dragonsoul Warrior's Invocations are shared with the Dragonfire Adept's list. However, a Dragonsoul Warrior can cast Invocations without risk of Arcane Spell Failure (never did get why Dragonfire Adepts had to deal with that since they aren't actually casting Arcane Spells), and he can use any he knows at will. By making a Concentration check, he can cast an invocation defensively instead of as a Standard Action. Unlike a Dragonfire Adept, the Strength of a Dragonsoul Warrior is key to his invocations.

Breath Weapon
A Dragonsoul Warrior's Breath Weapon is shared with the Dragonfire Adept.

Dragontouched
At 1st level, you gain Dragontouched as a Bonus Feat.

Breath Effect
At 2nd, 5th, 10th, 12th, 15th and 20th levels, you can select a breath effect (shared with Dragonfire Adepts).

Scales
Like the Dragonfire Adept, your skin becomes scaly at 2nd level, and increases at 8th, 13th, and 18th levels.

Dragonkin
At 4th level, you gain +4 to diplomacy checks with dragons and dragonblooded creatures. You are treated as a dragon to see if frightful presence can effect you.

Damage Reduction
At 6th level, you gain damage reduction 2/magic. At 16th level, this improves to damage reduction 5/magic.

Immunities
At 19th level, you gain immunity to paralysis and sleep.

I tried to avert being MAD, so I made this a Constitution and Strength based-class. Naturally, it's based on the Dragonborn from Skyrim :P

[Frathe]

Just looking quickly, this seems like it would fit better as a prestige class, maybe aimed at Fighters because "Dragonsoul Warriors often train like Fighters in their youth".

[lunaramblings]

So is the goal of this class to basically replace the Dragonfire Adept? Because just from a brief look, you seem to give them all the good stuff from DFA, but then give them more good stuff on top. If this isn't meant to replace the DFA, then you may want to reconsider the way you have it set now, because with this there is really no good reason to take DFA if this is available.

Also, your skills list is pretty small. May want to include things like knowledges in there, maybe a few others just to round it out. You currently are giving them 4+Int Skills with 7 total skills. A Human with a 14 Int has max ranks in every class skill. Personally, I would lower it to 2+Int and still add in the Knowledges, at least Arcane for sure.

[Zman]

This is simply better in every regard to the Dragonfire Adept. You've done nothing to balance the classes. This is effectively a D10 HP Full BAB DFA with more breath effects and an additional Invocation Known.

I would suggest a ground up rewrite keeping what is essential for the class, not what made the Wishlist. It reads like the latter currently.

[The LOBster]

I kind of was trying to build a better DFA and a better, more versatile Fighter at the same time. I'll take the suggestion of replacing the DFA with this, though.