Darkweave31
2013-12-28, 01:41 PM
First things first, credit where it is due. This homebrew draws heavily upon T.G. Oskar's Project Heretica (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=193554), especially in terms of the divine warrior chassis and many of the abilities.
The Dragon Knight is imagined as a knight that is devoted to or emulates a specific type of dragons, however, she is also a dragon slayer, hunting down dragons that oppose the ideals of their patron. There could easily be a knightly order of dragon knights devoted to silver dragons that protects people from chromatic dragons. Or a dragon knight could be the lieutenant or bodyguard of a power-hungry red dragon.
In any event, Dragon knight abilities are meant to emulate certain draconic abilities and to counter other draconic abilities so you can feel like a dragon and be awesome at fighting your draconic peers. Balance goal is tier 3.
THE DRAGON KNIGHT
{table=head]Level|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special|0|1st|2nd|3rd|4th
1st|+1|
+2|
0|
+2| Dragontouched, Draconic Patron, Dragon Breath |2|-|-|-|-
2nd|+2|
+3|
0|
+3| Bonus Feat, Diehard, Wyrmtooth |2|-|-|-|-
3rd|+3|
+3|
+1|
+3| Draconic Presence, Defiant |3|0|-|-|-
4th|+4|
+4|
+1|
+4| Fury of the Dragon (Intimidate checks), Dragonbane |3|0|-|-|-
5th|+5|
+4|
+1|
+4| Improved Breath, Breath Effect |3|1|-|-|-
6th|+6/+1|
+5|
+2|
+5| Bonus Feat, Elemental Storm |3|1|-|-|-
7th|+7/+2|
+5|
+2|
+5| Elemental Body (10)|4|1|0|-|-
8th|+8/+3|
+6|
+2|
+6|Mettle|4|2|0|-|-
9th|+9/+4|
+6|
+3|
+6| Draconic Presence, Fury of the Dragon (temporary hit points)|4|2|1|-|-
10th|+10/+5|
+7|
+3|
+7| Bonus Feat, Breath Effect |4|2|1|-|-
11th|+11/+6/+1|
+7|
+3|
+7| Grace of the Dragon Lord, Elemental Body (20)|5|2|1|0|-
12th|+12/+7/+2|
+8|
+4|
+8| Arcane Disruption |5|3|2|1|-
13th|+13/+8/+3|
+8|
+4|
+8|Improved mettle|5|3|2|1|-
14th|+14/+9/+4|
+9|
+4|
+9| Bonus Feat, Fury of the Dragon (Spell and breath DC)|5|3|2|2|0
15th|+15/+10/+5|
+9|
+5|
+9| Draconic Presence, Elemental Body (30), Greater Breath Effect |5|3|3|2|1
16th|+16/+11/+6/+1|
+10|
+5|
+10| Arcane Scales |5|4|3|2|1|
17th|+17/+12/+7/+2|
+10|
+5|
+10|Unyielding resolve|5|4|3|3|2
18th|+18/+13/+8/+3|
+11|
+6|
+11| Bonus feat, Elemental Mastery |5|4|4|3|2
19th|+19/+14/+9/+4|
+11|
+6|
+11| Fury of the Dragon (last stand)|5|4|4|3|3
20th|+20/+15/+10/+5|
+12|
+6|
+12| Dragon Lord’s Ascension, Greater Breath Effect |5|4|4|3|3[/table]
Hit Dice: d12
Class Skills: The dragon knight class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (history) (Int), Knowledge (arcana) (Int), Knowledge (nature) (Int), Listen (Wis), Ride (Dex), Sense Motive (Wis), Spellcraft (Int), and Spot (Wis)
Skill Points at 1st Level: (4 + Int modifier) x4.
Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 4 + Int modifier.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Dragon knights are proficient with all simple and martial weapons, with all kinds of armor (heavy, medium and light), but not with shields.
Dragontouched: At 1st level a dragon knight gains Dragontouched (Dragon Magic, pg. 18) as a bonus feat. Also the dragon knight gets draconic as a bonus language if she doesn’t already know it.
Draconic Patron: A dragon knight is bound to a certain type of dragon. Her alignment must be within 1 step of her dragon patron. If her alignment changes to one not compatible with her current patron, she loses all supernatural class features from her Dragon Knight levels. The dragon knight may then choose a new patron after making peaceful contact with an adult dragon of a type that matches her new alignment.
Table: Draconic Patrons
{table=head]Dragon|Alignment|Energy|Breath Area|Bonus Class Skills
Red |CE, NE, CN|Fire|15ft cone|Appraise, Bluff, Jump
Blue |LE, LN, NE|Lightning|30ft line|Bluff, Hide, Survival
Green|LE, LN, NE|Acid|15ft cone|Bluff, Hide, Move Silently
Black |CE, NE, CN|Acid|30ft line|Hide, Move Silently, Swim
White|CE, NE, CN|Cold|15ft cone|Hide, Move Silently, Swim
Gold |LG, NG, LN|Fire |15ft cone|Disguise, Heal, Swim
Silver|LG, NG, LN|Cold|15ft cone|Bluff, Disguise, Jump
Bronze|LG, NG, LN|Lightning|30ft line|Disguise, Swim, Survival
Brass |CG, NG, CN|Fire|30ft line|Bluff, Gather Information, Survival
Copper|CG, NG, CN|Acid|30ft line|Bluff, Hide, Jump[/table]
Dragon Breath (Su): A Dragon Knight specializes in turning a dragon’s signature weapon against it. At 1st level she gains a breath weapon like that of a dragon. This breath weapon does 1d6 damage or half that on a successful reflex save (DC = 10 + 1/2 class level + constitution). The damage improves by 1d6 at 3rd level and every 2 levels after. The type of damage and area of the breath weapon is determined by her patron. Creatures of the dragon type take extra damage from the breath equal to 5+Dragon Knight level and the DC is increased by the dragon knight’s charisma modifier. A dragon knight may only use her breath weapon once every 1d4 rounds.
Spells: A Dragon Knight casts arcane spells, which are drawn from the sorcerer spell. A Dragon Knight can cast any spell she knows without preparing it ahead of time.
To learn or cast a spell, a Dragon Knight must have a Charisma score equal to at least 10 + the spell level. The Difficulty Class for a saving throw against a Dragon Knight’s spell is 10 + half the Dragon Knight's level + the Dragon Knight’s Charisma modifier. Like other spellcasters, a Dragon Knight can cast only a certain number of spells of each spell level per day. Her base daily spell allotment is given on the table above. In addition, she receives bonus spells per day if she has a high Charisma score. When the above table indicates that the Dragon Knight gets 0 spells per day of a given spell level, she gains only the bonus spells she would be entitled to based on her Charisma score for that spell level.
A Dragon Knight casts spells the same way a bard or sorcerer does, except she may cast them in any kind of armor. A Dragon Knight may learn and cast any spell on the sorcerer spell list (see Player’s Handbook), with the following restrictions: a Dragon Knight may not learn (or cast) a spell that has an alignment descriptor opposite that of her patron.
Upon reaching 8th level, once per week and at every three class levels she gains, a Dragon Knight can choose to learn a new spell in place of one she already knows. The new spell’s level must be the same as that of the spell being exchanged. A Dragon Knight may swap only a single spell at any given moment, and must choose whether or not to swap the spell at the same time that she gains new spells known for the specified level.
Table: Dragon Knight spells known
{table=head]Level|0|1st|2nd|3rd|4th
1st|2|-|-|-|-
2nd|2|-|-|-|-
3rd|3|11|-|-|-
4th|3|2|-|-|-
5th|3|2|-|-|-
6th|3|3|-|-|-
7th|4|3|11|-|-
8th|4|3|2|-|-
9th|4|4|2|-|-
10th|4|4|3|-|-
11th|5|4|3|21|-
12th|5|4|3|2|-
13th|5|5|4|3|-
14th|5|5|4|3|21
15th|6|5|4|3|2
16th|6|5|4|4|3
17th|6|5|5|4|3
18th|6|6|5|4|4
19th|7|6|5|5|4
20th|7|6|5|5|5[/table]
1 Provided the dragon knight has sufficient Charisma to have a bonus spell of this level.
As noted above, a dragon knight need not prepare her spells in advance. She can cast any spell she knows at any time, assuming she has not yet used up her allotment of spells per day for the spell’s level.
Bonus Feat: At 2nd level, and every four levels after that, a Dragon Knight gains a bonus feat in addition to those she obtains by means of improving levels. These bonus feats must be drawn from the feats noted as fighter bonus feats, draconic feats or metabreath feats. A dragon knight must still meet the prerequisites for a bonus feat, as usual. For purposes of fighter level prerequisites, a dragon knight is considered to have a fighter level equal to her dragon knight level -4.
Diehard: At 2nd level, a dragon knight gains the Diehard feat as a bonus feat. She does not need to meet the prerequisites of this feat to acquire it.
Wyrmtooth: A dragon knight favors long weapons to match the reach and bite of a dragon and armor to mimic a dragon’s scales. At 2nd level, a dragon knight wielding a reach weapon threatens squares adjacent to her even if the weapon would not normally allow that.
Defiant: A Dragon knight stands fast against even the most fearsome of opponents. At 3rd level the dragon knight becomes immune to fear.
Draconic Presence: Beginning at 3rd level, a dragon knight can manifest her draconic heritage in an aura that surrounds her.
Projecting an aura is a swift action, and the dragon knight can only project one aura at a time. An aura remains in effect until the dragon knight uses a free action to dismiss it or she activates another aura in its place. A dragon knight can have an aura active continually; thus, an aura can be in effect at the start of an encounter even before she takes her first turn.
A dragon knight that acquires this ability must choose from one of the auras presented below. Unless otherwise noted, the range of the aura is 30 feet. As a dragon knight progresses in levels, she learns to manifest more auras and the size of her auras increase; at 9th level, she gains the ability to manifest one more aura from the list and her aura increases to 45 feet; at 15th level, a dragon knight gains the ability to manifest another aura and her area of effect increases to 60 feet. Creatures within the area of effect of the aura must have line of effect to the dragon knight in order to be affected by it. The dragon knight’s aura is dismissed if she becomes unconscious or slain, but otherwise it remains in effect even if she is incapable of acting.
Unless stated otherwise, the bonus granted by the dragon knight’s aura is equal to her Strength modifier.
Majesty: Morale bonus on intimidate and diplomacy checks equal to the dragon knight’s strength modifier. If the dragon knight wields a reach weapon she may increase the bonus to 1½ her strength modifier. If a dragon knight makes an intimidate check to demoralize an enemy she threatens, she may attempt to demoralize all enemies she threatens. She makes one intimidate check that is applied to each enemy individually.
Arcana: Add the dragon knight’s strength bonus to caster level checks to bypass spell resistance or dispel an effect. If the dragon knight wields a reach weapon she may increase the bonus to 1½ her strength modifier. Additionally, add +1 to caster level and +1 to damage per die of damage for spells with the same energy descriptor as the dragon knight’s element cast by allies or the dragon knight.
Resistance: Resistance to fire, cold, acid, and lightning damage equal to twice the dragon knight’s strength modifier for her and her allies. If the dragon knight is wearing armor she may add twice her armor’s enhancement bonus to the resistance granted against her patron’s element. Additionally allies within the aura are not affected by the dragon knight’s breath weapon.
Vengeance: Whenever the dragon knight receives melee damage from an enemy within her aura, she may return an amount of damage per round equal to the damage dealt or five times her Strength modifier to the offending enemy, whichever is smaller. The damage returned per round is on a per-enemy basis. The damage is of the same type as the dragon knight’s element. If the dragon knight wields a reach weapon, she returns +50% more damage than she normally would to enemies she threatens.
Sacrifice: Morale bonus to AC and Reflex saves on all allies of the dragon knight except herself. Also reduces hit point damage of any kind dealt to allies on area (except backlash damage or damage dealt to the ally by itself) by an amount equal to twice the dragon knight’s strength modifier (or equal to her strength modifier in the case of an area spell). Damage ignored is instead taken by the dragon knight; if several allies take damage from the attack, the dragon knight takes all the damage. The bonus of this aura stacks with the shield other spell and similar effects. If wearing armor, the dragon knight may ignore an amount of damage from this ability equal to twice her armor’s enhancement bonus.
Fury of a Dragon: Within the dragon knight beats the heart of a dragon. Through great adversity the dragon knight pushes the limits of her body’s potential, gaining aspects of a dragon when she needs them most.
At 4th level, whenever the dragon knight reaches less than half of her maximum hit points, her draconic fury shakes even the most gruesome of enemies. She adds half her class level as a bonus to all Intimidate checks and gains damage reduction equal to her class level + 1 until her amount of hit points exceeds half the maximum amount. At 9th level, the dragon knight gains temporary hit points equal to her class level plus her Constitution modifier whenever her hit points are less than half her maximum, but only once per encounter, and only lasting until the end of the encounter. At 14th level, she adds her strength modifier to the saving throw DC of her breath weapon and all dragon knight spells (but not spells from another class or racial spell-like abilities) while at less than half her maximum hit points.
At 19th level, whenever the dragon knight suffers an effect that would make her die (such as an instant death effect, or losing too many hit points), she may ignore such effect once per day. Instead of dying she transforms into a dragon of the same type as her patron with HD equal to her dragon knight level and any conditions currently affecting the dragon knight end. This effect works similar to shapechange except that the dragon knight gets a new hit point total equal to the average for a dragon of that type and HD. This transformation lasts a number of rounds equal to ½ the dragon knight’s class level plus her charisma modifier, after which the dragon knight reverts to her original form with 0 hit points. This last ability does not require the dragon knight to be at less than half of her maximum hit point amount to activate.
Dragonbane: Beginning at 4th level, whenever a dragon knight deals damage of her patron’s element with her breath weapon, abilities, or dragon knight spells (but not spells gained from another class) she may ignore enemies’ resistance up to twice her Constitution modifier. If the dragon knight wields a reach weapon she may instead ignore 3 times her Constitution modifier. Enemies with immunity to her patron’s element instead take an amount of damage up to twice her constitution modifier (3 times her constitution modifier if she wields a two-handed reach weapon).
Breath Effect: At 5th level and again at 10th level, a dragon knight may choose one of the following breath effects. These may be applied to the dragon knight’s breath weapon as a metabreath feat which increases the recovery time by 2 rounds. Creatures with evasion that make their save are not affected by a breath effect.
Spellrend: The breath acts as an area dispel using the area of effect of the breath weapon. The dispel check is 1d20 plus the dragon knight’s level (maximum +20). The arcana draconic presence can apply to this check.
Sundering: Creatures that fail their save against the dragon knight’s breath weapon take a -4 penalty on AC, Saves, and Spell Resistance for a number of rounds equal to half her dragon knight levels.
Entangling: Creatures that fail their save against the dragon knight’s breath weapon are entangled. A creature that fails its save on the ground is stuck to the ground for the duration of the effect. A flying creature that fails its save is unable to fly and plummets to the ground for the duration of the effect. The entangled effect lasts for a number of rounds equal to half her dragon knight levels.
Improved Breath: Beginning at 5th level, the area of the dragon knight’s breath weapon is 30ft, if a cone, or 60ft, if a line. At 10th level a dragon knight reduces the time it takes to recover her breath weapon by 1 round. At 15th level the area of her breath weapon increases to 45ft, if a cone, or 90ft, if a line, and the time it takes to recover her breath weapon by an additional 1 round. At 20th level the area of her breath weapon increases to 60ft, if a cone, or 120ft, if a line, and the time it takes to recover her breath weapon by an additional 1 round for a total of 3 rounds.
Elemental Storm: At 6th level whenever a dragon knight is using her draconic presence, if an enemy creature makes a melee or ranged attack against an ally within the range of the aura, it takes damage equal to half the Dragon knight’s class level plus her Strength modifier, and imposes a penalty to all further attacks done against all allies (except the dragon knight) equal to her Strength modifier until the beginning of the dragon knight’s next turn. The damage applies only once per round per enemy creature, as if the dragon knight was using an attack of opportunity (but does not consume her attack of opportunity). This damage is of the same type as her patron’s element. If the enemy creature attacks only the dragon knight, the creature takes no damage or penalty.
Elemental Body: At 7th level a dragon knight gains energy resistance 10 against her patron’s element. This improves to resist 20 at 11th level and resist 30 at 15th. This stacks with the resistance granted by the resistance draconic presence.
Mettle: Beginning at 8th level, if a dragon knight makes a successful Will or Fortitude save that would normally reduce the save’s effect, she suffers no effect from the spell at all. Only those spells with a saving throw entry of “partial” or “half” are affected by this ability, and only for purposes of Will and/or Fortitude saves with these descriptors.
Grace of the Dragonlord: At 11th level, a dragon knight gains a bonus equal to her Charisma bonus (if any) on all saving throws.
Arcane Disruption: At 12th level whenever the dragon knight is using her draconic presence, she may deactivate the effect and gain the benefit of this ability instead. If an enemy spellcaster within the area of the dragon knight’s draconic presence (if it were active) attempts to cast a spell that affects an ally within the area, it must make a caster level check against a DC equal to 10 plus the dragon knight’s class level plus the dragon knight's Strength and Charisma modifiers or fail to cast the spell and take damage equal to half the dragon knight’s class level plus the her Strength modifier. This also applies to spell-like abilities, psionic powers, psi-like abilities, invocations and mysteries (except if the mysteries are cast as supernatural abilities). This ability does not affect supernatural abilities. If the spellcaster affects only the dragon knight, the spellcaster the spell is not interrupted.
Improved Mettle (Ex): At 13th level, a dragon knight’s mettle ability improves. She still takes no effect on a successful Will or Fortitude save that has the “partial” or “half” descriptor, but henceforth she takes only the partial effect or half the damage on a failed save.
Greater Breath Effect: At 15th level and again at 20th level, a dragon knight may choose to improve one of her breath effects or choose another effect from the breath effect list. Greater breath effects may be applied to the dragon knight’s breath weapon as a metabreath feat which increases the recovery time by 2 rounds. Creatures with evasion that make their save are not affected by a breath effect.
Spellrend: All valid targets within the area of the breath weapon including creatures, objects, and ongoing spell effects, are subject to a targeted dispel. The dispel check is 1d20 plus the dragon knight’s level (maximum +20). The arcana draconic presence can apply to this check. This effect can even dispel a force or prismatic effect. If the effect is dispelled the entire effect is destroyed and the breath weapon continues past it to its maximum area.
Sundering: Creatures that fail their save against the dragon knight’s breath weapon take a -8 penalty on AC, Saves, and Spell Resistance for a number of rounds equal to half her dragon knight levels. If the creature succeeds on their reflex save they still take a -4 penalty to AC, Saves, and Spell resistance.
Entangling: Creatures that fail their save against the dragon knight’s breath weapon are entangled and slowed. A creature that fails its save on the ground is stuck to the ground for the duration of the effect. A flying creature that fails its save is unable to fly and plummets to the ground for the duration of the effect. On a successful save the creature is still entangled. The effect lasts for a number of rounds equal to half her dragon knight levels.
Arcane Scales: At 16th level the dragon knight gets spell resistance of 10+her class level.
Unyielding Resolve (Ex): At 17th level, a dragon knight becomes capable of fighting even when her forces fail her, beyond where others could stand. A dragon knight is never considered disabled or staggered, even if she has less than 0 hit points or her nonlethal damage exceeds her current hit point total.
Furthermore, she may continue to fight even if she has less than -10 hit points, but only to an amount of negative hit points equal to 10 plus half her character level plus her Constitution modifier. Instant death effects and attacks that destroy the body still affect the dragon knight if successful.
Elemental Mastery: At 18th level, a dragon knight gains immunity to her patron’s element. Furthermore, when she is hit by an attack that deals damage of that element she gains a number of temporary hit points equal to ½ the original damage of the effect (the damage before resistance or immunity is applied). These temporary hit points stack with those from Fury of the Dragon and last until the end of the encounter. Also, any dragon knight spell or ability that deals damage of your patron’s element ignores any resistance or immunity to that element.
Dragonlord’s Ascension: At 20th level, a dragon knight becomes something much more than what she once was. The dragon knight gains the dragon type and is treated as a true dragon as well as a member of her original race. She no longer takes aging penalties and her lifespan lengthens to that of a dragon. The dragon knight also gains damage reduction ½ class level/epic and evil for dragon knights with a metallic patron or ½ class level/epic and good if her patron is chromatic.
Well that about sums it up. Let me know what you think! :smallbiggrin:
The Dragon Knight is imagined as a knight that is devoted to or emulates a specific type of dragons, however, she is also a dragon slayer, hunting down dragons that oppose the ideals of their patron. There could easily be a knightly order of dragon knights devoted to silver dragons that protects people from chromatic dragons. Or a dragon knight could be the lieutenant or bodyguard of a power-hungry red dragon.
In any event, Dragon knight abilities are meant to emulate certain draconic abilities and to counter other draconic abilities so you can feel like a dragon and be awesome at fighting your draconic peers. Balance goal is tier 3.
THE DRAGON KNIGHT
{table=head]Level|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special|0|1st|2nd|3rd|4th
1st|+1|
+2|
0|
+2| Dragontouched, Draconic Patron, Dragon Breath |2|-|-|-|-
2nd|+2|
+3|
0|
+3| Bonus Feat, Diehard, Wyrmtooth |2|-|-|-|-
3rd|+3|
+3|
+1|
+3| Draconic Presence, Defiant |3|0|-|-|-
4th|+4|
+4|
+1|
+4| Fury of the Dragon (Intimidate checks), Dragonbane |3|0|-|-|-
5th|+5|
+4|
+1|
+4| Improved Breath, Breath Effect |3|1|-|-|-
6th|+6/+1|
+5|
+2|
+5| Bonus Feat, Elemental Storm |3|1|-|-|-
7th|+7/+2|
+5|
+2|
+5| Elemental Body (10)|4|1|0|-|-
8th|+8/+3|
+6|
+2|
+6|Mettle|4|2|0|-|-
9th|+9/+4|
+6|
+3|
+6| Draconic Presence, Fury of the Dragon (temporary hit points)|4|2|1|-|-
10th|+10/+5|
+7|
+3|
+7| Bonus Feat, Breath Effect |4|2|1|-|-
11th|+11/+6/+1|
+7|
+3|
+7| Grace of the Dragon Lord, Elemental Body (20)|5|2|1|0|-
12th|+12/+7/+2|
+8|
+4|
+8| Arcane Disruption |5|3|2|1|-
13th|+13/+8/+3|
+8|
+4|
+8|Improved mettle|5|3|2|1|-
14th|+14/+9/+4|
+9|
+4|
+9| Bonus Feat, Fury of the Dragon (Spell and breath DC)|5|3|2|2|0
15th|+15/+10/+5|
+9|
+5|
+9| Draconic Presence, Elemental Body (30), Greater Breath Effect |5|3|3|2|1
16th|+16/+11/+6/+1|
+10|
+5|
+10| Arcane Scales |5|4|3|2|1|
17th|+17/+12/+7/+2|
+10|
+5|
+10|Unyielding resolve|5|4|3|3|2
18th|+18/+13/+8/+3|
+11|
+6|
+11| Bonus feat, Elemental Mastery |5|4|4|3|2
19th|+19/+14/+9/+4|
+11|
+6|
+11| Fury of the Dragon (last stand)|5|4|4|3|3
20th|+20/+15/+10/+5|
+12|
+6|
+12| Dragon Lord’s Ascension, Greater Breath Effect |5|4|4|3|3[/table]
Hit Dice: d12
Class Skills: The dragon knight class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (history) (Int), Knowledge (arcana) (Int), Knowledge (nature) (Int), Listen (Wis), Ride (Dex), Sense Motive (Wis), Spellcraft (Int), and Spot (Wis)
Skill Points at 1st Level: (4 + Int modifier) x4.
Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 4 + Int modifier.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Dragon knights are proficient with all simple and martial weapons, with all kinds of armor (heavy, medium and light), but not with shields.
Dragontouched: At 1st level a dragon knight gains Dragontouched (Dragon Magic, pg. 18) as a bonus feat. Also the dragon knight gets draconic as a bonus language if she doesn’t already know it.
Draconic Patron: A dragon knight is bound to a certain type of dragon. Her alignment must be within 1 step of her dragon patron. If her alignment changes to one not compatible with her current patron, she loses all supernatural class features from her Dragon Knight levels. The dragon knight may then choose a new patron after making peaceful contact with an adult dragon of a type that matches her new alignment.
Table: Draconic Patrons
{table=head]Dragon|Alignment|Energy|Breath Area|Bonus Class Skills
Red |CE, NE, CN|Fire|15ft cone|Appraise, Bluff, Jump
Blue |LE, LN, NE|Lightning|30ft line|Bluff, Hide, Survival
Green|LE, LN, NE|Acid|15ft cone|Bluff, Hide, Move Silently
Black |CE, NE, CN|Acid|30ft line|Hide, Move Silently, Swim
White|CE, NE, CN|Cold|15ft cone|Hide, Move Silently, Swim
Gold |LG, NG, LN|Fire |15ft cone|Disguise, Heal, Swim
Silver|LG, NG, LN|Cold|15ft cone|Bluff, Disguise, Jump
Bronze|LG, NG, LN|Lightning|30ft line|Disguise, Swim, Survival
Brass |CG, NG, CN|Fire|30ft line|Bluff, Gather Information, Survival
Copper|CG, NG, CN|Acid|30ft line|Bluff, Hide, Jump[/table]
Dragon Breath (Su): A Dragon Knight specializes in turning a dragon’s signature weapon against it. At 1st level she gains a breath weapon like that of a dragon. This breath weapon does 1d6 damage or half that on a successful reflex save (DC = 10 + 1/2 class level + constitution). The damage improves by 1d6 at 3rd level and every 2 levels after. The type of damage and area of the breath weapon is determined by her patron. Creatures of the dragon type take extra damage from the breath equal to 5+Dragon Knight level and the DC is increased by the dragon knight’s charisma modifier. A dragon knight may only use her breath weapon once every 1d4 rounds.
Spells: A Dragon Knight casts arcane spells, which are drawn from the sorcerer spell. A Dragon Knight can cast any spell she knows without preparing it ahead of time.
To learn or cast a spell, a Dragon Knight must have a Charisma score equal to at least 10 + the spell level. The Difficulty Class for a saving throw against a Dragon Knight’s spell is 10 + half the Dragon Knight's level + the Dragon Knight’s Charisma modifier. Like other spellcasters, a Dragon Knight can cast only a certain number of spells of each spell level per day. Her base daily spell allotment is given on the table above. In addition, she receives bonus spells per day if she has a high Charisma score. When the above table indicates that the Dragon Knight gets 0 spells per day of a given spell level, she gains only the bonus spells she would be entitled to based on her Charisma score for that spell level.
A Dragon Knight casts spells the same way a bard or sorcerer does, except she may cast them in any kind of armor. A Dragon Knight may learn and cast any spell on the sorcerer spell list (see Player’s Handbook), with the following restrictions: a Dragon Knight may not learn (or cast) a spell that has an alignment descriptor opposite that of her patron.
Upon reaching 8th level, once per week and at every three class levels she gains, a Dragon Knight can choose to learn a new spell in place of one she already knows. The new spell’s level must be the same as that of the spell being exchanged. A Dragon Knight may swap only a single spell at any given moment, and must choose whether or not to swap the spell at the same time that she gains new spells known for the specified level.
Table: Dragon Knight spells known
{table=head]Level|0|1st|2nd|3rd|4th
1st|2|-|-|-|-
2nd|2|-|-|-|-
3rd|3|11|-|-|-
4th|3|2|-|-|-
5th|3|2|-|-|-
6th|3|3|-|-|-
7th|4|3|11|-|-
8th|4|3|2|-|-
9th|4|4|2|-|-
10th|4|4|3|-|-
11th|5|4|3|21|-
12th|5|4|3|2|-
13th|5|5|4|3|-
14th|5|5|4|3|21
15th|6|5|4|3|2
16th|6|5|4|4|3
17th|6|5|5|4|3
18th|6|6|5|4|4
19th|7|6|5|5|4
20th|7|6|5|5|5[/table]
1 Provided the dragon knight has sufficient Charisma to have a bonus spell of this level.
As noted above, a dragon knight need not prepare her spells in advance. She can cast any spell she knows at any time, assuming she has not yet used up her allotment of spells per day for the spell’s level.
Bonus Feat: At 2nd level, and every four levels after that, a Dragon Knight gains a bonus feat in addition to those she obtains by means of improving levels. These bonus feats must be drawn from the feats noted as fighter bonus feats, draconic feats or metabreath feats. A dragon knight must still meet the prerequisites for a bonus feat, as usual. For purposes of fighter level prerequisites, a dragon knight is considered to have a fighter level equal to her dragon knight level -4.
Diehard: At 2nd level, a dragon knight gains the Diehard feat as a bonus feat. She does not need to meet the prerequisites of this feat to acquire it.
Wyrmtooth: A dragon knight favors long weapons to match the reach and bite of a dragon and armor to mimic a dragon’s scales. At 2nd level, a dragon knight wielding a reach weapon threatens squares adjacent to her even if the weapon would not normally allow that.
Defiant: A Dragon knight stands fast against even the most fearsome of opponents. At 3rd level the dragon knight becomes immune to fear.
Draconic Presence: Beginning at 3rd level, a dragon knight can manifest her draconic heritage in an aura that surrounds her.
Projecting an aura is a swift action, and the dragon knight can only project one aura at a time. An aura remains in effect until the dragon knight uses a free action to dismiss it or she activates another aura in its place. A dragon knight can have an aura active continually; thus, an aura can be in effect at the start of an encounter even before she takes her first turn.
A dragon knight that acquires this ability must choose from one of the auras presented below. Unless otherwise noted, the range of the aura is 30 feet. As a dragon knight progresses in levels, she learns to manifest more auras and the size of her auras increase; at 9th level, she gains the ability to manifest one more aura from the list and her aura increases to 45 feet; at 15th level, a dragon knight gains the ability to manifest another aura and her area of effect increases to 60 feet. Creatures within the area of effect of the aura must have line of effect to the dragon knight in order to be affected by it. The dragon knight’s aura is dismissed if she becomes unconscious or slain, but otherwise it remains in effect even if she is incapable of acting.
Unless stated otherwise, the bonus granted by the dragon knight’s aura is equal to her Strength modifier.
Majesty: Morale bonus on intimidate and diplomacy checks equal to the dragon knight’s strength modifier. If the dragon knight wields a reach weapon she may increase the bonus to 1½ her strength modifier. If a dragon knight makes an intimidate check to demoralize an enemy she threatens, she may attempt to demoralize all enemies she threatens. She makes one intimidate check that is applied to each enemy individually.
Arcana: Add the dragon knight’s strength bonus to caster level checks to bypass spell resistance or dispel an effect. If the dragon knight wields a reach weapon she may increase the bonus to 1½ her strength modifier. Additionally, add +1 to caster level and +1 to damage per die of damage for spells with the same energy descriptor as the dragon knight’s element cast by allies or the dragon knight.
Resistance: Resistance to fire, cold, acid, and lightning damage equal to twice the dragon knight’s strength modifier for her and her allies. If the dragon knight is wearing armor she may add twice her armor’s enhancement bonus to the resistance granted against her patron’s element. Additionally allies within the aura are not affected by the dragon knight’s breath weapon.
Vengeance: Whenever the dragon knight receives melee damage from an enemy within her aura, she may return an amount of damage per round equal to the damage dealt or five times her Strength modifier to the offending enemy, whichever is smaller. The damage returned per round is on a per-enemy basis. The damage is of the same type as the dragon knight’s element. If the dragon knight wields a reach weapon, she returns +50% more damage than she normally would to enemies she threatens.
Sacrifice: Morale bonus to AC and Reflex saves on all allies of the dragon knight except herself. Also reduces hit point damage of any kind dealt to allies on area (except backlash damage or damage dealt to the ally by itself) by an amount equal to twice the dragon knight’s strength modifier (or equal to her strength modifier in the case of an area spell). Damage ignored is instead taken by the dragon knight; if several allies take damage from the attack, the dragon knight takes all the damage. The bonus of this aura stacks with the shield other spell and similar effects. If wearing armor, the dragon knight may ignore an amount of damage from this ability equal to twice her armor’s enhancement bonus.
Fury of a Dragon: Within the dragon knight beats the heart of a dragon. Through great adversity the dragon knight pushes the limits of her body’s potential, gaining aspects of a dragon when she needs them most.
At 4th level, whenever the dragon knight reaches less than half of her maximum hit points, her draconic fury shakes even the most gruesome of enemies. She adds half her class level as a bonus to all Intimidate checks and gains damage reduction equal to her class level + 1 until her amount of hit points exceeds half the maximum amount. At 9th level, the dragon knight gains temporary hit points equal to her class level plus her Constitution modifier whenever her hit points are less than half her maximum, but only once per encounter, and only lasting until the end of the encounter. At 14th level, she adds her strength modifier to the saving throw DC of her breath weapon and all dragon knight spells (but not spells from another class or racial spell-like abilities) while at less than half her maximum hit points.
At 19th level, whenever the dragon knight suffers an effect that would make her die (such as an instant death effect, or losing too many hit points), she may ignore such effect once per day. Instead of dying she transforms into a dragon of the same type as her patron with HD equal to her dragon knight level and any conditions currently affecting the dragon knight end. This effect works similar to shapechange except that the dragon knight gets a new hit point total equal to the average for a dragon of that type and HD. This transformation lasts a number of rounds equal to ½ the dragon knight’s class level plus her charisma modifier, after which the dragon knight reverts to her original form with 0 hit points. This last ability does not require the dragon knight to be at less than half of her maximum hit point amount to activate.
Dragonbane: Beginning at 4th level, whenever a dragon knight deals damage of her patron’s element with her breath weapon, abilities, or dragon knight spells (but not spells gained from another class) she may ignore enemies’ resistance up to twice her Constitution modifier. If the dragon knight wields a reach weapon she may instead ignore 3 times her Constitution modifier. Enemies with immunity to her patron’s element instead take an amount of damage up to twice her constitution modifier (3 times her constitution modifier if she wields a two-handed reach weapon).
Breath Effect: At 5th level and again at 10th level, a dragon knight may choose one of the following breath effects. These may be applied to the dragon knight’s breath weapon as a metabreath feat which increases the recovery time by 2 rounds. Creatures with evasion that make their save are not affected by a breath effect.
Spellrend: The breath acts as an area dispel using the area of effect of the breath weapon. The dispel check is 1d20 plus the dragon knight’s level (maximum +20). The arcana draconic presence can apply to this check.
Sundering: Creatures that fail their save against the dragon knight’s breath weapon take a -4 penalty on AC, Saves, and Spell Resistance for a number of rounds equal to half her dragon knight levels.
Entangling: Creatures that fail their save against the dragon knight’s breath weapon are entangled. A creature that fails its save on the ground is stuck to the ground for the duration of the effect. A flying creature that fails its save is unable to fly and plummets to the ground for the duration of the effect. The entangled effect lasts for a number of rounds equal to half her dragon knight levels.
Improved Breath: Beginning at 5th level, the area of the dragon knight’s breath weapon is 30ft, if a cone, or 60ft, if a line. At 10th level a dragon knight reduces the time it takes to recover her breath weapon by 1 round. At 15th level the area of her breath weapon increases to 45ft, if a cone, or 90ft, if a line, and the time it takes to recover her breath weapon by an additional 1 round. At 20th level the area of her breath weapon increases to 60ft, if a cone, or 120ft, if a line, and the time it takes to recover her breath weapon by an additional 1 round for a total of 3 rounds.
Elemental Storm: At 6th level whenever a dragon knight is using her draconic presence, if an enemy creature makes a melee or ranged attack against an ally within the range of the aura, it takes damage equal to half the Dragon knight’s class level plus her Strength modifier, and imposes a penalty to all further attacks done against all allies (except the dragon knight) equal to her Strength modifier until the beginning of the dragon knight’s next turn. The damage applies only once per round per enemy creature, as if the dragon knight was using an attack of opportunity (but does not consume her attack of opportunity). This damage is of the same type as her patron’s element. If the enemy creature attacks only the dragon knight, the creature takes no damage or penalty.
Elemental Body: At 7th level a dragon knight gains energy resistance 10 against her patron’s element. This improves to resist 20 at 11th level and resist 30 at 15th. This stacks with the resistance granted by the resistance draconic presence.
Mettle: Beginning at 8th level, if a dragon knight makes a successful Will or Fortitude save that would normally reduce the save’s effect, she suffers no effect from the spell at all. Only those spells with a saving throw entry of “partial” or “half” are affected by this ability, and only for purposes of Will and/or Fortitude saves with these descriptors.
Grace of the Dragonlord: At 11th level, a dragon knight gains a bonus equal to her Charisma bonus (if any) on all saving throws.
Arcane Disruption: At 12th level whenever the dragon knight is using her draconic presence, she may deactivate the effect and gain the benefit of this ability instead. If an enemy spellcaster within the area of the dragon knight’s draconic presence (if it were active) attempts to cast a spell that affects an ally within the area, it must make a caster level check against a DC equal to 10 plus the dragon knight’s class level plus the dragon knight's Strength and Charisma modifiers or fail to cast the spell and take damage equal to half the dragon knight’s class level plus the her Strength modifier. This also applies to spell-like abilities, psionic powers, psi-like abilities, invocations and mysteries (except if the mysteries are cast as supernatural abilities). This ability does not affect supernatural abilities. If the spellcaster affects only the dragon knight, the spellcaster the spell is not interrupted.
Improved Mettle (Ex): At 13th level, a dragon knight’s mettle ability improves. She still takes no effect on a successful Will or Fortitude save that has the “partial” or “half” descriptor, but henceforth she takes only the partial effect or half the damage on a failed save.
Greater Breath Effect: At 15th level and again at 20th level, a dragon knight may choose to improve one of her breath effects or choose another effect from the breath effect list. Greater breath effects may be applied to the dragon knight’s breath weapon as a metabreath feat which increases the recovery time by 2 rounds. Creatures with evasion that make their save are not affected by a breath effect.
Spellrend: All valid targets within the area of the breath weapon including creatures, objects, and ongoing spell effects, are subject to a targeted dispel. The dispel check is 1d20 plus the dragon knight’s level (maximum +20). The arcana draconic presence can apply to this check. This effect can even dispel a force or prismatic effect. If the effect is dispelled the entire effect is destroyed and the breath weapon continues past it to its maximum area.
Sundering: Creatures that fail their save against the dragon knight’s breath weapon take a -8 penalty on AC, Saves, and Spell Resistance for a number of rounds equal to half her dragon knight levels. If the creature succeeds on their reflex save they still take a -4 penalty to AC, Saves, and Spell resistance.
Entangling: Creatures that fail their save against the dragon knight’s breath weapon are entangled and slowed. A creature that fails its save on the ground is stuck to the ground for the duration of the effect. A flying creature that fails its save is unable to fly and plummets to the ground for the duration of the effect. On a successful save the creature is still entangled. The effect lasts for a number of rounds equal to half her dragon knight levels.
Arcane Scales: At 16th level the dragon knight gets spell resistance of 10+her class level.
Unyielding Resolve (Ex): At 17th level, a dragon knight becomes capable of fighting even when her forces fail her, beyond where others could stand. A dragon knight is never considered disabled or staggered, even if she has less than 0 hit points or her nonlethal damage exceeds her current hit point total.
Furthermore, she may continue to fight even if she has less than -10 hit points, but only to an amount of negative hit points equal to 10 plus half her character level plus her Constitution modifier. Instant death effects and attacks that destroy the body still affect the dragon knight if successful.
Elemental Mastery: At 18th level, a dragon knight gains immunity to her patron’s element. Furthermore, when she is hit by an attack that deals damage of that element she gains a number of temporary hit points equal to ½ the original damage of the effect (the damage before resistance or immunity is applied). These temporary hit points stack with those from Fury of the Dragon and last until the end of the encounter. Also, any dragon knight spell or ability that deals damage of your patron’s element ignores any resistance or immunity to that element.
Dragonlord’s Ascension: At 20th level, a dragon knight becomes something much more than what she once was. The dragon knight gains the dragon type and is treated as a true dragon as well as a member of her original race. She no longer takes aging penalties and her lifespan lengthens to that of a dragon. The dragon knight also gains damage reduction ½ class level/epic and evil for dragon knights with a metallic patron or ½ class level/epic and good if her patron is chromatic.
Well that about sums it up. Let me know what you think! :smallbiggrin: