Loek
2014-04-13, 05:09 PM
This is an adaptation of the Sardiorian (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=17234864&postcount=4) epic prestige class that I made for the Disciple of the gem (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?338743-Disciple-of-the-gem-3-prestige-classes) base class.
Since the original was dependant on the existence (and features) of the disciple of the gem class, I figured I'd use the adaption rules I already laid out to make a DnD 3.x compatible class. (Both so it is more useful and to generate more response/feedback.)
This specific version is tailored to the warlock class, but as I mentioned in the original's adaptation part, it should also be suitable to (for example) the monk class with only minor alterations.
Dragonhearted
Most men fear dragons, many men hate dragons, some men are descendant from dragons, but almost none have never dreamed of being a dragon.
The dragonhearted are men and women with a link to the dragons, either through blood, magic or through desire. But to the dragonhearted that is not enough, they aspire to become true dragons themselves. This desire is so strong that they are willing to cut out their own hearts to fulfill it.
Hit Die: d12
Requirements
To qualify to become a dragonhearted, a character must fulfill all the following criteria.
Race: Any corporeal, living non-dragon that possesses a heart.
Skills: Knowledge (arcana) 13 ranks, Concentration 6 ranks, Heal 6 ranks.
Class Feature: Must be able to use lesser invocations
Class feature: Eldritch blast 5d6 OR Breath weapon 5d6.
Special: The player chooses a draconic exemplar when taking the first level in this prestige class, you must have either an eldritch essence or a breath effect which matches the breath weapon of your draconic exemplar.
Special: When first taking a level of dragonhearted, the dragonhearted must perform a ritual in which he cuts out his own heart and replaces it with a gem containing the essence of a true dragon (described below).
Class Skills
The dragonhearted's class skills (and the key ability in each skill) are Bluff (Cha), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Intimidate (Cha), Jump (Str), Knowledge (Arcana, Dungeoneering, Geography, Nature, Psionics, Religion and The planes; taken individually) (Int), Listen (Wis), Move Silently (Dex), Profession (Wis), Search (Int), Sense motive (Wis), Spot (Wis), Spellcraft (Int), Survival (Wis), Use magic device (Cha).
Skill Points at Each Level: 4 + Int modifier.
Saves
Level BAB Fort Ref Will Special Invoking
1st +0 +2 +0 +2 Draconic exemplar, draconic features, draconic ability, draconic immunities -
2nd +1 +3 +0 +3 Draconic breath, draconic resistance +1 level of existing invoking class
3rd +2 +3 +1 +3 Draconic perception -
4th +3 +4 +1 +4 +1 level of existing invoking class
5th +3 +4 +1 +4 Improved heart gem -
6th +4 +5 +2 +5 Draconic armor +1 level of existing invoking class
7th +5 +5 +2 +5 -
8th +6/+1 +6 +2 +6 Draconic special +1 level of existing invoking class
9th +6/+1 +7 +3 +7 -
10th +7/+2 +7 +3 +7 Draconic rebirth, alternate form +1 level of existing invoking class
Class Features
All the following are class features of the dragonhearted prestige class.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Dragonhearted gain no proficiency with any weapon or armor.
Invoking: At every even level, you gain new invocations known, breath effects known, increased damage with eldritch blast, increased damage with (a dragonfire adepts) breath weapon and an increase in invoker level as if you had also gained a level in your previous invoking class. You do not, however, gain any other benefit a character of that class would have gained.
Draconic exemplar: When taking his first level, the dragonhearted must choose which type of dragon he aims to become. This will affect a number of class features. See the "draconic exemplar" section below for the details on the most common dragon types (metallic, chromatic and gem dragons).
The dragonhearted and his dragonic exemplar must have the same alignment with respect to the good/evil axis. Later shifts in alignment won't prevent him from progressing in the dragonhearted class though.
A dragonhearted with the warlock class feature "Energy resistance" (or a dragonhearted who later gains said ability), must have energy resistance to the type of energy that his dragon exemplar will gain immunity to. Similarly, in the case of exemplars with the cold or fire subtype, he can't have energy resistance to the type of energy his exemplar is weak to.
Draconic features: While working his way to his draconic rebirth, the dragonhearted gains a number of draconic features.
at 1st level, the dragonhearted gains the ability to fly. He gains "draconic flight" as a bonus invocation. If the dragonhearted already possesses (or later gains) the "draconic flight" or "fell flight" invocations, the effects of those invocation is increased to be similar to "greater draconic flight".
At 4th level, the dragonhearted gains the ability to manifest claws which he can use to attack. He gains "Eldritch claws" ( http://www.realmshelps.net/cgi-bin/featbox.pl?feat=Eldritch_Claws) as a bonus feat, even if he does not have the normal prerequisites for that feat. For a dragonhearted who doesn't have the eldritch blast class feature, use the damage of his breath weapon instead (but he cannot add breath effects as eldritch essences).
At 7th level, the dragonhearted grows more comfortable with his wings and learns how to use them in a wing slam. This can be done while flying and deals 1d4 damage (for a medium dragonhearted). The wing slam is always a secondary natural weapon.
Draconic ability: As the dragonhearted draws closer to his draconic rebirth, he starts gaining the strength and durability of his draconic exemplar. At the same time his mind changes, growing more astute and flexible. This translates to the following class abilities.
At 1st level, the dragonhearted's strength increases by 2.
At 2nd level, the dragonhearted's constitution increases by 2.
At 3rd level, the dragonhearted's intelligence increases by 2.
At 4th level, the dragonhearted's strength increases by an additional 2, making the total increase to the dragonhearted's strength +4.
At 5th level, the dragonhearted's constitution increases by an additional 2, making the total increase to the dragonhearted's constitution +4.
At 6th level, the dragonhearted's wisdom increases by 2.
At 7th level, the dragonhearted's strength increases by an additional 2, making the total increase to the dragonhearted's strength +6.
The change at 8th level is dependent on the dragonhearted's dragon exemplar type. Sapphire dragonhearted gain an increase of +2 to their dexterity. While all the other dragonhearted gain an additional increase of 2 to their constitution (for a total of +6).
At 9th level, the dragonhearted's charisma increases by 2.
Draconic immunities: The dragonhearted's new heart grants him immunity to sleep effects.
At 5th level, as his new heart becomes more integrated with his body, he also gains immunity to paralysis effects.
Draconic breath: At 2nd level, the dragonhearted gains a breath weapon. For a dragonhearted who was a warlock before entering this class, this means he gains the blast shape invocation "dragon breath" (which is a line or cone (players choice) of the appropriate size). For the dragonhearted that was a dragonfire adept before entering this class, it means he gains an additional breath effect that he meets the requirement for. For both, use d8's for damage (instead of d6's) when using your breath weapon.
At 4th level, the dragonhearted gains a +1d8 bonus to his damage when using his breath weapon.This bonus damage only applies when he uses his breath weapon.
The dragonhearted gains an additional increase of +1d8 damage at level 6 and again at level 8.
At 10th level, when the dragonhearted is reborn as a dragon, he gains full mastery of his breath weapon. He gains an additional +2d8 damage when using his breath weapon. And he learns a new type of breath weapon (for the warlock this equals a bonus eldritch essence, for the dragonfire adept a bonus breath effect).
The size of the breath weapon is based on the size of the dragonhearted, similar to how it works for dragons (MM, page 69).
The DC of the dragonhearted's breath weapon is equal to 10 + 1/2 invoking class levels + 1/2 dragonhearted levels + con modifier.
Draconic resistance: From 2nd level onwards, the dragonhearted starts gaining the resistances of his draconic exemplar. For the energy type the draconic exemplar has immunity to, the dragonhearted gains resistance 10.
This resistance increases to 15 at 5th level, 20 at 8th. At the time of the dragonhearted's draconic rebirth (10th level) he gains immunity to this energy type.
Exception: Amethyst dragonhearted have a different progression. They gain poison immunity at 2nd level. They also gain a +2 bonus on saving throws against force effects at 5th level, which increases to +3 at 8 level and to +4 at 10th level.
Draconic perception: From 3rd level on, the dragonhearted's eyes become more like the eyes of a dragon. Over the levels his pupil changes shape and his eyes change color. At 10th level his eyes are identical to the eyes of his draconic exemplar, even in human form.
At 3rd level he gains low-light vision (allowing him to see twice as far in shadow illumination). This increases to three times as far at 5th level and to four times as far at level 7.
At 4th level he can now see twice as far in normal light conditions.
At 6th level he gains darkvision 60ft (or increases his existing darkvision by 60ft). This increases to 120ft at level 10.
At 8th level he gains Blindsight, 5-ft. Radius as a bonus feat, even if he does not have the normal prerequisites for that feat.
Improved heart gem: At 5th level, the dragonhearted has fully integrated his heart gem into his body.
He can now enchant his heart gem. While this essentially uses the gem as a slot less item, only 1.5 times the normal costs for the enchantment are paid. The gem can be enchanted with properties normally associated with rings, amulets, third eyes, ioun stones and belts.
Draconic armor: At 6th level, the dragonhearted's skin starts hardening, slowly becoming more dragon hide like. He adds half his dragonhearted level to his natural armor. This ability stacks with the dragonfire adept class feature "scales".
Draconic special: At 8th level, the dragonhearted gains a special ability based on his dragon exemplar. See the draconic exemplar section below for the special abilities for some of the more common dragon types.
Draconic rebirth: At 10th level, the dragonhearted transforms into a true dragon. This transformation is trigged when the dragonhearted meditates, which causes his entire body to crystallize. Over the next day his crystallized body slowly folds into an egg shape. After another 1d6 days he is reborn as a dragon, hatching from this crystal egg.
His physical form changes into a the type of his draconic exemplar (For the age category see the "draconic exemplar" section below). His type changes to dragon and he gains the sub-type of his draconic exemplar (and the augmented sub-type associated with his former race - he retains the ability to use items that are only useable by his former race).
The dragonhearted has the has the natural attacks, movement types, frightful presence, spell resistance and damage reduction of his exemplar's type and age category. He also gains blindsense 60ft.
He does not gain his exemplar's spell like abilities or spellcasting ability. He does not need to take any (additional) racial hit dice, nor does he gain level adjustment that his exemplar possesses.
A dragonhearted’s physical ability scores (in dragon form) improve according to its kind. These adjustments are equal to the dragon's normal ability scores –10 or –11. These ability score increases override the physical ability score increases gained through the draconic ability class feature. The dragonhearted does not gain these increased ability scores in his alternate form.
In dragon form, the dragonhearted's draconic armor increases from half his class level to half his character level. This stacks with the dragonfire adept class feature "scales", however these two sources of natural armor together can't exceed the natural armor of a normal dragon of the dragonhearted's type and age category.
The dragonhearted increases all future Hit Dice to d12s. And all racial hit dice that the dragonhearted possesses are turned into dragon hit dice, with all the changes to saves, skills and BaB that entails.
As a true dragon, the dragonhearted can from this moment on progress by aging. For details on how to handle this, see the segment on "How to handle extra RHD and increases in age categories" below.
Exception: Those dragonhearted who gain either the cold or fire subtype are penalized somewhat compared to their cousins. They gain a minor bonus to balance this out.
Gold and red dragonhearted have higher stats in their dragon forms (due to their age category) and gain an additional +2 strength in their alternate form.
Brass, obsidian, ruby and white dragonhearted gain a stronger breath weapon, dealing 10d10 damage instead of 10d8.
Sliver dragonhearted gain immunity to acid, similar to normal silver dragons.
Alternate form (Su): While the dragonhearted's body is now that of a dragon, he is capable of transforming back into his old form.
This functions like the alternate form of other dragons (for example: silver dragons), but the dragonhearted is limited in that he can only transform into his old form.
In his alternate form, the dragonhearted does not gain the increased physical stats, movement forms or draconic armor granted by the draconic rebirth class feature.
Heart gem
A heart gem is made when you infuse a specially prepared gem with the essence of a dragon. Preparing the heart gem requires the creator to have the "craft wondrous item" feat. While in practice any (sufficiently big/expensive) gem can be used as a heart gem, most dragonhearted use a gem with relation to the type of dragon they strive to become (e.g.: A giant onyx for a black dragon and a large granade or ruby for a red dragon). Preparing the gem requires that the dragonhearted carves a series of marking into the gem. These markings are then "painted in" with a mixture of the dragonhearted's blood and a number of magical reagents, this attunes the gem to the dragonhearted. The gem must be worth at least 10k gp and the materials and tools required to prepare it to hold the essence costs another 10k gp.
Adaptation: The carving of the markings can be a (repeatable if failed) DC 10 craft check and drawing the blood required to paint the markings could do 3d8 damage.
Infusing the gem with the essence of a dragon can be done in a number of ways:
Killing a dragon and inserting the gem into the dragon's chest (within 5 minutes of the dragon's death) and leaving it there for 24 hours.
Having a dying dragon will his essence into the gem. It should be noted that you'll have to very convincing to have a dragon help you in this fashion (for example: the completion of a major quest, being bound to fulfill the dragon's dying wishes, you being the prophesized savior of X). When the dragon is done infusing the gem with its essence it instantly dies.
It is also possible to for a dragonhearted's dragon ancestor(s) to infuse his heart gem with draconic essence. This is very taxing on those ancestors and will only be granted once a century per group of ancestors. In most cases this requires the settling of a blood debt, recovery of a family relic or some other quest related to the dragonhearted's family and/or draconic bloodline.
One of the draconic gods can infuse your heart gem the necessary charge (Again this requires you to be either in very high standing with said god or the god must have a vested interest in your actions).
Note: The essence of a dragon is not its soul. Thus, the use of a dragon's essence to "charge" a heart gem will not prevent that dragon's journey into the afterlife.
Adaptation: As an alternate rule, the type of dragon that supplied the essence for your heart gem can determine your draconic exemplar. In the case of a draconic god charging the gem, the dragonhearted can either choose from all the dragons associated with that god or the god can set the type of exemplar.
(Personally, I like leaving options open, so this is an alternate rule instead of the standard one. Plus, having to kill (or find a dying) gold dragon if you wish to be one of the "good" dragons is kind of tiresome.)
Implanting the heart gem
To replace his own heart with a heart gem, the dragonhearted needs a completed heart gem (as described above) and he must then complete the following steps:
Preparing for the ritual. To prepare for the removal of his original heart, the dragonhearted must cast (or have someone cast for him) a magic circle (this can be any of the magic circle spells, as long as it doesn't clash with the dragonhearted's or dragon exemplar's alignment).
On this magic circle the following spells must be cast:
Gentle repose
Death ward
Healing circle OR each turn a casting of Cure critical or serious wounds
Remove his own heart. This does 1d8 constitution damage to himself. This damage can be reduced by 2 (to a minimum of 2) for each of the following checks the dragonhearted succeeds on: a DC 25 heal check and a DC 20 fortitude save. The constitution damage is then doubled if the dragonhearted fails a DC 30 concentration check.
Replace his heart with the heart gem. To put in the heart gem, the dragonhearted must (in the following round) succeed on a DC 40 heal check. If he fails, he must make a saving throw as if he was drowning (failure = death). The next round he can try again. Before each subsequent retry, he can attempt a DC 20 concentration check, which will lower the DC of the heal check by 4 for each time it is successful.
After a successful implantation of the heart gem, the dragonhearted will pass-out and not wake until 24 hours have passed (no matter what is attempted to wake him, baring high level magic such as wishes).
Note: The dragonhearted must perform the ritual himself, because letting a surgeon do it interferes with the bonding between his body and his new heart. Should the heart gem be implanted by someone else, the dragonhearted will die (of heart failure, among other things) 1d4 weeks after the ritual.
However, it's possible for other to aid him during the ritual through aid another. Also, certain tools can make the ritual easier to perform (for example: a mirror can give a circumstance bonus to the heal checks (as he can now see what he is doing) and certain herbs can improve the dragonhearted's concentration).
Exception: When a dragon is willing to imbue the dragonhearted's heart gem with its essence, it can also help him with the implantation. The dragon will nurture the dragonhearted's life with its own and its magical nature will shield the dragonhearted during the ritual, thus no spells need to be cast to prepare for the ritual.
In this case, the removal of the heart does 1d6 constitution damage, which is doubled if the dragonhearted fails a DC 25 concentration check. Replacing the heart with the heart gem takes the dragon 1d4 + 1 turns (requiring the dragonhearted to make the necessary saving throws to prevent death each turn).
Whether the ritual is successful or not, the dragon dies at the end and its mortal form dissolves during the next 24 hours (if the ritual fails, the heart gem is still infused with its essence).
Draconic exemplars
Metallic dragons
Type Breath weapons Immunity Special Rebirth
Brass Line of Fire or Cone of Sleep Fire Improved fire damage Adult
Bronze Line of Lightning or Cone of Repulsion Electricity Improved swimmer Young adult
Copper Line of Acid or Cone of Slow Acid Spider climb Adult
Gold Cone of Fire or Cone of Weakening Fire Improved swimmer Juvenile
Silver Cone of Cold or Cone of Paralyzing Cold Cloudwalking Young adult
Chromatic dragons
Type Breath weapons Immunity Special Rebirth
Black Line of Acid Acid Improved swimmer Adult
Blue Line of Lightning Electricity Spider climb Young adult
Green Cone of Acid Acid Improved swimmer Young adult
Red Cone of Fire Fire Improved fire damage Juvenile
White Cone of Cold Cold Icewalking Adult
Gem dragons
Type Breath weapons Immunity Special Rebirth
Amethyst Line of Force Force + Poison Spider climb Young adult
Crystal Cone of Light Cold Improved maneuverability Young adult
Emerald Cone of Sonic Sonic Improved maneuverability Young adult
Obsidian Cone of Fire Fire Improved fire damage Young adult
Ruby As Amethyst, Crystal or Obsidian Fire Extra breath weapon Young adult
Sapphire Cone of Sonic Electricity Spider climb Young adult
Topaz Cone of Dehydration Cold Improved swimmer Young adult
Breath weapons: The breath weapons available to the draconic exemplar.
Immunity: The elements to which the draconic exemplar has immunity.
Rebirth: This is the age category that the dragonhearted will transform into when he reaches draconic rebirth (level 10). This determines his size in dragon form (always large), his movement speeds and the increases in his physical statistics.
Special: The special ability gained by the dragonhearted at level 8. The specific specials are described below.
Cloudwalking: The silver dragonhearted can tread on clouds or fog as though on solid ground. This functions similarly to the ability gained by silver dragons.
Extra breath weapon: The ruby dragonhearted gains access to another of the ruby dragon breath weapons. He gains either an bonus eldritch blast essence or bonus breath effect that matches up with one of the ruby dragon's breath weapons.
Icewalking: The white dragonhearted can climb icy surfaces. This ability functions like the spider climb spell, but the surface the dragonhearted climbs must be icy. This ability is always active.
Improved fire damage: All fire damage done by a brass, red or obsidian dragonhearted (including his breath weapon) is increased by 50%.
Improved maneuverability: Crystal and emerald dragonhearted increase their maneuverability while flying (both with the wings grown by the draconic growth class feature and in his dragon form after reaching level 10) by 1 step.
Improved swimmer: Black, bronze, Green, gold and topaz dragonhearted gain a swim speed of 30 and the water breathing ability. If they already possess a swim speed (from race or class features) this increases their swim speed by 30. This does not increases their swim speed in their dragon form (after reaching level 10).
Spider climb: An amethyst, blue, copper or sapphire dragonhearted can climb on stone surfaces as though using the spider climb spell. This ability is always active.
How to handle extra RHD and increases in age categories
Coming soon, I hope.
Changelog:
06/05/2014
Added an alignment part to the "Draconic exemplar" feature.
Switched around the claws and flight capabilities for "Draconic features". Mostly because the flight part won't add overly much to the dragonhearted, while the eldritch claws are quite a boost (especially for the 1st level).
Made part of the "Draconic immunities" (the immunity to paralysis) be gained at a later (5th) level.
Draconic rebirth has gotten an overhaul, including more details on how it works in game, how it works rule wise and what exactly is gained by the dragonhearted.
Improved the section on the creation of a heart gem. Changed the cost, added some description on how to make it and added "draconic ancestors" as a way to charge the heart gem. Also specified that "draconic essence" is not the same as the dragon's soul.
Added "preparing for the ritual" to the section on implanting the heart gem. And added an exception segment on having the dragon who is granting you his essence helping with the ritual.
Added a spoiler tag for "How to handle extra RHD and increases in age categories" - currently empty
01/05/2014:
Changed the requirements for entry into the class (can't be a dragon already, must be alive and corporeal). Beyond this, you need to have an eldritch essence or breath effect that matches up with the dragon you wish to become.
Also change it so you can enter the class at level 11.
Moved the dragon exemplar feature to the requirements for the class.
Edited invocation increases so that it also progresses dragonfire adept features.
Rewrote the breath weapon class feature completely. Now keys of eldritch blast/dragonfire adept breath weapon and adds bonus damage. (now called draconic breath)
Rewrote the entire draconic growth (new name draconic features) class feature to be based on "eldritch claws" and "fell flight" "draconic flight".
Changed draconic eye a little. Darkvision is now 60ft at level 6 and 120ft at level 10 (removed 90ft at level 8). Added the 5ft blindsight feat at level 8 instead. (Also: renamed to draconic perception).
Specified that draconic armor combines with the dragonfire adept class feature scales (also changed things related to this in the draconic rebirth feature).
Draconic special for ruby dragonheart upgraded to match the new breath weapon description.
30/04/2014:
Remove the +1 hp for each warlock level at level 10.
29/04/2014:
Lowered the requirement for healing/concentration to 8 ranks.
Removed "Tumble" from class skills and limited the knowledge skills (removing all that are "civilized" and non "dragony").
Changed invocation progression from 2-9 to every even level.
Added to Draconic exemplar, so that the energy resistance (from the warlock class ability) must match up, somewhat, to his exemplar choice.
Breath weapon DC is now 15 + class level + CON mod (originally: double class level).
Draconic resistance is somewhat slower now (10/15/20/immune instead of 10/20/30/immune).
Draconic armour is now class dependant (1/2 class level) instead of character level dependant (1/4th character level).
Dialed down the HP gain from the capstone ability. Now only future HD are all d12 and you only gain 1 extra max hp per current warlock level.
Since the original was dependant on the existence (and features) of the disciple of the gem class, I figured I'd use the adaption rules I already laid out to make a DnD 3.x compatible class. (Both so it is more useful and to generate more response/feedback.)
This specific version is tailored to the warlock class, but as I mentioned in the original's adaptation part, it should also be suitable to (for example) the monk class with only minor alterations.
Dragonhearted
Most men fear dragons, many men hate dragons, some men are descendant from dragons, but almost none have never dreamed of being a dragon.
The dragonhearted are men and women with a link to the dragons, either through blood, magic or through desire. But to the dragonhearted that is not enough, they aspire to become true dragons themselves. This desire is so strong that they are willing to cut out their own hearts to fulfill it.
Hit Die: d12
Requirements
To qualify to become a dragonhearted, a character must fulfill all the following criteria.
Race: Any corporeal, living non-dragon that possesses a heart.
Skills: Knowledge (arcana) 13 ranks, Concentration 6 ranks, Heal 6 ranks.
Class Feature: Must be able to use lesser invocations
Class feature: Eldritch blast 5d6 OR Breath weapon 5d6.
Special: The player chooses a draconic exemplar when taking the first level in this prestige class, you must have either an eldritch essence or a breath effect which matches the breath weapon of your draconic exemplar.
Special: When first taking a level of dragonhearted, the dragonhearted must perform a ritual in which he cuts out his own heart and replaces it with a gem containing the essence of a true dragon (described below).
Class Skills
The dragonhearted's class skills (and the key ability in each skill) are Bluff (Cha), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Intimidate (Cha), Jump (Str), Knowledge (Arcana, Dungeoneering, Geography, Nature, Psionics, Religion and The planes; taken individually) (Int), Listen (Wis), Move Silently (Dex), Profession (Wis), Search (Int), Sense motive (Wis), Spot (Wis), Spellcraft (Int), Survival (Wis), Use magic device (Cha).
Skill Points at Each Level: 4 + Int modifier.
Saves
Level BAB Fort Ref Will Special Invoking
1st +0 +2 +0 +2 Draconic exemplar, draconic features, draconic ability, draconic immunities -
2nd +1 +3 +0 +3 Draconic breath, draconic resistance +1 level of existing invoking class
3rd +2 +3 +1 +3 Draconic perception -
4th +3 +4 +1 +4 +1 level of existing invoking class
5th +3 +4 +1 +4 Improved heart gem -
6th +4 +5 +2 +5 Draconic armor +1 level of existing invoking class
7th +5 +5 +2 +5 -
8th +6/+1 +6 +2 +6 Draconic special +1 level of existing invoking class
9th +6/+1 +7 +3 +7 -
10th +7/+2 +7 +3 +7 Draconic rebirth, alternate form +1 level of existing invoking class
Class Features
All the following are class features of the dragonhearted prestige class.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Dragonhearted gain no proficiency with any weapon or armor.
Invoking: At every even level, you gain new invocations known, breath effects known, increased damage with eldritch blast, increased damage with (a dragonfire adepts) breath weapon and an increase in invoker level as if you had also gained a level in your previous invoking class. You do not, however, gain any other benefit a character of that class would have gained.
Draconic exemplar: When taking his first level, the dragonhearted must choose which type of dragon he aims to become. This will affect a number of class features. See the "draconic exemplar" section below for the details on the most common dragon types (metallic, chromatic and gem dragons).
The dragonhearted and his dragonic exemplar must have the same alignment with respect to the good/evil axis. Later shifts in alignment won't prevent him from progressing in the dragonhearted class though.
A dragonhearted with the warlock class feature "Energy resistance" (or a dragonhearted who later gains said ability), must have energy resistance to the type of energy that his dragon exemplar will gain immunity to. Similarly, in the case of exemplars with the cold or fire subtype, he can't have energy resistance to the type of energy his exemplar is weak to.
Draconic features: While working his way to his draconic rebirth, the dragonhearted gains a number of draconic features.
at 1st level, the dragonhearted gains the ability to fly. He gains "draconic flight" as a bonus invocation. If the dragonhearted already possesses (or later gains) the "draconic flight" or "fell flight" invocations, the effects of those invocation is increased to be similar to "greater draconic flight".
At 4th level, the dragonhearted gains the ability to manifest claws which he can use to attack. He gains "Eldritch claws" ( http://www.realmshelps.net/cgi-bin/featbox.pl?feat=Eldritch_Claws) as a bonus feat, even if he does not have the normal prerequisites for that feat. For a dragonhearted who doesn't have the eldritch blast class feature, use the damage of his breath weapon instead (but he cannot add breath effects as eldritch essences).
At 7th level, the dragonhearted grows more comfortable with his wings and learns how to use them in a wing slam. This can be done while flying and deals 1d4 damage (for a medium dragonhearted). The wing slam is always a secondary natural weapon.
Draconic ability: As the dragonhearted draws closer to his draconic rebirth, he starts gaining the strength and durability of his draconic exemplar. At the same time his mind changes, growing more astute and flexible. This translates to the following class abilities.
At 1st level, the dragonhearted's strength increases by 2.
At 2nd level, the dragonhearted's constitution increases by 2.
At 3rd level, the dragonhearted's intelligence increases by 2.
At 4th level, the dragonhearted's strength increases by an additional 2, making the total increase to the dragonhearted's strength +4.
At 5th level, the dragonhearted's constitution increases by an additional 2, making the total increase to the dragonhearted's constitution +4.
At 6th level, the dragonhearted's wisdom increases by 2.
At 7th level, the dragonhearted's strength increases by an additional 2, making the total increase to the dragonhearted's strength +6.
The change at 8th level is dependent on the dragonhearted's dragon exemplar type. Sapphire dragonhearted gain an increase of +2 to their dexterity. While all the other dragonhearted gain an additional increase of 2 to their constitution (for a total of +6).
At 9th level, the dragonhearted's charisma increases by 2.
Draconic immunities: The dragonhearted's new heart grants him immunity to sleep effects.
At 5th level, as his new heart becomes more integrated with his body, he also gains immunity to paralysis effects.
Draconic breath: At 2nd level, the dragonhearted gains a breath weapon. For a dragonhearted who was a warlock before entering this class, this means he gains the blast shape invocation "dragon breath" (which is a line or cone (players choice) of the appropriate size). For the dragonhearted that was a dragonfire adept before entering this class, it means he gains an additional breath effect that he meets the requirement for. For both, use d8's for damage (instead of d6's) when using your breath weapon.
At 4th level, the dragonhearted gains a +1d8 bonus to his damage when using his breath weapon.This bonus damage only applies when he uses his breath weapon.
The dragonhearted gains an additional increase of +1d8 damage at level 6 and again at level 8.
At 10th level, when the dragonhearted is reborn as a dragon, he gains full mastery of his breath weapon. He gains an additional +2d8 damage when using his breath weapon. And he learns a new type of breath weapon (for the warlock this equals a bonus eldritch essence, for the dragonfire adept a bonus breath effect).
The size of the breath weapon is based on the size of the dragonhearted, similar to how it works for dragons (MM, page 69).
The DC of the dragonhearted's breath weapon is equal to 10 + 1/2 invoking class levels + 1/2 dragonhearted levels + con modifier.
Draconic resistance: From 2nd level onwards, the dragonhearted starts gaining the resistances of his draconic exemplar. For the energy type the draconic exemplar has immunity to, the dragonhearted gains resistance 10.
This resistance increases to 15 at 5th level, 20 at 8th. At the time of the dragonhearted's draconic rebirth (10th level) he gains immunity to this energy type.
Exception: Amethyst dragonhearted have a different progression. They gain poison immunity at 2nd level. They also gain a +2 bonus on saving throws against force effects at 5th level, which increases to +3 at 8 level and to +4 at 10th level.
Draconic perception: From 3rd level on, the dragonhearted's eyes become more like the eyes of a dragon. Over the levels his pupil changes shape and his eyes change color. At 10th level his eyes are identical to the eyes of his draconic exemplar, even in human form.
At 3rd level he gains low-light vision (allowing him to see twice as far in shadow illumination). This increases to three times as far at 5th level and to four times as far at level 7.
At 4th level he can now see twice as far in normal light conditions.
At 6th level he gains darkvision 60ft (or increases his existing darkvision by 60ft). This increases to 120ft at level 10.
At 8th level he gains Blindsight, 5-ft. Radius as a bonus feat, even if he does not have the normal prerequisites for that feat.
Improved heart gem: At 5th level, the dragonhearted has fully integrated his heart gem into his body.
He can now enchant his heart gem. While this essentially uses the gem as a slot less item, only 1.5 times the normal costs for the enchantment are paid. The gem can be enchanted with properties normally associated with rings, amulets, third eyes, ioun stones and belts.
Draconic armor: At 6th level, the dragonhearted's skin starts hardening, slowly becoming more dragon hide like. He adds half his dragonhearted level to his natural armor. This ability stacks with the dragonfire adept class feature "scales".
Draconic special: At 8th level, the dragonhearted gains a special ability based on his dragon exemplar. See the draconic exemplar section below for the special abilities for some of the more common dragon types.
Draconic rebirth: At 10th level, the dragonhearted transforms into a true dragon. This transformation is trigged when the dragonhearted meditates, which causes his entire body to crystallize. Over the next day his crystallized body slowly folds into an egg shape. After another 1d6 days he is reborn as a dragon, hatching from this crystal egg.
His physical form changes into a the type of his draconic exemplar (For the age category see the "draconic exemplar" section below). His type changes to dragon and he gains the sub-type of his draconic exemplar (and the augmented sub-type associated with his former race - he retains the ability to use items that are only useable by his former race).
The dragonhearted has the has the natural attacks, movement types, frightful presence, spell resistance and damage reduction of his exemplar's type and age category. He also gains blindsense 60ft.
He does not gain his exemplar's spell like abilities or spellcasting ability. He does not need to take any (additional) racial hit dice, nor does he gain level adjustment that his exemplar possesses.
A dragonhearted’s physical ability scores (in dragon form) improve according to its kind. These adjustments are equal to the dragon's normal ability scores –10 or –11. These ability score increases override the physical ability score increases gained through the draconic ability class feature. The dragonhearted does not gain these increased ability scores in his alternate form.
In dragon form, the dragonhearted's draconic armor increases from half his class level to half his character level. This stacks with the dragonfire adept class feature "scales", however these two sources of natural armor together can't exceed the natural armor of a normal dragon of the dragonhearted's type and age category.
The dragonhearted increases all future Hit Dice to d12s. And all racial hit dice that the dragonhearted possesses are turned into dragon hit dice, with all the changes to saves, skills and BaB that entails.
As a true dragon, the dragonhearted can from this moment on progress by aging. For details on how to handle this, see the segment on "How to handle extra RHD and increases in age categories" below.
Exception: Those dragonhearted who gain either the cold or fire subtype are penalized somewhat compared to their cousins. They gain a minor bonus to balance this out.
Gold and red dragonhearted have higher stats in their dragon forms (due to their age category) and gain an additional +2 strength in their alternate form.
Brass, obsidian, ruby and white dragonhearted gain a stronger breath weapon, dealing 10d10 damage instead of 10d8.
Sliver dragonhearted gain immunity to acid, similar to normal silver dragons.
Alternate form (Su): While the dragonhearted's body is now that of a dragon, he is capable of transforming back into his old form.
This functions like the alternate form of other dragons (for example: silver dragons), but the dragonhearted is limited in that he can only transform into his old form.
In his alternate form, the dragonhearted does not gain the increased physical stats, movement forms or draconic armor granted by the draconic rebirth class feature.
Heart gem
A heart gem is made when you infuse a specially prepared gem with the essence of a dragon. Preparing the heart gem requires the creator to have the "craft wondrous item" feat. While in practice any (sufficiently big/expensive) gem can be used as a heart gem, most dragonhearted use a gem with relation to the type of dragon they strive to become (e.g.: A giant onyx for a black dragon and a large granade or ruby for a red dragon). Preparing the gem requires that the dragonhearted carves a series of marking into the gem. These markings are then "painted in" with a mixture of the dragonhearted's blood and a number of magical reagents, this attunes the gem to the dragonhearted. The gem must be worth at least 10k gp and the materials and tools required to prepare it to hold the essence costs another 10k gp.
Adaptation: The carving of the markings can be a (repeatable if failed) DC 10 craft check and drawing the blood required to paint the markings could do 3d8 damage.
Infusing the gem with the essence of a dragon can be done in a number of ways:
Killing a dragon and inserting the gem into the dragon's chest (within 5 minutes of the dragon's death) and leaving it there for 24 hours.
Having a dying dragon will his essence into the gem. It should be noted that you'll have to very convincing to have a dragon help you in this fashion (for example: the completion of a major quest, being bound to fulfill the dragon's dying wishes, you being the prophesized savior of X). When the dragon is done infusing the gem with its essence it instantly dies.
It is also possible to for a dragonhearted's dragon ancestor(s) to infuse his heart gem with draconic essence. This is very taxing on those ancestors and will only be granted once a century per group of ancestors. In most cases this requires the settling of a blood debt, recovery of a family relic or some other quest related to the dragonhearted's family and/or draconic bloodline.
One of the draconic gods can infuse your heart gem the necessary charge (Again this requires you to be either in very high standing with said god or the god must have a vested interest in your actions).
Note: The essence of a dragon is not its soul. Thus, the use of a dragon's essence to "charge" a heart gem will not prevent that dragon's journey into the afterlife.
Adaptation: As an alternate rule, the type of dragon that supplied the essence for your heart gem can determine your draconic exemplar. In the case of a draconic god charging the gem, the dragonhearted can either choose from all the dragons associated with that god or the god can set the type of exemplar.
(Personally, I like leaving options open, so this is an alternate rule instead of the standard one. Plus, having to kill (or find a dying) gold dragon if you wish to be one of the "good" dragons is kind of tiresome.)
Implanting the heart gem
To replace his own heart with a heart gem, the dragonhearted needs a completed heart gem (as described above) and he must then complete the following steps:
Preparing for the ritual. To prepare for the removal of his original heart, the dragonhearted must cast (or have someone cast for him) a magic circle (this can be any of the magic circle spells, as long as it doesn't clash with the dragonhearted's or dragon exemplar's alignment).
On this magic circle the following spells must be cast:
Gentle repose
Death ward
Healing circle OR each turn a casting of Cure critical or serious wounds
Remove his own heart. This does 1d8 constitution damage to himself. This damage can be reduced by 2 (to a minimum of 2) for each of the following checks the dragonhearted succeeds on: a DC 25 heal check and a DC 20 fortitude save. The constitution damage is then doubled if the dragonhearted fails a DC 30 concentration check.
Replace his heart with the heart gem. To put in the heart gem, the dragonhearted must (in the following round) succeed on a DC 40 heal check. If he fails, he must make a saving throw as if he was drowning (failure = death). The next round he can try again. Before each subsequent retry, he can attempt a DC 20 concentration check, which will lower the DC of the heal check by 4 for each time it is successful.
After a successful implantation of the heart gem, the dragonhearted will pass-out and not wake until 24 hours have passed (no matter what is attempted to wake him, baring high level magic such as wishes).
Note: The dragonhearted must perform the ritual himself, because letting a surgeon do it interferes with the bonding between his body and his new heart. Should the heart gem be implanted by someone else, the dragonhearted will die (of heart failure, among other things) 1d4 weeks after the ritual.
However, it's possible for other to aid him during the ritual through aid another. Also, certain tools can make the ritual easier to perform (for example: a mirror can give a circumstance bonus to the heal checks (as he can now see what he is doing) and certain herbs can improve the dragonhearted's concentration).
Exception: When a dragon is willing to imbue the dragonhearted's heart gem with its essence, it can also help him with the implantation. The dragon will nurture the dragonhearted's life with its own and its magical nature will shield the dragonhearted during the ritual, thus no spells need to be cast to prepare for the ritual.
In this case, the removal of the heart does 1d6 constitution damage, which is doubled if the dragonhearted fails a DC 25 concentration check. Replacing the heart with the heart gem takes the dragon 1d4 + 1 turns (requiring the dragonhearted to make the necessary saving throws to prevent death each turn).
Whether the ritual is successful or not, the dragon dies at the end and its mortal form dissolves during the next 24 hours (if the ritual fails, the heart gem is still infused with its essence).
Draconic exemplars
Metallic dragons
Type Breath weapons Immunity Special Rebirth
Brass Line of Fire or Cone of Sleep Fire Improved fire damage Adult
Bronze Line of Lightning or Cone of Repulsion Electricity Improved swimmer Young adult
Copper Line of Acid or Cone of Slow Acid Spider climb Adult
Gold Cone of Fire or Cone of Weakening Fire Improved swimmer Juvenile
Silver Cone of Cold or Cone of Paralyzing Cold Cloudwalking Young adult
Chromatic dragons
Type Breath weapons Immunity Special Rebirth
Black Line of Acid Acid Improved swimmer Adult
Blue Line of Lightning Electricity Spider climb Young adult
Green Cone of Acid Acid Improved swimmer Young adult
Red Cone of Fire Fire Improved fire damage Juvenile
White Cone of Cold Cold Icewalking Adult
Gem dragons
Type Breath weapons Immunity Special Rebirth
Amethyst Line of Force Force + Poison Spider climb Young adult
Crystal Cone of Light Cold Improved maneuverability Young adult
Emerald Cone of Sonic Sonic Improved maneuverability Young adult
Obsidian Cone of Fire Fire Improved fire damage Young adult
Ruby As Amethyst, Crystal or Obsidian Fire Extra breath weapon Young adult
Sapphire Cone of Sonic Electricity Spider climb Young adult
Topaz Cone of Dehydration Cold Improved swimmer Young adult
Breath weapons: The breath weapons available to the draconic exemplar.
Immunity: The elements to which the draconic exemplar has immunity.
Rebirth: This is the age category that the dragonhearted will transform into when he reaches draconic rebirth (level 10). This determines his size in dragon form (always large), his movement speeds and the increases in his physical statistics.
Special: The special ability gained by the dragonhearted at level 8. The specific specials are described below.
Cloudwalking: The silver dragonhearted can tread on clouds or fog as though on solid ground. This functions similarly to the ability gained by silver dragons.
Extra breath weapon: The ruby dragonhearted gains access to another of the ruby dragon breath weapons. He gains either an bonus eldritch blast essence or bonus breath effect that matches up with one of the ruby dragon's breath weapons.
Icewalking: The white dragonhearted can climb icy surfaces. This ability functions like the spider climb spell, but the surface the dragonhearted climbs must be icy. This ability is always active.
Improved fire damage: All fire damage done by a brass, red or obsidian dragonhearted (including his breath weapon) is increased by 50%.
Improved maneuverability: Crystal and emerald dragonhearted increase their maneuverability while flying (both with the wings grown by the draconic growth class feature and in his dragon form after reaching level 10) by 1 step.
Improved swimmer: Black, bronze, Green, gold and topaz dragonhearted gain a swim speed of 30 and the water breathing ability. If they already possess a swim speed (from race or class features) this increases their swim speed by 30. This does not increases their swim speed in their dragon form (after reaching level 10).
Spider climb: An amethyst, blue, copper or sapphire dragonhearted can climb on stone surfaces as though using the spider climb spell. This ability is always active.
How to handle extra RHD and increases in age categories
Coming soon, I hope.
Changelog:
06/05/2014
Added an alignment part to the "Draconic exemplar" feature.
Switched around the claws and flight capabilities for "Draconic features". Mostly because the flight part won't add overly much to the dragonhearted, while the eldritch claws are quite a boost (especially for the 1st level).
Made part of the "Draconic immunities" (the immunity to paralysis) be gained at a later (5th) level.
Draconic rebirth has gotten an overhaul, including more details on how it works in game, how it works rule wise and what exactly is gained by the dragonhearted.
Improved the section on the creation of a heart gem. Changed the cost, added some description on how to make it and added "draconic ancestors" as a way to charge the heart gem. Also specified that "draconic essence" is not the same as the dragon's soul.
Added "preparing for the ritual" to the section on implanting the heart gem. And added an exception segment on having the dragon who is granting you his essence helping with the ritual.
Added a spoiler tag for "How to handle extra RHD and increases in age categories" - currently empty
01/05/2014:
Changed the requirements for entry into the class (can't be a dragon already, must be alive and corporeal). Beyond this, you need to have an eldritch essence or breath effect that matches up with the dragon you wish to become.
Also change it so you can enter the class at level 11.
Moved the dragon exemplar feature to the requirements for the class.
Edited invocation increases so that it also progresses dragonfire adept features.
Rewrote the breath weapon class feature completely. Now keys of eldritch blast/dragonfire adept breath weapon and adds bonus damage. (now called draconic breath)
Rewrote the entire draconic growth (new name draconic features) class feature to be based on "eldritch claws" and "fell flight" "draconic flight".
Changed draconic eye a little. Darkvision is now 60ft at level 6 and 120ft at level 10 (removed 90ft at level 8). Added the 5ft blindsight feat at level 8 instead. (Also: renamed to draconic perception).
Specified that draconic armor combines with the dragonfire adept class feature scales (also changed things related to this in the draconic rebirth feature).
Draconic special for ruby dragonheart upgraded to match the new breath weapon description.
30/04/2014:
Remove the +1 hp for each warlock level at level 10.
29/04/2014:
Lowered the requirement for healing/concentration to 8 ranks.
Removed "Tumble" from class skills and limited the knowledge skills (removing all that are "civilized" and non "dragony").
Changed invocation progression from 2-9 to every even level.
Added to Draconic exemplar, so that the energy resistance (from the warlock class ability) must match up, somewhat, to his exemplar choice.
Breath weapon DC is now 15 + class level + CON mod (originally: double class level).
Draconic resistance is somewhat slower now (10/15/20/immune instead of 10/20/30/immune).
Draconic armour is now class dependant (1/2 class level) instead of character level dependant (1/4th character level).
Dialed down the HP gain from the capstone ability. Now only future HD are all d12 and you only gain 1 extra max hp per current warlock level.