The Pseudodragon Dragonrider!

[WeaselGuy]

So, this may seem a little crazy, but are there any Diminutive PC races? I have a this image of some sort of Fairy looking character, riding into battle on the back of a Pseudodragon, shooting arrows the effective size of toothpicks, and yet doing retarded amounts of damage from either skirmish or sneak attack... So, Playgrounders, we have the technology, can we build it?

*v3.5, preferably with a minimum amount of Feta, ideally with no Dragon Magazine or Homebrew*

[Qwertystop]

Smallest race with an LA I know is the Petal. LA +2 (cohort), but many DMs will let you play it as a PC. That only gets you down to Fine Tiny, though.

[WeaselGuy]

Isn't Fine smaller than Diminutive? The chart in Draconomicron "Diminutive or Smaller Riders" and has Pseudodragon, then goes to "Tiny or Smaller Riders" and has 4 different Very Young Dragons, then goes to "Small or Smaller Riders"...

*edit with link: http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/SRD:Race_Descriptions*

[Vrock_Summoner]

Any starting level or class requirements?

[WeaselGuy]

Any starting level or class requirements?

This is sort of a random project of mine, just following our group's guidelines... if it is at least somewhat effective at ECL9-ish, that would be good though, as a terribly hilarious backup character.

[Qwertystop]

Isn't Fine smaller than Diminutive? The chart in Draconomicron "Diminutive or Smaller Riders" and has Pseudodragon, then goes to "Tiny or Smaller Riders" and has 4 different Very Young Dragons, then goes to "Small or Smaller Riders"...

*edit with link: http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/SRD:Race_Descriptions*

Derp. I meant "tiny". Editing that in now.

[Vrock_Summoner]

If there are any tiny races of the humanoid type (sadly, most appear to be fey) then 9 class levels gets you the ability to Permanency a Reduce Person spell bringing you down to diminutive. That's about all I can think that would work.

[WeaselGuy]

Ok, so, what me and the DM came up with was a Thorn (from MM3 i think) who got into some sort of trouble with the local wizard, and ended up the victim of a Reduce Person + Permanancy combo, in the hopes of some cat and mouse action with the wizard's Pseudodragon companion.

Combine 1) disgruntled companion + 2) good diplomacy, and you end up with the Mini-Thorn riding the house cat dragon out the front door, much to the dismay of the the wizard.

Now comes the fun part... the build. I talked to the DM and she says in this instance, a feat can be homebrewed to allow skirmish attacks while mounted (for this purpose, Mounted Skirmisher). So, to mind comes the following...

A few levels of Scout, maybe a few levels of Paladin (one of the variant classes from UA, to avoid Lawful-Stupid) and maybe the Dragonrider PrC from Draconomicron. The PrC requires Mounted Combat, Skill Focus (Ride), Diplomacy 4, Handle Animal 4, Ride 8, BAB +5, and Language: Draconic.

Should the Dragon Cohort feat be used to keep the Pseudodragon with me? What options should be considered for lvl >15? Is there a better way to capitalize on riding a dragon other than through Dragonrider?

[ShurikVch]

From the Mount Handbook, Feats for Mounts:
Mighty Steed: A feat found in the Dragonlance supplement Knightly Orders of Ansalon. A mount with this feat counts as one size category larger for determining carrying capacity and the minimum size of its rider. That is, it lets a Medium character ride a Medium mount, and lets a kobold with Slight Build ride a pseudodragon.

[CyberThread]

From monster manaual 3 or 4, there is a race called jaermaline?sp?


It is a +0 rodent like race , that is tiny or diminutive, but is evil, so a curse helm may be in order for backstory.

[ShurikVch]

From monster manaual 3 or 4, there is a race called jaermaline?sp?


It is a +0 rodent like race , that is tiny or diminutive, but is evil, so a curse helm may be in order for backstory.Jermlaine. Actually, MM2. They are Tiny.
I can suggest Incarnated Dustform Jermlaine.

[CyberThread]

Jermlaine. Actually, MM2. They are Tiny.
I can suggest Incarnated Dustform Jermlaine.


what would it get from those templtes?

[Chronos]

I think that's just to change its type to Humanoid, so it can be subject to a Reduce Person spell.

Alternately, there's the Ring of Reduction from Lords of Madness, which works with any creature type, and isn't as easily dispelled.

[Metahuman1]

Here's what I'd do,

Take what ever base race you want.

Take levels in Bard or Cloistered Cleric, building toward a mounted archer + whatever with your feats, skills, spells, what have you. Probably invest in Hanks Energy Bow (Google it with 3.5 stats tacked on to the search, should get you to the free Wizards of the Coast web enhancement.).

Take any 1 Giant Bloodline, for exactly 1 level. (This can be skipped if for some reason you wish to play a half giant and just buy off the La. In fact doing this may be more optimal.)

Spend Money on a Graph, or a casting of chained Heroics + an unskilled hireling for one day to be chained off of + a round of the Dark Chaos Shuffle to get feats or what ever other method you like to get wings, and then have Flesh to Stone and Transmute Rock to Mud cast on you. Have a hired artist put the mud in the mold to make you have what ever physical appearance you fancy, and then cast Transmute Mud to Rock on you, and Stone to Flesh. Enjoy looking like a fairy that has what ever size category you are and functional wings.

Last but not least, Have an Artificer or Druid put Return to nature on you repeatedly until such time as your what ever size category you fancy. All the way down to Fine if you wish.

Congrats, your an itty bitty fairy riding a house cat sized not dragon dragon around and doing devastating amounts of damage with your bow. Just fluff the energy shots form Hanks Bow as Arrow's the size of toothpicks. The skills and Spells help give you a reasonable about of out of combat utility, and even give you some fun toys to play with when shoot it with your bow isn't the right answer. You'd be amazed how much more helpful full round casting time spells can be in combat when it's your mount that uses it's actions to move, and move you were you want to go with those actions by you being on it and it moving at your free action direction to were you want it too.