pseudodragon NPCs or PCs

[carrdrivesyou]

I've always been a fan of a tiny dragon with a knock out punch. (Pun intended) mischievous little devils with telepathy and flight.
Has anyone ever played one with class levels? If so, how did you handle it? Can they be made as player characters without a level adjustment?

[Jowgen]

I looked into this once. They got two racial hit die and a LA of +3, so they wouldn't get a single class-level until ECL 6. It's absolutely ludicrously over-priced, considering what they get. Just a +3 LA I could sorta understand, and just two RHD seem like they'd be a fair deal, but both together make them highly unviable for play, which is sad.

[Deadline]

Assuming you start at higher than ECL 5, Dragonfire Adept makes a great class for them. "Rawrrr! I can breath fire, turn into a humanoid, and kinda cast spells! I'm a real dragon!"

The LA +3 is a rough hit though.

[Segev]

Indeed, the +3 LA is painful as all get-out. On the up side, you CAN buy it off...the first one gets bought off at ECL 14, though, and the second at ECL 19. You never quite lose the third.

If you can talk your DM into letting you count the RHD towards the levels gained for ECL buy-off, though, you can buy it off at ECL 11, 15, and 17, which is a little better.

If I were taking class levels on one of these guys, I'd go for Dragonfire Adept, because it gives him a breath weapon and just seems quite appropriate. You might even talk your DM into letting you trade out the feat that makes you count as a dragon for some purposes for something more fitting, since you already ARE a dragon.

Unfortunately, the 1d6 cone is near-useless at ECL 6. But it's still somewhat neat.

You're honestly probably better off with a white dragon wyrmling, DFA, and a single level of Mindbender (for far superior telepathy). But the wyrmling's breath weapon doesn't stack without DM fiat with any other breath weapons, so...

[robgrayert]

I have a pseudodragon *familiar* that I talked the DM into letting me have at lower levels, as long I progressed him. I used this (excellent) progression from jiriku here and it's been working really well:
http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?215102-Low-level-pseudodragon-familiar

You might get your DM to allow you to progress it through levels a little bit at a time, if you're starting at low levels in your campaign.

[Segev]

Here's how I'd implement a Pseudodragon "racial progression:"

Levels 1 and 2 must be Dragon RHD. Must spend level 4, 8, 12, and 16 attribute increases on Con and Wis such that both have +2 by level 16. May not take feats of choice until the character has all of Blindsense, Darkvision, Spell Resistance, and Telepathy.

Level 1:

* -4 Str, +4 Dex
* Speed 15 ft., fly 60 ft. (good)
* Tiny size (and all that entails)
* Immunity to sleep and paralysis (elves get it; not an overpowering perk)
* Low-light vision
* +4 NAC
* +4 racial bonus on Hide checks due to chameleon-like abilities. This improves to +8 in forests and overgrown areas.
* Bite and sting (no poison on sting yet)
* Must take one of the following instead of the first level feat: Weapon Finesse, Darkvision 60 ft., Telepathy 60 ft. (only with creatures that share a language)

Level 2:

* Bonus feat to be spent on one of the following: Weapon Finesse, Darkvision 60 ft., Telepathy 60 ft. (only with creatures that share a language), Blindsense 60 ft.
* Poison: Injury, Fortitude DC 14, initial damage sleep for 1 minute, secondary damage sleep for 1d3 hours. The save DC is 10+(1/2 HD) plus a +2 racial bonus. Delivered via sting.
* May take Weapon Finesse, Darkvision 60 ft., Telepathy 60 ft. (only with creatures that share a language), Blindsense 60 ft., or SR (15+HD) as feats when feats become available. Must have them all before any other feats may be chosen. These MAY be taken in lieu of Fighter Bonus Feats.By forcing feat selections and level-up stat bonuses, I think it covers what normally would be covered by level adjustment.