Divine Bond - Gimme a hand?

[Mindtour]

Through generous application of the "Rule of Cool" and a few minor sacrifices, my DM has allowed me to take a Dragonkin as my Paladin's mount through a mixture of Divine Bond, Leadership, and a bit of modification to the monster. We agreed that I wouldn't bring the beast into combat, as the character is already a powerhouse in this particular game. I'm not familiar with animal companion rules or advancement and didn't have much need to research it, but my curiosity has gotten the better of me.

So, as a 13th level paladin, how would a Dragonkin mount from the Divine Bond class feature be statted out? The only modification to the creature we've established is that it does not use a weapon in it's front limbs, and it has the Celestial template as per the class feature.

[Mindtour]

Topic is drowning, please send help.

[Spruit]

Do the stats really matter much if you can't bring it into combat? Why not just refluff a horse mount into looking like a dragon kin? It sounds like you are putting a lot of work onto something that won't even be doing anything worthwhile, and I always just houserule that thematics shouldn't cost anything if they don't give an advantage.

[Mindtour]

Do the stats really matter much if you can't bring it into combat? Why not just refluff a horse mount into looking like a dragon kin? It sounds like you are putting a lot of work onto something that won't even be doing anything worthwhile, and I always just houserule that thematics shouldn't cost anything if they don't give an advantage.

While I agree that the stats shouldn't matter, I've come to expect a bit of waffling from the DM. I wouldn't put it past him to ask me the thing's AC or saves one day so that he can target it somehow, as it's going to become my main source of a fly speed.

Bear in mind that we agreed I could merge Leadership's cohort feature and the paladin's Divine Bond to come up with this mount, as he felt the character was already too powerful without adding other feats and class features. (This DM has some very skewed views on tiers/power. He freaks out at my melee damage but doesn't bat an eye at the Conjuration Wizard pulling shenanigans.)

[noob]

You could just pick up a staff of phantom steed and go to town with your flying phantom steed who carries your horse who carries you
Now you no longer needs a mount with flight speed.

[Grod_The_Giant]

Depends on how your GM wants to interpret things. It might get the normal mount benefits since you obtained it through Leadership. It might also get the befits as though you were a lower leveled Paladin, as per the DMG guidelines. (Which I think work out to mount's CR must be less than or equal to Paladin level-3)

[Mindtour]

Depends on how your GM wants to interpret things. It might get the normal mount benefits since you obtained it through Leadership. It might also get the befits as though you were a lower leveled Paladin, as per the DMG guidelines. (Which I think work out to mount's CR must be less than or equal to Paladin level-3)

We haven't discussed it in-depth, but I've assumed it works as written under the Divine Bond entry. Using the animal companion rules as a Druid equal to your Paladin level. As I said, I've never fooled with animal companion generation. If I had to guess and to keep things simple, I'd just tack on the Celestial template to the Dragonkin. I'm just unsure of the advancement it would receive, if any.

[Psyren]

Aren't these (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/monster-listings/dragons/dragonkin) the dragonkin stats? Seems to me you could just add the Celestial Template and go to town, or am I looking at the wrong critter?

[Mindtour]

Aren't these (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/monster-listings/dragons/dragonkin) the dragonkin stats? Seems to me you could just add the Celestial Template and go to town, or am I looking at the wrong critter?

Yes, that is the correct creature. I just wanted to make sure that I wasn't leaving anything on the table that I could otherwise use to my advantage if/when the DM decides to target it.

[Psyren]

Yes, that is the correct creature. I just wanted to make sure that I wasn't leaving anything on the table that I could otherwise use to my advantage if/when the DM decides to target it.

I would say the simplest route is to start with the base stats and then advance it as an animal companion from there, as though "animal companion" were a class. So since it's CR 9, it would be "Dragonkin 9/Animal Companion 4" to match your Paladin 13, getting Link, Share Spells and Evasion.