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Hogsy
2016-01-31, 10:00 AM
So I was looking at the Paladin's archetypes and came across a very nice archetype thematically called the Dragon Knight. The whole point was that you had the ability to summon a dragon through divine means that helps you in your cause against Evil. His 5lvl divine bond ability was altered to the following:


At 5th level, the dragon knight gains the service of a powerful draconic ally. This is a spiritual entity reflecting the dragon knight’s own soul, and is fueled by holy energy. When manifested, this draconic ally has the same statistics as a metallic true dragon with Hit Dice less than or equal to the dragon knight’s Hit Dice, and which obeys the dragon knight’s will as though it were created with the spell summon monster I (the caster level is equal to the dragon knight’s paladin level).

Manifesting this draconic ally is a standard action, and it can be dismissed as a swift action. You can manifest this draconic ally for a number of rounds equal to your Charisma modifier each day, though these rounds need not be consecutive. At each level beyond 5th, you can manifest this ally for an additional 2 rounds (for example, at 6th level you can manifest this ally for a number of rounds equal to your Charisma modifier +2, at 7th level you can manifest this ally for a number of rounds equal to your Charisma modifier +4, etc.). Each time you use this ability, you may summon a dragon of a different type.

If your draconic ally is slain in battle, you cannot summon a new one for 1 week. During this time, your detect dragons ability ceases to function. Any damage sustained by the draconic ally while manifested does not heal until he rests and recovers his spells, even if the dragon knight summons a dragon of a different color or of a different age category, that creature will have sustained damage equal to the damage accrued by the previously manifested dragon.

This ability replaces divine bond.

So what kind of Dragon can I summon? Do I get to summon a Metallic Great Wyrm Dragon that has my hit dice or is the deal that I can summon any kind of metallic dragon as long as it has the same hit dice as me? That seems a bit underwhelming to be honest since you miss out on the coolest and biggest dragons.

Grod_The_Giant
2016-01-31, 10:10 AM
It doesn't have to be a Great Wyrm-- any sort of Gold, Silver, Bronze, Copper, etc dragon with the right number of HD will do. I suspect the flexibility is so that you can jump between wyrmlings and young adults as the need be, without the designers needing to take the time to do a good job and write up a proper companion progression.

RandomNPC
2016-01-31, 10:12 AM
Dragons tend to gain HD as they age so you'll only be able to summon small dragons until you level up a few times.

Hogsy
2016-01-31, 11:12 AM
It doesn't have to be a Great Wyrm-- any sort of Gold, Silver, Bronze, Copper, etc dragon with the right number of HD will do. I suspect the flexibility is so that you can jump between wyrmlings and young adults as the need be, without the designers needing to take the time to do a good job and write up a proper companion progression.


Yeah, you don't have to but if the rules don't specify against it you actually could summon a great wyrm dragon whose only downside is his hit die

Hogsy
2016-01-31, 11:13 AM
Dragons tend to gain HD as they age so you'll only be able to summon small dragons until you level up a few times.

So technically what you're saying is that the dragon type you're trying to summon should have equal or less hit die to you? By the way, I like the style your wife draws with. Many kudos.

Beheld
2016-01-31, 11:16 AM
Yeah, you don't have to but if the rules don't specify against it you actually could summon a great wyrm dragon whose only downside is his hit die

No, you really can't, because Great Wyrm Dragons have more HD than you. You can't just make up a totally new creature that exists no where in world and just declare that is what you have now.

Psyren
2016-01-31, 12:55 PM
Well for starters OP, this thing is 3rd party so your chances of running into bad wording (or at least wording where the community hasn't come to a consensus) are going to be higher. Beyond that, RandomNPC is correct - true dragon HD is tied to age category so you'll be stuck with young/smaller dragons until the highest levels.

Hogsy
2016-01-31, 07:14 PM
Well for starters OP, this thing is 3rd party so your chances of running into bad wording (or at least wording where the community hasn't come to a consensus) are going to be higher. Beyond that, RandomNPC is correct - true dragon HD is tied to age category so you'll be stuck with young/smaller dragons until the highest levels.

Well, that's what I thought too but the wording just seemed so vague that it seemed possible to me to get a colossal dragon with 40 hp to do your bidding

Psyren
2016-01-31, 07:43 PM
Well, that's what I thought too but the wording just seemed so vague that it seemed possible to me to get a colossal dragon with 40 hp to do your bidding

Where do you see a creature like that? Is there one in the book this archetype came from?

Hogsy
2016-02-01, 07:23 PM
Where do you see a creature like that? Is there one in the book this archetype came from?


The Great Wyrm dragons are colossal

Psyren
2016-02-01, 07:53 PM
The Great Wyrm dragons are colossal

Right, but they also have an absolute minimum of 23HD - thus there's no way to get one before epic, at least not without homebrew.

Hogsy
2016-02-02, 11:42 AM
Right, but they also have an absolute minimum of 23HD - thus there's no way to get one before epic, at least not without homebrew.

Ah, the minimum HD is what I missed! Thanks man.