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DamionIgnis
2007-06-20, 08:47 PM
Alright, I know it's been done, but I like my view of it...

This is a Dragoon, loosely based off of Kain from FF4, but with more of a D&D feel. I've also contemplated making it a prestige class, but I like this better.

Please feel free to give contructive critisizm. I can't tell whether or not it's balanced.


Dragoon
"I cannot allow you to ransack the village, O powerful Tynofygeon. If you wantonly eat the villagers they will never learn to respect you and you will never learn to respect them. They've done nothing to you and if you continue to prey upon them, my comrades and I will have to put you down. I would hate to see such a magnifiscent red dragon be lost because he couldn't listen to reason. Remember, I'm only here to help..." - Kyrin Longspear, Dragoon



Somewhere, secluded and tucked away from the toils of humanity, is a Dragonwright temple run by humanoids. It is in this temple that the Dragoon order was formed and where new members are trained. The location of the temple is secret and no Dragoon or Dragonwright cleric will willingly give up the information to anyone other than a surefire recruit. Even then, the Dragoon will accompany the recruit to the temple to avoid giving directions that could end up in the wrong hands.

The Dragoons are a religious order with much in common with monks, based around worship of dragons as the pinacle of mortal existence. A Dragoon reveres all dragons: metallic, chromatic, or otherwise. Dragoons take a binding oath never to needlessly cause harm to any dragon, which is a fact known and respected by the vast majority of dragonkind. As such, Dragoons are often used as mediators and go-betweens between the human world and the draconic world.

Adventures: Dragoons adventure for many different reasons. Some are recruiters and missionaries, bringing people the truth of the Dragonwright. Such characters often multiclass as Dragonwright clerics. Some are protectors, working not only to shield young and defenseless dragons from the spears and axes of others but also to protect others from the claws and breath weapons of rampaging dragons through attempts at peaceful resolution, and failing that, destruction. Others are mediators, acting to further the status of dragons amongst humanoids and teach both sides the intricacies of the other in order to help dragons and humans get along. There are, of course, those just in it for the experience, the money, and/or the chance to see places they've never seen.

In the end, the primary task of the dragoon is to find a hotspot where dragons and others are existing in violence, and sort it out, peacefully if possible. Normally, this requires an investigation into what the problem between the two sides and verdict as to which side is in the wrong. Then comes the delicate task of dealing with the problematic side in such a way as to alleviate the problem, whether it require death, compromise, or simple explanation.

Alignment: Dragoons, like the dragons they emulate, can be good, evil, or in between. They must be lawful, however, because they are agents of a greater society, working within the confines of temple doctrine and a code of ethics that must be strenuously enforced.

Religion: At it's foundation, the Dragoon's Order is one of religious servitude. All Dragoons worship the Dragonwright. Some may chose one particular dragon god to worship, but they respect and praise all of the Dragonwright, regardless of alignment. An evil Dragoon holds just as much reverence for Bahamut as he does Tiamat, and vice-versa. That is not to say that Dragoons do not worship any other gods, though. They are free to worship any deity, so long as they hold the dragons of the Dragonwright highest.

Background: Most Dragoons were children or younger, often orphans, when they joined the Order of Dragoons. Occassionally someone comes to the Order later in life, and on a slightly more rare occassion is actually born into the Order by Dragoon and/or Dragonwright Cleric parents.

Races: Being an Order founded in non-racial terms, the Order of Dragoons is open to all races. Though the class is written up to deal with humanoids, there's no reason a sentient non-humanoid could not join the Order with a few modification by the GM.

Other Classes: Dragoons get along best with monks due to their shared cloistered backgrounds, though they are usually compatible with good clerics and druids as well on account of their religious piety and work toward a more harmonized relationship between nature's creatures. In the end though, a Dragoon is capable of getting on well with anyone who can stand his unusual viewpoints (and occasional bouts of zealotry) and doesn't seek to due harm to dragons.

Roles: The Dragoon is, at his core, a warrior. He can often double as leader with a high Charisma, but more often than not he is a front-line combattant, plain and simple.


Game Rule Information
Dragoons have the following game statistics.

Abilities: Strength and Constitution are the mainstays of damage-dealing and -taking and so higher scores mean better battle prowess. Dexterity is not neccesarily high on the list of importance, due to the Dragoons tendency toward heavy armor. Charisma is also a very important skill not only because it helps the Dragoon act as a mediator and leader, but also because it affects his Frightful Presence ability.

Alignment: Any lawful.

Hit Die: d10


Class Skills
The Dragoon's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Bluff (Cha), Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Gather Information (Cha), Handle Animal (Dex), Intimidate (Cha), Jump (Str), Knowledge (religion) (Int), Profession (Wis), Sense Motive (Wis), Speak Language (None), Survival (Wis), and Swim (Str)
Skill Points at 1st Level: (4 + Int modifier) x 4.
Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 4 + Int modifier

{table] Level|BAB|Fort|Ref|Will|Ability
1|1|2|0|0|Dragonfriend, Jump, Crush
2|2|3|0|0|
3|3|3|1|1|Tail Sweep
4|4|4|1|1|Improved Jump
5|5|4|1|1|Frightful Presence 30'
6|6/1|5|2|2|Bonus Feat
7|7/2|5|2|2|
8|8/3|6|2|2|Tail Sweep (Whirlwind)
9|9/4|6|3|3|Bonus Feat
10|10/5|7|3|3|Frightful Presence 45'
11|11/6/1|7|3|3|Bonus Feat
12|12/7/2|8|4|4|Shockwave
13|13/8/3|8|4|4|Tail Sweep (Knockdown)
14|14/9/4|9|4|4|Bonus Feat
15|15/10/5|9|5|5|Frightful Presence 60'
16|16/11/6/1|10|5|5|Bonus Feat
17|17/12/7/2|10|5|5|
18|18/13/8/3|11|6|6|Tail Sweep (Any Size)
19|19/14/9/4|11|6|6|Bonus Feat
20|20/1510/5|12|6|6|Frightful Presence 75'
[/table]



Class Features
All of the following are class features of the Dragoon.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Dragoons are proficient only with the spear, longspear, and javelin. In the Order, the spear is a symbol of the teeth, claws, and tail of a dragon and therefore is the only weapon used by Dragoons. A Dragoon's melee combat special abilities are useable only with the spear or longspear. Dragoons are also proficient light, medium, and heavy armor, but not shields. Most Dragoons favor heavy armor such as plate to emulate the dragon's natural hide, though some prefer scale mail for the added textural realism.

A Dragoon will never willingly and knowingly wear dragonhide armor, nor will they weild armor or weapons made from a dragon's hide, bones, etc. unless the item were given to him peacefully by the dragon it came from.

Bonus Language: All Dragoons speak Draconic, which they get as a bonus language at first level.

Dragonfriend (Ex): Due to their relationship with dragons, Dragoons gain a +4 on Diplomacy, Gather Information, and Sense Motives checks made when dealing with dragons, as well as a +4 bonus on saves agains the frightful presence ability of dragons (and dragon-related entities; ie. Half-Dragons, Lesser Dragons, and other Dragoons). In addition, most dragons will refrain from eating someone who is identifiable as a Dragoon and is less likely to attack one outright (if the Dragoon were to approach it's hoarde for instance). That's not to say that dragons will not attack Dragoons for any of the reasons they would normally attack anyone, only that they are less likely to. A Dragoon is allowed to defend himself and his allies from a dragon's attack in most cases without violating his code. If he survives the dragon attack his is likely to feel bad about it and if especially pious may seek to atone anyway. If a Dragoon or his allies in some way forces the dragon to attack him (through the use of trickery, taunting, attacking first, etc) the encounter is not consider self-defense.

Jump (Ex): A dragoon trains for years in the ability to leap astounding and nearly supernatural distances, emulating the dragon's ability to fly. A Dragoon adds his class level to all jump checks, but moreso, he is not hampered by armor while doing so, eliminating the armor check penalty to his jump checks. A Dragoons maximum height or weight is not affected by his size, allowing very strong, very powerful Dragoons to eventually leap higher than their own height. At 4th level, a Dragoon's ability to jump is further increased in the fact that his jump checks are treated as though he got a running start and has the Run feat, regardless of whether or not he gets a running start. In addition, when a Dragoon of 4th or higher level uses the Jumping Down action, he may add an additional 5 to the DC in order treat the fall as 10 feet less than normal (thus jumping down 20 feet would have DC 20 and thirty feet would have DC 25, etc).

Crush (Ex): A jumping or falling Dragoon may make a crush attack, similar to that of a dragon. The attack is performed by dropping onto the oponent with the Dragoon's weight and spear and is treated as a charge except that at least half the neccesary charge distance must be made airborn (either vertically by dropping or jumping up or horizontally by long-jumping). Normal charge penalties and bonuses apply. The dragoon adds his dragoon level as a bonus to damage (on top of the 1.5x for the spear attack) and the oppoenent must make a Reflex save DC (10 + 1/2 Dragoon level rounded down + Dragoon's Str modifier) or be pinned, though the opponent is adds a +4 to his save for each size category he is larger than the Dragoon, or takes a -4 for each size category smaller he is. Pinned characters cannot move and take a -4 penalty to AC against all opponents other than the Dragoon, but are not helpless. If the opponent saves, he is moved backward one square, as the Dragoon now occupies the square he was in.

Tail Sweep (Ex): At 3rd level or higher, a Dragoon is able to use his spear in the same way a dragon uses its tail. A Dragoon may make a tail sweep action as a full round action. To do so, he chooses half of the area he threatens in a semicircle and roll damage normally for the weapon in use. Each character, friend or foe, in the affected area, rolls a Reflex save DC (10 + 1/2 Dragoon level rounded down + Dragoon's Str modifier). A successful save means half damage, while a failed save means full damage. This attack is effective against enemies the same size or smaller than the Dragoon. If the attack strikes any enemy larger than the Dragoon, the attack does damage as normal, but does not proceed on to any enemies beyond the larger enemy. At 8th level the Dragoon gains the ability to make a tail sweep action within the entire circle around him, though he is able to restict his tail sweep to a semicircle if he chooses and larger creatures still halt the attack. At 13th level, the tail sweep becomes even more dangerous as the Dragoon gains the ability to knock down each opponent who fails the Reflex save. Such a character is knocked prone. At 18th level, the tail sweep attack reaches it's pinacle as it is no longer affected by larger opponents, though an opponent larger than the Dragoon by two sizes or more is immune to the knockdown effects.

Frightful Presence (Ex): At 5th level and higher, the Dragoon is far enough into his study of the dragon's fighting style to gain a frightful presence of his own. The ability takes effect automatically when the Dragoon attacks, or charges (including the Crush attack). Creatures with a radius of 30 feet are subject to the effect if they have fewer HD than the Dragoon. This range extends to 45 feet at 10th level, 60 feet at 15th level, and 75 feet at 20th level. A potentially effected creature that succeeds on a Will save (DC 10 + 1/2 Dragoon's HD + Dragoon's Cha modifier) remains immune to that Dragoon's frightful presence for 24 hours. On a failure, creatures with 4 or less HD become panicked for 4d6 rounds and those with 5 or more HD become shaken for 4d6 rounds. Dragoons ignore the frightful presence of other dragoons.

Bonus Feat: At levels 6, 9, 11, 14, 16, and 19 the Dragoon gets a bonus feat. He may choose from any of the following: Ability Focus (MM), Acrobatic, Alertness, Blind-Fight, Cleave, Greater Weapon Focus, Greater Weapon Specialization, Improved Critical, Improved Inititative, Improved Sunder, Investigator, Negotiator, Power Attack, Weapon Focus, Weapon Specialization. A Dragoon can only choose Spear or Longspear (not javelin) as the weapon for feats such as Weapon Focus and Improved Critical for his bonus feats, although he can take these feats with other weapons using his normal feats he gains every three levels. A Dragoon qualifies for Weapon Specialization, Greater Weapon Focus, and Greater Weapons Specialization at the same level he would if he were an equivalent level fighter and can only choose Spear or Longspear (not javelin) as the weapon of choice for these feats, regardless of whether he's using a bonus feat or a regular feat.

Shockwave (Ex): At 12th level the Dragoon gains a shockwave attack. As a full-round action, he may choose to slam his spear against a solid surface and create a shockwave that radiates out from his space and continues for a number of feat equal to 5 x his Dragoon level. Make a bull rush attack by rolling once regardless of how many creatures are in the radius. Every creature in the radius makes a Strength check and compares it to the Dragoon's bull rush. Those who fail the opposed check are knocked down. Structures and unattended objects at least partially with the shockwave take damage equal to 1d6 + the Dragoon's Str modifier.



Ex-Dragoons
A Dragoon can lose status in any of the following ways:
• purposefully and knowingly hurting a dragon, good or evil, in any way (except in the defence of himself or an innocent)
• purposefully and knowingly weilding a piece of equipment made from any part of the dragon's body unless the item is given to him by the dragon itself
• choosing a feat such as Dragonfoe, Dragon Hunter or any of their related feats, as well as having any ability that targets dragons specifically with intent to harm (such as having dragon as a favored enemy)
• taking a level in any base class other than Dragoon or Dragonwright Cleric or in a prestige class other than: Dracolyte, Dragonkith, Dragonrider, Platinum Knight (A Dragoon/Platinum Knight's Smite Evil Dragon ability is replaced with the ability to smite any dragon who is actively attempting to harm innocents or civilians, good or evil), or Talon of Tiamat (A Dragon/Talon of Tiamat's Dominate Dragon ability is replaced with a Charm Dragon ability).

A Dragoon can atone for transgression against the first two points of the above list (though the affronting item must be destroyed to atone), but transgression against the latter two points is permanent. An Ex-Dragoon cannot gain new levels as a Dragoon, but retains all Dragoon abilities except for Frightful Presence.

BisectedBrioche
2007-06-21, 07:15 AM
I like it. I'm not sure about being unable to attack evil dragons though, maybe there should be some loopholes or exceptions based on alignment?

Matthew
2007-06-21, 10:44 PM
Uh, what's a Dragoon got to do with Dragons? I'm confused.

D Knight
2007-06-21, 11:14 PM
you did a great job buliding it but i agree with Bisected8 about not being able to hit evil dragons. also dragonfriend applys to only good dragons not evil dragons. besides that it looks great.

DamionIgnis
2007-06-21, 11:22 PM
Uh, what's a Dragoon got to do with Dragons? I'm confused.

Dragoons, as I understand it, are dragon knights. Hence the winged headbands you always seem to see them wearing. Also, if you look at Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, the Dragoon gets dragon breaths and such. Of course, that's just how I've always seen it. It's open to interpretation.



you did a great job buliding it but i agree with Bisected8 about not being able to hit evil dragons. also dragonfriend applys to only good dragons not evil dragons. besides that it looks great.

The whole point of the class is that they respect dragonkind as a whole. If you allow them to hurt one kind of dragon and not another, they might as well be dragon shamans...

And as for Dragonfriend, in this case it applies to all dragons. The class requires a DM that will allow for a character who can walk into a red dragon's cave and not be attacked outright.

Behold_the_Void
2007-06-21, 11:26 PM
This really should probably be a prestige class. I'd make Dragonfriend apply only to dragons of alignments within one step of their own (possibly allow neutral Dragoons to treat themselves as either good or evil for the use of the ability).

They should get Leap Attack as a bonus feat somewhere.

I don't agree with the lawful alignment requirement, I'd say Dragoons can be just about any alignment. I mean, Swordsages can be any alignment and they require way more discipline than Dragoons.

Also, one of the major points of Kain's jump is he can deal a lot of damage to large monsters and fell them with greater ease. I'd let crush be used on larger opponents, and create special maneuvers (like pinning) that the Dragoon can acquire at later levels that might be limited by size (also have some maneuvers that are more effective against larger creatures).

Otherwise, not bad.

TheOOB
2007-06-22, 12:29 AM
Hmm, first of all, like void said, this really doesn't belong as a base class, it should be a PrC. In all FF damages where dragoons appear they are elite specilist warriors, so it stands to reason that you allready have to be a good warrior before you can become a dragoon.

Also, while you tried to represent the spear fighting and jumping ability of the dragoons (as well as the dragon affinity, though it should be noted that dragoons just as often kill dragons as befriend them...and their very good at it.) you don't represent other abilities dragoons are known for having, such as healing(especially over time), dragon breath, and auto raise.

Also, I see no evidence in any of the games that dragoons should have even an alignment prerequisite, much less a code of conduct. While it's true most dragoons would be lawful (they are usually soldiers after all), theres no reason they couldn't be, a tough training regimine isn't enough, wizards have the toughest training of all and they can be any alignment. Your code of conduct is also pretty silly, dragoons kill dragons all the time, in fact they are better at it then anyone else, plus in most games one of the really powerful spears is a dragon whisker, which is made, if im correct out of dragon bone.

Matthew
2007-06-22, 12:40 AM
Dragoons, as I understand it, are dragon knights. Hence the winged headbands you always seem to see them wearing. Also, if you look at Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, the Dragoon gets dragon breaths and such. Of course, that's just how I've always seen it. It's open to interpretation.
Okay, looked it up. Apparently, they are named after their Muskets, as they spit forth fire. Since this is a Final Fantasy thing, though, I'll not raise any objections.

Setra
2007-06-22, 12:45 AM
Okay, looked it up. Apparently, they are named after their Muskets, as they spit forth fire. Since this is a Final Fantasy thing, though, I'll not raise any objections.
I think at this point the term dragoon is used almost as often to describe final fantasy type dragon knights, as it is used to describe historical "dragoons".

Nice class though.

Behold_the_Void
2007-06-22, 12:52 AM
OOB brings up a good point about the Dragon Slaying aspect, which I'd forgotten. In many games they have several attacks designed specifically to harm dragons. They should probably at LEAST get Favored Enemy: Dragon, and the Dragonfriend may not be appropriate.

Actually, come to think of it giving Dragoons bonuses for wearing Dragonhide armor might also be in order, Dragoons often have armor that resembles a Dragon's appearance, so it wouldn't be out of place at all.

SydneyLosstarot
2007-06-22, 01:14 AM
thanks for the class, it's really great work.

and personally i think there are no contradictions with the Dragoon idea.

but i dunno, maybe it would be better to make the jump ability more spectacular.
the whole point of the class in FF is flying skyward, staying unharmed for a while, and then coming down.
the crush attack is good, but isn't that much fun =)

and what's a Dragonwright cleric?

DamionIgnis
2007-06-22, 03:26 PM
Okay, at the cost of perhaps sounding unappreciative, which I'm not, I have to say that I think a lot of you missing a large part of this class. It's FF-inspired, but not neccesarily the Final Fantasy Dragoon. A large part of that is because I didn't feel certain aspects were right for a D&D setting. Auto-Raise is a good example. Any ability that lets you automatically come back to life is a bit overpowered, considering the restrictions the game gives for ressurections. There's a reason it's at least a 5th-level spell. Still, seeing the response, I may rework it to add in the dragon-slaying aspect. Instead of emulating the dragons to help them, they emulate dragons to hurt them, or what have you.

So, like I said, this isn't neccesarily meant to be Kain incarnite (or any of the other dragoons for that matter), just somewhat inspired by them.

That being said, I concede on the alignment restriction. I envisioned them somewhat as monks in that respect, but the swordsage does provide adequate argument against. I can also get behind making the crush attack better, by removing the size restrictions and perhaps adding Dragoon level to damage.

As for making it a prestige class... I probably will, by getting rid of the bonus feats and possibly something else so that I can squish all the other abilities into 10 levels.

Leap attack I can add to the bonus feats, possibly removing the prerequisites for it. Or I could throw it in at one of the dead levels.

Um. I think that's everything. Oh. Dragonwright Clerics are clerics of the Dragonwright pantheon, which is the pantheon of dragons. Io, Bahamut, Tiamat, and all those other ones no one cares enough to know the name of...

Facse
2007-06-24, 08:51 PM
This a great attempt at this job. From the looks of it you got most of the major points and got close to being a good representation of the job. I'm a huge DRG fan so I figured I would try helping you with this.

As was said earlier Dragoons aren't really just about helping dragons. They are more commonly depicted as knights that use a dragon’s tactics. This means that they favor the type of dragons that they represent. It's common to see Dragoons killing dragons that they believe are dangerous. Something along a Favored Enemy like Behold_the_Void suggested would be a compliment to the job.

One of the issues I had with the class was lack of weapon choices. While it is true that 90% of Dragoons use spears and other polearms they use other weapons if the situation deems it necessary. Dragoons have been known to use staffs with skill because it is very similar to the polearms and they use small swords when something subtle is needed. Adding proficiency with Quarter Staffs, Short Swords and Rapiers would cover these.

Something I can't believe that has not been addressed is the lack of the little blue wyvern that flies by the Dragoon's side. While I know that it would be a bit off balancing to this you could add something along the lines of a Wyrmling or Very Young dragon cohort with the type matching the Dragoons alignment.

My last complaint is the use of heavy armor. A quote from the FFXI guide book describes this best:
"Which is the force in the world; Power or Mobility? Without either, a force can be rendered ineffective. Power gives us strength to overbear. Mobility is the essence of action. We, the Dragoons, are the union of both."
Dragoons are not supposed to carry full plate around to battle. They train to use as much armor as they can without being encumbered by it. My idea would be to get rid of the heavy armor and let them get something along the lines of Fast Movement while using medium.


Well that’s my ideas. Hope you like them. And once again thank you for trying to make this into a working D&D class.

DamionIgnis
2007-06-29, 10:34 PM
Alright, I've editted the class a little. Dragoons are now capable of attacking dragons if the dragon is the aggressor in the conflict and peaceful negotiation doesn't work. I've also changed the reasoning behind the lawful alignment and modified the crush attack so that it:
- no longer has a size limitation
- deals bonus damage equal to the dragoon's level
- is more difficult to pin larger opponents and less difficult to pin smaller opponents.


I hope this solves some of the problems.

Nightblade
2007-06-30, 12:53 AM
Fun looking class. The one thing that came to mind with the crush was Link from SSB. Get some pogo-stick action going on for iterative attacks ;D

Tor the Fallen
2007-06-30, 01:07 AM
Uh, what's a Dragoon got to do with Dragons? I'm confused.

I think it's a translation error in those japanese videogames.

thevorpalbunny
2007-07-29, 06:33 PM
If you want a small dragon companion, a pseudodragon (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/pseudodragon.htm) would work well. Pseudodragons (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/pseudodragon.htm) are awesome.

Triaxx
2007-07-29, 07:15 PM
Historically, Dragoons were merely mounted Infantry, that dismounted to fight.

thevorpalbunny
2007-07-30, 02:36 PM
Good thing that this is D&D, not history, then.

Hawriel
2007-07-30, 08:38 PM
Well befor wotc owned D&D TSR put more historical thought into the feel of the game.

Dragoons where midieval calvalry units that used firearms. The hight of the Dragoon was in the Napolionic wars when they where armed with pistols. Here they where light cavilry that fought as skermishers, scouted for and screened the army. In the US civil war many militia units where called dragoons. this was a name adopted by the individual militia units as an honorific, rather than an official desgnation. In addition to to pistols, most soldiers had two, Union cavalry used spencer carbines, and colt repeating rifles. They almost always fought dismounted.

as dragoons having anything to do with dragons....well its a fantacy game after all so you can have the ralation if you wanted to or not.

knightsaline
2007-07-30, 09:25 PM
I once tried to make a dragoon class. Want to know how it worked? My version had a prospective dragoon find a true dragon and swear to it fealty. It was , however, a PrC and the focus of the class was for that dragoon to be the dragons mouthpiece. One restriction of this class was that the dragon was treated like a divine power and as such, the dragoon had to be within one step of that dragons alignment. If DeeEm would allow it, one of the dragons my dragoon was sworn to was a CG Blue Dragon. my Dragoon PrC required the dragoon to not be part dragon (so no half dragon dragoons). My thought would to allow the player playing the dragoon to dedicate itself to a particular Dragon and give the dragoon powers according to the color dragon they have dedicated itself to (EG, a blue dragoon could have a certain amount of "dragon points" that go up by level. the "dragon points" could then be used to do things like infuse the spear/sword with energy depending on the color of the dragon (in the Blues case, lightning) or use the dragons breath weapon.)

Give the dragoon more choices for weapons. In FFTA, dragoons used spears AND swords. you could make it that Crush only works if the Dragoon uses a Spear of some sort. Also, if you go down the path I told you, make it so that the dragoon can wear dragonhide of fallen dragons that the dragoon has slain (but ONLY those that the dragon has told to slay)

Nu
2007-07-31, 12:01 AM
I think it's a translation error in those japanese videogames.

More or less true, though it was probably more to save space. Back in the days of the SNES, they could only fit so many letters in a line, and "Dragoon" was less letters than "Dragon Knight," but dragoon has pretty much stuck in the US since FFIV.

At any rate, from what I recall in FFXI, dragoons not only got small wyvern allies, but they also got a lot of talents aimed at dragon-killing. So it seems a bit weird to me that these guys can't really kill dragons much :smallbiggrin:

CasESenSITItiVE
2007-07-31, 12:21 AM
although some games consider dragon knights dragoons, like final fantasy, others considered them dragon slayers, like the ogre battle series. then there are historical dragoons. to avoid ambiguation, why not just call them dragon knights (which was the plan in FF anyways)

thevorpalbunny
2007-07-31, 04:15 PM
Wikipedia count:
3 dragon knight dragoons (FF, Legend of Dragoon, Panzer Dragoon)
1 dragon-slayer dragoon (Ogre Battle)

Since D&D consistently predates gunpowder and certainly the historical dragoons, I think there's no reason to change it.

I also still think a pseudodragon companion would rock.

Nu
2007-07-31, 08:46 PM
although some games consider dragon knights dragoons, like final fantasy, others considered them dragon slayers, like the ogre battle series. then there are historical dragoons. to avoid ambiguation, why not just call them dragon knights (which was the plan in FF anyways)

The Dragon Disciple prestige class probably comes closest to mirroring a proverbial 'dragon knight' who takes on the characteristics of dragons.

If you were going to go with a companion of sorts, give it advancement similar to the druid's animal companion, and probably alter the pseudodragon entry a bit(a small size sounds better than tiny).