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Reinboom
2007-09-12, 07:07 PM
This is a variant for the Dragon Shaman, as requested by a player. Please give honest critique.
Loses:
Skill Focus at 2nd, 8th, and 16th levels.
Medium armor and shield proficiency.
3/4 BAB
d10 HD
Natural armor increase at 7th, 12th, and 17th levels.
Gains:
Spellcraft and Knowledge (Arcana) as class skills.
1/2 BAB
d6 HD
Increase of caster levels of sorcerer (or gaining them if there is none) at every even level. Thus, the dragon shaman can cast as a 1st level sorcerer at 1st level or a 10th level sorcerer at 20th level.
No arcane failure chance in light armor.

TO_Incognito
2007-09-12, 07:24 PM
I'm thinking the Sorceror spell levels will probably prove to be a bit more powerful than the normal Dragon Shaman's (pretty mediocre) melee abilities and defenses. In addition to a bit of spellcasting, this variant allows a Dragon Shaman to dump Str in favor of maximum Cha, giving him some pretty impressive burst healing through Touch of Vitality.

Still, I would certainly allow it if a player requested it specifically. Dragon Shamans are a relatively low-powered class anyway (though very playable); half a Sorceror's spell progression definitely isn't going to overshadow even a core Cleric, let alone upset the balance of the game.

Vadin
2007-09-12, 07:50 PM
Perhaps if you gave them 2/3 spellcasting like the bard instead of 1/2 casting. Bard spells per day, sorcerer spell list and spells known. Also, if you bumped their HD down to d8 and kept their BAB at 3/4, I'd say they'd still be balanced.

Reinboom
2007-09-12, 07:51 PM
I'm thinking the Sorceror spell levels will probably prove to be a bit more powerful than the normal Dragon Shaman's (pretty mediocre) melee abilities and defenses. In addition to a bit of spellcasting, this variant allows a Dragon Shaman to dump Str in favor of maximum Cha, giving him some pretty impressive burst healing through Touch of Vitality.

Still, I would certainly allow it if a player requested it specifically. Dragon Shamans are a relatively low-powered class anyway (though very playable); half a Sorceror's spell progression definitely isn't going to overshadow even a core Cleric, let alone upset the balance of the game.

Ahh, that Cha thing does bother me though.
What if I did as sorcerer increase, however, use int instead of cha for spellcasting?