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View Full Version : D&D 5e/Next "Continuous" copper dragon [PEACH]



Yakk
2020-06-01, 02:35 PM
I have a need for dragons that "level up" smoothly. Here is my stab at a Copper Dragon.

You start with Wyrmling stats at "level 1". At level 11 when you become Large your senses/proficiencies/etc becomes that of a Young Adult. When you become Huge, they become that of an Adult Dragon.

HD follow standard rules; d8 when medium, d10 when large, d12 when bigger.

L 1: 4 HD: Prof +2, (CR 1, Wyrmling stats)
L 2: 5 HD: 5d8 breath
L 3: 6 HD: +1 str/con
L 4: 7 HD: 6d8 breath
L 5: 8 HD: Bite+Claw (1d10, 1d6) routine
L 6: 9 HD: 7d8 breath
L 7: 10 HD: +1 str/con, Deception proficiency
L 8: 11 HD: 8d8 breath
L 9: 12 HD: Bite+Bite+Claw (1d10, 1d6, 1d6) routine
L10: 13 HD: 9d8 breath
L11: 14 HD: Prof +3, Become Large (level 11), gains +1 AC, +2 to all stats except dex, Bite/Claw becomes 2d6/2d10, bite gains 10 ft reach (CR 7, full young dragon)
L12: 10d8 breath, +1 str/con
L13: Tail (15 ft, 2d8), 1 Legendary action (spot, tail)
L14: 15 HD: Prof +4, 11d8 breath, 1 Legendary Resistance
L15: +1 str/con, 2 Legendary Actions
L16: 12d8 breath, 2 Legendary Resistance
L17: 16 HD: Prof +5, becomes Huge (level 17), Frightful Presense, 3 Legendary Actions, 3 Legendary Resitance +2 to all stats except dex. (CR 14, full adult dragon)
L18: +1 AC, +1 str/con
L19: 17 HD, 13d8 breath
L20: 18 HD, Prof +6
L21: +1 AC, +1 str/con
L22: 19 HD, 14d8 breath
L23: 20 HD, Prof +7, becomes Gargantuan, +2 all stats except Dex, Change Shape (CR 21, full ancient dragon)

There are power bumps at L 5, 11 and 17 just like PCs. The result is going to be stronger than a non-optimized PC of the same level I strongly suspect.

It takes 10 levels to go from CR 1 to CR 7, then 6 levels go to from CR 7 to CR 14, and 6 more from CR 14 to CR 21.

Breath DC is Con based.
Attack modifier is Str based.
Frightful Presence DC is Cha based.

BerzerkerUnit
2020-06-01, 07:17 PM
It's likely going to be way stronger than most PCs. I'm not sure I understand the point of the exercise if it's not intended for PC play.

Pls have a look at this kitchen sink class The Monster (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?613130-5e-Base-Class-The-Monster-pls-PEACH) I'm making for a class design contest. Perhaps some of my choices can help you pare down what you have here to the necessities.

Yakk
2020-06-02, 09:28 AM
Yes, this is going to be stronger than a baseline PC.

The goal of this is a mount/companion for a D&D game where the PCs get dragon companions, and they themselves are boosted sufficiently for that to work.

End-game being an Adult Dragon seemed reasonable, as Ancient Dragons will be out of scope (they'll be beings left over from another cycle).

But I'm now questioning the idea of making it continuous. It is probably enough to have demi-steps -- Wyrmling, Wyrmling++, Young, Young++, Adult, Adult++.

Wyrmling would show up around 5, Wyrmling++ around 8, Young at 11, Young++ around 14, Adult at 17 and Adult++ at 20. 3 levels per step, and I only need half categories. Way less to fiddle with.

Scaling the PCs up so that they aren't overshadowed by their mounts/companions is another problem entirely.

Gamerawsome101
2020-06-02, 09:54 AM
When you said continuous I thought you meant how can we make dragons longer

Garfunion
2020-06-02, 01:55 PM
I’m only posting here to keep track of this thread.

However my personal opinion is that I would make the rideable dragon a more unique species. Instead of trying to create a level up system for a dragon, I would simply re-skin a current race and class to be a dragon. I would probably use the barbarian for the class, its rage feature can be used in a way for them to grow bigger (temporarily) and eventually fly. And the dragonborn would make a good base race with a few tweaks.

BerzerkerUnit
2020-06-02, 02:04 PM
Yes, this is going to be stronger than a baseline PC.

The goal of this is a mount/companion for a D&D game where the PCs get dragon companions, and they themselves are boosted sufficiently for that to work.

End-game being an Adult Dragon seemed reasonable, as Ancient Dragons will be out of scope (they'll be beings left over from another cycle).

But I'm now questioning the idea of making it continuous. It is probably enough to have demi-steps -- Wyrmling, Wyrmling++, Young, Young++, Adult, Adult++.

Wyrmling would show up around 5, Wyrmling++ around 8, Young at 11, Young++ around 14, Adult at 17 and Adult++ at 20. 3 levels per step, and I only need half categories. Way less to fiddle with.

Scaling the PCs up so that they aren't overshadowed by their mounts/companions is another problem entirely.

I’d just stop at young. They’re big enough to ride.