PC mount choice

[DrizztFan24]

In my current game I am thinking of "gaining the services of a dragon through monetary persuasion". I have the gold I need and some gems for a gift. I was thinking a 14 HD gold dragon (comes out to 8,500 gp per year i think) and then making a sadle and getting to rid him/her as we travel the countryside and protect caravans and such. BUT the DM said that he wasn't going to manage it, so that leaves the task to me. We have 3 players in the group, a drow dragon shaman (silver) and a halfling druid and a beguiler.

Would it be too overpowered if I were to play the dragon?
If so what are your suggestions?
For those of you with a bit more experience in DMing and playing, any other possible bumps in the road that may occur?

(BTW I am the oldest player at 17; my sister and bro also play at 13 and 10, dad is DM)

[Hal]

Hm . . . while I'm experience in neither DMing or playing, my own thoughts on the matter:

1) What amount of gold would be worth it to a dragon to forsake his dignity and allow a humanoid to ride him with a saddle?

2) Possible bump? Well, if you're riding a friggin' dragon around the countryside, you are going to attract a whole lot of attention. While this could give your DM plenty of material for plot hooks, it could end up being a huge headache and wasted money for you.

Just my (completely ignorant) two cents.

[Dr Bwaa]

First off, cool family.

I think that's incredibly inexpensive. The way I'd interpret the cost of getting the services of a dragon is as the minimum cost for him to listen to you, basically. Dragons are obscenely proud, and riding one would definitely require either a very strong personal bond with it or an incredible amount of money. Otherwise, I don't suppose it's overpowered, so long as the monetary stuff works out (14HD gold dragon for the cost of a bag of holding? ...)

[Sstoopidtallkid]

Draconomicon included rules for riding dragons, but for it to be feasible you either had to have a familiar/companion and spend a feat or raise one from an egg.

[Miles Invictus]

Aren't there "dumb" dragon variants that can explicitly be used as mounts?

[CASTLEMIKE]

I don't know what levels your group is at but with that wealth what about a Drakkensteed from Dragon Magic?

They resemble dragons and can fly. They can even be Paladin mounts. Cost is up to 15,000 gp (not for paladins). Pretty close to Heavy War Horses with the Half Dragon template and they fly poorly just a little faster than their normal land speed.

[Miraqariftsky]

Aren't there "dumb" dragon variants that can explicitly be used as mounts?

That's the wyvern, methinks...

For paladin mounts, there're the celestial wyvern and the celestial griffon. There was an article about them in the 3.5 D&D site, but I don't kow if it's still around...

Ah, just remembered--- y'all might also use dire bats, pterodactyls, dragonhawks and giant eagles as PC mounts...

[leperkhaun]

hmm, i could have sworn it would cost more for a 14 HD dragon. Anyway, you could try it out. Talk with your dad about it. If the dragon starts getting too much spot light....then your dad could DM the dragon away (it has other stuff to do, decides that it wants more treasure than you can afford to give it), and you could take a more reasonable mount.

anyway, if handled right, the dragon could be helpfull without becoming too much. But it would be rather easy for the dragon to overshadow people (escpiecally if you pick one who gets spell casting.)

[riddles]

the drakkensteed knocks spots off a normal warhorse without being too overpowering.

but are you dungeon crawling a lot?this can have a major effect on what creatures are useful.

[Charity]

I've always wanted to play a small paladin mounted on a giant spider. Charging accross the ceiling, around walls etc, you'd need a good saddle though. Shame there's no feat for vermin steads.

[Amiria]

Shame there's no feat for vermin steads.

There are, in Drow of the Underdark. And in the FR Underdark book there is also the Drow Judicator PrC that gets a spider mounts with a progression similar to a Blackguard.

Excepts: Drow of the Underdark feat overview (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ex/20070430a&page=2); Drow Judicator (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ex/20031003c)

[AslanCross]

Unless dragons are raised from hatching by the PC or the PC and the dragon otherwise develop a deep and powerful bond, it's not likely they're going to let any mortal ride them. The only exception to this is the Dragonlance campaign setting (and similar homebrews), where dragons as mounts are taken as a matter of course. Dragons, even the good ones, are creatures of pride and while they would help PCs and perhaps forge alliances, they still wouldn't be willing to let someone sit on them despite the bribery. Evil dragons would probably go hostile, turn you into a grease spot, then take your money. There's a high-level spell (Dragon Ally) that allows you to actually convince a dragon through bribery, but it involves vast amounts of GP.

[Charity]

There are, in Drow of the Underdark. And in the FR Underdark book there is also the Drow Judicator PrC that gets a spider mounts with a progression similar to a Blackguard.

Excepts: Drow of the Underdark feat overview (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ex/20070430a&page=2); Drow Judicator (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ex/20031003c)


Thanks Amiria, you're a star.
Is it a mount? It looks a bit like a animal companion/familiar style of thing, I guess theres no reason you can't ride them though, shame it's Drow only... bit of a given really though... Maybe it could be fluffed into a halfling millipede rider...

[DrizztFan24]

hmm, i could have sworn it would cost more for a 14 HD dragon. Anyway, you could try it out. Talk with your dad about it. If the dragon starts getting too much spot light....then your dad could DM the dragon away (it has other stuff to do, decides that it wants more treasure than you can afford to give it), and you could take a more reasonable mount.

anyway, if handled right, the dragon could be helpfull without becoming too much. But it would be rather easy for the dragon to overshadow people (escpiecally if you pick one who gets spell casting.)

It costs 5,000 gp annually, paid up front, per hit dice, and I have a decent amount of ranks into diplomacy and I have the dragonfriend (+4 diplo, +2 ride, and +4 firghtful presence for/vs dragons) feat.

If it had spellcasting I don't know if I'd like it that much, I've always played a wizard when I played a full caster, I enjoyed the funcionality even before I'd heard of the batman.

So far it sounds like it depends on how the dragon is played and whether or not the DM wants to turn me into a plot hook...or a grease stain...

[Cuddly]

The Draconomicon says if you have a dragon, expect it to want 1000gp x hd in gold and stuff, as well as its own lair.

The Draconic Cohort feat from the same book lets you have a dragon as a cohort at level 9, requires you to speak draconic and some ranks in some skill, I think. You can also get a dragon as a cohort from leadership, but you won't be able to get as good a dragon (the ECl of your cohort is counted as 3 lower if (you have dragon cohort).

As for dumb dragons, a level 9 paladin can get the Dragonnel, basically a draconic horse, as a special mount, if he takes the dragon mount feat.

These are the rules as per the Draconomicon, anyhow.

[BlackRabite]

My campaign has a Paladin/Fighter who worships Paladine. He took the feat to get a Dragonnel and the DM houseruled it to be a dragon with the same stats/powers as the Dragonnel. Of course he plays the role of the dragon and its like having another party member that doesn't contribute a whole lot. Everyone likes him though.