Half my heart to make his whole... [Template]

[Obrysii]

I posted this about a year ago on the WOTC forums...but I thought I'd post it here, too.

”Oh great Dragon lord! Please, spare my child!” the woman pleaded.

“You know what sacrifice I must give?”

“Yes. But he will become a great. I promise on my very soul.”

“So it is,” the mighty Gold dragon said, with a sad sigh. He could hear the heartbeat of the man start to fade, and so he came to the fallen prince. “Your life is faint.”

“So it is, my lord and master,” the man coughed.

“Do you swear to hold up the Paladin’s Code of Honor? Swear it.”

“I-I d-do…” he said, as his heartbeat waned.

“And so it is. Witness the glory of the ancient days, the power that is contained within me. Half my heart to make his whole,” the dragon said, holding his chest with one clawed hand, seemingly pulling something from it. Almost immediately, there came a loud thumping noise from the glowing orb within the dragon’s hand. He lowered the orb to the man, and soon his heartbeat began again, synchronized with the thumping, pulsating orb that was half the dragon’s heart.

The man would live.

Dragonhearted

There are areas of the world were healing magic simply doesn’t function. For some reason, be it a strong connection to the Negative energy plane, or simply the will of some evil deity, healing magics fail to manifest, and many great men and women die of wounds that otherwise could have been saved.

When a great hero, prince, or paladin falls in an unjust and unfair way, there still is one way to save that being: a pact with a dragon, whose might would keep that hero alive. The dragons willing to do this are few and far between, because it grants no benefits to them. However, to the newly reborn Dragonhearted, life is forever altered: their physical strength has increased, and their magical prowess refreshed.

Due to their hearts being connected and forever synchronized, the Dragonhearted gains a dramatically increased lifespan, while the dragon’s life is cut in half.


Dragonhearted Template

“Dragonhearted” can be applied to any living, corporeal being that has a heart (referred hereafter as the base creature).

Size and Type: The creature’s size and type do not change, but it gains the [Dragonblooded] subtype.

Hit Dice: The creature’s racial HD increase to d12

Size: The creature’s speed does not change.

Armor Class: The creature’s natural armor increases by +2

Special Qualities: The creature gains the following special qualities.

Heart of the Dragon (su): The creature gains half of the heart of a dragon, granting it Resistance 10 against the element of the dragon’s type (Cold, for a silver dragon).

Draconic Synchronicity (ex): The creature and the donor dragon are permanently synchronized. This grants the following benefits and penalties to the creature:
*Natural lifespan becomes equal to the dragon’s (modified) natural lifespan.
*If the dragon is killed, the creature is killed.
*The creature gains immunity to sleep and paralysis.
*If the dragon possesses, or comes to possess spellcasting abilities naturally, the creature gains those spellcasting abilities as well. The creature must be of a level capable of casting the respective spell level (so a level four character could share second level spellcasting ability). The two share spells known and spells per day. Spellcasting gained in other ways (as from class levels) are not shared.
*If the dragon becomes undead, the bond is broken and the creature dies.

Abilities: The creature gains Str +4, Con +2, and Cha +2.

Skills: The creature gains Use Magic Device as a class skill.

CR: Same as the base creature +1

LA: +2



Dragonheart Donor
“Dragonheart Donor” can be applied to any True Dragon (referred hereafter as the base dragon).

Size and Type: The dragon’s size and type do not change.

Hit Dice: The dragon’s hit dice do not change.

Size: The dragon’s speed does not change.

Armor Class: The dragon’s natural armor decreases by -2

Special Qualities: The dragon gains the following special quality:

Draconic Synchronicity (ex): By granting the Dragonhearted half of it’s heart, the dragon gains a number of penalties.
*The natural lifespan of the dragon is reduced to half of what it would be naturally (2,000 years instead of 4,000 years for a Gold dragon).
*If the Dragonblooded takes damage, the dragon takes the same amount of damage as well. However, if the dragon takes damage, the Dragonhearted is unaffected.
*Shared spell casting. The dragon looses its independency, as it’s spells known and spells per day are shared with the Dragonhearted.
*If the Dragonhearted dies, the dragon manages to survive, but permanently gains a number of negative levels equal to the Dragonhearted’s level.

Favored of Io: Perhaps the sole reason for a dragon to surrender so much of it’s personal power is that it becomes among the favored of Io. If the Dragonhearted follows the moral code of the dragon and lives its’ life to the best of its’ ability, then Io is likely to ensure a spot amongst the legendary dragons of lore for the base dragon. Even so, the favor is showed even while the dragon lives: it gains a +2 bonus on all saving throws.

Abilities: The dragon gains Str -4, Con -2, and Cha -2. These attributes are part of its’ heart, which it transfers to the Dragonhearted.

CR: Same as the base dragon -1

[Eighth_Seraph]

...wow. I like it. Alot. I don't think that you'd get too many of these walking around, but the flavor is great to put in one prominent NPC. All it's missing, though, is a description of physical change, if any.

[SilentNight]

Kudos, very nice template, wonderful flavor. That said I do have one nitpick, depending on the dragon, the character could gain a lot of spellcasting ability. You might want to base the LA and CR adjustment off of the donor dragon's age category.

[AmberVael]

Cool, but this seems oddly familiar...

Were you inspired, perhaps?

V: It's cool either way, I'm just curious to see whether that was the source.

[SilentNight]

I caught that too but I assumed he wasn't claiming origionality.

[Maldraugedhen]

He quoted the movie in the thread title--I think it's a safe assumption that he's not claiming to be the one who came up with the original concept.

It might be an interesting variant to make the pull switch direction if the dragon becomes undead--suddenly, the dragon becomes more powerful and the human weaker. That would make for an interesting ambition for a powerful villain--enslave a Donor to his will.

[AmberVael]

It's been ages since I've seen the movie- I didn't recognize the quote.
Still, I never meant to accuse. Just curious.

[Maldraugedhen]

Figured you didn't mean to, and it didn't really sound that way, so don't worry.

Spells per day being shared between two individuals leads to some interesting questions. Would the PC be aware of their magical ability being sapped away as the other character casted? It would lead to awkward, improvisation-time situations if they weren't--which is an interesting idea in combination with the whole 'villain' thing. Maybe a Spellcraft check being used like a magical Spot check to maintain awareness of their abilities or something like that...

[Obrysii]

Yes, this template is based on the movie. I was watching it the night before I went to work, and well--as we all know, instead of thinking about work, I was busy building the mechanics to this template.

And if anyone wants to use this, by all means - it's freely available, after all.

You might want to base the LA and CR adjustment off of the donor dragon's age category.

How would that work? Do you have any ideas?