Dragonblooded (3.5e Class)

Dragonblooded

The sorcerer is said to draw his power from the blood of dragons in his veins. However, the Dragonblooded has blood so pure it begins not simply to grant him mystic powers, but change his form until he becomes a half-dragon. It is said that every so often a half-dragon is actually born with human features, and the manifestation of its true direct parentage does not manifest until they age.

Making a Dragonblooded

Dragonblooded are tough and durable, gaining powerful ability boosts over their fellow humanoids. They focus on their growing natural abilities beyond all else, and eventually obtain some arcane spellcasting out of it as well. It is neither a direct fighter, tank, or caster, but may fit into any of those roles.

Abilities: Constitution is important to support their already huge health and for determining the DC of their breath weapons. Charisma controls the DC of their frightful presence, number of Megaflares, and powers their best skills, while Strength is important to any melee build. Intelligence and Wisdom both help, with Dexterity often ignored in favor of the heavy natural armor of the Dragonblooded.

Races: Any. Dragons have known to match with any species, thus their spawn pop up in the strangest of places.

Alignment: Any.

Special: Must not already be a Dragon (not Half-Dragon, Dragon).

Starting Gold: 5d4×10 gp (125 gp).

Starting Age: Simple.

Table: The Dragonblooded

Hit Die: d12

Level	Base Attack Bonus	Saving Throws			Special
		Fort	Ref	Will
1st	+0	+2	+0	+0	Dragonblood Bond, Breath Weapon 1d8, Spell-like Abilities
2nd	+1	+2	+0	+0	Claws and Bite, Draconic Resistances
3rd	+2	+3	+0	+1	Breath Weapon 2d8
4th	+3	+3	+0	+1	Dragon Skin +1
5th	+3	+4	+1	+2	Low-Light Vision, Draconic Muscle
6th	+4	+4	+1	+2	Breath Weapon 3d8
7th	+5	+5	+1	+3	Darkvision 60 ft
8th	+6/+1	+5	+1	+3	Dragon Skin +2
9th	+6/+1	+6	+2	+4	Breath Weapon 4d8, Wings and Tail
10th	+7/+2	+6	+2	+4	Blindsense 30 ft., Dragon Apotheosis, Draconic Muscle
11th	+8/+3	+7	+2	+5	Frightful Presence
12th	+9/+4	+7	+2	+5	Breath Weapon 5d8, Dragon Skin +3
13th	+9/+4	+8	+3	+6	Arcane Scales
14th	+10/+5	+8	+3	+6	Draconic Immunities
15th	+11/+6/+1	+9	+3	+7	Breath Weapon 6d8, Draconic Muscle
16th	+12/+7/+2	+9	+3	+7	Dragon Skin +4, Blindsense 60 ft
17th	+12/+7/+2	+10	+4	+8
18th	+13/+8/+3	+10	+4	+8	Breath Weapon 7d8
19th	+14/+9/+4	+11	+4	+9	Megaflare
20th	+15/+10/+5	+11	+4	+9	True Dragon Apotheosis, Dragon Skin +5
Class Skills (2 + Int modifier per level, ×3 at 1st level) Appraise (Int), Bluff (Cha), Climb (Str), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Gather Information (Cha), Jump (Str), Knowledge (All) (Int), Listen (Wis), Profession (Wis), Search (Wis), Sense Motive (Wis), Speak Language (n/a), Spellcraft (Int), Spot (Wis), Swim (Str), Use Magic Device (Cha).

Class Features

All of the following are class features of the Dragonblooded.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Dragonblooded are proficient with all simple and martial weapons, with light and medium armor, and with shields (except tower shields)..

Spell Like Abilities: At every level a dragonblooded gains one level 0 spell from the sorcerer spell list as a spell like ability. These can be use unlimited times a day

Dragonblood Bond: At 1st level, choose a dragon type which you descend from. You gain the dragonblood subtype for your character, and the elemental type of your breath weapon, and a 30 ft cone and 60 ft line breath weapon, damage depending on your dragon type. See the Half-Dragon for details on dragon types. If your dragon's breath does not deal energy damage treat it as force damage instead.

In addition to determining your breath, your blood's connection runs through you stronger than normal. A Dragonblooded must stay within 1 step of alignment to their chosen dragon type. If they change alignments, they become an Ex-Dragonblooded (see below).

Breath Weapon (Su): The dragonblooded gains two breath weapons from the dragon you are descended from, which are a 15 foot cone and a 30 foot line (for Medium characters; scale for smaller or larger characters according to the ranges of a true dragon), and which may be used once every 1d4 rounds. At 3rd level and every three levels beyond, your breath weapon does 1d8 more damage. The breath invokes a Reflex save, DC 10 + 1/2 class level + Con modifier, half damage on a successful save. Metabreath effects may be applied as per any dragon's breath weapon.

Claws and Bite (Ex): At 2nd level, a dragonblooded gains two claws and a bite as natural weapons if he does not already have them. Medium creatures have a claw attack of 1d6, and a bite attack of 1d4. Smaller and larger characters scale their damage accordingly. Your bite is your primary attack, while your claws are secondary.

Draconic Resistances (Ex): At 2nd level you begin to pick up the resistances of a dragon. You may add half your class level, rounded down, as a bonus to saves against sleep and paralysis, and resistance to the energy type of your chosen dragon.

Dragon Skin (Ex): At 4th level and every 4 levels beyond, you gain a +1 increase to natural armor as your skin hardens into visible dragon scales. This effect does not stack with other forms of natural armor.

Low-Light Vision (Ex): At 5th level a dragonblooded's eyes become cat-like and striking, gaining low-light vision. He can see twice as far as a human in starlight, moonlight, torchlight, and similar conditions of poor illumination. He retains the ability to distinguish color and detail under these conditions.

Draconic Muscle (Ex): At 5th level a dragonblooded surges with the strength of his parentage. He gains a +1 bonus to Str. At 10th and 15th level he gains another +1 Str.

Darkvision (Ex): At 7th level a dragonblooded's eyes glow with a soft inner light, and the color seeps over the whites of their eyes turning them into seas of hue. He can see in the dark up to 30 feet. Darkvision is black and white only, but it is otherwise like normal sight, and dragonblooded can function just fine with no light at all. As the dragonblooded ages his pupils fade away, making his eyes look like molten spheres of color.

Wings and Tail (Ex): At 9th level, a dragonblooded grows a set of draconic wings. He may now fly at a speed equal to his normal land speed, with clumsy maneuverability. The dragonblooded can slam opponents with its wings, even when flying (Fly DC 10 + attack roll). Wing attacks deal 1d4 damage for medium creatures plus ½ the dragon’s Strength bonus (round down) and are treated as secondary attacks.

In addition, they grow a tail. This tail starts to warp their body into a more monstrous shape. The dragonblooded must wear armor made for inhuman characters, doubling the base masterworked item price. They may get their current armor re-fitted by paying the difference.

Blindsense (Ex): At 10th level, the dragonblooded gains blindsense with a range of 30 feet. Using nonvisual senses the dragonblooded notices things it cannot see. He usually does not need to make Spot or Listen checks to notice and pinpoint the location of creatures within range of his blindsense ability, provided that he has line of effect to that creature.

Any opponent the dragonblooded cannot see still has total concealment against him, and the dragonblooded still has the normal miss chance when attacking foes that have concealment. Visibility still affects the movement of a creature with blindsense. A creature with blindsense is still denied its Dexterity bonus to Armor Class against attacks from creatures it cannot see. At 16th level, the range of this ability increases to 60 feet.

Dragon Apotheosis: The transformation from humanoid to dragon continues. At 10th level, if it hasn't already occurred yet, the dragonblooded's body becomes completely draconic, much like a Dragonborn. The dragonblooded's type changes to Dragon, they gain damage reduction 5/magic. They no longer need the dragonblood subtype, and lose their previous type entirely. In addition, they are now immune to the frightful presence of dragons.

Their mind begins to change and they show more draconic qualities (especially those qualities associated with their color). They may also consume, and may develop a taste for, inedible metals which may now be digested.

Frightful Presence (Ex): At 11th level a dragonblooded can unsettle foes with its mere presence. The ability takes effect automatically whenever the dragonblooded attacks, charges, or flies overhead. Creatures within a radius of 10 feet × dragonblooded class level are subject to the effect if they have fewer HD than the dragonblooded . A potentially affected creature that succeeds on a Will save (DC 10 + ½ dragonblooded ’s HD) remains immune to that dragonblooded ’s frightful presence for 24 hours. On a failure, creatures with 4 or less HD become panicked for 1d4 rounds and those with 5 or more HD become shaken for 1d4 rounds. Dragons ignore the frightful presence of other dragons and dragonblooded, although dragonblooded are still affect by the frightful presence of other dragons.

Arcane Scales (Ex): At 13th level, a dragonblooded gains spell resistance equal to her current dragonblooded level + 5. In order to affect the dragonblooded with a spell, a spellcaster must get a result on a caster level check (1d20 + caster level) that equals or exceeds the dragonblooded’s spell resistance.

Draconic Immunities (Ex): The fortification of the draconic resistances are complete. At 14th level you gain complete immunity to the element of your chosen dragon.

Megaflare (Su): At 19th level the dragonblooded unlocks the secret of overloading their breath weapon into a devastating attack. If an dragonblooded spends 1 round powering up and then uses his breath weapon, it bursts in a tremendous wave. It's range or spread is doubled, and it deals 1d6 damage per class level. In return you take 5d6 in non-lethal damage. They must make a Fortitude save DC 10 + 1/2 class level + Cha vs dazed effect for 1 round, negated on a successful save (they must still save on the Reflex save to halve the damage). This is taxing on the inner magical reserves of the dragonblooded. They may perform it up to Cha/day, minimum 1. At the end of combat, they are fatigued.

True Dragon Apotheosis: The physical form of the dragonblooded has changed irrevocably to that of a dragon. They often begin walking on all fours, living in liars, and being almost impossible to tell that they were every humanoid. They become True Dragons (and thus may qualify for true dragon only prestige classes and feats), and gain an elemental subtype according to their draconic blood. They gain an additional +2 Str, and their damage reduction rises to 10/magic. Finally their size increases to one larger, and they gain age categories as a dragon of their kind. They are always at "young adult" stage when they reach this moment. Aging does not grant them the abilities noted on their dragon's table, it merely serves as a record of their general appearance and time left in the world, which has become very very long indeed.

Now that they are a size larger the length or spread of their breath weapon increases as a true dragon of the same size (minimum 30 ft cone, 60 ft line). They also are able to use their tail to attack, dealing 1d8 damage for large, 1d6 for medium. The dragonblooded can slap one opponent each round with its tail. A tail slap deals the indicated damage plus the ½ dragonblooded’s Strength bonus (round down) and is treated as a secondary attack.

Ex-Dragonblooded

A dragonblooded who strays too far from the alignment of his base dragon is unable to level in the Dragonblooded class any longer. They lose their breath weapon and frightful presence, but keep all other class features. An atonement spell may return their class abilities.

Epic Dragonblooded

Table: The Epic Dragonblooded

Hit Die: d12

Level	Special
21st	Breath Weapon 8d8
22nd
23rd
24th	Breath Weapon 9d8, Dragon Skin +6
25th	Bonus Feat
26th
27th	Breath Weapon 10d8
28th	Dragon Skin +7
29th
30th	Breath Weapon 11d8, Bonus Feat
4 + Int modifier skill points per level.

Breath Weapon: At 21st level and every 3 levels after, the damage of the breath weapon increases by one die.

Dragon Skin: At 24th level and every 4 levels after, the natural armor bonus of the dragonblooded increases by one.

Bonus Feats: The epic dragonblooded gains a bonus feat (selected from the list of epic dragonblooded bonus feats) every 5 levels after 20th.

Epic Dragonblooded Bonus Feat List: Armor Skin, Energy Resistance, Epic Fortitude, Epic Leadership, Epic Prowess, Epic Toughness, Epic Will, Extended Life Span, Great Charisma, Great Constitution, Great Strength, Improved Darkvision, Improved Low-Light Vision, Improved Spell Resistance, Legendary Commander, Multiweapon Rend, Perfect Health, and Perfect Multiweapon Fighting.

Human Dragonblooded Starting Package

Weapons: Lance, Longbow.

Skill Selection: Pick a number of skills equal to 4 + Int modifier.

Skill	Ranks	Ability	Armor Check Penalty
Bluff	4	Cha	—
Knowledge Arcana	4	Int	—
Spot	4	Wis	—
Use Magic Device	4	Cha	—

Feat: Improved Initiative.

Bonus Feats: Improved Toughness.

Gear: Tent, Backpack.

Gold: 28g

Campaign Information

Playing a Dragonblooded

Religion: A dragonblooded is focused on what the power inside them foretells, and so many do not have focus for religion. Those that do worship draconic gods, ones which are similar to their blood.

Other Classes: Dragonblooded understand sorcerers and bards the best, and consider them distant kin. They have little opinion on others, but as they advance in the class many grow distant and stop considering themselves human.

Combat: A dragoonblooded makes an excellent front-line tank. They have health to spare, and deal with groups with a blast of their breath. A dragonblooded with wings may swoop down with Flyby Attack, making several strafes with their breath.

Advancement: Classes which promote the draconic theme work well with dragonblooded. Early departures may qualify for dragon disciple, while those deep into the transformation may find dragon-only prestige classes exciting..

Dragonblooded in the World

“	RWAR I'm a dragon! 12 dragons! Run!	”
—The 12 Dragons, Tiefling Dragonblooded

Dragonblooded are the result of a dragon and a humanoid's offspring, but which takes on a new, and significantly different twist of their form, becoming complete dragons in the end. The exact nature of this mutation is a complete mystery to scholars.

Daily Life: The dragonblooded, consciously or not, begin to mimic the dragons they take off of. In general this involves a greedy eye for shiny things, and a sense of absolute pride. How a dragonblood holds those emotions, with kind respect or cruel tyranny, is up to them and their blood.

Notables: It is said that the silver dragon in the north, Aerogon, was once human.

Organizations: Dragonblooded are alone in the world. They are rare to begin with, and have no desires to meet each other. They desire the company of gold in their lairs.

NPC Reactions: Early in the class the dragonblooded is treated no differently than a sorcerer or bard with pointed dragonic aspects. As they advance, they may be confused for dragonborn. This continues until 16th level, which they rapidly evolve into something not human at all. Others begin to fear or respect the dragonblooded for what they have become.

Dragonblooded Lore

Characters with ranks in Knowledge Arcana can research Dragonblooded to learn more about them. When a character makes a skill check, read or paraphrase the following, including information from lower DCs.

Knowledge Arcana

DC	Result
10	Dragonblooded are those who were born heir to a dragon, and it gives them the power to breath energy.
15	The dragonblooded evolves over time, growing more and more monstrous as they go on.
20	Dragonblooded are said to eventually turn into true dragons which can persist for a thousand years..
30	This level of success nets you information on a specific dragonblooded, his name, location, goals, and perhaps rooting out if the dragon everyone knows is really a former human.

Dragonblooded in the Game

Dragonblooded are fighters. While they lack the full BAB of a normal fighter, they can still manage, and their breaths never miss. They have plenty of hit points, letting them take massive damage.

Adaptation: Perhaps not all breath attacks deal energy damage. Ability damage such as the Fang Dragon may be possible.

Sample Encounter: The heroes are called in to deal with someone who is said to be possessed by a demonic dragon, only to find a dragonblooded in the midsts of transformation... and sorely pissed at his imprisonment. Find a way to calm his wrath, or take him down before he wrecks the town.

ECL: 16.

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