The Dragon's Shadow (56/365)
Kurth (real name of Aridarastrixsjach -- yes that is actual draconic) was actually my first experiment with playing a kobold; all my other kobold ideas stem from this one character in some form or another.
Basically, Kurth was concieved of to be a Kobold who stood apart. He wasn't a normal hatchling; Kurth was.... different. He was unique and part of what set him apart was that he spent time among the surface races; to learn about them, to learn to think like them.
Because eventually Kurth was going to conquer them.
That's the whole point of Kurth; really. He's a general, a warlord. As far as his backstory is concerned when Kurth hatched there were signs and portents concerning his future -- one of those signs was the fact he was half-dragon as well as being Dragonwrought. When he came of age instead of joining the ranks of his lair's community Kurth was sent out into the world above to learn about the races there so that, when the time came, Kurth could lead the legions mof the Kobolds on their war against the surface world.
This destiny was the source of Kurth's true name -- Aridarastrixsjach. It translates to "The Dragon's Shadow" because the last thing you see before the Dragon kills you is the shadow of the beast.
It was up for debate whether or not Kurth was going to embrace his destiny after he's been through the journey to the surface which was to last years.
Kurth himself was based on the idea of being a warleader with aspects of draconic epic-ness mixed in. For the latter part I started Kurth out as a Dragonwrough Kobold who had the Half Dragon template stapled onto him; specifically a half Fang Dragon.
This actually deserves a call out because the Dragonwrought feat turns you into a dragon. However; I do think it's possible to put the Half-Dragon template onto a creature that's of the dragon type. Why? Because of what I just said. "Dragon" is a creature type. It's a meta-game concept that groups monsters into a category and by saying a creature has the "dragon type" you already know certain traits about that creature. But the Half-Dragon template is all about a specific genetic lineage; specifically that of having a True Dragon as a parent.
Same name; totally different concepts. A true dragon couldn't have the half-dragon template because that lineage already exists for it; it's a fact of life. But a creature of the dragon type could have the half-dragon template. For example: Half-Black Dragon Abyssal Drake. Same idea that Kurth uses.
But as for the actual warleader part of his build I decided to go with a martial adept -- Warblade and Crusader were the immediate candidates because both had access to White Raven. Now I've often wanted to play around with White Raven and, in fact, another of my characters -- Edward Mallory -- used White Raven extensively. But Kurth did it first. But between the two classes Crusader won out with me for two reasons. One is that Crusaders get more maneuvers than Warblade but the second? The second is entirely RP motivated.
You see... Kurth has a secret. Something he's never shared -- He doesn't worship Kurtulmak.
So whatever god that grants Kurth the Crusader abilities -- or maybe it's a product of fate? -- would've been interesting to uncover through RP.
Anyway -- after the base of Crusader I went into a combination of Legendary Leader (Heroes of Battle) and Dragonlord (Dragon Magic) to further the warleader aspect. Dragon Lord to enhance the draconic connection and then Legendary Leader to get the actual... yanno, army. Now, this goes against my normally stated policy of unrelenting hatred for the Leadership feat -- in fact I still resent having to take it. But I figured since the class fit thematically it worked out and I'd find an RP reason to explain why Kurth didn't attract an army immediately -- or just an interpetation of the feat in that Kurth had the potential to raise an army but just needed to do the work in order to do so.
Think of it like how a feudal lord could call up conscript troops from his vassals but there was work involved in doing so. Same idea. Kurth could get a bunch of followers and a cohort and all but he'd have to put in the work in the game to get them.
So; now the breakdown:
Level
1 Crusader Sculpt Self, Dragon Wings, Reinforced Wings
2 Crusader
3 Crusader Iron Will
4 Crusader
5 Crusader
6 Crusader Improved Dragon Wings
7 Dragon Lord
8 Dragon Lord
9 Dragon Lord Leadership
10 Dragon Lord
11 Legendary Leader
12 Legendary Leader Item Familiar
13 Legendary Leader
14 Legendary Leader
15 Legendary Leader Draconic Reservoir
16 Crusader
17 Crusader
18 Draconic Class
19 Draconic Class
20 Draconic Class
So....this is weird, right?
Well, the trick is that I'm using the Draconic Class variant from Races of the Dragon. With it it allows you to slowly develop your character's draconic aspects. In reality Kurth would've been delayed from taking his second class level until he got all three Draconic levels. I'm putting those three levels at the end because it's easier to keep my notes that way. Long story short is that my max character level is 17 rather than 20 and that his first levels actually look like this:
1 Crusader
2 Draconic
3 Draconic
4 Draconic
5 Crusader
Levels 2-4 are technically "empty" and don't give me HD, skillpoints, feats, or anything of that sort.
But it makes more sense to represent it the way I have above in the 20 level breakdown.
Anyway!
Kurth is one of my builds that just can't work without character flaws. It's not possible to do what I want with him unless I assume character flaws and/or LA buyoff. Since I think LA buyoff is more broken than the flaws I went with the flaws. His particular flaws are unimportant but, at the feats he gets early on are important. Or, rather, the one feat he doesn't get which is Dragonwrought. Why doesn't Kurth have that? Well, it's actually redundant for him; the Dragonwrough thing is total fluff.
So at first level Kurth does get Dragon Wings (for those nifty wings), Reinforced Wings (so he can glide/fly in medium armor), and Sculpt Self. I've thought about taking Dragon Tail in place of Sculpt Self at 1st level but that edges in too close to Vulskar's territory for my comfort. So, Sculpt Self it is. But you're probably asking what the hell is Sculpt Self, right? Well, it's a feat from Dragon Magazine #304 that goes into the concept of "Prestige Races." Basically, it's a path by which a character can actually allow their experience to shape them and change them through the expenditure of time and EXP. In Kurth's case he follows the "Soul Focus" path which has three steps -- those I'll go through later on.
At 3rd level I get Iron Will which is required for Legendary Leader -- with this my will save will become unassailable.
6th level is Improved Dragon Wings -- Kurth can fly now. This is awesome.
9th level is Leadership; the last requirement for Legendary Leader. My leadership score is automatically good enough to qualify for Legendary Leader as well. In an fun quirk I have enough levels of Dragon Lord to get Draconic Leadership which gives me +2 to my leadership score for the purpose of attracting dragonblood followers -- kobolds are dragonblooded. Go figure, right? xp
12th level I get Item Familiar and I wish, wish, wish I could've gotten this feat alot earlier but such was not the case. Here's the thing; Kurth has always had this dragonfang greatsword called Chariroth and I figured it'd be fun to play with it being an item familiar. The other idea was making it an item of legacy (ala Weapons of Legacy) in which case I wouldn't need Item Familiar and I'd be taking another feat; probably Devoted Bulwark or White Raven Defense.
And then at 15th level I get my final feat (unless I used LA Buyoff) which is Draconic Reservoir. This comes from the Races of the Dragon Web Enhancement and lets me use the spell I got from the Draconic Rite of Passage 3/day instead of 1/day.
And now you're asking what the hell the Draconic Rite of Passage is, I imagine. It's something tucked into Races of the Dragon, in the chapter on Kobolds. It's a ritual kobolds can go through and, at the end of it (after losing 100 GP and a permanent -1 HP) they get a single first level sorcerer spell they can cast 1/day. The Draconic Reservoir feat increases that daily limit to 3/day.
As to the other things... well, what do I get from the Soul Focus? I get a +1 inherent bonus to my Charisma, Strength and Wisdom as well as +4 resistance bonus to my saves (see what I meant about will saves being unassailable?). I also get a bonus to some skills and the ability to cast Searing Light 3/day (CL 5th).
But the final thing? Well, I forgot there was a third reason I was taking Crusader and that's because it gets proficiency with heavy armor. I'm trading that heavy armor away for the Dragonscale Husk alternate feature from Dragon Magic. That there is my armor and it counts as medium (Hence the need for the Reinforced Wings feat, so I can still fly/glide). The armor bonus is fairly substantial and I get elemental resistances. Now, granted, this is predicated on the idea that the Husk keeps advancing with me as it did in the one game I playe Kurth in; the DM was making an exception for me. If it didn't advance with me all the way then screw that; I'd go with lighter armor and change my feats around some -- probably take Iron Will at 1st level instead of Reinforced Wings and get Item Familiar at 3rd.
He would've been a fun character and clearly an awesome one as well -- it's in his name, after all: Aridarastrixsjach. It starts with "Ari" and every character of mine that starts with "Ari" (or that can be nicknamed as such) are destined for awesomeness.
Voting Time:
Multiterrain Shocktrooper, Balthas Kasra, Alarian Thrakos, Spellsmiter, Dragonmage, Melee-ist Fighter, "Standard Fighter", Master of Chains, Mounted Archer, Arisias, Whirlwind, Vykes, Cerberus Ranger, Kobold Pick Fighter, Magekiller, Ebin, William Corshek, Grappler, Stormlord Cleric, Storm Mage, Lucky Adventurer, Toguro Character, Slashing Killer, Meta-Mage, Hunter of Man, Force Mage, Bardic Dervish, Halberdier, Assassin Homage, Dragoon, Draco-Blade, Missile Mage, Aiel Homage, Graeme, Archer Mage, Vartyr Kellisk, Trapper, Blessed Hunter, Dwarven Thane, Lady Irae, Naruma, Toran Zane, Pyro-Concept, Elemental Berserker, Goblin Cook, Cryo-Concept
Gestalt Builds:
Seige Engineer, Ubertrooper, Leon Thrakos, Ravenclaw Bard, Tri-Weapon Fighter, Warblade/Lurk Concept Char, Alikin, Bloodclaw Master, Wordspeaker, Dread Pirate Roberts, Disarmer, Joshua Numenor, Direfrost Mage, Incarnate Dragon, Fortress Sorcerer, Voice of the Forgotten, Voice of Gruumsh, Kalix of Black Iron, Shadow Hunter, Elias the Stormwalker, Njal the Warbringer, Randal Bernard, Marsarlis #113, Eddie the Pierce Sniper, Graul the Ice Fisted, Tero Dach, Armored Tank, Earthbender Sorcerer, Mindreader, Dusk Commando, Eldritch Fistfighter, Lucian Thrakos, Merek Stonebreaker, Flash, Captain America, Arhmis Diei, Liam Ironarm, Runecaster Dwarf, Horizon, Desmond Arlin, Undead Psy-Warrior, Paladin of Revelry, Lord of Moil, Master of Fears, Jokhan Thrakos, Arch Druid of Cair Moloch, Duskblade Vindicator, Anarok Tor, Fangborn Martial Artist, Original Gideon, Edward Mallory, Nature Mage, Ulric Vantir, Gideon of Incarnum, Knob, Tarman Vorse, Highlander Build, Kurth, Arazil Ra'Dauthi
Basically, Kurth was concieved of to be a Kobold who stood apart. He wasn't a normal hatchling; Kurth was.... different. He was unique and part of what set him apart was that he spent time among the surface races; to learn about them, to learn to think like them.
Because eventually Kurth was going to conquer them.
That's the whole point of Kurth; really. He's a general, a warlord. As far as his backstory is concerned when Kurth hatched there were signs and portents concerning his future -- one of those signs was the fact he was half-dragon as well as being Dragonwrought. When he came of age instead of joining the ranks of his lair's community Kurth was sent out into the world above to learn about the races there so that, when the time came, Kurth could lead the legions mof the Kobolds on their war against the surface world.
This destiny was the source of Kurth's true name -- Aridarastrixsjach. It translates to "The Dragon's Shadow" because the last thing you see before the Dragon kills you is the shadow of the beast.
It was up for debate whether or not Kurth was going to embrace his destiny after he's been through the journey to the surface which was to last years.
Kurth himself was based on the idea of being a warleader with aspects of draconic epic-ness mixed in. For the latter part I started Kurth out as a Dragonwrough Kobold who had the Half Dragon template stapled onto him; specifically a half Fang Dragon.
This actually deserves a call out because the Dragonwrought feat turns you into a dragon. However; I do think it's possible to put the Half-Dragon template onto a creature that's of the dragon type. Why? Because of what I just said. "Dragon" is a creature type. It's a meta-game concept that groups monsters into a category and by saying a creature has the "dragon type" you already know certain traits about that creature. But the Half-Dragon template is all about a specific genetic lineage; specifically that of having a True Dragon as a parent.
Same name; totally different concepts. A true dragon couldn't have the half-dragon template because that lineage already exists for it; it's a fact of life. But a creature of the dragon type could have the half-dragon template. For example: Half-Black Dragon Abyssal Drake. Same idea that Kurth uses.
But as for the actual warleader part of his build I decided to go with a martial adept -- Warblade and Crusader were the immediate candidates because both had access to White Raven. Now I've often wanted to play around with White Raven and, in fact, another of my characters -- Edward Mallory -- used White Raven extensively. But Kurth did it first. But between the two classes Crusader won out with me for two reasons. One is that Crusaders get more maneuvers than Warblade but the second? The second is entirely RP motivated.
You see... Kurth has a secret. Something he's never shared -- He doesn't worship Kurtulmak.
So whatever god that grants Kurth the Crusader abilities -- or maybe it's a product of fate? -- would've been interesting to uncover through RP.
Anyway -- after the base of Crusader I went into a combination of Legendary Leader (Heroes of Battle) and Dragonlord (Dragon Magic) to further the warleader aspect. Dragon Lord to enhance the draconic connection and then Legendary Leader to get the actual... yanno, army. Now, this goes against my normally stated policy of unrelenting hatred for the Leadership feat -- in fact I still resent having to take it. But I figured since the class fit thematically it worked out and I'd find an RP reason to explain why Kurth didn't attract an army immediately -- or just an interpetation of the feat in that Kurth had the potential to raise an army but just needed to do the work in order to do so.
Think of it like how a feudal lord could call up conscript troops from his vassals but there was work involved in doing so. Same idea. Kurth could get a bunch of followers and a cohort and all but he'd have to put in the work in the game to get them.
So; now the breakdown:
Level
1 Crusader Sculpt Self, Dragon Wings, Reinforced Wings
2 Crusader
3 Crusader Iron Will
4 Crusader
5 Crusader
6 Crusader Improved Dragon Wings
7 Dragon Lord
8 Dragon Lord
9 Dragon Lord Leadership
10 Dragon Lord
11 Legendary Leader
12 Legendary Leader Item Familiar
13 Legendary Leader
14 Legendary Leader
15 Legendary Leader Draconic Reservoir
16 Crusader
17 Crusader
18 Draconic Class
19 Draconic Class
20 Draconic Class
So....this is weird, right?
Well, the trick is that I'm using the Draconic Class variant from Races of the Dragon. With it it allows you to slowly develop your character's draconic aspects. In reality Kurth would've been delayed from taking his second class level until he got all three Draconic levels. I'm putting those three levels at the end because it's easier to keep my notes that way. Long story short is that my max character level is 17 rather than 20 and that his first levels actually look like this:
1 Crusader
2 Draconic
3 Draconic
4 Draconic
5 Crusader
Levels 2-4 are technically "empty" and don't give me HD, skillpoints, feats, or anything of that sort.
But it makes more sense to represent it the way I have above in the 20 level breakdown.
Anyway!
Kurth is one of my builds that just can't work without character flaws. It's not possible to do what I want with him unless I assume character flaws and/or LA buyoff. Since I think LA buyoff is more broken than the flaws I went with the flaws. His particular flaws are unimportant but, at the feats he gets early on are important. Or, rather, the one feat he doesn't get which is Dragonwrought. Why doesn't Kurth have that? Well, it's actually redundant for him; the Dragonwrough thing is total fluff.
So at first level Kurth does get Dragon Wings (for those nifty wings), Reinforced Wings (so he can glide/fly in medium armor), and Sculpt Self. I've thought about taking Dragon Tail in place of Sculpt Self at 1st level but that edges in too close to Vulskar's territory for my comfort. So, Sculpt Self it is. But you're probably asking what the hell is Sculpt Self, right? Well, it's a feat from Dragon Magazine #304 that goes into the concept of "Prestige Races." Basically, it's a path by which a character can actually allow their experience to shape them and change them through the expenditure of time and EXP. In Kurth's case he follows the "Soul Focus" path which has three steps -- those I'll go through later on.
At 3rd level I get Iron Will which is required for Legendary Leader -- with this my will save will become unassailable.
6th level is Improved Dragon Wings -- Kurth can fly now. This is awesome.
9th level is Leadership; the last requirement for Legendary Leader. My leadership score is automatically good enough to qualify for Legendary Leader as well. In an fun quirk I have enough levels of Dragon Lord to get Draconic Leadership which gives me +2 to my leadership score for the purpose of attracting dragonblood followers -- kobolds are dragonblooded. Go figure, right? xp
12th level I get Item Familiar and I wish, wish, wish I could've gotten this feat alot earlier but such was not the case. Here's the thing; Kurth has always had this dragonfang greatsword called Chariroth and I figured it'd be fun to play with it being an item familiar. The other idea was making it an item of legacy (ala Weapons of Legacy) in which case I wouldn't need Item Familiar and I'd be taking another feat; probably Devoted Bulwark or White Raven Defense.
And then at 15th level I get my final feat (unless I used LA Buyoff) which is Draconic Reservoir. This comes from the Races of the Dragon Web Enhancement and lets me use the spell I got from the Draconic Rite of Passage 3/day instead of 1/day.
And now you're asking what the hell the Draconic Rite of Passage is, I imagine. It's something tucked into Races of the Dragon, in the chapter on Kobolds. It's a ritual kobolds can go through and, at the end of it (after losing 100 GP and a permanent -1 HP) they get a single first level sorcerer spell they can cast 1/day. The Draconic Reservoir feat increases that daily limit to 3/day.
As to the other things... well, what do I get from the Soul Focus? I get a +1 inherent bonus to my Charisma, Strength and Wisdom as well as +4 resistance bonus to my saves (see what I meant about will saves being unassailable?). I also get a bonus to some skills and the ability to cast Searing Light 3/day (CL 5th).
But the final thing? Well, I forgot there was a third reason I was taking Crusader and that's because it gets proficiency with heavy armor. I'm trading that heavy armor away for the Dragonscale Husk alternate feature from Dragon Magic. That there is my armor and it counts as medium (Hence the need for the Reinforced Wings feat, so I can still fly/glide). The armor bonus is fairly substantial and I get elemental resistances. Now, granted, this is predicated on the idea that the Husk keeps advancing with me as it did in the one game I playe Kurth in; the DM was making an exception for me. If it didn't advance with me all the way then screw that; I'd go with lighter armor and change my feats around some -- probably take Iron Will at 1st level instead of Reinforced Wings and get Item Familiar at 3rd.
He would've been a fun character and clearly an awesome one as well -- it's in his name, after all: Aridarastrixsjach. It starts with "Ari" and every character of mine that starts with "Ari" (or that can be nicknamed as such) are destined for awesomeness.
Voting Time:
Multiterrain Shocktrooper, Balthas Kasra, Alarian Thrakos, Spellsmiter, Dragonmage, Melee-ist Fighter, "Standard Fighter", Master of Chains, Mounted Archer, Arisias, Whirlwind, Vykes, Cerberus Ranger, Kobold Pick Fighter, Magekiller, Ebin, William Corshek, Grappler, Stormlord Cleric, Storm Mage, Lucky Adventurer, Toguro Character, Slashing Killer, Meta-Mage, Hunter of Man, Force Mage, Bardic Dervish, Halberdier, Assassin Homage, Dragoon, Draco-Blade, Missile Mage, Aiel Homage, Graeme, Archer Mage, Vartyr Kellisk, Trapper, Blessed Hunter, Dwarven Thane, Lady Irae, Naruma, Toran Zane, Pyro-Concept, Elemental Berserker, Goblin Cook, Cryo-Concept
Gestalt Builds:
Seige Engineer, Ubertrooper, Leon Thrakos, Ravenclaw Bard, Tri-Weapon Fighter, Warblade/Lurk Concept Char, Alikin, Bloodclaw Master, Wordspeaker, Dread Pirate Roberts, Disarmer, Joshua Numenor, Direfrost Mage, Incarnate Dragon, Fortress Sorcerer, Voice of the Forgotten, Voice of Gruumsh, Kalix of Black Iron, Shadow Hunter, Elias the Stormwalker, Njal the Warbringer, Randal Bernard, Marsarlis #113, Eddie the Pierce Sniper, Graul the Ice Fisted, Tero Dach, Armored Tank, Earthbender Sorcerer, Mindreader, Dusk Commando, Eldritch Fistfighter, Lucian Thrakos, Merek Stonebreaker, Flash, Captain America, Arhmis Diei, Liam Ironarm, Runecaster Dwarf, Horizon, Desmond Arlin, Undead Psy-Warrior, Paladin of Revelry, Lord of Moil, Master of Fears, Jokhan Thrakos, Arch Druid of Cair Moloch, Duskblade Vindicator, Anarok Tor, Fangborn Martial Artist, Original Gideon, Edward Mallory, Nature Mage, Ulric Vantir, Gideon of Incarnum, Knob, Tarman Vorse, Highlander Build, Kurth, Arazil Ra'Dauthi