Dragon Avatar (32/365)
The Dragon Avatar idea is one that came about when I was working on another character of mine named Kurth. There simply wasn't enough of levels in a build to do everything so this part of Kurth's original concept was more or less cut out and left by the wayside.
Recently I picked it back up and it can basically be summarized as how to get the most dragon related abilities and stat bonuses I can inside of 20 levels. I've pondered making this one a kobold again but I've already got two (maybe even 3) Kobold ideas already. To that end I decided to make him a Dragonborn of Bahamut with the base race being a human because it's easier. The Aspect I chose was "Heart" so he gets a Breath Weapon because Breath Weapons are awesome.
Level
1 Soulborn Dragon Tail
2 Soulborn
3 Soulborn Cobalt Critical, Shape Breath
4 Soulborn
5 Soulborn
6 Dragon Devotee Recover Breath
7 Dragon Devotee Power Attack
8 Dragon Devotee
9 Dragon Disciple Spreading Breath
10 Dragon Disciple
11 Dragon Disciple
12 Soulborn Improved Natural Attack (Claw)
13 Dragon Disciple
14 Dragon Disciple
15 Dragon Disciple Quicken Breath
16 Dragon Devotee Cleave
17 Dragon Disciple
18 Dragon Disciple Heighten Breath
19 Dragon Disciple
20 Dragon Devotee
So what am I trying to do here?
The first question is why the hell am I using Soulborn? Well, I'm figuring he's a Lawful Good Dragonborn which means that being a Soulborn will give him immunity to Fear (though I could also make him Chaotic Evil and render his Strength score untouchable). The first five levels are just placeholders until I can get the requirements to enter Dragon Devotee (which I'll talk about later) so you're probably wondering why there's that random level of Soulborn at 12th level, right?
The answer is because I can't take all ten levels of Dragon Disciple but I'll explain that in a little bit.
Now, Dragon Devotee. Really, this is one of the better classes I've ever run across because it gives you bonuses to three abilities, natural armor, claws, and two levels of Sorcerer casting while you're wearing light armor. And the requirements are....laughable. Really.
But speaking of the requirements, it's the one requirements that prevents me taking all ten levels of Dragon Disciple. See, at the end of Dragon Disciple you get the Half Dragon Template. But in order to qualify for Dragon Devotee I can't already be a Dragon so I can't take that last step and get the entire Dragon Disciple class. It's a blatant abuse of the rules but isn't that sort of the point I'm trying to make?
Fun Fact: Draconic Template (which Dragon Devotee gives me) doesn't change my creature type.
But why Dragon Disciple? Well, it furthers the Draconic Characteristics I'm getting along with a bunch of stat bonuses, natural armor, wings, breath weapon, etc. Speaking of, depending on alignment (good or evil) I'm either a gold dragon disciple or red dragon disciple. Either way I want a cone of fire.
So, when it's all said and done what am I looking at from my classes
That is, of course, not counting racial stat adjustments or magical items/grafts. One of the things he's taking -- a graft -- actually deserves a call out because it's the Buffeting Wings. He's gonna get 2 secondary wing slams from that though an additional -2 to Dex (for a total of -4 Dex with racial adjustments). Of course, counting racial mods I'm getting +6 Con total so I think it works out.
Now remember, this is without feats (more or less).
But what happens when my feats are taken into account?
Well, at first level I'm grabbing Dragon Tail which gives me that secondary tail attack. I can only take it at 1st level but it's worth it.
3rd level I get two feats, one from Soulborn (Cobalt Critical which I'll never use), and then Shape Breath. Shape Breath is a fun feat because it lets me alter the shape of my Dragonborn Breath Weapon into either a line or a cone -- useful for crowds but it also sets me up for Spreading Breath later on.
At 6th level I grab Recover Breath which, really, I could do without. Recover Breath lowers the time between breath weapons by 1 round (minimum 1 round). Really, with everything I'm tossing into Metabreath feats and how I see him using those feats, Recover Breath becomes fairly superflourous. I've thought about getting Improved Natural Attack for my wing slams or getting Multiattack but I'm going to leave things as I have them right now because Reover Breath can still be useful if I pace myself with a metabreath feats.
7th level I get a (fighter) bonus feat from Dragon Devotee and I get Power Attack. If recall correctly I can use it with natural weapons so I could, theoretically, get like...the Armbands of Might, power attack for 2 and get a +4 bonus to damage with all my attacks to simply eviscerate someone. Plus it sets me up for Cleave later on.
9th level and I grab Spreading Breath. This is a really fun feat because it turns my Breath Weapon in a 15 foot burst centered on me wihch is fucking awesome when I need to kill every motherfucker in the room. But it's one of those metabreath feats and the extra rounds they tack onto the recharge time add up quick. Spreading Breath is +2 rounds for example.
12th level and I'm getting Improved Natural Attack for my claws. The reason I'm doing that is because those are my primary weapons so I want them doing as much damage as possible. Also, everything else (bite and tail) are doing d6s so now that my claws are d6 weapons as well makes things easier (only the wing slams are d4s anymore).
15th level bring me Quicken Breath which does exactly what it sounds like. I can use my Breath Weapon as a free action but it adds +4 rounds before I can use it again. Which is okay, really. I'm good for that and I'll tell you why: Spells. I'm getting two levels of Sorcerer casting plus another 7 bonus spells. That's enough to give me some awesome variety and if I choose mostly swift cast spells then I can totally charge my attacks or whatnot with spells and still make full attacks after a really hard first strike with the breath weapon.
16th level gives me Cleave and the idea is, being that I have 6 natural attacks, that I can hammer someone and drop them before using the rest of my attacks on another creature nearby. It'll be sporadic but hey, it's a bonus feat; the second one I get from Dragon Devotee. Really, those two feats can be anything.
And then 18th level gives me Heighten Breath, quite possibly the most evil of the metabreath feats. Basically, I up the Save DC of the breath weapon up to an amount equal to my Con modifier but each point the DC goes up by adds +1 rounds before I can use the Breath Weapon again. But, say, a Quickened, Heightened, Spreading Breath Weapon in the first round of combat followed by a full attack? Yeah. Say hello to fucking PAIN.
I'm going to make a depature from or ordinary policy and actually address spells that I'm gonna take. Unfortunately, I only get 2 spells but, thanks to Dragon Disciple, I can cast those two spells no less than 11 times per day.
The first of those spells I'd take is gonna have to be Power Word Pain because it's just that freakin' awesome. The second spell is Blades of Fire because well all extra elemental damage though I'd personally do something like Blades of Static for lightning damage.
To round things out?
The grafts I'd be taking:
1) Buffeting Wings (-2 Dex, -8 HP). Gives me fly speed and two wing attacks.
2) Gleaming Scales (-4 HP). +1 Nat Armor and Energy Resist 5 (Probably use a Silver Dragon and get Cold Resist)
3) Frightful Crest (-6 HP). Gives me Frightful Presence.
I've thought about the Smashing Tail which would actually end up being better for me (at the cost of 4 HP and 30,000gp) which would free up a feat. It's a thought. It'd let me take Split Breath at 1st level, move Spreading Breath down and take Multiattack or Improved Natural Attack for something else.
But, all in all?
I think I've successfully made a humanoid dragon.
Siege Engineer, Knob, Alikin, Hidden Talent Fighter, Joshua Numenor, Multiterrain Shocktrooper, Ubertrooper, Warblade/Lurk Concept Char, Balthas Kasra, Kurth, Alarian Thrakos, Tarman Vorse, Spellsmiter, Highlander Build, Original Gideon, Dragonmage, Melee-ist Fighter, Skarn Bloodclaw, Paladin of Revelry, "Standard Fighter", Master of Chains, Mounted Archer, Arisias, Whirlwind, Vykes, Anarok Tor, Cerberus Ranger, Kobold Pick Fighter, Magekiller, Ebin, William Corshek, Grappler, Stormlord Cleric, Storm Mage, Lucky Adventurer, Toguro Character, Slashing Killer, Meta-Mage, Voice of Gruumsh, Hunter of Man, Force Mage, Bardic Dervish, Halberdier, Assassin Homage, Dragoon, Draco-Blade, Wordspeaker
Recently I picked it back up and it can basically be summarized as how to get the most dragon related abilities and stat bonuses I can inside of 20 levels. I've pondered making this one a kobold again but I've already got two (maybe even 3) Kobold ideas already. To that end I decided to make him a Dragonborn of Bahamut with the base race being a human because it's easier. The Aspect I chose was "Heart" so he gets a Breath Weapon because Breath Weapons are awesome.
Level
1 Soulborn Dragon Tail
2 Soulborn
3 Soulborn Cobalt Critical, Shape Breath
4 Soulborn
5 Soulborn
6 Dragon Devotee Recover Breath
7 Dragon Devotee Power Attack
8 Dragon Devotee
9 Dragon Disciple Spreading Breath
10 Dragon Disciple
11 Dragon Disciple
12 Soulborn Improved Natural Attack (Claw)
13 Dragon Disciple
14 Dragon Disciple
15 Dragon Disciple Quicken Breath
16 Dragon Devotee Cleave
17 Dragon Disciple
18 Dragon Disciple Heighten Breath
19 Dragon Disciple
20 Dragon Devotee
So what am I trying to do here?
The first question is why the hell am I using Soulborn? Well, I'm figuring he's a Lawful Good Dragonborn which means that being a Soulborn will give him immunity to Fear (though I could also make him Chaotic Evil and render his Strength score untouchable). The first five levels are just placeholders until I can get the requirements to enter Dragon Devotee (which I'll talk about later) so you're probably wondering why there's that random level of Soulborn at 12th level, right?
The answer is because I can't take all ten levels of Dragon Disciple but I'll explain that in a little bit.
Now, Dragon Devotee. Really, this is one of the better classes I've ever run across because it gives you bonuses to three abilities, natural armor, claws, and two levels of Sorcerer casting while you're wearing light armor. And the requirements are....laughable. Really.
But speaking of the requirements, it's the one requirements that prevents me taking all ten levels of Dragon Disciple. See, at the end of Dragon Disciple you get the Half Dragon Template. But in order to qualify for Dragon Devotee I can't already be a Dragon so I can't take that last step and get the entire Dragon Disciple class. It's a blatant abuse of the rules but isn't that sort of the point I'm trying to make?
Fun Fact: Draconic Template (which Dragon Devotee gives me) doesn't change my creature type.
But why Dragon Disciple? Well, it furthers the Draconic Characteristics I'm getting along with a bunch of stat bonuses, natural armor, wings, breath weapon, etc. Speaking of, depending on alignment (good or evil) I'm either a gold dragon disciple or red dragon disciple. Either way I want a cone of fire.
So, when it's all said and done what am I looking at from my classes
- Immunity to Fear (or untouchable Strength Score)
- +4 Natural Armor
- 2 Primary Claw Attacks
- Secondary Bite Attack
- Secondary Tail Attack
- Resistance to Sleep and Paralysis
- 4d8 Cone of Fire 1/day
- 6d8 Line of Elemental Energy
- Wings and average maneuverability
- 30 foot Blindsense
- 2 levels of sorcerer casting in light armor
- +6 Strength
- +4 Con
- +2 Cha
- +2 Int
That is, of course, not counting racial stat adjustments or magical items/grafts. One of the things he's taking -- a graft -- actually deserves a call out because it's the Buffeting Wings. He's gonna get 2 secondary wing slams from that though an additional -2 to Dex (for a total of -4 Dex with racial adjustments). Of course, counting racial mods I'm getting +6 Con total so I think it works out.
Now remember, this is without feats (more or less).
But what happens when my feats are taken into account?
Well, at first level I'm grabbing Dragon Tail which gives me that secondary tail attack. I can only take it at 1st level but it's worth it.
3rd level I get two feats, one from Soulborn (Cobalt Critical which I'll never use), and then Shape Breath. Shape Breath is a fun feat because it lets me alter the shape of my Dragonborn Breath Weapon into either a line or a cone -- useful for crowds but it also sets me up for Spreading Breath later on.
At 6th level I grab Recover Breath which, really, I could do without. Recover Breath lowers the time between breath weapons by 1 round (minimum 1 round). Really, with everything I'm tossing into Metabreath feats and how I see him using those feats, Recover Breath becomes fairly superflourous. I've thought about getting Improved Natural Attack for my wing slams or getting Multiattack but I'm going to leave things as I have them right now because Reover Breath can still be useful if I pace myself with a metabreath feats.
7th level I get a (fighter) bonus feat from Dragon Devotee and I get Power Attack. If recall correctly I can use it with natural weapons so I could, theoretically, get like...the Armbands of Might, power attack for 2 and get a +4 bonus to damage with all my attacks to simply eviscerate someone. Plus it sets me up for Cleave later on.
9th level and I grab Spreading Breath. This is a really fun feat because it turns my Breath Weapon in a 15 foot burst centered on me wihch is fucking awesome when I need to kill every motherfucker in the room. But it's one of those metabreath feats and the extra rounds they tack onto the recharge time add up quick. Spreading Breath is +2 rounds for example.
12th level and I'm getting Improved Natural Attack for my claws. The reason I'm doing that is because those are my primary weapons so I want them doing as much damage as possible. Also, everything else (bite and tail) are doing d6s so now that my claws are d6 weapons as well makes things easier (only the wing slams are d4s anymore).
15th level bring me Quicken Breath which does exactly what it sounds like. I can use my Breath Weapon as a free action but it adds +4 rounds before I can use it again. Which is okay, really. I'm good for that and I'll tell you why: Spells. I'm getting two levels of Sorcerer casting plus another 7 bonus spells. That's enough to give me some awesome variety and if I choose mostly swift cast spells then I can totally charge my attacks or whatnot with spells and still make full attacks after a really hard first strike with the breath weapon.
16th level gives me Cleave and the idea is, being that I have 6 natural attacks, that I can hammer someone and drop them before using the rest of my attacks on another creature nearby. It'll be sporadic but hey, it's a bonus feat; the second one I get from Dragon Devotee. Really, those two feats can be anything.
And then 18th level gives me Heighten Breath, quite possibly the most evil of the metabreath feats. Basically, I up the Save DC of the breath weapon up to an amount equal to my Con modifier but each point the DC goes up by adds +1 rounds before I can use the Breath Weapon again. But, say, a Quickened, Heightened, Spreading Breath Weapon in the first round of combat followed by a full attack? Yeah. Say hello to fucking PAIN.
I'm going to make a depature from or ordinary policy and actually address spells that I'm gonna take. Unfortunately, I only get 2 spells but, thanks to Dragon Disciple, I can cast those two spells no less than 11 times per day.
The first of those spells I'd take is gonna have to be Power Word Pain because it's just that freakin' awesome. The second spell is Blades of Fire because well all extra elemental damage though I'd personally do something like Blades of Static for lightning damage.
To round things out?
The grafts I'd be taking:
1) Buffeting Wings (-2 Dex, -8 HP). Gives me fly speed and two wing attacks.
2) Gleaming Scales (-4 HP). +1 Nat Armor and Energy Resist 5 (Probably use a Silver Dragon and get Cold Resist)
3) Frightful Crest (-6 HP). Gives me Frightful Presence.
I've thought about the Smashing Tail which would actually end up being better for me (at the cost of 4 HP and 30,000gp) which would free up a feat. It's a thought. It'd let me take Split Breath at 1st level, move Spreading Breath down and take Multiattack or Improved Natural Attack for something else.
But, all in all?
I think I've successfully made a humanoid dragon.
Siege Engineer, Knob, Alikin, Hidden Talent Fighter, Joshua Numenor, Multiterrain Shocktrooper, Ubertrooper, Warblade/Lurk Concept Char, Balthas Kasra, Kurth, Alarian Thrakos, Tarman Vorse, Spellsmiter, Highlander Build, Original Gideon, Dragonmage, Melee-ist Fighter, Skarn Bloodclaw, Paladin of Revelry, "Standard Fighter", Master of Chains, Mounted Archer, Arisias, Whirlwind, Vykes, Anarok Tor, Cerberus Ranger, Kobold Pick Fighter, Magekiller, Ebin, William Corshek, Grappler, Stormlord Cleric, Storm Mage, Lucky Adventurer, Toguro Character, Slashing Killer, Meta-Mage, Voice of Gruumsh, Hunter of Man, Force Mage, Bardic Dervish, Halberdier, Assassin Homage, Dragoon, Draco-Blade, Wordspeaker