Dragonheart Mage

PRESTIGE CLASSES EL 7: Braxon is a human dragon devotee who originally trained as a fighter. About a year ago, he was part of a group of adventurers who tried to raid an adult green dragon’s lair and failed. The dragon, Kallionastiryne, gave each of the intruders the option of pledging loyalty to him and serving him. Braxon was the only one to do so. Kallionastiryne killed the others and let the fighter live. For the past year, Braxon has been serving him and adopting more and more of the dragon lifestyle as a dragon devotee. He is currently escorting one of Kallionastiryne’s children, a young green dragon named Ottwarslyndanox, to visit her father. He did not care about dragons or dragonkind in general when he fi rst came into Kallionastiryne’s service, but he is becoming more interested as he learns more about dragons through his service. He feels duty bound to serve Kallionastiryne and does his best to protect his ward.

Braxon CR 6

Male human fighter 5/dragon devotee 1 LE Medium humanoid Init +1; Senses Listen +1, Spot +1 Languages Common, Draconic AC 20, touch 11, flat-footed 19 hp 42 (6 HD) Fort +9, Ref +3, Will +5 Speed 20 ft. (4 squares) Melee +1 bastard sword +10 (1d10+6/19–20) or Ranged mwk composite longbow +7 (1d8+6) Base Atk +5; Grp +8 Combat Gear potion of cure light wounds Abilities Str 16, Dex 13, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 12, Cha 10 Feats Exotic Weapon Proficiency (bastard sword)B, Iron

Will, Weapon Focus (bastard sword), Weapon Focus (longbow)B, Weapon Specialization (bastard sword),

Weapon Specialization (longbow)B Skills Climb +5, Jump –1, Knowledge (arcana) +1, Speak

Language (Draconic) Possessions combat gear plus +1 full plate, +1 bastard sword, masterwork composite longbow (+3 Str bonus) with 20 arrows

Ottwarslyndanox CR 5

Female young green dragon LE Medium dragon Init +0; Senses blindsense 60 ft., darkvision 120 ft., low-light vision; Listen +12, Spot +15 Languages Draconic, Common AC 20, touch 10, flat-footed 20 hp 93 (11 HD) Immune acid, sleep, paralysis Fort +9, Ref +7, Will +8 Speed 40 ft. (8 squares), fly 150 ft. (poor), swim 40 ft.; Flyby

Attack, Wingover Melee bite +14 (1d8+3) and 2 claws +9 (1d6+1) and 2 wings +9 (1d4+1) Space 5 ft.; Reach 5 ft. Base Atk +11; Grp +14 Atk Options Power Attack Special Actions Heighten Breath*, breath weapon *see Draconomicon, page 70 Abilities Str 17, Dex 10, Con 15, Int 12, Wis 13, Cha 12 SQ water breathing Feats Flyby Attack, Heighten Breath, Power Attack, Wingover Skills Appraise +4, Bluff +6, Diplomacy +11, Intimidate +17,

Knowledge (nature) +6, Listen +12, Search +15, Sense

Motive +15, Spot +15, Swim +21 Breath Weapon (Su) 30-ft. cone, 6d6 acid, Reflex DC 17 half (or higher, if heightened) Hook Lets Braxon take the lead against any dangers, then follows up behind with her breath weapon. Only uses physical attacks if the situation proves dire.

“Claws and teeth are all very well if fi ghting is what you like, but my dragon blood has more practical uses.” — Wedlen Mooncaller, dragonheart mage

Some arcane spellcasters are fascinated both by the dragon’s hardy physical nature as well as the dragon’s spellcasting ability. The dragonheart mage is perfect for the dedicated spellcaster who wishes to embrace the power of dragon blood while still advancing in magical expertise.

BECOMING A DRAGONHEART MAGE

This prestige class is available only to those who can demonstrate draconic heritage. Most dragonheart mages are sorcerers, who ascribe their magical ability to a dragon ancestor, and this class enhances the ability to cast sorcerous magic. Multiclass sorcerer/bards might also fi nd the dragonheart mage interesting, since it helps build on their already impressive Charisma-based abilities. Kobolds are drawn to the class, which offers greater physical strength as well as improved spellcasting. Mere dabblers in arcane magic are less likely to become dragonheart mages.

Entry Requirements

Spellcasting: Ability to spontaneously cast arcane spells.

Skills: Knowledge (arcana) 8 ranks.

Feats: Draconic Heritage*.

Languages: Draconic. *New feat described on page 102.

CLASS FEATURES

As you advance in this class, you cultivate your draconic heritage by developing a breath weapon and gaining draconic feats, at the cost of a couple of levels’ worth of spellcasting ability.

Draconic Breath (Su): At 1st level, you gain the Draconic Breath feat. As a dragonheart mage, you realize some additional benefi ts from taking this feat. As stated in the feat description on page 102, you can use a standard action to change arcane spell energy into a breath weapon that deals 2d6 points of damage per level of the spell that you expend. As you gain levels in this prestige class, however, the amount of damage you can deal increases. At 6th level, your breath weapon deals 2d8 points of damage per level of the spell you give up. At 10th level, your breath weapon deals 3d6 points of damage per level of the spell you give up.

Spellcasting: At each level except 1st and 6th, you gain new spells per day and an increase in caster level (and spells known, if applicable) as if you had also gained a level in a spellcasting class to which you belonged before adding the prestige class level. You do not, however, gain any other benefit a character of that class would have gained. If you had more than one spellcasting class before becoming a dragonheart mage, you must decide to which class to add each level for the purpose of determining spells per day, caster level, and spells known.

Draconic Feat: At 2nd, 4th, and 8th level, you gain a bonus draconic feat. Choose any draconic feat for which you meet the prerequisite, as given on page 99.

PLAYING A DRAGONHEART MAGE

As a dragonheart mage, you acquire a few draconic powers while accepting a slower spellcasting progression. You do not become a draconic creature or a half-dragon, as dragon devotees and dragon disciples do, but you also have more freedom to choose which expressions of draconic power you wish to take on.

Combat

You are tougher than the average arcane spellcaster, but you are still not a front-line combatant by any means.

Your strengths lie in taking advantage of your draconic abilities while assisting your party’s combatants with your breath weapon. Your best role in combat is to exploit your Draconic Breath feat to its fullest while backing it up with spellcasting. Once you reach 2nd level, you begin to acquire additional draconic abilities in the form of draconic feats. Depending on the feats you choose, you could improve your Armor Class, hit points, resistances, or other characteristics that would enhance your survivability in combat.

Advancement

You likely started down this path because you were fascinated by the innate power of dragons. You might have been tempted at first by the dragon disciple class, until you realized that it was more combat-oriented than you desire and would require you to give up too much of your spellcasting advancement. For you, the transformation to a half-dragon is less important than waking the magical power of a draconic heritage. You are driven by a thirst for knowledge of all things draconic, and as you advance in power, you are able to face more and more dangerous challenges to fi nd it. You might seek out and explore lairs of dragons long dead or speak to those who live there yet. In this search, you might receive commissions from arcane spellcasters who are of a less exploratory bent but seek unusual materials or bits of lore. You can increase your own experience in this way as well as gain monetary rewards.

DRAGONHEART MAGES IN THE WORLD

Dragonheart mages are the “adventuring archaeologists” of a fantasy setting. They are bolder about exploring uncharted territory than more scholarly magic specialists.

Organization

Dragonheart mages have no special organization; in fact, traditional magic establishments find them to be bizarre and difficult to manage. As a dragonheart mage, you are likely to be found in the lounge of an adventurer’s association, spinning tales of your most recent exploits and eagerly seeking rumors of new mysteries to be unearthed. Sometimes, just like an adventuring archaeologist, you might have to have a “real” job to hold body and soul together between outings. You might be a visiting lecturer at an academy of magic, for example, or you could spend time between adventures crafting magic items to fi nance the next expedition.

NPC Reactions

When you make the deliberate choice to become a hybrid of dragon and some other race, you provoke strong reactions, both negative and positive. Among those you meet for the first time, starting attitudes will be either friendly or unfriendly. Almost no one you meet will feel indifferent toward you, unless they are familiar with or have some degree of draconic heritage themselves. Given the lack of specifi c organization held by dragonheart mages, you rarely enounter anyone who has heard

Table 5–5: The Dragonheart Mage Hit Die: d6 Base Attack Fort Ref Will

Level Bonus Save Save Save Special Spellcasting

1st +0 +2 +0 +2 Draconic Breath (2d6) — 2nd +1 +3 +0 +3 Draconic feat +1 level of existing spellcasting class 3rd +1 +3 +1 +3 — +1 level of existing spellcasting class 4th +2 +4 +1 +4 Draconic feat +1 level of existing spellcasting class 5th +2 +4 +1 +4 — +1 level of existing spellcasting class 6th +3 +5 +2 +5 Draconic Breath (2d8) — 7th +3 +5 +2 +5 — +1 level of existing spellcasting class 8th +4 +6 +2 +6 Draconic feat +1 level of existing spellcasting class 9th +4 +6 +3 +6 — +1 level of existing spellcasting class 10th +5 +7 +3 +7 Draconic Breath (3d6) +1 level of existing spellcasting class

Class Skills (2 + Int modifier per level): Bluff, Concentration, Gather Information, Knowledge (all, taken individually), Listen,

Speak Language, Search, Spellcraft, Spot. CLASSES PRESTIGE CHAPTER 5

89

PRESTIGE CLASSES

Illus. by B. Hagan

of this particular course of study. Those who are aware of dragonheart mages, such as the individuals who staff and study at traditional schools and research centers of magic, have a starting attitude of unfriendly, given your unorthodox methods of achieving power. in their service to pursue their ends rather than join a group of equals.

DRAGONHEART MAGE LORE

Characters with the bardic knowledge ability or ranks in Knowledge (arcana) can research dragonheart mages to learn more about them.

When a character makes a bardic knowledge check or a skill check, read or paraphrase the following, including the information from lower DCs.

DC 10: Some sorcerers claim their abilities stem from dragon blood and seek to awaken it.

DC 15: Certain sorcerers who unlock their draconic heritage actually gain dragonlike abilities. These individuals refer to themselves as dragon heart mages.

DC 20: Dragonheart mages are powerful spellcasters with draconic abilities.

They are always searching for information about the origin and heritage of dragons. If a city has an adventurers’ gathering place or meeting hall, a dragonheart mage can often be found therein (Gather Information DC 10). Having a dragon disciple in the party reduces the DC of this check by 5. Dragon disciples and dragonheart mages share similar motivations, even if they follow divergent paths DRAGONHEART MAGES IN THE GAME

As a player character, you are a good choice for an adventuring party’s arcane spellcaster. Unlike a half-dragon or even a dragon disciple, you don’t have the powerful physique that might let you travel alone. In return, you can provide magical support to your companions that is almost the equal of a pure sorcerer’s, while being able to defend yourself ably against enemies who focus on eliminating the spellcaster quickly. An NPC dragonheart mage might well be a rival for a treasure or exploratory mission. Those who choose evil dragon varieties follow a path of greed or power lust, and they are likely to lead bands of lesser creatures

Adaptation The idea of exploring a racial heritage to unlock some of its power can be extended to other types of creatures besides dragons. For example, a skum in service to an aboleth might learn to awaken some of the aboleth nature within itself, or an aasimar could try to get in touch with his celestial heritage. As a DM, you could adapt the concept of the dragonheart mage (or the dragon disciple) to gradually confer some of the innate abilities of an ancestral creature type on the character progressing in the class. For example, the skum above would slowly acquire mindaffecting abilities that become more powerful with increasing level; gain the aquatic subtype; and perhaps develop aboleth slime. The aasimar could follow a path more like that of the dragon disciple, culminating in the half-celestial template. Sample Encounter Wedlen Mooncaller has a touch of dragon in her blood, and her ability with sorWedlen Mooncaller, cery outshines many others of her kind. She has a dragonheart mage turned her magical talents and her encyclopedic knowledge to greedy pursuits. Now she is a rival of the PCs in the hunt for an ancient treasure, and she stops at nothing to eliminate the competition.

Wedlen Mooncaller CR 12

Female draconic gnome sorcerer 6/dragonheart mage 5 CN Small humanoid (dragonblood) Init +3; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Listen +9, Spot +11 Languages Common, Draconic, Giant, Gnome AC 21, touch 19, flat-footed 18, +4 AC against giants hp 59 (12 HD) Resist +2 against illusions, +4 against sleep and paralysis, electricity 30 Fort +7, Ref +7, Will +10 Speed 20 ft. (4 squares) Melee +1 shock dagger +6 (1d4+1 plus 1d6 electricity) Melee: 2 claws +5 (1d2) Base Atk +5; Grp +1 Atk Options +1 on attack rolls against kobolds and goblinoids Special Actions breath weapon Combat Gear wand of magic missile (41 charges, CL 9th), 3 potions of cure moderate wounds Sorcerer Spells Known (CL 10th): 5th (4/day)—manifest dragon heritage*