Custom Class - Dragoon


Homebrew and House Rules


Hey everyone!!

I am new to both pathfinder and the forums! Over Christmas I got Pathfinder ACG S&S and fell in love. I found the rules in the book for making my own class. I love to design so I took a stab at it. I would love feedback! My goal was to take the Dragoon from Final Fantasy and bring it to the pathfinder world while following pathfinder lore.

I want a focus on balance. His damage should feel high but at a high cost. I named the skills (it wont be like that on the card) to show the theme of the class.

Skills

Str - d10 ([] +1) ([] +2) ([] +3) ([] +4)
Melee: Str +1

Dex - d8 ([] +1) ([] +2) ([] +3)
Acrobatics: Dex +2

Con - d8 ([] +1) ([] +2) ([] +3) ([] +4)
Fortitude: Con +2

Int - d4 ([] +1)

Wis - d6 ([] +1) ([] +2)

Chr - d6 ([] +1)

Cards

Weapons - 4 ([] +1) ([] +2) ([] +3)

Spells - 0

Armor - 2 ([] +1) ([] +2)

Items - 3 ([] +1) ([] +2) ([] +3)

Allies - 2 ([] +1)

Blessings - 4 ([] +1)

Powers- Cards - 4 ([] +1) ([] +2)

(Slayer) For your combat check that has or is against the Dragon trait you may add 1d4 ([] +2d4)

(Dragon Power) You may bury a card to gain the Dragon trait and use a d12 for your Strength ([]or Constitution) die; if the card buried has the Polearm trait recharge the card instead.

This advanced class is a path that follows the Bronze Dragon.

Dragoon of Light - Cards - 4 ([] +1) ([] +2) ([] +3)

(Slayer) For your combat check that has or is against the Dragon trait you may add 1d4 ([] 2d4) ([] 3d4)

(Dragon Power) You may bury a card to gain the Dragon ([] and Magic) trait and use a d12 for your Strength ([]or Constitution) die; if the card buried has the Polearm trait recharge the card instead.

(Super Jump) You may discard a weapon ([] recharge if it has the trait Polearm) to evade an encounter. If it was a bane with the Aquatic trait you may explore again.

(Lightning Breath) For your combat check you may discard a card to use your Constitution +1d6 ([] 2d6) and add the Dragon, and Lightning traits. You may not play a weapon for this check.

(Water Combat) You may recharge a card from your discard pile when you defeat a bane with the aquatic trait.

This advanced class is a path that hunts the Black Dragon

Blight Dragoon - Cards - 4 ([] +1) ([] +2)

(Slayer) For your combat check that has or is against the Dragon trait you may add 1d4 ([] 2d4).

(Dragon Power) You may bury a card to gain the Dragon ([] and Magic) trait and use a d12 for your Strength ([]or Constitution) die; if the card buried has the Polearm trait recharge the card instead.

(Shadow Power) If you used the above power you may reveal a random card from your hand. If it is a weapon display it and add 2d4 to your combat check; otherwise add 1d4.([] if it is a blessing discard it and recharge 2 cards from your discard pile.)

(Dragonfire Dive) You may discard the top card of your deck to add 1d4 to a combat check at another location and you may move to that location. ([] If the card was a weapon add an additional 1d4).

(Water Walk) When you defeat a bane with the Aquatic ([] or Dragon) trait you may recharge a random card to explore again.

(Resist Decay) Recharge a random card to reduce Acid or Poison damage by 2.

Contributor

Neat concept! A few initial thoughts here:

1) Seems nicely well-rounded and functions as a slightly more versatile fighter in a group.

2) There are too few Dragon cards to make the first power really worthwhile, initially. It's really only effective when you use your second power to add the Dragon trait (although it's not clear whether that adds the Dragon trait to your check--I think the intent is that it does). I don't know the source material you're pulling from, but perhaps you could apply it as "Draconic Majesty" or something and get the bonus against a more common trait instead (like Humans, or Animals, or both if you drop the bonus to +1 ([ ]+2)).


I also think you're on the right track. It's good to see characters that have a reason to do more than constantly buff one skill and this one has a reason to boost Strength, Constitution and maybe Dexterity too. I like the focus on Polearm weapons too.


Ron Lundeen wrote:

Neat concept! A few initial thoughts here:

1) Seems nicely well-rounded and functions as a slightly more versatile fighter in a group.

2) There are too few Dragon cards to make the first power really worthwhile, initially. It's really only effective when you use your second power to add the Dragon trait (although it's not clear whether that adds the Dragon trait to your check--I think the intent is that it does). I don't know the source material you're pulling from, but perhaps you could apply it as "Draconic Majesty" or something and get the bonus against a more common trait instead (like Humans, or Animals, or both if you drop the bonus to +1 ([ ]+2)).

Thank you for your feedback!

You are correct that there are very few dragons. You are also correct that the second power gives YOU the dragon trait. That triggers the Slayer power. (Also the Dragoon of Light can gain the Dragon trait to trigger the slayer power on combat checks.)

The source material I am using is just the basic Metallic and Chromatic Dragons. A Dragoon is just a Dragon Knight in Final Fantasy. Dragoons in FF are known for their Jump skills as well as Polearm/Lance/Spear type weapons. Some have been known to have breath attacks and some have been known to gain health from dealing damage. I tried to bring all of these together without breaking pathfinder lore. So I used the Bronze Dragon for the Dragoon of Light and the Black Dragon for Blight Dragoon.

If a Dragoon chooses to follow the Dragoon of Light path, they train with a Bronze Dragon. So their skills mimic those of a bronze dragon such as Lightning Breath and bonuses while fighting in water.

On the other hand if a Dragoon chooses to follow the Blight Dragoon path, they stalk and hunt Black Dragons. (This is due to the fact that the characters village was destroyed by a Black Dragon.) He doesn't learn how to fight from the Black Dragon. He learns how to survive when fighting one. This is why he has increased mobility and acid resistance. Black Dragons are swamp creatures and to battle one effectively you will want to be able to move freely in the swamp. You also need to be able to defend vs its primary attack, acid. You will also notice that the Blight Dragoon has a lot of "random" effects. This is due to the fact that it is a chaotic path.

Remember, the goal is "Great power at a price". One way or another, channeling the power of the dragons is not easy. This is why there are a lot of Discard and Bury effects.

Dark Archive

Is this dragoon class based on the Legend of Dragoon game?


This is quite a strong design, especially for you first go. I wouldn't feel bad testing as is. However, I do have a few recommendations. Also, your terminology is off and I'll try to give advice to clean that up.

1. Your skills and feats are balanced and well rounded. I wouldn't change a thing

2. You have 12 card feats, the proper number is 10.

3. You don't have proficiencies listed. I assume he has all of them, but that's important to know.

4. For Slayer, the wording 'for your combat check' has a particular rules meaning. It is the primary die for your check, and you can't use another card with 'for your combat check. I'd word it as: Add 1d4 (2d4) to your combat check that has or is against a card with the dragon trait.

5. For your second power, your character doesn't actually gain traits. The way you word it is you add those traits to your check. I'd change it to something like this: Reveal a card to use d12 instead of your normal die for a Strength (Or Constitution) check and add the Dragon trait. If the revealed card has the Polearm trait, you may recharge it, otherwise bury it.

6. Your jump power has some odd wording, but nothing major. It's a nice representation of the power

7. Your dragon breath doesn't need to have the note about weapons. Since it is for your combat check already, there are very few ( if any) weapons that could be used. Also, with you already having good melee, I don't know how useful that power is, but time will tell

8. Im assuming water power is supposed to be a random card, like most healing powers. If not, I'll have to reevaluate it, but it looks good

9. I have to admit, I'm not a fan of shadow power. I don't like random effects. If i were you, I'd remove the random element, and just weaken the bonus for having the right kind of card. That said, there's nothing rules-wise that is inherently wrong with it, so if you like it go for it

10. I may be wrong on this, but discard from top feels a bit weak for this effect. Recharge from top might be too spammable, but since you move to their location, there's an inherent limit on the number of uses, and might be worth trying. If not thAt, recharging a card from hand is always a classic. I really love the flavor of this ability, so I just want to make sure it's something you'd want

11. Recharge to explore is a powerful effect, but this is probably situational enough that you'll be fine. One to watch, though, as it might be too good

12. The acid resistance is just too weak. I'd ditch the random, and just let you recharge any. I'd also consider dropping the recharge entirely and just give a base resist 1, similar to RotF Seoni

Okay, I think that's everythjng. Hope that helps!


Thank you so much for all the feedback isaic16. I took most of your advice. It turns out I didn't have 12 card feats I just had a formatting error and that was actually Hand Size.

For the Blight Dragoon and random effects issue. It is more of a theme thing. Blight Dragoon is Chaotic and somewhat unpredictable. He spends his life in dark swamps hunting Black Dragons. He has seen some pretty nasty stuff and it has changed him.

For Dragonfire Dive I chose to leave it for now. If the Dragoon is using the skill a lot and takes some damage, he may die. However if it still feels too strong after some testing I may change it to something like this.

(Dragonfire Dive) Reveal a random card to add 1d4 to a combat check at another location and you may move to that location. ([] If the card was a weapon add an additional 1d4.) Recharge the revealed card.

If you do play this class, please let me know how it goes!!!

Skills

Str - d10 ([] +1) ([] +2) ([] +3) ([] +4)
Melee: Str +1

Dex - d8 ([] +1) ([] +2) ([] +3)
Acrobatics: Dex +2

Con - d8 ([] +1) ([] +2) ([] +3) ([] +4)
Fortitude: Con +2

Int - d4 ([] +1)

Wis - d6 ([] +1) ([] +2)

Chr - d6 ([] +1)

Cards

Weapons - 4 ([] +1) ([] +2) ([] +3)

Spells - 0

Armor - 2 ([] +1) ([] +2)

Items - 3 ([] +1) ([] +2) ([] +3)

Allies - 2 ([] +1)

Blessings - 4 ([] +1)

Powers

Hand Size: 4 ([] +1) ([] +2)

Proficient with: Light Armor - Weapons

(Slayer) Add 1d4 ([] 2d4) to your combat check that has or is against the Dragon trait.

(Dragon Power) Reveal a card to use d12 instead of your normal die for a Strength ([]or Constitution) check and add the Dragon trait. If the revealed card has the Polearm trait, you may recharge it, otherwise bury it.

Dragoon of Light - Hand Size - 4 ([] +1) ([] +2) ([] +3)

(Slayer) Add 1d4 ([] 2d4) ([] 3d4)to your combat check that has or is against the Dragon trait.

(Dragon Power) Reveal a card to use d12 instead of your normal die for a Strength ([]or Constitution) check and add the Dragon ([] and Magic) trait. If the revealed card has the Polearm trait, you may recharge it, otherwise bury it.

(Super Jump) You may discard a weapon ([] recharge if it has the Polearm trait) to evade an encounter. If it was a bane with the Aquatic trait you may explore again.

(Lightning Breath) For your combat check you may discard a card to use your Constitution +1d6 ([] 2d6) and add the Dragon, and Lightning traits.

(Water Combat) You may recharge a random card from your discard pile when you defeat a bane with the aquatic trait.

Blight Dragoon - Hand Size - 4 ([] +1) ([] +2)

(Slayer) Add 1d4 ([] 2d4) to your combat check that has or is against the Dragon trait.

(Dragon Power) Reveal a card to use d12 instead of your normal die for a Strength ([]or Constitution) check and add the Dragon ([] and Magic) trait. If the revealed card has the Polearm trait, you may recharge it, otherwise bury it.

(Shadow Power) If you used the above power you may reveal a random card from your hand. If it is a weapon display it and add 2d4 to your combat check; otherwise add 1d4.([] if it is a blessing discard it and recharge 2 random cards from your discard pile.)

(Dragonfire Dive) You may discard the top card of your deck to add 1d4 to a combat check at another location and you may move to that location. ([] If the card was a weapon add an additional 1d4).

(Water Walk) When you defeat a bane with the Aquatic ([] or Dragon) trait on your first exploration you may recharge a random card to explore again.

(Resist Decay) Reduce Acid or Poison damage by 1.


Deiros wrote:
Is this dragoon class based on the Legend of Dragoon game?

No, this is based off of the Dragoons in Final Fantasy.


Anyone have anymore feedback on this class?

Grand Lodge

I like it! Kain is one of my favorite characters in all of Final Fantasy, so I DO have a soft spot for Dragoons. :)

I think your implementation of chaotic effects is interesting. Maybe if Shadow Power used the top card of your deck, like Dragonfire Dive does, it could benefit from some synergy with other characters' powers. I know some of them allow you to examine the top card of your deck.


I don't play much Final Fantasy, but if the character has a connection with dragons, it might be interesting to add something like this to either/both role cards:

"Add 1d4 ([] 2d4) to your combat check ([] or any check) that has or is against the Dragon trait."

because there are certain allies in later decks with the dragon trait. Might be cool.

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