Well howdy, folks!
I haven't started many threads before, but I'm looking at Dragon Disciple in the book and I really want to love it. I'm trying HARD to love it. I like it? I..... I dunno.
I want to build a Dragon Disciple using nothing but Pathfinder Books (companions, core book) that will be able to hold it's own. I've always seen it as a Prestige Class for Sorceror/Monks more then for anything else. I've never played one before, and I'm toying around with some ideas, but what do YOU all think are good builds for a dragon disciple? I'm sure I'm missing something obvious that DD is really good for beyond multi-classing sorceror with a melee class.
you want to love it ? you either like it or don't, I have little interest in persuading you on request...
Well question 1, what is your goal here.
Do you want to make a primary melee combatant? Or a primary caster who can hold their own if called upon? The build would be different for both.
For instance I am running right now a Sorc5 DD 5 that makes an excellent front line meleer, but I chose to make str and con my primary ability scores, meaning my charisma and DC's are lower then normal. So my spells are mostly buffs, and therefore my offense comes from my melee attacks.
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I have heard that the Barbarian/Draconic Bloodline Sorcerer is fun to play. It makes for a high HP bruiser with some magic ability.
I'm currently playing a Bard 8/Dragon Disciple 1, which is fun 'cuz he gets spells not normally accessable to bards plus it fits the character (he's a kobold).
Not sure if it's the most optimal build kind of class, but it's fun!
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I've also tried hard to love it. Bard isn't a bad choice to start with. Your spell casting isn't as good as a Sorcerer but if you were going to try and fight you'll be well served by the Bards ability to wear light armor (and therefor mithril medium armor with a feat) and use shields without penalty. Using a longsword and shield will prevent use of your claw attacks but not your bite and you'll have decent damage and AC, especially with the natural armor from DD. And Inspire Courage +2 is kind of nice for a decent sized party not to mention all the other buffs a Bard has at his disposal.
Another option is Summoner if your campaign allows the playtest classes. You lose out on a lot of good stuff like improving your Eidolon and the effectiveness of your Summon Monster SLA. But you can still use light armor without penalty and a Summoner 5 can pretty much turn his Eidolon into a spell battery that can cast Enlarge Person and Haste 3/day as SLAs. Remaining points can go into flight to keep the little guy out of danger or more SLAs. Great buffs for yourself and your party at no action cost to you.
If you do not mind being LG. AN amazing build is a Paladin 2 Sorcerer X [enough to get into DD] (dragon bloodline (gold or silver)) Dragon Disciple Y...take a look at it its mean....
Remco - Thanks for letting me know that you don't want to write anything by...writing something?
Kolokotroni - I guess I'd like to see what the class can do when engineered in either direction. Kind of a conceptual exploration of the mechanics. I think it's always better to talk to people that have played the class out some rather then make blind assumptions.
Xuttah - Yeah I've been playing around with that very idea...Barb/Sorc/DD seems like it could be interesting. Bard/DD, huh? Thad DOES sound like fun, what have you done with him so far?
Yuengling and larcifer - sound advice. I really like the idea of a paladin/sorc/dd silver dragon. That's pretty bad A#$. Summoner seems like a good idea too for a more casting oriented DD. Either of you played those ideas out? What did you take for feats/traits?
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Yuengling and larcifer - sound advice. I really like the idea of a paladin/sorc/dd silver dragon. That's pretty bad A#$.
The problem with this plan is that you have to dedicate feats to Arcane Armor Training and Mastery in order to cast without risking spell failure. Because of the Caster Level 3 and 7 prereqs respectively, you're going to be behind on AC and feats for a long time. You'll have a few Lay on Hands to heal yourself, though, so taking a few hits is not so bad.
Summoner seems like a good idea too for a more casting oriented DD. Either of you played those ideas out? What did you take for feats/traits?
I haven't gotten to the level with my Summoner where I could but I have considered it. My Summoner already focuses on front line fighting and buffs himself pretty well with access to Shield and Enlarge. You'll have Haste too before you go into DD. Having a Spell Casting Eidolon means you don't have to use your own actions to cast buffs and can instead get in there and bite and stab to your hearts content. For feats at lvl 5 (just before DD becomes available) I'd have Martial Proficiency (human feat), Dodge, Arcane Strike, and Medium Armor Proficiency (for a mithril breastplate). An alternative would be Half Ork and drop Martial Proficiency for the Falchion you're automatically proficient with. With the handy spells from the Eidolon and the Stat boosts from DD you'd be a pretty nice combat machine.
Well my character is a little skewed. We houseruled the claws back to the way they were in the beta (unlimited uses per day) which changes how I would build the character.
Without unlimited claws I would highly recommend either taking a weapon profficiency feat, or a level of a melee class for the martial weapon profficiency. If you like the idea of being a LG Dragon Disciple, paladin is a great route to go.
Feats: Weapon Focus, Power Attack, Dodge are all good. No matter what kind of caster you go make sure you try and get haste as soon as possible, it will be your bread and butter.
I would probably recommend summoner over bard if you dont want to go with sorceror. You can give your eidolon spell like abilities, so it can buff you, and you can use it as a sheild/flanker. With summoner I would only take 1-7 of dragondisciple then go back into summoner to continue improving my eidolon.
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Xuttah - Yeah I've been playing around with that very idea...Barb/Sorc/DD seems like it could be interesting. Bard/DD, huh? Thad DOES sound like fun, what have you done with him so far?
Cast fly! :) He just took the first level of DD, so he's mostly just been taking advantage of the bonus spells. His role is skirmisher and buff/debuffer for the party, so there are some good possibilities.
Cast fly! :) He just took the first level of DD, so he's mostly just been taking advantage of the bonus spells.
Xuttah - Yeah I've been playing around with that very idea...Barb/Sorc/DD seems like it could be interesting. Bard/DD, huh? Thad DOES sound like fun, what have you done with him so far?
Hm. Under my interpretation of Dragon Disciple, you would get Fly as a bonus spell when your dragon disciple and sorcerer levels stack up to 7 (which wouldn't be for a long time).
To address, the original poster, Dragon Disciple is a fine class as long as you keep in mind that it's a class for melee fighters, not spellcasters.
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Hm. Under my interpretation of Dragon Disciple, you would get Fly as a bonus spell when your dragon disciple and sorcerer levels stack up to 7 (which wouldn't be for a long time).
From my take on it, you get the bonus spells if you have spell slots of the appropriate level available. As slots open up, you get the bonus spells. That being said, Bards don't get slots above level 6, so they loose out on the higher level bonus spells.
Cast fly! :) He just took the first level of DD, so he's mostly just been taking advantage of the bonus spells.
Xuttah - Yeah I've been playing around with that very idea...Barb/Sorc/DD seems like it could be interesting. Bard/DD, huh? Thad DOES sound like fun, what have you done with him so far?Hm. Under my interpretation of Dragon Disciple, you would get Fly as a bonus spell when your dragon disciple and sorcerer levels stack up to 7 (which wouldn't be for a long time).
To address, the original poster, Dragon Disciple is a fine class as long as you keep in mind that it's a class for melee fighters, not spellcasters.
As that's your idea of the class, why would you go straight Sorc/DD then? Wouldn't it always be a better idea to splash sorceror with melee classes before taking it then?
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From my take on it, you get the bonus spells if you have spell slots of the appropriate level available. As slots open up, you get the bonus spells. That being said, Bards don't get slots above level 6, so they loose out on the higher level bonus spells.
Hm. Under my interpretation of Dragon Disciple, you would get Fly as a bonus spell when your dragon disciple and sorcerer levels stack up to 7 (which wouldn't be for a long time).
My reading also follows Hogarth's. I see no reason why Bard levels would stack with Sorcerer's for the lvl 7 requirement for Fly as a bonus spell.
Yeah, that's one of the best things about the forums, people who have way more discerning eyes than I do. Does the DD's/Sorc's ability to pop claws count as casting a spell? I could see this having some fun with a charged touch attack spell, but I was wondering if the claws coming out would disrupt it.
Well my character is a little skewed. We houseruled the claws back to the way they were in the beta (unlimited uses per day) which changes how I would build the character.
Without unlimited claws I would highly recommend either taking a weapon profficiency feat, or a level of a melee class for the martial weapon profficiency. If you like the idea of being a LG Dragon Disciple, paladin is a great route to go.
Feats: Weapon Focus, Power Attack, Dodge are all good. No matter what kind of caster you go make sure you try and get haste as soon as possible, it will be your bread and butter.
I would probably recommend summoner over bard if you dont want to go with sorceror. You can give your eidolon spell like abilities, so it can buff you, and you can use it as a sheild/flanker. With summoner I would only take 1-7 of dragondisciple then go back into summoner to continue improving my eidolon.
Paladin/Summoner/DD is a real blast. Playtested one at various levels. Very good combo.
Paladin/Summoner/DD is a real blast. Playtested one at various levels. Very good combo.Well my character is a little skewed. We houseruled the claws back to the way they were in the beta (unlimited uses per day) which changes how I would build the character.
Without unlimited claws I would highly recommend either taking a weapon profficiency feat, or a level of a melee class for the martial weapon profficiency. If you like the idea of being a LG Dragon Disciple, paladin is a great route to go.
Feats: Weapon Focus, Power Attack, Dodge are all good. No matter what kind of caster you go make sure you try and get haste as soon as possible, it will be your bread and butter.
I would probably recommend summoner over bard if you dont want to go with sorceror. You can give your eidolon spell like abilities, so it can buff you, and you can use it as a sheild/flanker. With summoner I would only take 1-7 of dragondisciple then go back into summoner to continue improving my eidolon.
What did you do with it? How did you use the eidolon, and what did the stat's look like? Just curious.
Yeah, that's one of the best things about the forums, people who have way more discerning eyes than I do. Does the DD's/Sorc's ability to pop claws count as casting a spell? I could see this having some fun with a charged touch attack spell, but I was wondering if the claws coming out would disrupt it.
No the claws would not cause the a held touch spell to disappate. It is not casting a spell. And ofcourse you can deliver touch spells with claw attacks, which is great at low levels with spells like chill touch.
Well, a lot of dragon disciples belong to one of two basic concepts:
One is the not-quite-full-time caster (you lose 3 caster levels over time, meaning you won't get 9th-level magic at all without epic levels, and of course the sorcerer's lagging access to spell levels is only worsened) who trades in spellpower for some martial prowess and resilience, and of course some cool abilities.
I'd consider that one better than a 50/50 warrior/arcanist - you get something like 3/4 magic (you lose 3 caster levels and one level of magic, not full, but still better than, say, a bard), and a bit more than 50% martial prowess (In the end, your BAB is a bit worse than a cleric's, but better than a sorcerer's; you effectively get a d9 as HP, and you do get some extra strength and constitution, some natural armour, and some nice wings that last all day).
The other way is to go almost full-blown warrior: You can qualify for this PrC with as little as one level of sorcerer. Combine that with 4 levels of paladin, add dragon disciple until you're done with the class, and finish up with paladin. You'll only go up to 4th-level magic this way (which you'll use to enhance your melee prowess and shore up your defenses), but your martial prowess will be considerable: You get to use your charisma to the hilt, and while your BAB is little better than a rogue's, you are stronger and tougher than your full-fledged warrior peers (due to your draconic blood), and get to augment your physical power with not one but two kinds of magic.
We recently faced a dragon disciple of the latter variety. Extremely tough.
What did you do with it? How did you use the eidolon, and what did the stat's look like? Just curious.
Paladin/Summoner/DD is a real blast. Playtested one at various levels. Very good combo.
I took two levels of Paladin for all the good stuff then swoped out to Summoner until 8th then started up on the DD.
The Eidolon was the Paladin's mount (I know, how original) and the Summoner's spells concentrated on buffing the PC in a gishy way. He is an effective combatant thanks to his spells and the DD hit dice. At higher levels it is worth grabbing Silent Spell and filling the higher level slots and stomping around in heavier armor.The Paladin levels give some useful skills which the Summoner lacks and gives another reason to max out CHA.
Overall I see no reason at all not to take two levels of Paladin with the Summoner as it improves the class no end IMO.
EDIT
As a class I dislike the Summoner as the PC is doing little other than buffing and supplying the Elodion. As a player I don't want my "animal companion" taking all the glory and I felt that taking the two levels of Paladin gave the extra dimension to the class which as a player I needed for it to work for me.
To address, the original poster, Dragon Disciple is a fine class as long as you keep in mind that it's a class for melee fighters, not spellcasters.As that's your idea of the class, why would you go straight Sorc/DD then?
I wouldn't.
Wouldn't it always be a better idea to splash sorceror with melee classes before taking it then?
Yes; I'd probably take only a couple of levels of sorcerer or bard (or summoner, maybe).
...Because of the Caster Level 3 and 7 prereqs respectively...
Dragon Disciple only requires casting 1st Level Arcane spells spontaneously, and 5 ranks of Know: Arcana which any class can take. Alot of people seem to be under the impression that many Caster Levels are required to take DD, which is untrue. This is the big difference between DD and Eldritch Knight, ElK DOES need those Caster Levels, while DD does not.
For a Magic-Assisted Fighter Type, I would go for: Sorceror 1, Fighter | Barbarian X , Dragon Disciple X (up to 8)
Fighter/ Barbarian levels can be mixed easily, though focusing on one more than the other, is probably ideal. You will have slightly lower BAB than Fighter types, but between up to 4th level spells, Good Will and Fort Saves, STR and CON boosts, AC boosts (between the DD boosts themselves and the Bloodline which DD also progresses), Blindsense, Flight, Breath Weapon, and some Bloodline Feats on top, you should well be able to contribute on par with other melee combatants.
The round-limited claws make putting a signifigant investment of gear and feats into improving them an exercise in frustration, as weapons like Falchion are generally MORE effective and un-limited in usage. Gaining the Bite attack is where it becomes more useful, since you can Bite in ADDITION to your normal Iterative attacks (and the Bite uses STRx1.5), so at that point grabbing a +1 Nat. Attack Amulet is reasonable as well as Improved Crit: Bite (or putting Keen on the Amulet), remembering this investment only pays off on Full Attacks (and when you're Disarmed/ can't use your weapon, say because it's 2-Handed in a Grapple)
If you're taking signfigant Barbarian levels, Arcane Armor Training/Mastery are absolute no-no's because they conflict with your Rage Powers @ Swift Actions. If your melee levels are all Fighter (or only 1 or 2 Barbarian levels), then your Swift Actions should be mostly free (and you have plenty of Feats), making Arcane Armor Training/Mastery a workable option. If you're not taking AAT/M, I'd recommend either using as many non-Somatic spells as you can, or focus on out-of-combat buffs that if they fail you can just re-cast them at the loss of the spell slot, or rely on DEX + Natural Armor + Shield Spell + Mage Armor + Displacement/ Mirror Image. A Metamagic Rod of Extend (or two) will serve you well if you go that route (and will probably work well whatever route you choose AC-wise).
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Dragon Disciple only requires casting 1st Level Arcane spells spontaneously, and 5 ranks of Know: Arcana which any class can take. Alot of people seem to be under the impression that many Caster Levels are required to take DD, which is untrue. This is the big difference between DD and Eldritch Knight, ElK DOES need those Caster Levels, while DD does not.
I feel like you didn't read the whole sentence you quoted. I was talking about the prerequisites for Arcane Armor Training/Mastery, not entry to DD. Which are pretty important feats if you take levels of Fighter or Paladin prior to entry to DD. That's why I think Bard and Summoner are the only reasonable classes to start your caster level(s) in. Otherwise you end up with a lot of spells but wildly underpar fighting ability. With the exception of the additional caster levels (which you'd get more of staying in your casting class), DD gives you nothing that benefits spell casting. It does give you pretty awesome benefits to fighting ability, especially the first 4 levels. For fighting you'll want armor. And for armor, you should seriously consider some that won't bone your spells sideways.
I feel like you didn't read the whole sentence you quoted. I was talking about the prerequisites for Arcane Armor Training/Mastery, not entry to DD. Which are pretty important feats if you take levels of Fighter or Paladin prior to entry to DD.
I don't think they're terribly important for a pure melee character. You could easily have a Dragon Disciple who never casts spells at all, in fact, or who just sticks to the occasional True Strike spell in combat (which has no somatic component).
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I don't think they're terribly important for a pure melee character. You could easily have a Dragon Disciple who never casts spells at all, in fact, or who just sticks to the occasional True Strike spell in combat (which has no somatic component).
Didn't know that about True Strike. I'd been meaning to get a detailed inventory of spells without somatic components.
Anyway, I guess I don't care much for caster levels if I can't cast the spells. You are, in a sense, paying for an ability you aren't using like a Paladin with a Charisma mod of +0.
I feel like you didn't read the whole sentence you quoted.
Gotcha. This thread is more complicated than I first thought :-)
I think going 'naked' with Mage Armor + Shield + Deflection + Natural Armor + Miss Chance is a decent strategy (supplemented w/ Pearls of Power, and Extend Rods eventually) to carry thru lower levels, and if you really want AAT/M, you can get it at higher levels with 3rd level spells from just DD itself (+1 level Sorceror/Bard), rather than worrying about grabbing Spell Levels BEFORE you get DD/ melee levels.
I do agree AAT/M can work very well for a Sor1/FtrX/DD/X because they have the Feats to spare and little need for Swift Actions. Feats are alot dearer for Barbarian DD's which is really the main thing against AAT/M for me, but there's definitely many decent Powers that aren't Swift/Immediates, and if you don't cast your Spells WHILE you're fighting (i.e. focus on Self Buffs/Utility before you enter battle), you don't even have a real conflict with the Swift/Immediate Powers. (Wands of course aren't effected by ASF)
Definitely takes some planning either way.
Hey have not checked in for a bit.
I take feats that boost Intimidation and the new effects based off intimidate (shatter defenses, ect don't forget COrugon Smash from the Cheliax companion is neat. Traits (take adopted and there is a Taldor 1'2 orc feat that gets u a bonus to intimidate, or be a half orc and get this trait and the 1/s orc bonus to. As for Casting with armor, you are level 3 once u have spell since 1st 2 levels are paladin, and focus on spells with only the Verbal component (true strike is a good one at level 1) if u get access to other books (Spell Compendium, then it gets silly). Seriously look through the spells and the companions for V only spells there are a lot of them. Once u get into DD you can decide to forgoe the armor and use Magic and the natural armor. Here is the win:
Smite +form of the dragon, + haste= a lot of shredding!
Have I played this build, yes, and its very powerful.
Another option is using a ring of force shield, since it doesn't impede spellcasting, and just taking a splash into sorcerer after grabbing your melee class. Maybe your AC isn't that high, but with a little UMD magic you can displace yourself before a big fight, or just cast darkness before wading in.
Intimidating would also be a good plan.
I have heard that the Barbarian/Draconic Bloodline Sorcerer is fun to play. It makes for a high HP bruiser with some magic ability.
I'm currently playing a Bard 8/Dragon Disciple 1, which is fun 'cuz he gets spells not normally accessable to bards plus it fits the character (he's a kobold).
Not sure if it's the most optimal build kind of class, but it's fun!
*squeeky voice* Deekin?
Alright...so taking the advice I found on this thread I decided to draw up a Sorc - 2 Paladin - 2 for a game and I'll open it up to DD later. The claw attacks were useful (and because of the high cha/str on the character I had a lot of rounds of it, and a good smite) but I was hurting on the AC. I took mage armor, and a trait that gave me +2 caster levels up to my HD (so a full 4th caster level). I snagged the other trait that increases caster level by 1 for a 0th and 1st level spell, and was using shocking grasp to swing for an extra 5d6 electricity when it was convenient.
It was interesting (shame I wasn't a few levels higher so I could have started DD). Thanks for sharing what you've all done with DD so far, I appreciate it.
What about viability for a monk build?
What about viability for a monk build?
Monks are crazy MAD already, having to also bump up Charisma (a usual dumpstat for Monks) makes this a very difficult build to make unless you are playing with extremely high point buy games.
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*squeeky voice* Deekin?
Very not. Actually never heard of the guy prior to designing the character. Originally based heavily on Invader Zim, only competant and (slightly) less egomaniacal.
I had a Monk1/Sorc1/Barb (or Fighter) X/ DD X build that worked well enough. Monk1 has great Saves and actually alot of Feats, which make it worthwhile if you would otherwise consider getting IUS and Imp Grapple via Feats.
But it's not worth it going further... Have fun with the DD though.
Summoner would be an interesting way to go. Dragon Disciple doesn't advance the Eidolon, but the Aspect ability of Summoners has some interesting theoretical uses with DD and even a mid-level Eidolon is as feasible as a higher-level Animal Companion.
if you don't care about 4 caster levels, try Paladin 2 / Sorcerer 4 / DD 4 / Eldritch knight 10
or the clasic way: Bard 7 / DD 8 / Bard 5
The likelihood of the Eidolon being signficantly nerfed in the finished APG seems extremely high. If your GM is likely to let you use the Playtest version for the duration of the campaign then it's a possible option but it seems like so much of the Summoner's power is wrapped up in his pet that failing to advance it is kinda defeating the purpose.
Paladin 4/Sorceror 1/DD X has good saves and you can focus on having a monster Charisma score. Smite is helpful but will lag behind in utility after a while. It is nice to be able to use Clerical spell trigger items without needing to use UMD though.
Unfortunately Paladin has a really good level 2 power (Divine Grace) but Paladin 2/Sorceror 3/DD x is pretty much pants as you don't get 2nd level spells until CL 7.
I wanna point out with this build WISDOM is the dump stat (between divine grace and the Pally/Sorc having a strong will save, a 7 wisdom really does not hurt after level 2 Pally. Just invest in some perception ranks (Sorc bloodline draconic has Perception as a class skill +3 there yay off set the wis penalty).
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Not all classes are for everyone. The Summoner is for those folks who always wanted to be YuiGiOh.. or whathisname Pokemon. For those in that catergory the Summoner can be a blast.
- a jillion
There are dozens of other possibilities for an Eidolon other than Pikachu. With a decent BAB and arguably the best list of spells for a partial caster in the whole game, there's a lot you can do. As I noted up thread, by level 5, you can make your Eidolon into little more than a battery of spells and actions to buff the Summoner/DD. No Poke-crap to be seen.
Not all classes are for everyone. The Summoner is for those folks who always wanted to be YuiGiOh.. or whathisname Pokemon. For those in that catergory the Summoner can be a blast.
As a class I dislike the Summoner as the PC is doing little other than buffing and supplying the Elodion. As a player I don't want my "animal companion" taking all the glory and I felt that taking the two levels of Paladin gave the extra dimension to the class which as a player I needed for it to work for me.
But like I said I found the way to make it interesting (for me anyway) was the two levels of Paladin. DD kept the caster levels for the Summoner going and the Elodion was his animal companion. Wisdom was really the dump stat. It gave me the skills I wanted (Diplomacy, Sense Motive, etc.)
What about viability for a monk build?Monks are crazy MAD already, having to also bump up Charisma (a usual dumpstat for Monks) makes this a very difficult build to make unless you are playing with extremely high point buy games.
I have a monk 4/sorcerer 1 who is going to go into Dragon Disciple, and he has a Charisma of 12. That should keep him satisfied until level 11, which is higher than 90+% of D&D games I've ever played.
The important things I noted:
- The first four levels of Dragon Disciple give +5 to attacks (+3 bab, +2 str), +2 to AC (not counting Mage Armor or Shield, etc.), +2 to damage, a bonus feat, some spellcasting, and some other random stuff
- Four levels of Monk give (roughly) +4 to attacks, +1 to AC, +1 to damage, a bonus feat, maybe an extra flurry attack, and some other random stuff
Sounds like at worst a toss-up to me.
What about viability for a monk build?Monks are crazy MAD already, having to also bump up Charisma (a usual dumpstat for Monks) makes this a very difficult build to make unless you are playing with extremely high point buy games.I have a monk 4/sorcerer 1 who is going to go into Dragon Disciple, and he has a Charisma of 12. That should keep him satisfied until level 11, which is higher than 90+% of D&D games I've ever played.
The important things I noted:
- The first four levels of Dragon Disciple give +5 to attacks (+3 bab, +2 str), +2 to AC (not counting Mage Armor or Shield, etc.), +2 to damage, a bonus feat, some spellcasting, and some other random stuff
- Four levels of Monk give (roughly) +4 to attacks, +1 to AC, +1 to damage, a bonus feat, maybe an extra flurry attack, and some other random stuff
Sounds like at worst a toss-up to me.
That sounds interesting. What other stats did you decide upon? What where your feat choices? I always thought the idea of a Monk/Sorc/DD was cool. What did you snag for your starting spells? Mage Armor & Shield, or something a little more esoteric?
I wanna point out with this build WISDOM is the dump stat (between divine grace and the Pally/Sorc having a strong will save, a 7 wisdom really does not hurt after level 2 Pally. Just invest in some perception ranks (Sorc bloodline draconic has Perception as a class skill +3 there yay off set the wis penalty).
That's what I'd found to work as well, from an optimization standpoint. It was kind of fun to play a bumbling paladin who was smart enough to figure things out but oafish enough to fall flat on his face anwyay. Played him a lot like Kronk from Emperor's New Groove.
That sounds interesting. What other stats did you decide upon? What where your feat choices? I always thought the idea of a Monk/Sorc/DD was cool. What did you snag for your starting spells? Mage Armor & Shield, or something a little more esoteric?
I took Mage Armor and Enlarge Person for spells; I have some scrolls of Shield and a wand of Mirror Image. See here for details: http://paizo.com/people/Finn
Note that it's an Eberron character with some Eberron-specific feats (some action point feats and the ability to flurry with a longspear), but those feats aren't particularly essential.
That sounds interesting. What other stats did you decide upon? What where your feat choices? I always thought the idea of a Monk/Sorc/DD was cool. What did you snag for your starting spells? Mage Armor & Shield, or something a little more esoteric?
I took Mage Armor and Enlarge Person for spells; I have some scrolls of Shield and a wand of Mirror Image. See here for details: http://paizo.com/people/Finn
Note that it's an Eberron character with some Eberron-specific feats (some action point feats and the ability to flurry with a longspear), but those feats aren't particularly essential.
Thanks Hogarth, that looks really good. I think I like Enlarge as a 1st level spell better then shield myself. It's cool that you have a profile for that, I like seeing the numbers laid out.
Jumping into this late but we have a member of our party who's done a lot with melee-styled Dragon Disciples and I wanted to offer up a few insights.
First of all as a primarily Summoner player, don't use Summon as your casting class. Summoners are one of the few classes that 1) hurt you as a multi-classing option and 2) are infinitely more powerful when played straight up. If you are going DD, then you need to go Draconic Sorcerer or nothing.
Secondly, there are really two ways to go (assuming you want a character who is potent in melee and magic both):
As a Paladin with Gold or Silver dragon ancestry - obviously you would have to be comfortable with the strictures of playing a Paladin to take this route but its a very good one.
As a Barbarian, and my recommendation would be an Invulnerable Rager. A little DR can go a long way. You can stack that with an Urban Barbarian who offers unparalleled versatility. Your Rage power should be 'Auspicious Mark' which can combine with the Urban Barbaian's Focused Rage power for some very nifty tricks.
Following the second path, we have a character who is using a build slated to be a Barbarian 2 / Sorcerer 10 (Draconic Bloodline) / Dragon Disciple 8. He has also made the character a half-orc and has taken the Eldritch Heritage feats for the Orcish bloodline as well. The great thing about going this route is the long term bonuses to Natural Armor and Strength. The build looks something like this (I'm doing this from memory so bear with me):
Half-Orc 2nd level Barbarian (Urban Barbarian, Invulnerable Rager)
/ 10th level Sorcerer / 8th level Dragon Disciple
Attributes:
STR - 17 (+2 racial bonus, +1 at 4th, +2 at 7th, 9th, 11th, 15th and 17th)
DEX - 12
CON - 14 (+2 at 11th)
INT - 12 (+2 at 13th)
WIS - 8
CHA - 14 (+1 at 8th, 12th 16th and 20th)
Natural Armor (+1 at 5th, 6th, 9th, 11th, 12th, +2 at 13th and 17th)
Traits:
Magical Knack
Berserker of the Society
Sacred Tattoo (racial alternative trait)
Feats:
1st Bn1 - Extra Rage
2nd Bn2
3rd S1 - Skill Focus: Survival, Eschew Materials
4th S2
5th S3 - Eldritch Heritage: Orc Bloodline (Touch of Rage)
6th DD1
7th DD2 - Furious Focus, Power Attack*
8th DD3
9th DD4 - Cornugon Smash
10th DD5 - Improved Initiative*
11th DD6 - Improved Eldritch Heritage: Orc Bloodline (Strength of the Beast)
12th DD7
13th DD8 - Improved Eldritch Heritage: Orc Bloodline (Fearless), Toughness*
14th S4
15th S5 - Intimidating Prowess
16th S6
17th S7 - Greater Eldritch Heritage: Orc Bloodline (Power of Giants), Quicken Spell*
18th S8
19th S9 - Dazing Spell or Dreadful Carnage
20th S10
* - Bloodline feat
Obviously you'll want to take Intimidate as a skill with this build. By 17th level the character will have a 30 Strength (before magic items) that can be boosted to 36 when using his Power of Giants ability that also grants increased weapon size, reach, a further boost to natural armor and a Constitution buff pretty much any time you engage in melee. Stack that with a Transformation spell for more or less Godly status. By then he'll also be casting spells like 13th level Sorcerer but at a 15th level CL, giving you a lot of blast or buff options. By level 20 he's casting spells like a 16th level Sorcerer but at an 18th level CL to complement his tank-like combat status.
The player has had an absolute blast playing this character and he has been incredibly effective - a couple of things to note though: I have no idea what is PFS legal and what isn't. This build sticks to PF-published rules but beyond that I can't say. We have house-ruled that natural armor bonuses and bonuses to natural armor (confusing to say the least) all stack, much like dodge bonuses do, which is obviously a boon to this character.
If you have any questions or comments please let me know.
EDIT: A few last things. There is an ongoing debate as to whether or not you can use Quicken Spell-like Ability on Touch of Rage so that you can use it on yourself in combat - I'd recommend you take the safe road and just assume no, but if your GM will allow it then its definitely something worth considering. Also, the trait Opportunistic Gambler would allow you to use it on yourself as well in a perfectly legal fashion, but its not a standard trait so you might want to check and see if your GM will allow that as well. If so it would be a VERY powerful option to consider.