Looking for some feedback on a custom Dragon Class I have been working on

[FingersCrossed]

I've been periodically working on a combination race/class for playing in Pathfinder that is basically playing a dragon. The problem with using any existing rules for playing a dragon in Pathfinder is that they don't really work, and I haven't seen a third party option that I liked or felt was balanced.

I've linked to what I have so far and I am curious if I can get some feedback as to the balance/feel of the class. There's still several things that I am leery about (such as the breath weapon being too powerful for a class feature). The goal was to keep the feel of playing a dragon while still having it be balanced for being a PC in a party.

Link

[Orthos]

FingersCrossed wrote:

I haven't seen a third party option that I liked or felt was balanced.

What are your thoughts on Rite Publishing's "In the Company of Dragons"?

[FingersCrossed]

I liked some of what they did, but I had issues with parts of it. I liked the amount of choices that they put into it, giving you different options.

Some of my problems with it (from a balance perspective) were:
-Very early access to unlimited flight (level 4)
-Early permanent size increases (Becoming large at level 8, huge at 12, etc)
-Full BAB, D12 Hitdice, and All good saves. I know that these are dragon traits, but it doesn't seem right for a PC to have all three of those
-If my understanding is correct, you start with an X-point buy, then get several stat increases as you level. It seems like there would be a good bit of stat inflation.

That being said, I liked the way that they approached the Draconic Weaponry/Defense/Gift as a way of giving you options as you level up. The compulsions are also an interesting faucet.

[Orthos]

Alright, fair. The early-flight and early-size increases aren't an issue for me personally, given that my group's homebrew setting has several races that get those as well, and IMO the rest is balanced by their lessened access to magic item slots that would normally provide similar benefits.

I'm mostly asking because I consider ITCOD to be the gold standard for PC dragons, so when I get a chance to look over your stuff (can't at the moment, at work) that's what I'll be comparing it to.

[FingersCrossed]

Ok, thank you!

Also, I had added/changed things to accomodate for Dragon's having less magic item slots, though I have yet to look through and figure out which magic item slots they have. ITCOD does have a pretty good list for Dragon based magic item slots.

The group I typically play with is much more concerned about things like size increases and early access to flight as there is very little 3rd party or homebrew going on in our games, so this was made with the thoughts that it would be adventuring with other PCs like a human fighter or a catfolk bard without being overpowered.

[Orthos]

Yeah we use a ton of 3rd-party stuff (pretty much my stance is "If it's on d20PFSRD it's okay to use") and a large array of homebrew races. I also have a rather unusual stance re: class balance ("it's not broken until it's on par/outdoing Cleric or Wizard"). So that 2cp for what it's worth.

[FingersCrossed]

When I'm GMing I'm usually really lenient with 3rd party stuff (since with a quick look over you usually can tell whether or not it's going to unbalance a game). The main concern for this dragon class for me are twofold:

1) Would it be overpowered and make the other group members feel like they aren't necessary? (I don't think so. I think at the moment it might actually be a bit weak with some of the limitations/stats I placed on it. Also, depending on what kind of dragon you choose, you can get a few fairly useless class features. I've tried to start with it being weaker because it's usually either to buff than nerf.)

2) Would it function and play like you would expect a dragon to function and play? I.E. Playing a dragon disciple doesn't really feel like playing a dragon, it feels like playing a human that wants to be a dragon (Which, it pretty much is, but I think you know what I mean).

[AwesomenessDog]

Generally speaking (as it was pointed out to me in a different thread) there really isn't a significant penalty for missing slots as I can have Bracers of the Archmagi for the same cost as Robes of the Archmagi, so I recommend doing something like a cost increase over slot items if you use them as a staple race.

For the size, flight, and HD/saves issues, what I have seen done best is to let players pick a second class and give them that class' HD, BAB, and Saves but the GM picks which ones based on the character of the dragon/the dragon's party roll, and make it so size increases at level 4 but they don't get flight then size begins increasing again at lvl 14 and every 2 level until 20 (translating the gift/attack/defense abilities should you choose).