Dragon Cult

[Val'bryn2]

Wanted to get a little bit of advice, I'm planning on doing an adventure path based around the red dragon Ashardalon from D&D, and was wondering how people would run a dragon cult, would people do more sorcerers or clerics, and what domains would be appropriate? They aren't worshipping a god, just a red dragon.

[Ryan Freire]

Sorcerers, Bloodragers, Dragon shaman druids, Hunters with pets with the draconic archetype.

Edit: blood of dragons has a ton of archetypes that are probably pretty bad for pcs but might be solid for antagonists and npcs

[blahpers]

Kobolds. Kobolds everywhere.

[Ryan Freire]

Find a copy of the old 2nd ed boxed set Dragon Mountain, where you get to ravage a pc group of level 10-15 with 3 hp kobolds.

[JiCi]

Legacy of Dragons has a TON of dragon-related stuffs :P

[lemeres]

Well, just remember- oracles are the class for characters that have had grand and mystical powers shoved crudely into their brains like an ice pick. And there is a dragon mystery for oracles.

So while you might not have the ability to get proper clerics, you can fake it by doing insane experiments with dragon blood and whatever ancient gizmos got dug up during the Red Queen's mad campaign.

In that line of thinking- how about a focus on alchemists? You could do mad scientists trying to follow a path of ascendance much like their idol (only they are looking at what they perceive as the next rung down from godhood- dragons). This can allow you to throw whatever scales you might feel like on pretty much anything- "a mad alchemist did it". Failed experiments made useful as meat shields and modestly successful processes turned into something marketable/useable as elite troops.

[Val'bryn2]

Good ideas, thanks. I was thinking Dragon Disciple for cult leaders, if you aren't a dragon, fake it. Oracle would be very appropriate.

[Ryan Freire]

Dragon Mystery Oracle

Dragon Shaman Druid

Draconic Bloodline Sorceror

Dragonheir scion fighter

Scaled fist monk

Dragonblood Chymist alchemist]

Eldritch Scion magus with a draconic bloodline

Draconic bloodline bloodrager

Draconic Shaman

Wyrm singer Skald

Draconic animal companions for any class with one, including paladin and cavalier

Here's a big ol pile of dragon themed stuff.

[Darigaaz the Igniter]

Don't forget regular tributes to the dragons, meeting/sacred areas with enough space for the big guy to land, and if going with Ashardalon specifically throw in some demonic stuff alongside the draconic.

[JiCi]

One of the more important officers should be a half-dragon ;)

[Val'bryn2]

I'm thinking of including the iconic dragon Flame, from the era of Dungeon print magazine, as a mid-boss. I don't want to go too heavy on the half dragons because they kind of overdid it in Bastion of Broken Souls.

[Mark Hoover 330]

I'll second the kobolds. Also remember that the NPC class Adept is a Wis-based spellcaster but they get a familiar and have a couple spells on their list that are strictly Arcane spells.

Also remember that Kobolds with NPC levels are Level -3 for their CR, not the standard Level -2.

This means, if you want a cultist that is a "cleric" of a dragon with a CR 5 you could build a Kobold Adept 5/Warrior 3. This gives them 4 feats, a familiar (which you could make a Mauler, make it a flying familiar, and then have it be the cultist's mount), BAB 5, a mix of Fort and Will saves, and access to decent weapon and armor choices. Add in that they can also cast a 5d4 Burning Hands spell or a single 4d6 Scorching Ray and you've got a decent CR5 threat, complete with thematic Fire effects for their red dragon patron.

As for non-kobolds, "cultist" kind of covers a pretty broad term. For example, there might be an arm of the cult that zealously worships their dragon-god, but the way they show their devotion is through increasing the ancient one's hoard. This group of "cultists" then is a guild of thieves, possibly led by a rogue/oracle or perhaps even a Sorcerer.

Other ideas for cultists: enforcers of the dragon (red dragons are usually depicted as pretty aggressive... fiery, one might say) that take levels in Inquisitor; evangelists of the cult spreading the good word taking levels in bard; lay members/NPCs all take levels of Expert using skills like Craft or Profession to keep the dragon in Masterworks; spies keeping an eye out for the cult's enemies with levels in skill-monkey type classes like Rogue, Bard, Investigator, etc.

Finally remember that the way Pathfinder works, folks can worship a non-god and get Profane/Divine spells from some other force/patron, or by the same token they might be devout to a specific deity but not cast spells at all. For example, the cult may be worshipping the red dragon as a symbol of draconic power; the clerics receive their spells technically from Dahak the evil dragon god in Golarion's pantheon, but they might not realize it.

So I guess this is a long, rambling way of saying, give your villains levels in whatever you think is appropriate to the encounters you want your PCs to have I guess. Sorry I wasn't more helpful.