Want to ride dragons?

Here you go, here's the introductory text from an upcoming PDF release from Skortched Urf and Otherverse Games: The Dragonbound Core Class. Twenty levels of dragon-riding asskickery. I had a great time writing this sourcebook, because I was able to make the dragon more than just a class feature, to give the dragons real flavor and personality. Writing the sourcebook from the perspective of a real world pet owner really helps, I think. Anyway, it's going to be an awesome release, and I have a feeling that it will turn into one of our best sellers. Enjoy.....

CHRIS

Anne McCaffrey’s Dragonriders of Pern series remains one of fantasy’s most enduring franchises, and the recent PS3 video game Lair allows the hero to take control of a mighty dragon steed. Young adult works like Eragon and How to Train Your Dragon follow young heroes as they bond with incredible beasts. Despite the popularity and sheer appeal of dragon-riding heroes, traditional fantasy gaming has never really supported the trope.

It’s easy to see why: giving a player character a bonded dragon at first level is equivalent to giving that hero a fully armed tank, while everybody else in the party makes do with swords and bows. A veteran hero, riding an adult dragon… the metaphor of a tank gives way to an even more alarming one: the metaphor a fully armed stealth bomber with a nuclear payload. Dragons are overwhelmingly powerful, and having one in your corner, loyal only to you… that’s a class feature that certainly outdoes Weapon Specialization and Barbarian Rage.

This sourcebook presents a new 20 level core class: the Dragonbound, a unique breed of knight who is defined by his empathic bond with a great dragon steed. The Dragonbound is an intentionally unbalanced campaign option; in terms of sheer damage dealing potential (as well as mobility and endurance), the Dragonbound certainly outclasses the Fighter and Barbarian. Character classes that depend on a mystical mount or animal companion, such as Paladin and the Ranger are similarly outclassed. Since the Dragonbound’s core concept resolves around a partnership with a dragon, and mounts and animal companions are tangentially related to the concept of what a Paladin or Ranger is, the Dragonbound’s companion beast is naturally more impressive. However, given the Dragonbound’s emphasis on honorable combat and exalted place in their nation’s military means that many Dragonbound eventually take at least a few levels in Paladin or Blackguard.

If your campaign includes Dragonbound, you might consider requiring all the players to make Dragonbound protagonists. Bound Dragons are a diverse enough species, and their riders are such unqiue heroes that even in a campaign dominated by Dragonbound heroes and villains, your hero can be unique. Alternatively, though young Dragonbound are more powerful than rookie spell casters, Dragonbound never gain the reality-warping capstone spells of high level spellcasters. Dragonbound have a more even power curve over the course of their careers. Mixing Clerics, Druids, Sorcerers and Wizards with Dragonbound works fairly well. Rouges and Bards have unique abilities that let them stand as equal with Dragonbound characters, they just have to be played cleverly.

Multi-class Dragonbound / Sorcerers almost invariably hail from the Draconic bloodline. Often the same selective breeding process which created the first Bound Dragons resulted in the draconic ancestry of that faction’s Sorcerers. Sooner or later, many of these multi-classed spellcasters take levels in the Dragon Disciple prestige class, exploring their draconic heritage and becoming more like their dragons, as their steeds become more like their masters.