Dragon class

[Necropraxis]

I just recently put together a PC dragon class designed with OD&D in mind.

The basics:

• XP progression and attack as fighter
• 1d6 HP per level, up to 10d6
• When gaining a level, +1 strength and +1 constitution (max 18) to reflect physical development
• Breathe fire for 1d6 damage per level
• XP equal to hoard value

Dragons may breath fire no more than once per exploration turn. Further, the total number of times a dragon breathes fire per day may not exceed dragon level.

Level	1-3	4-6	7-9	10
Description	whelp	wyrmling	wyrm	dragon
Size	small	medium	large	huge
Flight	long jump	half normal speed	standard	standard + hover
AC	chain	chain + shield	plate	plate + shield
Melee attack	1d6	1d6+1	2d6	2d6+1

Free PDF version with more detail here:

dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/7913463/Necropraxis/Necropraxis%20dragon%20class%202012-05-12.pdf

[Stormcrow]

Seems too powerful to me. Why does its melee damage increase? Dragons only hit for one die of damage. Why can these dragons breathe fire more often than other dragons?

I presume he is unable to spend any money; he has to keep it in a pile and sleep on it? If some or all of it is stolen, what happens? However, I like the idea of measuring experience points by hoard size.

[Necropraxis]

Stormcrow, see the PDF for details about the hoard and how spending money is handled (short answer: XP never rises above hoard, so if some of it is spent, it must be replenished before further XP can be accumulated).

Some dragons in my game deal more than 1d6 damage (following precedent of other large creatures such as giants and ogres). It would be reasonable to keep it at flat 1d6 though also if that fits your game better. Similarly with number of times per day (I like the elegance of tying the resource to level as it gives dragons a spell-like resource).

The other modifications are subtle tweaks to allow the class to be roughly comparable in power to other classes given the equipment and magic item restrictions. Dragons will never be wielding magic swords or learning more powerful spells.

[coffee]

That's some pretty snazzy stuff, right there!