General Prestige Class : Dragonscribe

by Keith Strohm with Dragon Staff, Dragon #296

Occasionally from the ranks of the learned and wise comes an individual who devotes himself totally to the study of draconic lore. Unlike many seekers of knowledge, dragonscribes do not simply pore over moldering tomes and ancient scrolls. Rather, they travel across the breadth of the world (and across planes, if necessary) to speak, question, contact, and bargain with living dragons.

Although a dragonscribe's single-minded focus and devotion to esoteric knowledge might cause others to view him as a cold, uncaring individual, a passionate heart beats beneath his dirtied robes and studious mien. Despite this, a dragonscribe generally eschews most human contact - although he seldom hesitates to associate with individuals or groups that could aid his quest - and has a tendency to hoard knowledge like his draconic subjects hoard treasure. Though generally unconcerned about questions of good and evil, some dragonscribes utilize their abilities for selfish gain, harnessing their great power in service to their ambition or desire to dominate.

Requirements

To qualify to become a Dragonscribe, a character must fulfill all the following criteria:

• Skills: Diplomacy 5 ranks, Knowledge (arcana) 13 ranks
• Feats: Spell Penetration, Iron Will,
• Spellcasting: The character must be able to cast a 2nd-level or higher arcane spell from the Abjuration, Conjuration, and Divination schools.
• Special: The character must have observed at least three different kinds of dragons personally
• Language: Draconic

Class Skills

The dragonscribe's class skills are Concentration, Decipher Script, Gather Information, Knowledge (all skills taken individually), Sense Motive, Spellcraft, and Use Magic Device.

Skill Points at Each Level: 2 + Int modifier.

Class Features

All of the following are class features of the dragonscribe prestige class.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Dragonscribes gain no new proficiency with weapons or armor.

Spells Per Day/Spells Known: Because the dragonscribe continues in the pursuit of magical knowledge and perfection. members of this class gain new spells per day and spells known as if they gained a level in a spellcasting class that they belonged to before adding the prestige class. For example, Inkardus, a 10th level wizard/1st-level loremaster, gains a new level and wishes to pursue the dragonscribe prestige class. Because of his previous prestige class, Inkardus casts a number of spells per day equivalent to an 11th level wizard. Adding a level of dragonscribe allows the mage to cast a number of spells per day as if he was a 12th level wizard.

If a character possessed more than one spellcasting class before he became a dragonscribe, he must decide which class will receive the additional spell casting level for purposes of determining spells per day when hee adds the new level.

Dragonlore: At 1st level, dragonscribes gain an ability similar to the bardic knowledge ability that pertains only to dragons. Unlike the bard's bardic knowledge ability, dragonlore comes not from random wanderings but from scraps of long-lost knowledge, hidden tomes and other obscure sources. To use the dragonlore ability, the dragonscribe makes a special dragonlore check with a bonus equal to his dragonscribe level + Intelligence bonus.

Dragonscribes with bard levels may add their bard levels to this check as well; however, dragonscribe levels do not stack with a bards normal use of the bardic knowledge ability.

Some example dragonlore DCs are listed in the Dragonlore DCs section below.

Overcome Resistance (Ex): Extensive meditation and research on the customs, thoughts, and personalities of dragons affords dragonscribes a deep insight into their ways. This insight allows a dragonscribe to more easily penetrate a dragons innate spell resistance. Whenever the dragonscribe casts a spell that affects a creature with the dragon type, he gains a +2 bonus to caster level checks to overcome the dragon's spell resistance (if any), and for the dragon, the spell's saving throw DC is increased by +2. These bonuses stack with the Spell Penetration and Spell Focus feats.

When the dragonscribe casts a spell that affects more than one creature, these bonuses still apply, but they apply only to creatures with the dragon type.

Dragon Tongue (Ex): Supported by their tremendous knowledge and magical power, dragonscribes are much more adept at convincing dragons to cooperate and interact peacefully with them. At the very least, should a dragonscribe be faced with a draconic foe too powerful for him to overcome, he is often able to exchange knowledge of other dragons in return for the dragon sparing his life. This ability grants a competence bonus to Diplomacy checks when dealing with creatures with the dragon type.

Summon Dragon (Sp): Dragonscribes who are able to cast summon monster spells gain the ability to choose fiendish and celestial dragons in addition to the other monsters on the summon lists. Treat the list below as a class-exclusive addition to the summon monster table in the Players Handbook. Note that most dragons on the list are slightly more powerful than the other monsters available at a given level; this exemplifies the dragonscribe's close connection to dragons and the innate power of the dragon species.

Summon Monster III	Celestial brass Dragon (wyrmling) (CG)	Fiendish white dragon (wyrmling (CE)
Summon Monster IV	Celestial bronze dragon (wyrmling) (LG)	Fiendish blue dragon (wyrmling) (CE)
Summon Monster V	Celestial copper dragon (very young) (CG)	Fiendish green dragon (very young) (LE)	Fiendish Wyvern (NE)
Summon Monster VI	Celestial brass dragon (juvenile) (CG)	Fiendish white dragon (juvenile) (CE)
Summon Monster VII	Celestial brass dragon (young adult) (CG)	Fiendish black dragon (young adult) (LE)
Summon Monster VIII	Celestial bronze dragon (adult) (LG)	Fiendish blue dragon (adult) (CE)
Summon Monster IX	Celestial silver dragon (adult) (LG)	Fiendish red dragon (adult) (CE)

Draconic Binding (Sp): The apex of a dragonscribe's power rests in his ability to bind a dragon or other intelligent draconic creature to his service.

Manipulating: powerful magical forces focused through words of power spoken in the primal draconic tongue, the dragonscribe can control the mind of a draconic creature. This ability functions exactly like a dominate monster spell cast by a sorcerer with a level equal to the dragonscribe's spellcaster level, except that it only affects creatures with the dragon type. The DC to resist the effect is equal to 19 + the dragonscribe's Charisma modifier. The dragonscribe can use this ability once per day.

Dragonscribe						Hit Die: d4
CL	BAB	Fort	Ref	Will	Special	Spells per Day
1st	+0	+0	+0	+2	Dragonlore	+1 level of existing class
2nd	+1	+0	+0	+3	Overcome resistance	+1 level of existing class
3rd	+1	+1	+1	+3	Dragon tongue	+1 level of existing class
4th	+2	+1	+1	+4	Summon dragon	+1 level of existing class
5th	+2	+1	+1	+4	Draconic binding	+1 level of existing class

Source: Dragon #296

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