The dragon speaker is the religious leader of the kobold tribe who worships their patron dragon as a sort of demigod. He is the human who has become the mouthpiece of the dragon to the kingdom it rules over. She is the obsessive lover of dragons who wishes to dedicate herself heart and soul to spreading the awesomeness that is Dragon to the world around her. It’s the devout herald of the dragon overlord to the mere mortals within his dominion, the priest who worships an ancient dragon, the lover who happily raises her half-dragon offspring.
The dragon speaker is a unique individual who sits somewhere between diplomat, priest, and warrior. Bound in service to a powerful dragon, the dragon speaker channels the power of their patron dragon much as a priest channels the powers of their deity.
Role
A dragon speaker primarily fills a support role in an adventuring party, granting powerful benefits to his allies. A dragon speaker is adept at dealing significant damage but also has great flexibility, allowing him to perform as a melee warrior on the front lines, as a ranged attacker, or as a spellcaster.
Abilities
Constitution and Strength are the most important abilities to a dragon speaker, as they determine not only his effectiveness in melee combat but also the save DC of his breath weapon. He also wants a good Charisma score, as that affects the save DC of his spell-like abilities and other class features.
Alignment
A dragon speaker’s alignment must be within one step of his patron dragon.
| Base Attack Bonus | Fort Save | Ref Save | Will Save | Special | Breath Weapon | Draconic Auras | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | +0 | +2 | +0 | +2 | Draconic aura +1, draconic arcana, dragon patron | – | 3 |
| 2nd | +1 | +3 | +0 | +3 | Breath weapon, draconic blessing | 1d6 | 3 |
| 3rd | +2 | +3 | +1 | +3 | Dragonblood Inheritance | 1d6 | 4 |
| 4th | +3 | +4 | +1 | +4 | Draconic resolve, energy resistance | 2d6 | 4 |
| 5th | +3 | +4 | +1 | +4 | Draconic aura +2 | 2d6 | 5 |
| 6th | +4 | +5 | +2 | +5 | Dragonpact, draconic blessing | 3d6 | 5 |
| 7th | +5 | +5 | +2 | +5 | Draconic aura (second aura) | 3d6 | 6 |
| 8th | +6/+1 | +6 | +2 | +6 | Energy immunity | 4d6 | 6 |
| 9th | +6/+1 | +6 | +3 | +6 | Commune with dragon patron, extended breath range | 4d6 | 7 |
| 10th | +7/+2 | +7 | +3 | +7 | Draconic aura +3, draconic blessing | 5d6 | 7 |
| 11th | +8/+3 | +7 | +3 | +7 | Second dragonpact | 5d6 | 8 |
| 12th | +9/+4 | +8 | +4 | +8 | Draconic aura (third aura) | 6d6 | 8 |
| 13th | +9/+4 | +8 | +4 | +8 | Shifting aura | 6d6 | 9 |
| 14th | +10/+5 | +9 | +4 | +9 | Draconic blessing | 7d6 | 9 |
| 15th | +11/+6/+1 | +9 | +5 | +9 | Draconic aura +4 | 7d6 | 10 |
| 16th | +12/+7/+2 | +10 | +5 | +10 | Third dragonpact, extended breath range | 8d6 | 10 |
| 17th | +12/+7/+2 | +10 | +5 | +10 | Draconic aura (fourth aura) | 8d6 | 11 |
| 18th | +13/+8/+3 | +11 | +6 | +11 | Draconic blessing | 9d6 | 11 |
| 19th | +14/+9/+4 | +11 | +6 | +11 | Greater shifting aura | 9d6 | 12 |
| 20th | +15/+10/+5 | +12 | +6 | +12 | Draconic aura +5 | 10d6 | 12 |
Class Skills (4 + Int modifier per level): Athletics, Profession, Persuasion, Intimidate, Perception, and Arcane Lore A dragon speaker gains additional class skills based on his dragon patron (see below).
Starting Wealth: Respectable (3d6 × 10 gp, Average 105 gp)
Class Features
Weapon and Armor Proficiency
A Dragon Speaker is proficient with Basic weapons plus any one other weapon group of your choice. They are proficient with light and medium armor and with shields (but not with tower shields).
If not using weapon groups, a Dragon Speaker is proficient with all simple weapons, plus one light or one-handed martial weapon of your choice.
Dragon Patron
| Patron | Alignments | Class Skill | Draconic Element |
|---|---|---|---|
| Black | NE, CE, CN | Stealth | Acid |
| Blue | NE, LE, LN | Deception | Electricity |
| Brass | NG, CG, CN | Insight | Fire |
| Bronze | NG, LG, LN | Natural Lore | Electricity |
| Copper | NG, CG, CN | Deception | Acid |
| Gold | NG, LG, LN | Heal | Fire |
| Green | NE, LE, LN | Stealth | Acid |
| Red | NE, CE, CN | Insight | Fire |
| Silver | NG, LG, LN | Academics | Cold |
| White | NE, CE, CN | Stealth | Cold |
Each dragon speaker serves a powerful, ancient dragon who becomes their patron. By performing a mystical ceremony, a dragon speaker forms an arcane bond with a willing dragon, even if the two have never met or are separated by vast distances or are on different planes. It is through this link that a dragon speaker gains their powers.
The dragon patron may choose to contact the dragon speaker telepathically at any time, regardless of distance and across planar boundaries, though the patron only rarely does so. How active a role the dragon plays in the dragon speaker’s life depends on the personality and interests of the dragon patron.
A dragon speaker must choose a type of true dragon as his patron: black, blue, brass, bronze, copper, gold, green, red, silver, or white. His alignment must be within one step of the patron dragon, or the dragon will refuse the bond.
The dragon speaker gains an additional class skill based on the type of dragon chosen. He also gains the Draconic Bloodline feat for the related dragon bloodline as a bonus feat, even if he doesn’t meet the prerequisites.
A dragon speaker’s dragon patron determines his draconic element for his draconic auras. Because of the overwhelming power of his dragon patron, this draconic element replaces any draconic element set by the dragon speaker’s race or by another class, feat, or ability.
Draconic Arcana
A dragon speaker’s caster level for all of his class features is equal to his class level. Their class levels count as arcane caster levels for the purposes of qualifying for feats and for other caster level based abilities, such as determining their caster level when using a stave.
The save DC for any of the dragon speaker’s supernatural or spell-like abilities is equal to 10 + 1/2 his class level + his Cha modifier, unless otherwise stated.
A dragon speaker does not gain spell slots, but he gains a special ability to activate draconic feats which require spellcasting by using the magic inherent in his breath weapon. The effective spell level of his breath weapon for the purposes of activating draconic feats is equal to the number of dice of its base damage. So, the breath weapon of a 6th level dragon speaker which normally deals 3d6 damage counts as a 3rd-level spell. Effects that increase or modify the damage of a dragon speaker’s breath weapon do not modify its effective spell level.
Feats that activate when a spell is cast, such as Dragon Claws, are activated when the dragon speaker attacks with his breath weapon. If he is required to sacrifice a spell slot to activate a feat, he may instead sacrifice a use of his breath weapon, requiring him to wait 1d4 rounds before using it again as if he had used his breath weapon normally.
Draconic Aura
By channeling the arcane might of his patron dragon, the dragon speaker can form an aura of power. A dragon speaker knows three draconic auras of his choice at 1st level, gaining more auras known at every odd level. He can choose to manifest any aura he knows as a swift action.
His draconic auras can affect all creatures within 30 feet, including the dragon speaker. Benefits only affect a dragon speaker’s allies, including himself, while penalties instead affect his enemies. He may define any creature within his aura as an ally, enemy, or neither (making them unaffected by his auras) as he chooses.
The aura remains in effect until the dragon speaker dismisses it as a free action or he becomes unconscious or is slain.
The dragon speaker’s aura bonus begins at +1 and increases by 1 for every class five levels he has.
A dragon speaker may have two auras active at the same time at level 7, three active at level 12, and four at level 17. Each aura requires a separate action to project or change.
Breath Weapon
At 2nd level, a dragon speaker gains a breath weapon which deals energy damage the same as his draconic element. Each time he uses his breath weapon, he can choose to breathe in either a 15-foot cone or a 30-foot line, regardless of the breath weapon’s energy type. His breath weapon deals 1d6 damage for every two class levels, to a maximum of 10d6 at 20th level. A successful Reflex save (DC 10 + 1/2 class level + his Con modifier) halves this damage.
A dragon speaker is immune to his own breath weapon but not to other breath weapons or similar effects, including those of other dragon speakers. Once a dragon speaker breathes, he can’t use his breath weapon again until 1d4 rounds later.
Draconic Blessing
Channeling the arcane might of his patron dragon changes a dragon speaker physically, granting him some of the benefits of dragonkind. Each time a dragon speaker gains dragonic blessing, he gains a bonus draconic feat. He must meet the prerequisites of the feat he chooses.
Additionally, a dragon speaker’s natural armor bonus increases by +1 with each draconic blessing gained.
Dragonblood Inheritance
Dragon speakers of 3rd level gain the Dragonblood Inheritance feat appropriate to their patron dragon as a bonus feat, even if they don’t meet the prerequisites. For example, a dragon speaker with a blue dragon as their patron dragon would gain Dragonblood Inheritance (blue dragon bloodline).
Dragon speakers may add their draconic aura bonus to the save DC of any effects generated by this feat.
Draconic Resolve
At 4th level, a dragon speaker becomes immune to sleep effects, paralysis, and the frightful presence of dragons.
Energy Resistance
A dragon speaker of 4th level gains energy resistance 10 to his draconic element. This stacks with any energy resistance the dragon speaker may have from his race but not from items, spells, or other effects.
At 8th level, he gains immunity to his draconic element.
Dragonpact
A dragonpact is a type of spellpact forged with a powerful dragon, which costs the spellcaster gold, spell slots, and tedious negotiation. A dragon speaker, however, has a powerful dragon patron who grants him the benefits of dragonpacts without need for such haggling. At 6th level, a dragon speaker may select any dragonpact offered his dragon patron, gaining the spell-like abilities the pact offers with no further cost to himself. The effective spell slot for determining the strength of his dragonpacts is the equal to the effective spell level of his breath weapon.
A dragon speaker may change his chosen dragonpact with an hour of meditation, but he may do so only once per day and must not have used any of the spell-like abilities of his current dragonpact that day. Once the meditation is completed, the dragon speaker immediately loses one dragonpact he possess and gains the new one offered by his patron dragon.
At levels 11 and 16, a dragon speaker may form additional dragonpacts at the same time, allowing him to have access to more spell-like abilities each day.
Commune With Dragon Patron
While a dragon patron may choose to contact its dragon speakers at any time, they rarely do so. Beginning at 9th level, a dragon speaker gains the ability to telepathically contact his dragon patron to ask questions directly. This functions as the commune spell, but the dragon speaker is limited to asking only one question per three class levels. This ability may be used once per week.
Extended Breath Range
At 9th level, the range of a dragon speaker’s breath weapon increases to a 30-foot cone or a 60-foot line.
The range increases again at 16th level to a 60-foot cone or 120-foot line.
Shifting Aura
Starting at 13th level, when you spend a swift action to project or change your active draconic aura, you may project or change two auras instead of only one. At level 19, you can project or change up to three auras at a time.
Dragon Speaker and Prestige Classes
Despite not being spellcasters in the traditional sense, dragon speakers can benefit from prestige classes and specialist classes that progress arcane spellcasting. When a dragon speaker gains a level in such a prestige class, he gains an increased caster level, progresses his breath weapon damage and save DC, and may gain additional auras known as if he had gained a level of dragon speaker. He does not gain any other benefits of the dragon speaker class, such as increased aura strength, number of auras manifested, draconic blessings, or dragonpacts.