Playable Dragon Class for DCC

When I first published here at 19 Sided Die, I mentioned on reddit that one of my upcoming posts was something stupid but nobody could stop me doing it anyway. Months later, this is that post.

"There is no reason that players cannot be allowed to play as virtually anything, provided they begin relatively weak and work up to the top, i.e., a player wishing to be a Dragon would have to begin as, let us say, a 'young' one and progress upwards in the usual manner, steps being predetermined by the campaign referee." - Gary Gygax in Men & Magic (1974)

A'ight Gary, bet.

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Design Points

• Minimal balance - not zero balance, because the quote implies they should follow a journey of advancing power as any other character. I do hope for this to be somewhat playable but balance isn't a priority. It's a dragon, it's going to be strong.
• DCC's dragons are really cool so I'll use as much existing material from DCC as possible and make the class feel like it matches the monster. Unfortunately, this necessitates making them relatively complex by loading the class up with a bunch of abilities that they gain as they level. I generally don't like this style of class design for DCC, but that's basically how DCC's dragons work.
• It has to be an actual dragon. Dragonborn are an attempt to appease the player who wants to be a dragon without actually letting them be a dragon. We all know it's just not the same. This also precludes DCC's lowest level dragon, the pseudodragon.

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DRAGON

Art by my good friend, KittyBiscuits.

Dragons are powerful winged reptilian creatures, each unique and rare. Most dragons are covetous, prideful, and solitary. You are not one such dragon, having chosen to accompany a band of adventurers - though likely out of self-interest or necessity. Even as a small dragon, somewhere between the size of a horse and an elephant, it is nigh impossible to do this without attracting significant unwanted attention.

Hit Die: Dragons use a d12 for their Hit Dice.

Movement: 30'. Dragons with wings can fly.

Alignment: A dragon may be of any alignment, and in fact may have an alignment by its very nature instead of by choice.

Weapon Training: A dragon walks into a tavern and quickly notices that the glasses are not ergonomically designed for it to be able to drink from them. What I'm trying to say is, dragons aren't exactly out there using human-designed items. Instead, it has...

Natural Weapons: Using their Action Dice, a dragon can use the following attacks once per round each at the listed Levels:

Level	Weapon	Damage	Note
1+	Claw	1d8
2+	Bite	1d12
4+	2nd claw	1d8	Use claw attacks as two-weapon fighting with 16 AGI (one Action but both claws use -1d).
6+	Tail slap	1d20	If used between two movements (even across two Rounds), movements must be in different directions (at least 90°). Essentially, using this move requires turning.
8+	Wing buffet	2d12	Cannot move and use this attack in the same Round.
10	Crush	3d12	Using this attack forces you prone.

Breath Weapon: Per Table III on p. 407, except damage is d12+2*CL and the Saving Throw is modified by Luck. Using the breath weapon costs an Action Die and can be used a number of times daily equal to the dragon's Level divided by 3 (round up).

Luck: A dragon adds its Luck modifier to the DC of Saving Throws against its breath weapon(s).

Action Dice: A dragon can use its Action Dice for attacking, casting spells, or its breath weapon.

Martial and Unique Powers: At levels 4 and 8, dragons roll on the Martial Powers table and permanently gain the listed power.

At levels 3, 6, and 9, dragons roll on the Unique Powers table and permanently gain the listed power.

Magic: Dragons are able to cast spells as a Wizard, though they do not research them as humans do. Dragons gain only a handful of new spells as they mature rather than discovering them in nature or stealing them from grimoires. In fact, dragons are unable to cast-from-scroll as Wizards, and do not have access to Patron Bond/Invoke Patron. While it is technically possible for a dragon to gain a patron through other means, it would be highly unusual.

Each level up, consult the Dragon Class Table to find the level of the spell learned and determine the spell randomly.

Languages: Dragons can speak Draconic and Common, plus languages randomly determined by their INT modifier (as Wizard).

Lvl	Atk	Crit Die/Table	Action Dice	Spell Learned	Ref	Fort	Will
1	+1	1d4/DR	1d20	none	+0	+0	+0
2	+2	1d5/DR	1d20	Lvl 1	+1	+1	+1
3	+2	1d6/DR	1d20	none	+1	+1	+1
4	+3	1d8/DR	1d20	Lvl 1	+2	+2	+2
5	+4	1d10/DR	1d20+1d14	Lvl 2	+2	+2	+2
6	+5	1d12/DR	1d20+1d16	none	+3	+3	+3
7	+5	1d14/DR	1d20+1d20	Lvl 2	+3	+3	+3
8	+6	1d16/DR	1d20+1d20	Lvl 1	+4	+4	+4
9	+6	1d20/DR	1d20+1d20	none	+4	+4	+4
10	+7	1d24/DR	1d20+1d20+1d14	Lvl 3	+5	+5	+5

Level	Title
1	Whelp
2	Drake
3	Dragonling
4	Wyvern
5	Wyrmling