Psionic Dragon Comrade

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Psionic dragon comrades gain no proficiency with any weapons or armor.

Power Points: At 2nd through 9th level, psionic dragon comrades gain power points per day as though they gained a level of psion. These power points are added to the character’s previous total. Psionic dragon comrades gain bonus power points based on the key ability score for their primary ability. If the character previously could not gain bonus power points for high ability scores (as is the case for psychic warriors), she now chooses a primary discipline and can gain bonus power points based on the related ability score.

Powers Discovered: At 2nd through 9th level, psionic dragon comrades discover powers as though they gained a level of psion. Powers are chosen from the psion power list. Their effective manifester level is increased by one for each level of the prestige class.

Psicrystals: Psionic dragon comrade levels count toward the level of psion for purposes of determining psicrystal Intelligence and special abilities. Psicrystals are a class ability of psions. You must take at least one level of psion if you wish to encode a psicrystal.

0-Level Powers: Psionic dragon comrade levels count toward the level of the psionic character for determining the number of free manifestations per day or your 0-level powers.

Psionic Combat: The character discovers two psionic combat modes at first level and an additional combat mode at 3rd, 7th, 9th, and 10th levels. (Characters do not forget previously discovered attack and defense modes.)

Dragon Ally: Upon acceptance by a dragon defender, the comrade now has a dragon ally (which is run by the DM). The comrade must complete a couple of tasks to gain the trust of the defender. First, the comrade must help the defender find a suitable lair. (See the descriptions in the Monster Manual II for details on appropriate lairs.) Also, the comrade must provide the defender with treasure for its lair. The minimum acceptable amount is 1,000 gp per Hit Die of the defender, and the comrade should attempt to provide treasure to the defender’s liking. This treasure is a gift to the defender — it no longer belongs to the comrade. If either of these obligations is not met, the defender terminates the relationship and seeks a new comrade.

If the dragon dies, the character must attempt a DC 20 Fortitude saving throw. Failure means she loses 500 experience points per class level; success reduces the loss to one-half that amount. However, the character’s experience point total can never go below 0 as the result of a dragon’s demise or dismissal. A slain dragon can be replaced after a year and a day, but only if another dragon chooses the character. To gain a new dragon, the character must contribute to the dragon’s hoard, just as she did when first gaining this class. The character cannot add any new levels in this class until she gains a new dragon.

Empathy (Su): Once a lair is secured and stocked, the defender initiates a process to bind its companion and itself to each other. As a free action the character or the dragon ally can detect the surface emotions of the other. The character and the ally need not be able to see each other, but they must be on the same plane. Using this power reveals the subject’s basic needs, drives, and emotions.

Riding Expertise (Ex): Starting at 3rd level, the comrade has become fully comfortable with riding her defender. While riding her defender, she gains a bonus equal to her comrade level on Ride checks and a bonus on Concentration checks when manifesting a power equal to her comrade level -2.

Telepathic Communication (Sp): Starting at 5th level, the comrade and defender share a telepathic link while they are within 200 feet of each other. As a result, they can converse without speaking.

Focused Manifesting (Sp): Starting at 7th level, the comrade gains a +2 bonus on the saving throw DCs for the powers she manifests. This ability can be used as a free action once per day per two class levels.

Shared Immunity (Su): At 10th level, the comrade gains the power resistance and elemental immunity of her defender dragon as long as she is within 30 feet of it. For example, a comrade with a young adult emerald dragon as her defender gains PR 20 and sonic immunity.

Dragon Defenders

The DM should select an appropriate defender from the following list, keeping in mind alignments and the power level of her game. These dragons are at an age where they have the appropriate mindset and size to be suitable defenders. Also she should note the juveniles in the list do not gain power resistance.