Author Topic: What is the name of the ACF that let a dragon PC cast spells like a wizard?  (Read 4664 times)

Offline taltamir

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There is an ACF for dragon PCs who want to cast spells like a wizard instead of like a sorcerer.
I do not remember what it is called and have been having difficulty finding it (like a needle in a haystack, too many things have the word dragon or wizard thrown in)

Can someone who remembers please tell me what it is called? I could find it from there
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Offline phaedrusxy

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Riddled or something like that.
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Offline Eldritch_Lord

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It's not an ACF, it's a template: Spellhoarding, one of the Dragon Psychosis templates in Dragon #313.  Riddled is a similar template that swaps casting to Int and gives a nice +6 boost, but the dragon still casts as a sorcerer.  The two can, of course, be combined if you so desire.

Offline taltamir

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thank you for the answers
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Offline awaken_D_M_golem

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 :twitch

Why does a wizard not do this ?!

 :o
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Offline SorO_Lost

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Why does a wizard not do this ?!
For a couple reasons really, a large one being they are aimed a DMs and do not have an LA entry.

But Riddled's +6 Int is offset by -4 Wisdom, -1 Spell Slot of each Spell level, a weakness that allows anyone to make an opposed Knowledge Check to Fascinate for 1d10 rounds, and if it's ever hit with Maze it needs three Int checks to escape instead of one. It's not exactly a good thing to use.

Spellhording is mostly pretty positive, you get +2 Int, -4 Wis, & +5 Racial to Spellcraft; Eschew Materials, Scribe Scroll, & a form of Improved Counterspell; plus you use your body as your Spellbook and in a pinch you can even blow your "pages" as Scrolls or even pay for Material/XP Components. So when you rip the flavor and the fact it's a psychosis out it's mechanically pretty powerful. But it is expressly a mental condition that's paired with a desire to learn rare and impractical Spells above all else. It's a fancy way of saying your True Dragon would rather learn Entangling Dragonmark instead of Magic Missile. You also forgo any ability to build a base of operations and overvalue your worthless Spells which is kind of a pain in the rear to fortify anything or trade Spells. Finally a Spellhording Dragon's Treasure Entry doesn't allow the Dragon to buy/have Magic Items in favor of stockpiles of Scrolls which can be taken in a fairly debilitating way when you're trying to port it over for PC usage.

Offline taltamir

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Spellhording is mostly pretty positive, you get +2 Int, -4 Wis, & +5 Racial to Spellcraft; Eschew Materials, Scribe Scroll, & a form of Improved Counterspell; plus you use your body as your Spellbook and in a pinch you can even blow your "pages" as Scrolls or even pay for Material/XP Components. So when you rip the flavor and the fact it's a psychosis out it's mechanically pretty powerful. But it is expressly a mental condition that's paired with a desire to learn rare and impractical Spells above all else. It's a fancy way of saying your True Dragon would rather learn Entangling Dragonmark instead of Magic Missile. You also forgo any ability to build a base of operations and overvalue your worthless Spells which is kind of a pain in the rear to fortify anything or trade Spells. Finally a Spellhording Dragon's Treasure Entry doesn't allow the Dragon to buy/have Magic Items in favor of stockpiles of Scrolls which can be taken in a fairly debilitating way when you're trying to port it over for PC usage.
I wouldn't say that you forgot any ability to build a base.
This dragon's willingness to actually part with gold should make it easier for him to build and maintain a base. (and make it quite ideal for it to be the headmaster of a school that focus on research).

The dragon still has superhuman intellect and should realize that owning a thriving town or equivalent is a great way to acquire more spells. (send minions on missions far and wide to acquire spells).

Furthermore, the dragon explicitly collects gems in order to power its spell-hoarding ability.

Also, I haven't seen anything about being unable to use magic items.
« Last Edit: May 12, 2017, 09:04:15 PM by taltamir »
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Offline SorO_Lost

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Did you read the entry from Dragon Magazine #313 pages 80~81 or some online source that only partially quoted it Taltamir? Because a Spellhorder's Treasure entry is "half coins, double goods, half items (scrolls and spellbooks only, but see below)." and it's pretty hard to miss.

Likewise it is a dragon psychosis, ie mental condition preventing it from thinking rationally, and the sidebar even says a Spellhording Dragon prefers to use Polymorph Self to travel, spends much of it's time in cities, will go so far as to join wizard guilds and it is directly started that "the spellhording dragon's curiosity can easily lead it to danger". The idea that a Spellhording Dragon sits holed up somewhere using Summon Monster so someone else can obtain magical understanding and bring back the cliffnotes is the kind of concept someone would form if they didn't have any of the context from the rest of the entry.

You know, like if you dropped most of everything from my last post except this part.
So when you rip the flavor and the fact it's a psychosis out it's mechanically pretty powerful.
« Last Edit: May 12, 2017, 10:06:10 PM by SorO_Lost »

Offline PlzBreakMyCampaign

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A more precise answer is:
I haven't seen anything about being unable to use magic items.
As a monster, they won't due to the "Treasure" line. As a PC whether they could or not, it depends on how you convert it. There is no RAW on converting creatures with odd treasure entries that I can think of off the top of my head.

As the guy who's tackled templates without LA, some of the judgement calls aren't clear. Since its all RAI anyway, I would make my opinion based off the fluff. I'll be happy to look into it if you want.