Among the halflings, there is a method through which a dragon and its rider may form a lasting bond, fueled by the dragon’s magic. This leaves the dragon weakened and without magic at first, but the dragon quickly grows in strength and size as their rider grows in experience, reaching levels of power a young dragon would otherwise need to wait centuries to achieve.
Weapon and Armor Proficiencies: The halfling dragonrider is proficient with all simple and martial weapons, light armor, and shields (except tower shields).
Dragon Companion: A halfling dragonrider gains a dragon companion, which serves as a faithful companion throughout their lives. If either dragon or halfling dies, the other may bond a new creature, but only after a period of mourning extending at least a week. If the dragon chooses not to bond another creature, it retains its size and regains the magic and other abilities it would gain for its size after one year, rather than reverting to the power level usual for its age.
A dragon companion is a companion from the Conjuration sphere from Spheres of Power, but it is not considered an extraplanar, nor requires summoning (as the bound companion boon, but with a few significant changes discussed below). The halfling dragonrider uses their cavalier level as their ‘caster level’ when determining the power of their dragon companion, but this does not cause the halfling dragonrider to count as a caster in any other way, nor is the dragon companion affected by the halfling dragonrider’s caster level, Conjuration talents (including [form] talents), nor magic items or effects that affect the Conjuration Sphere.
A dragon companion, regardless of its dragon type, is a Medium-sized quadraped companion, and possesses the dragon type, gaining its associated changes: The dragon companion uses d12’s instead of d10’s as its hit dice, gains darkvision 60 ft and low-light vision, gains all three saving throws as good saves, and skill points equal to 6 + its Int modifier (reduced to 4 due to low Intelligence) per Hit Die, with the following class skills: Appraise, Bluff, Climb, Craft, Diplomacy, Fly, Heal, Intimidate, Knowledge (all), Linguistics, Perception, Sense Motive, Spellcraft, Stealth, Survival, Swim, and Use Magic Device.
In addition, the dragon companion begins with the Avian Creature talent (gaining wings), as well as the Armored Companion, Fortified Companion, Quick Companion, Powerful Companion Conjuration, and the Draconic Creature talents. The form of breath weapon gained depends on the type of the dragon in question.
Table: Draconic Breath Weapons| Dragon Type | Energy Type | Breath Shape |
|---|---|---|
| Black | Acid | 60-foot line |
| Blue | Electricity | 60-foot line |
| Green | Acid | 30-foot cone |
| Red | Fire | 30-foot cone |
| White | Cold | 30-foot cone |
| Brass | Fire | 60-foot line |
| Bronze | Electricity | 60-foot line |
| Copper | Acid | 60-foot line |
| Gold | Fire | 30-foot cone |
| Silver | Cold | 30-foot cone |
The dragon companion also gains immunity to the element it breaths with its breath weapon, a pair of claw attacks in addition to its bite attack, and a bonus to Intelligence and Charisma equal to 1/2 its Hit Dice. The dragon companion and halfling dragonrider also gain the effects of the Link talent with each other.
A dragon companion also gains the Altered Size talent at 8th and 15th levels, growing to Large and Huge size respectively. Its breath weapon also doubles its range at 8th and 15th levels as well.
Focus: However, despite the powerful bond between them, seamlessly blending the actions of a dragon and its rider is difficult. No matter how much a dragon companion wants to obey its rider, a dragon’s nature leads it to often initiate its own plan, only to realize its plan is different than that of its rider, causing it to stop its actions halfway through so it doesn’t take a radical action that would surprise its ally. This can result in the dragon doing very little but fly around, even in a pitched battle. To avoid this, a halfling dragon rider and dragon companion must establish a mental focus.
A dragon companion always goes on the same initiative as its rider. Without the halfing dragonrider establishing focus, a draconic companion will only take a single move action (moving as the dragonrider wishes) each round and such free actions (speaking, making attacks of opportunity, etc.) that seem prudent. If a halfling dragonrider is unconscious or incapacitated, his dragon companion moves to be adjacent to its rider as quickly as possible, then attacks any foe that threatens either dragon or rider. A dragon companion acts to defend itself if separated from its rider, and can be convinced to stay behind to guard a camp or other location, but does not willingly go on missions or run errands separate from its rider.
Establishing focus is a standard action for the halfling dragonrider, after which its dragon companion may take a full-round’s worth of action, as normal. This improves to only requiring a move action at 2nd level, a swift action at 8th level, and a free action at 15th level. As the focus establishes a mental bond between the dragon rider and her draconic companion, no vocal communication is required between the two while the focus is in effect. A dragon and its rider must be within Close range (25 ft + 5 ft per 2 levels) to establish focus.
The dragon companion replaces mount and the cavalier’s order. For more information on dragonriders and dragon magic, see Dracomancer and Dragon Rider by Rogue Genius Games.