Turning the Dragon Disciple into a Martial Class

[Cuddly]

How would you take away the Dragon Disciple's spellcasting and give him martial stuff from ToB?

Would you make it accessible to Swordsage, Crusader, or Warblade? I think it should be for any of those classes that wish to enter- whether you study the dragon (swordsage), worship and protect the dragon (crusader), or emulate the dragon (warblade).

Entry requirements would be replaced with:
Knowledge of 1 3rd level maneuver and 1 3rd level stance from one of the following disciplines:
Tiger Claw, Stone Dragon, or Desert Wind.
2 ranks in knowledge arcana

At every odd level, the Dragon Disciple would learn a new maneuver from Stone Dragon, Tiger Claw or Desert Wind.

Each level in Dragon Disciple would be +1 initiator level.

Otherwise, it'd keep the d12 hd, 2 skill points/level, and other class abilities.

[Xefas]

Those changes sound fine. In addition, though, I'd also let them 'ready' their breath weapon in a maneuver slot. Heck, you might want to do that *and* make the breath weapon more useful.

2d8 energy damage in a cone 1/day at character level 8? There's a 2nd level Desert Wind maneuver that does that, and you can get it at level 3!

4d8 energy damage in a cone 1/day at character level 12? There's a 5th level Desert Wind maneuver that does the same thing, but with an average 3 more damage, and you can get it at level 9.

I would have the breath weapon be a virtual maneuver you could ready, but have it do 1d8 damage per class level (So, max 10d8 at 10th level in the prestige class). That would make it, at higher levels, a tiny bit stronger than a similar Desert Wind maneuver of the same level you would have access to normally. Which, considering this is a class feature, I think its alright if you do a couple more damage.

[tyckspoon]

I would have the breath weapon be a virtual maneuver you could ready, but have it do 1d8 damage per class level (So, max 10d8 at 10th level in the prestige class). That would make it, at higher levels, a tiny bit stronger than a similar Desert Wind maneuver of the same level you would have access to normally. Which, considering this is a class feature, I think its alright if you do a couple more damage.

Neat idea. It should definitely be stronger than the Desert Wind maneuvers you're referring to; those are some of the weakest maneuvers in the entire Tome of Battle. Not only are they part of the generally weakest variety of magic and magic-like abilities (blastin' stuff), they're the most commonly resisted energy type and they don't even scale.. although with the maneuver-swapping levels you're probably intended to just step up to the next stronger one.

[elliott20]

or you can make the ability really interesting by allowing the player to switch out energy types on these maneuvers at higher levels. (i.e. instead of desert wind causing fire damage, it causes sonic damage)

[Rad]

I would convert your desert wind fire damage to the energy type of your chosen dragon too.

[Cuddly]

I would convert your desert wind fire damage to the energy type of your chosen dragon too.

Brilliant idea.

[Reel On, Love]

That'd make Desert Wind actually worthwhile.

[Draz74]

That'd make Desert Wind actually worthwhile.

Maybe. It's still mostly just doing energy damage in an area. Reflex save half.

[Reel On, Love]

Maybe. It's still mostly just doing energy damage in an area. Reflex save half.

Not really true. Desert Wind also has stuff like Leaping Flame (teleport adjacent to someone who hit you), Fan the Flames (6d6 ranged touch that you can pick up at level 5), the Burning/Searing/Inferno Blade line (1/2/3d6 + IL fire damage on your attacks--if you could pick a less-commonly-resisted energy, that'd be great), and some mobility stuff.