Dragonslayer [Human]

Dragonslayers dress for their prey. Slayer warriors and priests don armor designed to turn fang, talon and fiery breath, and it often mimics a wyrm: helms sculpted as dragon heads, scale patterns worked into the plate, spikes bristling at the joints. Slayer mages instead wear cloaks of dragonhide with hoods made from dragon skulls. Besides the local common tongue, each slayer knows the tongue of one dragon family, chromatic, metallic or gem.

Favored arms are those that maul huge foes: two-handed and bastard swords, long swords, tridents, bardiches, awl pikes, and medium or heavy horse lances. One slayer in four carries a long sword +2, dragon slayer. Mages fight with knives of dragon tooth and dragon-bone staffs.

At 4th level and up a warrior's armor is enchanted, glowing in a dragon's presence and adding +1 to +5 to Armor Class against it; only warriors beyond 9th level who have kept faith with their cause reach the highest bonus. Mage cloaks give +1, gain a further +1 against dragons at 5th level, and can climb to +5 by 12th.

Dragon fear has no hold on slayers. Warriors gain +2 on attack rolls against every dragon and +4 against one chosen kind, and all slayers add their level to damage versus dragons. When a breath weapon strikes, a successful save leaves a slayer with half damage or none. Some 60% ride heroic mounts, warhorses or flying beasts, which enjoy the same immunity to fear, the same attack bonuses and the same breath protection as their riders.

Warriors master a special technique at levels 1, 4, 8 and 12. Dazzle: a hypnotic twirl of the weapon breaks the dragon's focus so completely that it cannot muster the thought needed for spells or innate powers. Wing Attack: a strike at -3 aimed at the flight muscles; besides normal damage, the dragon cannot fly for a round per point dealt. Breath Stun: a -4 blow to the gullet that deals normal damage and blocks the breath weapon a round per point dealt. Great Blow: the slayer sacrifices hit points and attacks any spot at -4; a hit deals normal damage and costs the dragon an equal number of extra hit points.

Most orders are either holy knights of a dragon god who still despise all mortal dragons, or fighters pledged to wipe out evil wyrms. They study dragons relentlessly for weaknesses and range across the land hunting them.

Apart from an all-consuming fascination with dragons, slayers are perfectly ordinary humans.