The Dragon Warden Class for Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) Fifth Edition (5e)

Base Class: Fighter

Dragon Wardens are fighters who use their magical connection with nature to form an enduring bond with a growing dragon. This bond allows the fighter fight alongside dragons and to share in their awe-inspiring power.

Consider how your fighter gained their bond with the dragon. The Dragonkeeper Origin table offers some examples.

D6	ORIGIN
1	You studied a dragon’s scale or claw, or a trinket from its hoard, and created your bond through the token’s lingering draconic magic.
2	A secret order who collect and guard draconic lore taught you their ways.
3	A true dragon gave you a dragon egg to care for. When it hatched, the dragon bonded to you.
4	You attempted to rescue someone being attacked. As they died, they entrusted their dragon egg to you.
5	An ancient Draconic inscription on a standing stone empowered you when you read it aloud. The dragon appeared in your camp shortly after.
6	You had a vivid dream of a mysterious man, accompanied by seven yellow canaries, who warned you of impending doom. When you awoke, your dragon was there, watching you.

Draconic Gift

The bond you share with your draconic companion creates a deeper connection to dragon kind, granting you understanding and empowering your presence. You gain the following benefits:

If you can’t already, you learn to speak, read, and write Draconic.
You learn the thaumaturgy cantrip.
You can communicate telepathically with your draconic companion, up to a distance of 30 feet times your fighter level.

Draconic Companion

You gain the companionship of a young draconic being. The creature follows you and your companions, but if separated, you can magically summon it. As an action, you can summon the draconic companion, which appears in an unoccupied space of your choice that you can see within 30 feet of you.

The creature is friendly to you and your companions and obeys your commands. See its game statistics in the Draconic Companion stat block, which uses your proficiency bonus (PB) in several places. When you choose this subclass, you may choose its type from its Draconic Essence trait. You can determine the cosmetic characteristics of the drake such as its color, scale texture, or any visible effect of its Draconic Essence; your choice has no effect on its game statistics.

In combat, the draconic companion shares your initiative count, but it takes its turn immediately after yours. It can move and use its reaction on its own, but the only action it takes on its turn is the Dodge action, unless you take a bonus action on your turn to command it to take another action. That action can be one in its stat block or some other action. If you are incapacitated, the drake can take any action of its choice, not just Dodge.

Once you summon the draconic companion, you can’t do so again until you finish a long rest.

If the creature dies, you can perform a 1 hour ceremony to revive it. Doing so forces you to suffer a point of exhaustion. You suffer additional levels of exhaustion equal to the amount of times you have revived the creature in this way.

DRAconic COMPANION

Small dragon

Armor Class 14 + PB (natural armor)

Hit Points 5 + five times your fighter level (the dragon has a number of hit dice [d10s] equal to your fighter level)

Speed 40 ft.

STR

16(+3)

DEX

12(+1)

CON

15(+2)

INT

8(−1)

WIS

14(+2)

CHA

8(−1)

Saving Throws Dex +1 plus PB, Wis +2 plus PB

Damage Immunities determined by the dragon’s Draconic Essence trait

Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 12

Languages Draconic

Challenge—

Proficiency Bonus (PB) equals your bonus

Draconic Essence. When you choose this subclass, you decide the draconian heritage it has. The chosen type determines the dragon’s damage immunity, the damage of its bite, and the damage of its Infused Strikes trait.

Actions

Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +3 plus PB to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 1d6 piercing damage plus PB damage of a type determined by the dragon’s Draconic Essence.

Reactions

Infused Strikes. When another creature within 30 feet of the draconic comanion that it can see hits with a weapon attack, the drake infuses the strike with its essence, causing the attack to deal an extra 1d6 damage of the type determined by its Draconic Essence.

Companion Maturation

Your connection with your draconic companion aids in the development of its abilities. Choose two draconic features now, and again at 7th, 10th, 15th, and 18th level.

If a feature requires a save, the DC is equal to 8 + your Wisdom modifier + your PB.

Ability Score Increase

You may raise one of your draconic companion's ability scores by 2, or two by 1, up to a maximum of 20.

Each time you make a selection from the Companion Maturation features, you may select this feature once.

Amphibious Nature

Your dragon gains a swimming speed equal to its walking speed. In addition, it can breath both air and water.

Draconic Resistance

Prerequisite: 18th level fighter

You and your companion’s bond grants the ability to overcome impossible odds. Whenever you or your dragon fail a saving throw, you or your dragon can use a reaction choose to succeed it instead. Once either of you have used this feature once, you can’t use it again until you finish a long rest.

Elemental Breath

As an action, you can exhale a 30-foot cone of damaging breath or cause your draconic companion to exhale it. The damage is determined by your dragon’s draconic essence. Each creature in the cone must make a Dexterity saving throw, taking 2d6 damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. You can do this an amount of times equal to your proficiency bonus per long rest.

The damage increases to 4d6 at 7th level, 6d6 at 10th level, and 8d6 at 15th.

Empowered Bite

Your dragon’s bite attack deals an additional d6 of its Draconic Essence damage.

Frightful Presence.

Prerequisite: 10th level fighter

As an action, you or your dragon can cause each creature of your choice to make a Wis Save or be frightened for 1 minute. A creature under this effect can make another save at the end of each of its turns. On a success, it is immune to this effect for 24 hours.

Greater Wings

Your dragon's wings gain strength, granting it flight speed equal to twice its walking speed.

Growth Spurt

Your draconic companion advances in size (from small to medium). It also counts as one size larger when determining carrying capacity, and is able to be mounted by a medium-sized or smaller creature, although doing so reduces its speed by half.

Life Transference

Prerequisite: 18th level fighter

As a bonus action, you can lay your hands on your draconic companion to sacrifice your own life force for its. You may spend any available hit dice on your dragon restoring hit points equal to the total plus your fighter level, taking half the amount of force damage. Your dragon is able to do the same on your behalf. Once either of you use this feature, you can’t until you finish a long rest.