Its indeed not very useful and out of place, but If you want to tack on so many weaknesses and costs to it then it has to go in the other direction and be worthwhile too. It already gives +2LA.
Requiring all Dragon Vassals to succeed on a Fortitude save (DC 25 maybe?) or fall into a coma if Viserys dies and only reawaken if he gets resurrected.
Single point of failure for our entire command structure and all our elites is something that I will never advocate for. The save is already too high to succeed for level 5s with a high chance. I wouldn't mind removing the save entirely and just going with a flat penelty.
It wouldn't be for the command structure at all, but for combat soldiers. Nothing about the template makes one a more effective leader or commander, so we shouldn't be handing it out to those who will be giving order rathers than fighting.
My mistake I thought they had much lower bonuses.
Your point is rather moot since not taking advantage of the maximum number we can create each month is akin to passing up the chance to make more, and just creating a new point of failure in that their direct loyalty is always going to be to the one they are soul-bonded to out of a simple matter of practicality. While we hold their lord in vassalage, that relationship is tenuous at best, and I expect it to be challenged at various times. Those times would be way more tense if they had a non-insignificant number of elite operatives in our armed forces loyal only to them.
Viserys is exceptionally difficult to kill. We've put a lot of effort and resources into assuring that. If he dies for some reason, the least of our worries will be a few hundreds low to mid-level Dragon Vassals falling over dead.
Dont like removing things entirely without putting something in its place. Maybe switch the dominate and Detect thoughts stuff with they always qualifying for being effected by that new ability Viserys got? They will have one of his scales melded to their bodies that counts as him being in their presence right? That would be a nice alternate.
Isnt Viserys in his capstone basically immortal short of the fall of the entire Imperium anyway? At that point would his body getting blasted for a bit trigger the thing?
Hmm I can live with that. But at that point if it isnt a permanent death maybe make it a DC18-20 instead of 25?
I asked DP if we could swap all of the surveillance and control magic out and just replace it with an effect similar to the Vassals being marked by a Dragoneye Rune. I think that is plenty.
Aww, wanted to replace the surveillance stuff with the option to have a quasy mind link. Like in battle with Viserys in the field they could willingly create a mind link with him. Like a little addition to Viserys's Beacon of Will ability.
