General Prestige Class : Horizon Walker
The horizon walker is an unceasing traveler to the universes most dangerous places. As her journeys take her from place to place, she adapts to become one with her environment. In time, she develops a mystic connection with the ground beneath her. But she is by no means tied to a particular place; her restless feet are ever leading her toward the horizon, where new adventures await.
Horizon walkers tend to be hard to surprise or impress, because they've seen so many wonders during their travels. It's common for a horizon walker to have an outward attitude of "been there, done that." But horizon walkers are gripped by an unquenchable wanderlust, so they're always in the midst of a journey or planning their next one. As they travel, horizon walkers develop a magical resonance with the terrain that surrounds them, making them unparalleled guides and scouts. And they're formidable foes when their travels take them into danger, able to use the terrain they know so well to good advantage.
Rangers and bards take up the path of the horizon walker more often than other characters, but that's more because they appreciate the wanderer's life, not because the path of the horizon walker is particularly specialized. A fair number of horizon walkers were barbarians who strayed from their native lands or rogues who found their skills useful on the road. Occasionally a druid will adopt the prestige class, though most are loath to do so because they sacrifice their spellcasting advancement.
You'll find horizon walkers on the road, or in places so forbidding that roads don't exist. They rarely stay in one place for long, and they're eager to launch a new expedition - the more exotic and remote the destination, the better.
Requirements
To qualify to become a Horizon Walker, a character must fulfill all the following criteria:
- Alignment: Knowledge (geography) 8 ranks
- Skills: Endurance
Class Skills
The horizon walker's class skills are Balance, Climb, Diplomacy, Handle Animal, Hide, Knowledge (geography), Listen, Move Silently, Profession, Ride, Speak Language, Spot, and Survival.
Skill Points at Each Level: 4 + Int modifier.
Class Features
All of the following are features of the horizon walker prestige class.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Horizon walkers gain no proficiency with any weapon or armor.
Terrain Mastery: As horizon walkers travel, they gain a mystical connection with the very ground they walk on. At each level, they add a new terrain environment to their repertoire from those given below. Terrain mastery gives a horizon walker a bonus on checks involving a skill useful in that terrain, or some other appropriate benefit. A horizon walker also knows how to fight dangerous creatures typically found in that terrain, gaining a +1 insight bonus on attack rolls and damage rolls against creatures with that terrain mentioned in the Environment entry of their descriptions (see the Monster Manual). The horizon walker only gains the bonus if the Monster Manual description specifically lists the terrain type.
Horizon walkers take their terrain mastery with them wherever they go. They retain their terrain mastery bonuses on skill checks, attack rolls, and damage rolls whether they're actually in the relevant terrain or not. For example, a horizon walker who has selected desert terrain mastery is immune to fatigue even if she's underground, in the mountains, or in a city.
Planar Terrain Mastery: Eventually a horizon walker's familiarity with terrain extends to her journeys to other planes of existence. Planar terrain mastery functions just like terrain mastery, except that the horizon walker can choose one of the planar categories at each level. The horizon walker can take a nonplanar terrain type instead, if she wishes.
| Horizon Walker | Hit Die: d8 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CL | BAB | Fort | Ref | Will | Special |
| 1st | +1 | +2 | +0 | +0 | Terrain mastery |
| 2nd | +2 | +3 | +0 | +0 | Terrain mastery |
| 3rd | +3 | +3 | +1 | +1 | Terrain mastery |
| 4th | +4 | +4 | +1 | +1 | Terrain mastery |
| 5th | +5 | +4 | +1 | +1 | Terrain mastery |
| 6th | +6 | +5 | +2 | +2 | Planar terrain mastery |
| 7th | +7 | +5 | +2 | +2 | Planar terrain mastery |
| 8th | +8 | +6 | +2 | +2 | Planar terrain mastery |
| 9th | +9 | +6 | +3 | +3 | Planar terrain mastery |
| 10th | +10 | +7 | +3 | +3 | Planar terrain mastery |
Terrain Mastery Benefits
Aquatic: You are naturally at home in the water, gaining a +4 competence bonus on Swim checks, or a +10-foot bonus to your swim speed if you have one. You gain a +1 insight bonus on attack and damage rolls against aquatic creatures.
Desert: You have endured where others perish so you're good at conserving your body's resources. You resist effects that tire you. You are immune to fatigue, and anything that would cause you to become exhausted makes you fatigued instead. You gain a +1 insight bonus on attack and damage rolls against desert creatures.
Forest: You have an instinctive sense of camouflage from your time among the trees, granting you a +4 competence bonus on Hide checks. You gain a +1 insight bonus on attack and damage rolls against forest creatures.
Hills: The faintest echoes find their way to your ears, granting you a +4 competence bonus on Listen checks. You gain a +1 insight bonus on attack and damage rolls against hills creatures.
Marsh: You have learned to be quieter than the whispering rushes; your mystic connection to the marsh grants you a +4 competence bonus on Move Silently checks. You gain a +1 insight bonus on attack and damage rolls against marsh creatures.
Mountains: You naturally cling to surfaces others fall from. You gain a +4 competence bonus on Climb checks, or a +10-foot bonus to your climb speed if you have one. You gain a +1 insight bonus on attack and damage rolls against mountain creatures.
Plains: The wide-open spaces have sharpened your eyes, granting you a +4 competence bonus on Spot checks. You gain a +1 insight bonus on attack and damage rolls against plains creatures.
Underground: You have magically adapted to your time in the dark. You have 60-foot darkvision, or 120-foot darkvision if you already had darkvision from another source. You gain a +1 insight bonus on attack and damage rolls against underground creatures.
Fiery (Planar): This kind of planar terrain mastery provides you with resistance to fire 20. You gain a +1 insight bonus on attack and damage rolls against outsiders and elementals with the fire subtype.
Weightless (Planar): You gain a +30 bonus to your fly speed on planes with no gravity or subjective gravity, such as the Astral Plane or the Elemental Plane of Air. You gain a +1 insight on attack and damage rolls against creatures native to the Astral Plane, the Elemental Plane of Air, and the Ethereal Plane, such as githyanki and air elementals. (A creature native to a particular plane has this fact designated in its Environment entry in the Monster Manual.)
Cold (Planar): This kind of planar terrain mastery provides you with resistance to cold 20. You gain a +1 insight bonus or attack and damage rolls against outsiders and elementals with the cold subtype.
Shifting (Planar): You have the supernatural ability to use the ever-shifting nature of planes such as Limbo and the Plane of Shadow to travel faster. You instinctively anticipate shifts in the reality of the plane that bring you closer to your destination, giving you the spell-like ability to use dimension door (as the spell cast at your character level) once every 1d4 rounds. You gain a +1 insight bonus on attack and damage rolls against outsiders and elementals native to a shifting plane, such as slaadi and shadow mastiffs.
Aligned (Planar): You have the instinctive ability to mimic the dominant alignment of the plane. You incur none of the penalties for having an alignment at odds with that of the plane, and spells and abilities that harm those of the opposite alignment (such as unholy blight) don't affect you. You have the dominant alignment of the plane with regard to magic, but your behavior and any alignment-related class features you have are unaffected.
Cavernous (Planar): You gain tremorsense with a 30-foot range.
Other (Planar): If your campaign uses planes you have invented yourself, you should design additional planar terrains. A plane composed entirely of an immense black spiderweb suspended over a roiling ocean of insectoid vermin, for example, might have a +4 competence bonus on Balance checks and a +4 bonus on Fortitude saves against poison as the benefit for planar terrain mastery.
Source: Dungeon Master's Guide v.3.5