General Prestige Class : Skypledged
"Hear my cry, lords of wind and sky! Honor the age-old bargain once more!" -Mikraeni Vithikil, skypledged druid.
The skypledged represent a mystical tradition among the raptorans that hearkens back to an ancient pact with powerful lords of the Elemental Plane of Air. The skypledged are a tangible manifestation of that pact, exchanging divine power with one another and with powerful air elementals.
Becoming A Skypledged
Raptoran clerics and druids will find it relatively straight-forward to join the skypledged once they have acquired a modicum of divine power.
Requirements
To qualify to become a Skypledged, a character must fulfill all the following criteria:
- Race: Raptoran
- Spells: Ability to cast summon monster IV or summon nature's ally IV.
- Special: Flight extraordinary ability
Class Skills
The skypledged's class skills are Concentration, Craft, Handle Animal, Heal, Intimidate, Knowledge (nature), Knowledge (the planes), Listen, Profession, Spellcraft, Spot, and Survival.
Skill Points at Each Level: 4 + Int modifier.
Class Features
The skypledged class features all relate to the bargain that the raptoran race made ages ago with powerful air elementals.
Skypledge: The skypledged receive much of their power from a conduit to the Elemental Plane of Air. In exchange for this gift, every skypledged must be an exemplar of loyalty to his or her elemental patrons. Upon joining the skypledged, you vow to aid air elementals in their struggles against other primal forces of the universe (such as the other elements). As part of this vow, you voluntarily forgo casting any spell with the fire, water, or earth descriptors. If you choose to cast a prohibited spell, it functions normally, but you are considered a pledgebreaker (described below) until you pay for your transgression (often with an atonement spell).
Spell completion and spell trigger items that reproduce fire, water, or earth effects are not prohibited. You can use a scroll of wall of fire or a staff of earth and stone normally.
Divine Spellpool (Su): The skypledged and their elemental patrons share a magical reservoir of spell energy bound into the fabric of the sky itself. You can tap into this reservoir, called the spellpool, and call spells from this common resource at need.
Calling a Spell: Calling a spell from the spellpool can be done at any distance but requires you to have an open, unused spell slot of the appropriate level. When preparing spells for the day, you decide at that time whether to leave some spell slots open. You can call only for a spell of a level that you could normally cast. You can call a number of spells per day whose total levels are equal to or less than half your caster level (round down, minimum one). For example, a 7th-level cleric/1st-level skypledged can call one 3rd-level spell and one 1st-level spell, or two 2nd-level spells, assuming she has slots available and isn't considered a pledgebreaker.
When you call a spell, you take a full-round action to concentrate (which does provoke attacks of opportunity). The spell appears in your mind at the beginning of your next turn and can be used immediately. However, if you do not cast the called spell within a number of minutes equal to your caster level, it fades from your mind as though cast.
Spell Availability: Three stages of access to the spellpool exist. A new skypledged gains divine spellpool I privileges, which grants access to spells of 1st to 3rd level. Starting at 4th level, divine spellpool II allows access to 4th- to 6th-level spells. Starting at 7th level, divine spellpool III grants access to 7th- to 9th-level spells. No 0-level spells are available, but the spellpool can provide any other spell on the cleric or druid spell list - even cleric spells to a druid or druid spells to a cleric. The only unavailable spells are those with the fire, earth, or water descriptor, and those cleric spells that appear as domain spells but not on the main cleric spell list.
Spellpool Debt: Every time you call a spell, you incur a debt. To pay this debt, you must return spell power to the spellpool, in the form of a spell you have prepared of a level equal to that of the called spell, or a number of spells whose combined levels equal the level of the called spell. For instance, the spellpool debt for a 5th-level spell is five levels, which could be paid off with another 5th-level spell or any combination of spells whose levels total five. Returning a spell's power to the spellpool is a full-round action, like calling a spell, and depletes a prepared spell slot as if the spell had been cast.
The debt must be repaid within a number of days equal to your skypledged class level; otherwise, you become a pledgebreaker (see below) and you cannot access the spellpool again until you repay your debt and atone for your transgression. You must repay this debt as a part of any atonement for being a pledgebreaker. You can't build up a positive balance with the spellpool by paying off a debt before incurring it.
Spellcasting: At each level, you gain new spells per day and an increase in caster level (and spells known, if applicable) as if you had also gained a level in a divine spellcasting class to which you belonged before adding the prestige class level. You do not, however, gain any other class feature a character of that class would have gained. If you had more than one divine spellcasting class before becoming a skypledged, you must decide to which class to add each level for the purpose of determining spells per day, caster level, and spells known.
Beckon Breeze (Sp): At 2nd level, you gain the ability to ask your elemental patrons to change the wind speed and direction on your behalf once per day. You can change the wind direction as you like, and you can change the wind force by one category in either direction-for example, from light to moderate or from severe to strong (see Wind Effects). The prevailing winds change everywhere within a 100-foot radius centered on your location at the time you ask the wind lords for aid.
The changes you create with this ability last 1 minute per level, and it takes 1d4 rounds for the winds to shift as you've beckoned. This ability does not function indoors or underground.
Instant Supplication (Sp): Beginning at 3rd level, you can beg the wind-lords to save a falling creature within sight - often a comrade, but you can seek the boon for the yourself if you're somehow rendered unable to fly. This effect functions like a feather fall spell cast on the targeted creature. This is an immediate action that a skypledged character can use at any time (even on someone else's turn).
Beckon Winds (Sp): When you reach 5th level, this ability replaces the beckon breeze class feature. It is identical to that ability, except you can now change the wind force by up to two categories (from light to strong, for example, or from severe to moderate).
Servant Supplication (Su): Starting at 6th level, you gain an ally drawn from the primal power of the Elemental Plane of Air. Once per day, as a full-round action, you may call a 15 HD Large air elemental to serve you loyally and well as long as you avoid pledgebreaker status. The air elemental remains with you for 1 hour, after which it returns to the Elemental Plane of Air. The elemental acts as you command during your turn.
Beckon Gale (Sp): At 8th level, this ability replaces the beckon winds class feature. It is identical to that ability, except you can now change the wind force by up to four categories (from light to windstorm, for example, or from hurricane to moderate).
Assumptive Supplication (Su): Beginning at 9th level, you can ask the elemental powers to lend you their form for 1 minute once per day. You assume the form of a Huge air elemental; see the 20th-level druid wild shape class feature.
Cyclonic Doom (Su): When you attain 10th level, the elemental lords cloak you in the protective power of your own personal cyclone, if you take a standard action to ask for their help. A cyclone of magical wind spins through all spaces adjacent to you.
If you are on the ground, anyone in an adjacent square takes 15d6 points of bludgeoning damage from the magically enhanced wind. Those who survive must succeed on a Fortitude save (DC 20 + your Str modifier) or be knocked prone.
If you are flying, anyone in an adjacent square takes 15d6 points of bludgeoning damage and must succeed on a Reflex save (DC 20 + your Str modifier) or be ejected 2d6x10 feet directly away from you (as if they had been bull rushed that far).
Check to see whether a creature is adjacent to you at the start of that creature's turn and at any point during that creature's movement. If you move adjacent to someone, for example, he won't take damage or attempt a save until the start of his turn. If someone moves adjacent to you, he takes damage and attempts the saving throw immediately.
The cyclonic doom ability is usable for 10 rounds per day, split up as desired. You can activate or deactivate your cyclonic doom as a free action, but you can't do both in the same turn.
Pledgebreakers
Your pledge to forgo fire, earth, and water spells is entirely voluntary on your part; you still have access to those spells, and you can prepare and cast them if you so choose. Likewise, you can take spells from the divine spellpool without replenishing the reservoir.
However, if you do either of those things, you are considered a pledgebreaker. While a pledgebreaker, you retain your spellcasting ability, but you lose access to other class features until you atone for your breach of the ancient pact between the raptorans and the air elementals. An atonement spell is often a good way to restore your good standing in terms of the pledge. Unless you broke your pledge while under magical compulsion or similar extenuating circumstances, it'll cost you 500 XP to atone for your misdeed. In particularly egregious cases, the elemental lords may put a geas/quest on you prior to letting you back into the fold.
| Skypledged | Hit Die: d6 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CL | BAB | Fort | Ref | Will | Special | Spellcasting |
| 1st | +0 | +0 | +2 | +2 | Skypledge, divine spellpool I | +1 level of existing divine spellcasting class |
| 2nd | +1 | +0 | +3 | +3 | Beckon breeze | +1 level of existing divine spellcasting class |
| 3rd | +2 | +1 | +3 | +3 | Instant supplication | +1 level of existing divine spellcasting class |
| 4th | +3 | +1 | +4 | +4 | Divine spellpool II | +1 level of existing divine spellcasting class |
| 5th | +3 | +1 | +4 | +4 | Beckon winds | +1 level of existing divine spellcasting class |
| 6th | +4 | +2 | +5 | +5 | Servant supplication | +1 level of existing divine spellcasting class |
| 7th | +5 | +2 | +5 | +5 | Divine spellpool III | +1 level of existing divine spellcasting class |
| 8th | +6 | +2 | +6 | +6 | Beckon gale | +1 level of existing divine spellcasting class |
| 9th | +6 | +3 | +6 | +6 | Assumptive supplication | +1 level of existing divine spellcasting class |
| 10th | +7 | +3 | +7 | +7 | Cyclonic doom | +1 level of existing divine spellcasting class |
Source: Races of the Wild