General Prestige Class : Stormtalon
"Fear nothing! Death from the sky!" -Austriesha, stormtalon captain
The stormtalons are consummate aerial warriors, using both their weapons and their razor-sharp foot talons to dive on their hapless foes. They are elite protectors of the raptoran race, sent by the high chieftain whenever a raptoran flock is in trouble.
Becoming A Stormtalon
Becoming a stormtalon means joining the raptoran equivalent of the military. Recruits are tested for combat prowess before admission into the ranks of the stormtalons, so fighters, paladins, rangers, and barbarians get into the prestige class easiest. The latter two classes find the stormtalon class particularly appealing because they don't wear heavy armor anyway and will be able to fly unencumbered.
Requirements
To qualify to become a Stormtalon, a character must fulfill all the following criteria:
- Race: Raptoran
- Base Attack Bonus: +5
- Special: Flight extraordinary ability
Class Skills
The stormtalon's class skills are Balance, Climb, Craft, Intimidate, Jump, Spot, and Tumble.
Skill Points at Each Level: 2 + Int modifier.
Class Features
The stormtalon's class features all make you a better fighter in the air.
Foot Talons (Ex): The first lesson a stormtalon learns is how to sharpen his or her foot talons so they become weapons. Such sharpening takes an hour a day to maintain, but it turns your feet into claws that deal 1d6 points of damage plus your Strength modifier. You are considered proficient with these attacks. When you make a full attack, you use your full base attack bonus with any weapons in hand and rake a -5 penalty on your talon attack. The Multiattack feat lessens this penalty to -2.
You can use your foot talons only when you're airborne. They deal both piercing and slashing damage, so they'll do double damage when you make a dive attack.
The talons are useful as weapons, but they're not dexterous enough to wield weapons or perform any action requiring fine motor skills.
Bonus Aerial Feat: At every even-numbered level, you learn a new trick useful to aerial combat. Choose a feat from the following list: Aerial Reflexes, Aerial Superiority, Born Flyer, Diving Charge, Flyby Attack, Hover, Improved Flight, Multiattack, Wingover.
Fast Flight (Ex): Beginning at 3rd level, you gain a fly speed 10 feet faster than the norm for your race. At 5th level, it's 20 feet faster, and at 9th level, it's 40 feet faster. Except that this class feature applies to fly speed rather than land speed, it otherwise functions like the fast movement barbarian class feature .
Improved Foot Talons (Ex): When you reach 7th level, you have become more adept at dealing wicked cuts with your foot talons. Your talons now deal 1d8 points of damage and can be used even when you aren't flying.
| Stormtalon | Hit Die: d10 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CL | BAB | Fort | Ref | Will | Special |
| 1st | +1 | +2 | +0 | +0 | Foot talons |
| 2nd | +2 | +3 | +0 | +0 | Bonus aerial feat |
| 3rd | +3 | +3 | +1 | +1 | Fast flight (+10 ft.) |
| 4th | +4 | +4 | +1 | +1 | Bonus aerial feat |
| 5th | +5 | +4 | +1 | +1 | Fast flight (+20 ft.) |
| 6th | +6 | +5 | +2 | +2 | Bonus aerial feat |
| 7th | +7 | +5 | +2 | +2 | Improved foot talons |
| 8th | +8 | +6 | +2 | +2 | Bonus aerial feat |
| 9th | +9 | +6 | +3 | +3 | Fast flight (+40 ft.) |
| 10th | +10 | +7 | +3 | +3 | Bonus aerial feat |
Source: Races of the Wild