General Prestige Class : Wild Plains Outrider
The wild plains demand constant vigilance from those who wander their spaces. While moving through such areas, groups of nomads, adventurers, and even armies call upon the services of specially trained outriders. These scouts and wanderers work tirelessly to keep the plains as safe as such remote places can be.
The many dangers of the plains necessitate trust between mount and rider, and the two must move as one-whether on a week-long trek covering hundreds of miles or in a short, bloody combat against a group of goblins. The wild plains outriders, a group of powerful rangers and druids who have gathered together to protect the plains and those who cross them, work to perfect this bond between mount and rider.
Joining the wild plains outriders requires a special bond with a mount of some kind, so all outriders must have at least a few levels of druid, ranger, or paladin. Beyond that requirement, the life of an outrider demands survival, tracking, and combat skills that appeal more to rangers than to members of other classes. Although barbarians and scouts must multiclass before gaining levels in the outrider prestige class, they often find the class appealing. Barbarians are drawn to the class because of an outrider's ability to travel great distances with a trusted mount and because of their strong survival skills; scouts find that the outrider's skills and abilities mesh well with their own expertise.
Adaptation: The wild plains outrider prestige class can be tailored easily to fit a specific campaign, race, culture, or organization. Simply add a minor aspect to the requirements. For example, specifying that an outrider's animal companion or special mount must have a fly speed and changing the name of the class to the "Skythunder outrider" makes it a better fit for a reclusive but powerful tribe of goblins called the Skythunder tribe. Similar changes can make the class fit dwarf rangers on dire boars, elf foresters on giant lizards, or human nomads on wild horses.
Requirements
To qualify to become a Wild Plains Outrider, a character must fulfill all the following criteria:
- Skills: Ride 9 ranks
- Feats: Mounted Combat, Track,
- Special: Animal companion large enough to serve as a mount, or a paladin's special mount.
Class Skills
The wild plains outrider's class skills are Balance, Handle Animal, Jump, Knowledge (nature), Listen, Move Silently, Ride, Spot, Survival, and Swim.
Skill Points at Each Level: 4 + Int modifier.
Class Features
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Wild plains outriders gain no proficiency with any weapon or armor.
Animal Companion/Special Mount: A wild plains outrider adds his outrider class levels to his effective druid level (his actual druid level or one-half his ranger level) to determine the capabilities of his animal companion. Alternatively, he can add his outrider class levels to his effective paladin level to determine the capabilities of his special mount. However, be can only use one of these abilities. The choice must be made when the character enters the wild plains outrider class and can never be changed.
Ride Bonus (Ex): A wild plains outrider gains a competence bonus equal to his class level on all Ride checks, as well as on Handle Animal checks made in conjunction with his animal companion mount or special mount.
Wild Plains Stalker (Ex): A wild plains outrider knows how to move a mount stealthily through nearly any terrain. His mount uses the outrider's skill ranks, rather than its own, to make Hide and Move Silently checks. The mount still uses its own size, Dexterity, armor check penalty, and other applicable modifiers when making such checks.
Wild Plains Swiftness (Ex): A wild plains outrider knows how to draw very bit of speed possible from a mount. At 2nd level and higher, a wild plains outrider (while mounted) increases his mount's base speed by 10 feet. This increase affects every movement mode the mount has, including fly, climb, and swim speeds.
Wild Plains Offensive (Ex): Starting at 3rd level, a wild plains outrider can make a full attack with a melee weapon as long as his mount takes only a single move.
Multiclassing Note: A paladin can multiclass as a wild plains outrider without losing her ability to take additional levels in paladin.
| Wild Plains Outrider | Hit Die: d8 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CL | BAB | Fort | Ref | Will | Special |
| 1st | +1 | +2 | +0 | +0 | Animal companion/special mount, ride bonus, wild plains stalker |
| 2nd | +2 | +3 | +0 | +0 | Wild plains swiftness |
| 3rd | +3 | +3 | +1 | +1 | Wild plains offensive |
Source: Complete Adventurer