Faerûnian Prestige Class : Great Rift Skyguard
The hippogriff-mounted skyguards of the Great Rift patrol the skies, ever watchful for the enemies of the gold dwarves. Unlike other mounted soldiers, skyguards often leave their saddles, shouting "Axes from the sky!" as they drop onto their foes.
Requirements
To qualify to become a Great Rift Skyguard, a character must fulfill all the following criteria:
- Race: Gold dwarf
- Skills: Handle Animal 4 ranks, Jump 4 ranks, Ride 8 ranks.
- Feats: Mounted Combat, Toughness.
Class Skills
The Great Rift skyguard's class skills are Climb, Craft, Handle Animal, Heal, Intimidate, Jump, Profession, Ride, and Spot.
Skill Points at Each Level: 2 + Int modifier.
Class Features
All of the following are Class Features of the Great Rift skyguard prestige class.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: The Great Rift skyguard is proficient with martial weapons, medium and light armor, and shields.
Axes from the Sky: The Great Rift skyguard is particularly adept at using a drogue wing to attack his foes from above. As a standard action, the skyguard can leap from his saddle, fall straight downward, and deploy his drogue wing, just before attacking. This counts as a charge attack that deals double damage and grants an additional +1 bonus on the attack roll because the skyguard is attacking from higher ground. The skyguard takes no damage from the fall, and after the attack is scattered randomly into a square adjacent to the creature he attacked.
Hippogriff Steed I (Su): At 2nd level, the bond between the Great Rift skyguard and his mount improves. The hippogriff now has 5 Hit Dice, its natural armor bonus improves to +6, its Strength score improves to 19, and its Intelligence score improves to 6.
The skyguard also develops a telepathic link with the hippogriff out to a distance of one mile. The skyguard cannot see through the mount's eyes, but they can communicate telepathically. Because of the telepathic link, the skyguard has the same connection to an item or place that the hippogriff does, just as a master and his familiar.
The skyguard can have only one hippogriff steed at a time. If the hippogriff dies, the skyguard must train a new hippogriff for a month before he can confer the bonuses to it.
Skyhook: At 2nd level, the Great Rift skyguard and his steed have mastered a re-saddling maneuver. If the skyguard is on the ground, he can raise his shield above his head as a free action. The hippogriff then swoops down and grabs the shield (and consequently the skyguard) in the middle of its move, as if it had the Flyby Attack feat. Then it corkscrews as it climbs, so the skyguard winds up back in the saddle. The skyguard doesn't provoke attacks of opportunity for this maneuver, but the hippogriff might.
Bonus Mounted Combat Feat: At 3rd and 7th level, the Great Rift skyguard gains a feat of his choice with the Mounted Combat feat as a prerequisite.
Fly-By Attack: At 4th level or higher, a Great Rift skyguard who swoops down onto his foes with a drogue wing can leap from the saddle, make a single attack, then fly up to 50 feet away (at an altitude of 5 feet above the ground) before landing. This does not provoke an attack of opportunity from the skyguard's target.
Hippogriff Steed II (Su): At 5th level, the Great Rift skyguard's hippogriff now has 7 Hit Dice, its natural armor bonus improves to +8, its Strength score improves to 20, and its Intelligence score improves to 7. It is considered a magical beast, and it remains Large despite its 7 HD. Its fly speed improves to 110 feet (good).
Drogue Charge: At 6th level and higher, a Great Rift skyguard on the ground with an undeployed drogue wing can run at his foes, then deploy the wing to send him into the air briefly, up and over his target. This functions as a normal charge attack, except that the skyguard gains the +1 attack bonus for higher ground, and be lands on the far side of his foe. The drogue charge doesn't provoke an attack of opportunity from the target, even if the creature has reach.
Hippogriff Steed III (Su): At 8th level, the Great Rift skyguard's hippogriff now has 9 Hit Dice, its natural armor bonus improves to +10, its Strength score improves to 21, and its Intelligence score improves to 8. It is still a Large magical beast, and it gains spell resistance 20 and damage reduction 5/+2.
Glide for Distance: At 9th level and higher, the Great Rift skyguard is attuned to even the slightest breeze, and he knows how to get maximum performance from his drogue wing. Once he has deployed the drogue wing, a Great Rift skyguard can travel up to 15 feet horizontally for every 5 feet he falls. He is considered to have good maneuverability while flying, although he can't climb. He can dive as steeply as he wishes, however.
Skyguard Catapult: A dangerous stunt attempted only by the best skyguards (10th level), the skyguard catapult turns the Great Rift skyguard into a living catapult stone. As a full-round action, hippogriff and skyguard swoop toward their target. At the end of the hippogriff's movement, the skyguard leaps from the saddle, falling any vertical distance and traveling up to 50 feet in a straight line horizontally. Unlike axes from the sky, the drogue wing is not deployed. Instead, the skyguard deals damage to the target as if he were a falling object and takes half-damage from the fall himself. The skyguard must succeed on a melee touch attack roll to strike his target; if he misses, he inflicts no damage on the target and falls prone in an adjacent square.
| Great Rift Skyguard | Hit Die: d10 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CL | BAB | Fort | Ref | Will | Special |
| 1st | +1 | +2 | +2 | +0 | Axes from the sky |
| 2nd | +2 | +3 | +3 | +0 | Hippogriff steed I, skyhook |
| 3rd | +3 | +3 | +3 | +1 | Bonus mounted combat feat |
| 4th | +4 | +4 | +4 | +1 | Fly-By Attack |
| 5th | +5 | +4 | +4 | +1 | Hippogriff steed II |
| 6th | +6 | +4 | +5 | +2 | Drogue charge |
| 7th | +7 | +5 | +5 | +2 | Bonus mounted combat feat |
| 8th | +8 | +6 | +6 | +2 | Hippogriff steed III |
| 9th | +9 | +6 | +6 | +3 | Glide for distance |
| 10th | +10 | +7 | +7 | +3 | Skyguard catapult |
Source: Races of Faerûn