General Prestige Class : Dragonrider
Some dream of soaring through the clouds atop a mighty draconic steed, feeling the wind on their faces, afraid of nothing. The dragonrider doesn't simply dream of this life - he leads it.
Characters of all classes may become dragon riders, though the most common are barbarians, fighters, paladins, and rangers. Other characters looking to follow this path often pick up a level of one of these classes first, to gain the riding talent necessary.
An NPC dragonrider might be encountered as a solitary ally of the family of dragons or as part of a larger fighting force, perhaps affiliated with a kingdom or city-state that uses dragons as part of its defenses.
Requirements
To qualify to become a Dragonrider, a character must fulfill all the following criteria:
- Skills: Diplomacy 4 ranks, Handle Animal 4 ranks, Ride 8 ranks
- Feats: Mounted Combat, Skill Focus (Ride),
- Base Attack Bonus: +5
- Language: Draconic.
Class Skills
The dragonrider's class skills are Balance, Concentration, Diplomacy, Handle Animal, Jump, Ride, Spot, and Tumble.
Skill Points at Each Level: 2 + Int modifier.
Class Features
All of the following are class features of the dragonrider prestige class.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A dragonrider gains proficiency with lance, longspear, short bow, and all simple weapons. Dragonriders are proficient with light, medium, and heavy armor and with shields.
Dragonriding (Ex): A dragonrider may add his class level as a bonus to any Ride checks made in conjunction as with riding a dragon. In addition, any dragon ridden by a dragonrider enjoys maneuverability of one grade better than normal (maximum perfect maneuverability). For instance, an adult green dragon with a dragonrider astride it has average maneuverability rather than poor.
Immune to Frightful Presence (Su): While mounted on or within 10 feet of his dragon mount, a dragonrider is immune to the frightful presence of dragons.
Mounted Spellcasting (Ex): A dragonrider has a +5 bonus on Concentration checks made to cast a spell while riding a mount.
Bonus Feat: At 3rd level, a dragonrider gains a bonus feat drawn from the following list: Mounted Archery, Ride-By Attack, Spirited Charge, Trample, Weapon Focus (lance), Weapon Specialization (lance).
He must meet all the prerequisites for this bonus feat.
Flyby Attack (Ex): Any dragon mount ridden by a dragonrider of at least 4th level is treated as having the Flyby Attack feat.
Spur Mount (Ex): A 5th-level dragonrider can make a DC 20 Ride check to spur his dragon mount to greater speed. Success on this check increases the dragon's speed (flying and otherwise) by 50% (round down to the nearest 5-foot increment), for 5 rounds.
| Dragonrider | Hit Die: d10 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CL | BAB | Fort | Ref | Will | Special |
| 1st | +1 | +2 | +0 | +2 | Dragonriding, immune to frightful presence |
| 2nd | +2 | +3 | +0 | +3 | Mounted spellcasting |
| 3rd | +3 | +3 | +1 | +3 | Bonus feat |
| 4th | +4 | +4 | +1 | +4 | Flyby attack |
| 5th | +5 | +4 | +1 | +4 | Spur mount |
Source: Draconomicon