Nomad Lord Prestige Class

The nomad lord is not bound to land and property, save for his most important possessions, his mount. A nomad lord tends to view city-dwellers as impoverished cousins, unaware that the greatest riches are those of the soul, not knowing that such rewards can only be found in the freedom of the open land. Good nomad lords tend to demonstrate the inherent superiority of their life, which accounts for the haughty attitude perceived by the townsfolk. Evil nomad lords see the towns and villages as mere supply houses for needed material.

Unlike knights, the nomad lord does not depend on an impetious charge to down his foes. Instead, he will harass and skirmish with them, striking like lightning and then disappearing into the distance once again.

Nomad lords are usually barbarians or rangers. But any character who wishes to become a master of the wastelands can profit from this class. To become a nomad lord, you must be a member of a nomadic tribe of animal-riders. You must have lived with them and their beasts for at least a year, and the herds of the tribe are the source of your mounts. If the tribe loses it's herds, you cannot replace your favourite mount.

Hit Die: d10

Requirements

To qualify as a nomad lord, the character must fulfill all the following criteria.

Skills:
Handle Animal (4 ranks)
Ride (6 ranks)
Wilderness Lore (2 ranks)

Base Attack Bonus: +4

Feats: Mounted Combat, Ride-By Attack, Mounted Archery.

Skill points at each level: 4 + Int modifier.

Class Features

All of the following are class features of the nomad lord class.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Nomad lords are proficient with all simple weapons and martial weapons as well as light and medium armor and with shields.

Favourite Mount: The nomad lord has an animal that serves as his personal steed, companion and friend. Though no more intelligent than a usual animal of it's type, the Favourite Mount is steadfastly loyal and gains an increasing number of abilities as the nomad lord improves in level. On the nomad lord's level table, the changes to the characteristics of his special mount are noted. These changes are added to the base attributes of the type of animal. All favorite mounts also have the Endurance feat.

It is an unfortunate fact that mounts die in battle. When a nomad lord's mount dies, is sold, stolen or given away, he can replace it with an animal from the herds of his tribe, with a training period of but one week. The nomad lord is assumed to know the herds of his tribe, and can quickly pick out an animal that is already trained but not yet dedicated to a particular rider. A special mount away from it's owner loses all special properties in one week.

This ability is similar to the paladin's Special Mount ability, and paladins sometimes become nomad lords. Abilities dealing with the attributes of the mount stack (bonus hit dice, natural armor) stack. The special abilities of the paladin's Special Mount and the nomad lord's Favourite Mount do not stack; use the best in each category.

Safe in the saddle: You ignore the attack penalties and concentration requirements for spells that a normal rider suffers from. See PH, page 138. This is an extraordinary ability.

Share Defences: The nomad lord and his mount can share each others defences. While riding the mount, only one Saving throw is made for attacks that could harm both mount and rider, using the best modifier. This also enables the nomad lord to share the mount's improved evasion and spell resistance abilities at higher levels, and to use Mounted Combat to negate attacks directed at himself or his mount.

Wheeling Attack: You no longer need to move in a straight line when using Ride-By Attack or Mounted Archery; you can ride forward, make an attack, turn up to 180°, and continue with the rest of your movement.This is an extraordinary ability.

Improved Evasion: If the nomad lord or his mount are subject to an attack that normally allows a Reflex saving throw for half damage, they take no damage if they make a successful saving throw and only half damage even if the saving throw fails. Improved Evasion is an extraordinary ability and only works when the nomad lord is mounted.

Empathic Link: The nomad lord has an empathic link with the mount out to a distance of up to one mile. The nomad lord cannot see through the mount's eyes, but they can communicate telepatically. Mounts see the world differently from humans, so misunderstandings are always possible. Once this ability is gained,there is an inseparable bond between man and mount. Neither will ever ride or allow themselves to be ridden by another. If either the mount or rider is slain, the surviving party suffers a -4 confidence penalty to all skill rolls, saves and attack rolls. For an animal, this is permanent; the rider negates the penalties when he takes a new mount.This is a supernatural ability.

One Life: At ninth level, the mount and rider are so perfectly united that they effectively combine their life forces. While the rider is mounted, he can apply any damage suffered by either himself or his mount to either of them, as desired. In the case of effects that would damage them both, the combination of mount and rider only takes damage once; effectively, they are now one creature. One Life is a supernatural ability.