Golden
Feather Warrior
Created by AstralFire
"You just made a big mistake
there, Meonoas.
In the skies, you're mine." - Alareun, green dragon
hunter.
The few rare colonies of Avariel Elves
have hung on to survival, barely, for the past centuries through pure tenacity
of will and strength of spirit. While their leaders continued to look up only
towards their goddess to save them through miraculous intervention, a few,
hardened by their trials and tribulations, went for more practical means. They
had not all necessarily forgotten their goddess, but they realized that some
reason or another, they had to at least begin to help themselves. The colonies'
greatest warriors came together to make a traveling strike force against the
foes of the Avariels, calling themselves the Golden Feather Corps. Eventually,
as the Winged Elves began to come back past the brink of extinction, and
knowledge of their existence became known, the strike force gained fame
throughout the land. While most of its members are still Avariels, other winged
humanoids have been known to join the Corps in an effort to hone their special
talents. Knowledge of the Corps' fighting techniques have trickled down to
others over time.
Golden Feather Warriors (GFWs), or Aerialists,
are written with a Faerunian background, but are applicable for any D&D
setting with large numbers of flight-capable bipeds that are organized. Their primary purpose is as a warrior that excels
at air superiority with the ability to do tactical ground support somewhat.
Grounded, they do horribly. All Aerialists have at least some amount of Ranger
training, if they are not already Rangers, as it is easiest for
them to reach the Corps' strict requirements. Typically, Aerialists choose one
of three fighting styles - Tempest, with two weapons, Sniper, with a ranged
weapon, or
Charger, with abilities like Power Attack and Overrun. The Rapier, Saber,
Longsword, Shortspear, Longspear, Longbow, Bolo, and Shortbow, are all
traditional weapons of this class.
Hit Die:
d8
Requirements:
To qualify to become a Golden Feather Warrior,
a character must fulfill the following criteria:
Base Attack Bonus: +6
Skills:
Spot: 6
ranks
Feats: Improved Flight, Rapid Flight, Endurance, Weapon Focus (Any).
Special:
Flight Speed of at least 50ft, and Average or better Flight
Maneuverability.
Must have been inducted into the GF Corps or be learning
under a master knowledgeable of its techniques.
Must be a bipedal creature.
Must be able to fly under own power
with wings, and without the aid of magic, psionics, or equipment. Outsiders that
fly through a Supernatural or Spell-Like ability are
exempt from this.
Must have Favored enemy: Dragon or Favored Enemy: Giant.
Class Skills:
The Golden Feather
Warrior's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Craft (Int),
Profession (Int), Heal (Wis), Spot (Wis), Knowledge (history) (Int), Knowledge
(geography) (Int), Knowledge (nature) (Int), Jump (Str), Search (Wis), Survival (Wis), and Tumble
(Dex).
Skill Points at Each Level: 4 + Int modifier.
Level BAB Fort Ref Will Special ------------------------------------------------------------- 1 +0 +2 +2 +0 Sudden Dive +1d6 2 +1 +3 +3 +0 Evasion; Flyby Attack 3 +2 +3 +3 +1 Claustrophobia 4 +3 +4 +4 +1 Eagle Eyes; Aerial Style 5 +3 +4 +4 +1 Sudden Dive +2d6 6 +4 +5 +5 +2 Group Tactics; Great Flyby Attack 7 +5 +5 +5 +2 Improved Evasion 8 +6 +6 +6 +2 Terraphobia; Improved Flyby Attack 9 +6 +6 +6 +3 Sky Watcher; Fly-by-Night 10 +7 +7 +7 +3 Master of the Skies; Sudden Dive +3d6
Class Features: All of the following are class features for the Golden Feather Warrior prestige class:
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Golden Feather Warriors gain no additional weapon or armor proficiencies. By the time they have been inducted into the corps or taken in by a master, they have already developed their trademark fighting styles.
Sudden Dive (Ex): When making a charge attack going downward (no less than 45 degrees angle of descent) against a flatfooted opponent, the GFW does increased damage with a successful strike from any melee weapon. The amount of extra damage increases at level 5 and level 10. This damage cannot be subdual. If the GFW already has the Dive ability as a bonus racial feat, then he must declare use of one or the other before making his attack roll.
Flyby Attack (Ex): The Aerialist gains the benefit of the Flyby Attack feat automatically at level 2.
Evasion (Ex): At 2nd Level and
higher, a GFW can avoid even magical and unusual attacks with great agility
while aloft. If
he makes a successful Reflex saving throw against an attack that normal deals
half damage on a successful save (such as a red dragon's fiery breath or a
fireball), he instead takes no damage. Evasion can only be used if the
GFW is wearing Light or no Armor and is 20 feet or higher off the ground. A helpless GFW (such as one who is unconscious
or paralyzed) does not gain the benefit of evasion.
If the GFW already had Evasion from another class, he gains the benefits of
Improved Evasion while 20 feet above the ground or more, and retains Evasion
while grounded, as long as he is not in a small environment. (See below)
Claustrophobia (Ex): At 3rd level and higher, a GFW has already started to become a creature of his favored environment. Impose a fear penalty of -1 on all rolls the GFW makes while in a small environment such as a bedroom, bear cave, or cabin, or underwater. A small environment is defined as one with only nine times the area (twenty-seven times the volume) more than the minimum required to hold a character of the GFW's size. If the GFW stays in the small environment more than 1 minute, then the GFW must make a DC 22 Will Save every round or be driven unconscious by fear for 12 hours. Prolonged exposure to the small environment (more than a week) can cause loss of sanity. (The DM decides on the severity and duration of the insanity.)
Eagle Eyes (Ex): Much training has made the GFW more attuned to his aerial surroundings. At level 4 and higher, when 20 ft or higher above the ground, the GFW gains a +4 Bonus to Spot and Search checks, and has Low-Light vision.
Aerial Style (Ex): Through much training, the GFW has learned to make use of his improved aerial mobility to attack. He gains the use of the Weapon Finesse feat while 20 feet above the air or higher for any weapons he has the feat Weapon Focus in, provided those weapons are compatible. If not, then the GFW may make his aerial charge attacks and use his Dexterity bonus(es) in addition to his Strength bonus(es) for his attack rolls with that weapon. However, this is due to the Aerialist's long experience with that weapon, granting him a degree of familiarity and comfort with its use. Whenever using a weapon he does not have Weapon Focus in, he now takes a -1 to the attack roll.
Great Flyby Attack (Ex): At 6th level and higher, a GFW automatically gains the benefits of the Great Flyby Attack Feat, even if he does not meet the prerequisites.
Group Tactics (Ex): If the GFW is at least 20 feet above the ground, all airborne allies within 30 feet of this character get a +1 dexterity bonus to all attack and reflex save rolls, and a +1 dex bonus to AC, including the GFW. An additional +1 bonus to the group is added for each GFW with Group Tactics present; however, at level 6 the bonus has a cap of +2, +4 at level 8, and +6 at level 10. The cap for the group is equal to the lowest cap among those present, since an inexperienced member would merely get in the way. If an airborne ally without group tactics is present, the entire group only gets a +1 bonus.
Improved Evasion (Ex): At
7th level and above, the GFW still has the benefit of taking no damage from an
attack that allows half-damage with a successful reflex save when he beats the
save DC, but he is so alert in the air that he takes half-damage automatically
from an attack that allows half-damage with a successful reflex save, even if he
fails the roll. He only has Improved Evasion while at least 20 feet in the air
or higher, but now benefits from Evasion if conditions are not
claustrophobia-inducing.
If the GFW already had Improved Evasion from this or another class, he gains the
benefits of Improved Evasion at all times, but with a +1 dodge bonus to reflex
saves while conditions are not claustrophobia inducing.
Terraphobia: The GFW continues to favor the air over the land. He gains an additional +2 dexterity bonus to attack rolls, AC, and reflex saves while 5 feet above the ground (stacking with that from Group Tactics) However, he now takes a -2 fear penalty instead of a -1 in claustrophobic conditions, and takes a -1 fear penalty on armor class and all attack and reflex rolls the GFW makes while grounded and disallowed flight for whatever reason (low ceiling, mission needs stealthiness, etc). When on the ground for more than one day without flying, the GFW must make a Will Save (DC 20) every hour or have the penalties increase by -1 to a maximum of -5 additional penalty. After a week, the Will Saves must be made every minute, and a failed save will cause a 12 hour loss of consciousness.
Improved Flyby Attack (Ex): At 8th level and higher, a GFW automatically gains the benefits of the Improved Flyby Attack Feat, even if he does not meet the prerequisites.
Sky Watcher (Ex): The GFW gains darkvision 60 feet.
Fly-by-Night (Ex): At 9th level and higher, the GFW gains the benefit of the Run feat as long as he is 20 feet or higher above the ground. He also gains a +4 Bonus to Constitution checks to continue high-speed Flying (This stacks with the bonus from the Endurance Feat). He gains a +10 to his base Flight speed at all times.
Master of the Skies: The GFW's flight maneuverability goes up by one (to a maximum of perfect). He is considered a master of the style and may have an apprentice in this class. For Group Tactics, the cap for the group bonus raises by +2 from what it normally is (It raises by +1 instead if there are airborne allies affected by Group Tactics that do not have the ability.) Additional Masters of the Skies mayn't raise the group bonus further. He also gains an additional +1 to the bonuses in Group Tactics, but only concerning himself - they do not increase how much his allies benefit from that ability. The cap on the bonus from Group Tactics includes the bonus he has just gained from Master of the Skies. All of this improvement comes at an expense; the Master of the Skies truly hates the ground. Double Claustrophobia and Terraphobia penalties, but do not raise the amount the penalty increases on failed will saves for Terraphobia.
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