GNOME BADGER KNIGHT
Gnome communities are places of revelry and joy generally due to the natural dispositions of the race, yet even with their jovial disposition, the gnomes recognize the value of formidable warriors to defend their corners of the land from the evils of the wider world. Mounted cavalry is a ubiquitous martial choice of many civilized races, from the fine stallions of Human lands, the loyal riding dogs of the halflings and even the ridding lizards employed by the anarchic drow. Gnomes, with their magical gifts that allow them a brief daily conversation with burrowing animals, find that dire badgers are the best choice for steeds of war. Training and organization can be greatly facilitated through the use this gift. Many large gnome communities employ units of dire badger riders to defend their borders. Gnome badger knights are the elite of such orders, trained with lightning ferocity fitting for their volatile steeds. Their mounts are second to none, carefully bred from the finest of dire badger stock. The knight's training incorporates burrowing tactics to launch stunning ambushes from beneath the earth.
Hit Dice:d10
Requirements
To qualify to become a gnome badger knight, a character must fulfill all the following criteria.
Race: Gnome
Skills: Ride 8 ranks, Handle Animal 8 ranks
Base Attack Bonus:+5
Feats: Mounted Combat, Animal Empathy
Class skills
The gnome badger knight's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Handle Animal (Cha), Intimidate (Cha), Jump (Str), Knowledge (dungeonering) (int) Ride (Dex), Survival (Wis) and Swim (Str).
Skill Points at Each Level: 2 + Int Modifier.
Class Features:
All of the following are class features of the gnome badger knight prestige class.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency:Gnome Badger Knights are proficient with all simple and martial weapons, with all types of armor, and with shields.
Warbadger (Ex): At 1st level a gnome badger knight gains an elite warbadger, usually a gift from the gnome community. This steadfast dire badger is carefully bread and trained for combat. It is treated as a warbeast (see p 219 Monster Manual II) dire badger. As the character progresses the warbadger gains abilities similar to those of a paladin's mount. This badger forms a close bond with its master and is highly protective, whenever its master is wounded in combat it flies into a rage just as though it had been wounded itself. If the badger is killed she must return to the gnome community which granted her it to achieve a replacement.
Speak with Animals (Sp): at 1st level the gnome badger knight gains two extra uses of her racial speak with animal's ability, at 7th level this ability can be used at will.
Tunnel Riding Adept (Ex): At 2nd level careful practice allows the gnome badger knight to vastly streamline her use of a burrowing saddle. She may strap into the saddle with a single full round action and unbuckle with a single standard action, neither action provokes attacks of opportunity.
Discipline mount (Ex): at 2nd level a gnome badger knight gains the ability to make a DC 20 Handle animal check to end the rage of her warbadger.
Barreling Charge: At 2nd level a gnome badger knight can declare a charge to be a barreling charge. Both she and her warbadger deal double damage with a barreling charge while mounted. This ability stacks with the Spirited Charge feat (rules for doubled doublings apply as normal.) It is usable once per day at 2nd level and one additional time per day for every even numbered class level thereafter.
Ground Sense (Su): At 3rd level a gnome badger knight, while riding her tunneling warbadger gains the ability to sense the general location of any creature touching the ground within 30 ft. This ability does not pinpoint the location of enemies it just reveals which squares they occupy.
Share Rage: At 3rd level the Gnome Badger Knight begins to adopt her mount's mentality. If the badger enters rage while she is riding, she may fly into a rage as well as a free action; taking the same bonuses and penalties as her mount. This rage lasts until the badger's rage ends. Note, while personally under the effects of rage the knight may not employ the discipline mount ability, both mount and rider are affected by rage until all opponents are incapacitated. This ability may be used once per day.
Control Mount: at 4th level the gnome badger knight gains a+2 competence bonus to handle animal and ride checks made while riding. This bonus increases to +4 at 8th level and +6 at 10th.
Spur Mount: at 6th level, three times per day as a free action the gnome badger knight may push its mount to greater speeds adding +10 to its speed for one round. This bonus to movement may apply to burrow speed as well as Normal ground movement speed. At 9th level the gnome badger knight may use this ability five times per day.
Groundbreaking charge: At 8th level a gnome badger knight may burst out of the ground setting his mount upon a chosen foe. The warbadger may make a charge action while burrowing, with all normal charging bonuses. The Knight may only attack if she succeeds at a DC 20 ride check and suffers all normal penalties for her burrowing saddle.
Death from Below: When using the groundbreaking charge special ability the Warbadger may make a full attack upon surfacing. Unlike the badger, the knight may still only make a single attack on a charge. This attack is subject to the usual groundbreaking charge penalties.
| Class Level |
Base Attack Bonus |
Fort Save |
Ref Save |
Will Save |
Special |
| 1st |
+1 |
+2 |
+0 |
+0 |
Warbadger, Speak with animals +2/day |
| 2nd |
+2 |
+3 |
+0 |
+0 |
Barreling charge 1/day Tunnel Riding Adept, Discipline Mount |
| 3rd |
+3 |
+3 |
+1 |
+1 |
Ground Sense, Share Rage |
| 4th |
+4 |
+4 |
+1 |
+1 |
Barreling Charge 2/day, Control mount +2 |
| 5th |
+5 |
+4 |
+1 |
+1 |
Spur mount 3/day |
| 6th |
+6 |
+5 |
+2 |
+2 |
Groundbreaking charge, Barreling Charge 3/day |
| 7th |
+7 |
+5 |
+2 |
+2 |
Speak with animals at will, Control Mount +4 |
| 8th |
+8 |
+6 |
+2 |
+2 |
Barreling Charge 4/day |
| 9th |
+9 |
+6 |
+3 |
+3 |
Spur mount 5/day |
| 10th |
+10 |
+7 |
+3 |
+3 |
Death from Below. Control Mount +6 Barreling Charge 5/day |
Table: Warbadger advancement.
| Gnome Badger Knight Level |
Bonus Hit Dice |
Natural Armor Adjustment |
Strength Adjustment |
Intelligence |
Special |
| 1st-3rd |
+2 |
+4 |
+1 |
4 |
Improved evasion, share saving throws, share spells
|
| 4th-6th |
+4 |
+6 |
+2 |
5 |
Improved speed |
| 7th-9th |
+6 |
+8 |
+3 |
6 |
Empathic Link |
| 10th |
+8 |
+10 |
+4 |
7 |
Spell resistance 20 |
Rules for mount special abilities; Improved evasion, share saving throws, Share spells, and Empathic link are found on page 45 of the PHB 3.5.
Improved Speed: The warbadger gains a +10 bonus to it's normal speed and gains a +5 bonus to burrow speed. Which brings it to base 50 ft. and burrow 15 ft.
Sample Warbadger
Name: Warbadger Mount at level 1, Race & Class: Warbeast Dire badger, CR: 3, HD: 6d8+36, Hp: average 63, Init: +3, Spd: 40, burrow 10, AC: 20, (Touch 13) (Flatfooted 17) Base Atk:,+4 Grp: +8, Atk: +8 melee (1d6+4 claw), Full Atk: +8 melee (1d6+4, 2 claws) & +3 melee (1d6+2 bite), Space/Reach: 5 ft./ 5 ft., SA: Rage, SQ: Combative mount Low-light vision, improved evasion, share saving throws, scent, AL: N, SV: Fort: +11, Ref: +8, Will: +7, Ability Scores: Str 18, Dex 17, Con 22, Int 4, Wis 14, Chr 10, Skills & Feats: Listen +9, Spot +8, Alertness, Toughness, Track, Improved Natural attack (claws)
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