Mounted Warrior

Mounted warriors are formidable melee combatants on their own, yet they are only half complete. When they climb atop beasts and ride them onto the battlefield, mounted warriors become truly fearsome foes, mount and rider working together in deadly concert. Among humans and high elves, mounted warriors are known as knights, while for the night elves a mounted warrior is called a huntress. Among orcs, a mounted warrior is known as a raider.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Mounted warriors are proficient with all simple and marital weapons, all types of armor (light, medium and heavy), and with all shields except tower shields.

Superior Mount (Ex): A character becomes a mounted warrior when he calls an unusually intelligent, strong and loyal creature to serve as a superior mount. Calling a superior mount requires 24 uninterrupted hours, and when a superior mount answers the call, it automatically gains combat riding training (as explained in the Handle Animal skill; see Chapter 5). The specific mount that answers the call of the mounted warrior is determined by the GM, but it will be at least one size category larger than the mounted warrior and possess an Intellect of 2 or greater. Upon becoming the mounted warrior's mount, the creature gains special properties described in the "Superior Mount" sidebar. Should the mounted warrior's superior mount die, he cannot call another until thirty days have passed or until he gains a level in the mounted warrior prestige class, whichever comes first. Until the mounted warrior calls a new superior mount or returns his superior mount from the dead, he suffers a -1 penalty on all attack and damage rolls. Once a new superior mount is called, the new superior mount gains all the abilities due a superior mount of the mounted warrior's level.

Mounted Expertise (Ex): A mounted warrior of 2nd level or higher is highly skilled at fighting while riding his superior mount. Before making any rolls when using the attack action or the full attack action while mounted on his superior mount in melee, a mounted warrior may shift points between his attack rolls and his Armor Class. A penalty subtracted from an attack roll applies as a dodge bonus to his AC; a penalty subtracted from Armor Class applies as a bonus on all attack rolls for that round. The points adjusted with the mounted expertise ability may not exceed the mounted warrior's base attack bonus. All changes to attack rolls and AC persist until the mounted warrior's next action.

Bonus Feats: At 3rd, 6th and 9th level, the mounted warrior receives a bonus feat. These bonus feats must be chosen from the following list: Expert Rider, Mounted Archery, Mounted Sharpshooter, Ride-By-Attack, Skill Focus (Handle Animal), Skill Focus (Ride), Spirited Charge and T rample. Table 4-13: The Mounted Warrior (Mow) Class Base Fort Ref Will Level Attack Bonus Save Save Save Special 1st +1 +2 +0 +0 Superior mount 2nd +2 +3 +0 +0 Mounted expertise 3rd +3 +3 +1 +1 Bonus feat 4th +4 +4 +1 +1 Improved mounted combat (2/round) 5th +5 +4 +1 +1 Mounted command 6th +6 +5 +2 +2 Bonus feat 7th +7 +5 +2 +2 Woodland ride 8th +8 +6 +2 +2 Improved mounted combat (3/round) 9th +9 +6 +3 +3 Bonus feat 10th +10 +7 +3 +3 Shock charge The Superior Mount A creature who becomes a mounted warrior's superior mount gains special properties upon becoming. These properties improve as the mounted warrior rises in level. Use the base statistics for a creature of the mount's kind, with changes as indicated: Mow Level Bonus HD Natural Armor Adj. Str Adj. Int Special 1-2 +2 4 +1 6 Extra trick 3-4 +4 6 +2 7 Extra trick, improved evasion 5-7 +6 8 +3 8 Extra trick, share saving throws 8-10 +8 10 +4 9 Extra trick, blood bond Mow Level: The mounted warrior's levels in the prestige class. If a superior mount would lose a level for some reason, treat it as the superior mount of a mounted warrior of an appropriately lower level. The superior mount's base attack bonus is equal to that of a warrior of a level equal to the mounted warrior's levels in the prestige class. Bonus HD: Extra d8 Hit Dice, each with a Stamina modifier. Extra Hit Dice improve the superior mount's base save bonuses. A mount has good Fortitude and Reflex saves as a character with a level equal to the creature's total HD. The mount does not gain extra skill points or feats for bonus HD. Natural Armor Adj.: The number listed here adds to the mount's existing natural armor bonus. It represents the preternatural toughness of an experienced mounted warrior's mount. Str. Adj.: Add this number to the superior mount's Strength score. Int: The superior mount's Intellect score. Extra T ricks: The superior mount may learn one trick per mounted warrior level for free, without the need for a Handle Animal skill check.

Improved Evasion (Ex): If the superior mount is subjected to an attack that normally allows a Reflex saving throw for half damage, it takes not take damage on a successful saving throw and takes only half damage on a failed saving throw. Share Saving Throws: For each of its saving throws, a superior mount of a mounted warrior of 5th level or higher can use either its own base save bonus or the mounted warrior's, whichever is higher. The superior mount applies its own ability modifiers to saves, and it does not share any other bonuses on saves the mounted warrior might possess (such as from magic items, spells or feats).

Blood Bond (Ex): After a mounted warrior has achieved 8th level, the bond between him and his superior mount grows so strong that the superior mount gains a +2 bonus on all attack rolls, checks and saves if it witnesses the mounted warrior being threatened or harmed. This bonus lasts as long as the threat is immediate and apparent. Improved Mounted Combat: After achieving 4th level, a mounted warrior may attempt a Ride check (as a reaction) twice per round to negate a successful hit on his mount. After achieving 8th level, the mounted warrior may make these attempts three times per round.

Mounted Command (Ex): Upon reaching 5th level, a mounted warrior can direct a number of allied mounts equal to his mounted warrior levels (to a maximum of 10 allied mounts at 10th level.) These mounts must be within 100 feet of the mounted warrior and must be the same creature as his superior mount. The mounted warrior may make a Ride check in place of the creature's rider for each creature he commands using the mounted command ability; he may do so even if the creature lacks a rider. A commanded mount's rider may regain control of his mount if he succeeds at a Spirit check with a DC equal to the controlling mounted warrior's levels in the prestige class + the mounted warrior's Charisma bonus. A commanded mount may be commanded to perform any trick known by the mounted warrior's superior mount. Issuing a command to the commanded mounts is a standard action. The mounted command ability may be used a number of times per day equal to 1 + the mounted warrior's Charisma bonus.

W oodland Ride (Ex): A mounted warrior of 7th level or higher may ride any mount through any sort of nonmagical undergrowth (such as natural thorns, briars, overgrown areas and other similar terrain) at the mount's normal speed without either mount or rider taking damage or suffering any other impairment.

Shock Charge (Ex): A 10th-level mounted warrior can deliver a devastating mounted attack. When mounted on his superior mount and using the charge action, he gains an additional +2 bonus on the attack roll and his threat range is doubled. These bonuses stack with any other modifiers to his attack and threat range. Skills represent areas of specific expertise that characters develop through training and practice. With each level, a character receives a number of skill points depending on her class, which she uses to "buy" ranks in skills. This chapter explains how skills are acquired, the abilities that modify skills, the circumstances in which characters can use skills, and how to put all these rules into practice in your game. It also describes the many skills available to characters in the W orld of Warcraft RPG. SKIL L POINTS Characters receive skill points based upon their races and their class levels. Skill points are used to buy ranks in skills, which thus improve as characters gain levels. Depending on your character's race and class, some skills are considered class skills and others cross-class skills. Buying a class skill costs 1 skill point per rank, while buying a cross-class skill costs 2 skill points per rank. The maximum rank in a class skill is your character's level + 3; the maximum rank in a cross-class skill is half that number. Whether or not a skill is purchased as a class or cross-class skill, if it is a class skill for any of your classes, its maximum rank is your character level + 3. You can't save skill points to spend later. At 1st level during initial character creation, your character receives four times as many skill points as at any other level. These extra skill points reflect the character's training and experience up to that time in the character's life. After 1st level, characters receive skill points as indicated by their race and class. Table 5-1: Skill Points per Level Class 1st-Level Higher-Level Skill Points* Arcanist (2 + Int modifier) x 4 2 + Int modifier Barbarian (4 + Int modifier) x 4 4 + Int modifier Healer (4 + Int modifier) x 4 4 + Int modifier Paladin (2 + Int modifier) x 4 2 + Int modifier Rogue (8 + Int modifier) x 4 8 + Int modifier Scout (6 + Int modifier) x 4 6 + Int modifier Tinker (8 + Int modifier) x 4 8 + Int modifier Warrior (2 + Int modifier) x 4 2 + Int modifier *Humans add +4 to this total at 1st level. **Humans add +1 each level. Starting skill points for base classes are summarized on Table 5-1. USING SKIL LS When a character uses a skill, the player makes a skill check to see how well the character does. Based on the circumstances, the check must match or beat a specific target number (a DC or an opposed skill check) to be successful. The harder the task, the higher the number you must roll. The basic formula for a skill check is as follows: 1d20 + the character's total skill modifier A skill's total modifier includes its number of ranks, the bonus of its key ability (one of the six abilities described in Chapter 1), plus any other miscellaneous modifiers that may apply such as racial bonuses or armor check penalties. The higher the check, the better the result. A roll of a natural 20 is not an automatic success, and a natural 1 is not an automatic failure. Skill Checks Against a Difficulty Class: Many skill checks are made against a Difficulty Class (DC). The DC is the number the character must tie or beat to succeed in the skill check. Individual skill descriptions in this chapter provide DCs for certain common and specific tasks. Opposed Skill Checks: Sometimes your character will make an opposed check against another character's or creature's skill check result. For example, a human rogue would make a Stealth check opposed by a Forsaken sentry's Listen check in order pass by undetected. The highest result wins the contest. In the event of a tie, the higher total skill modifier wins; if these figures are the same, the character with the higher key ability for the skills used wins. If both the total skill modifier and key ability figures are equal, reroll or flip a coin. Retries In general, characters can try skill checks again if they fail, and they can keep trying indefinitely. Some skills, however, have consequences for failure that must be accounted for. A few skills are effectively useless once a check has failed for accomplishing a particular task. For example, a tauren shaman fails a Heal check to stabilize his wounded orc scout companion, but he can try again in the next round; or, a dwarven tinker fails an Appraise check to establish the market value of a technological device, and he cannot try again with that object. For most skills, when a character succeeds at a given task, additional successes are meaningless.