Rhinoceros Rider (3.5e Prestige Class)

Rhinoceros Rider

The rhinoceros rider has a strange affinity for the grey horned beast known as the rhino. Like a paladin's mount, the rider has an empathic connection with the the rhinoceros, and she gains abilities that come from such an unusual friendship. A rhinoceros rider is usually a druid or ranger that has a rhino companion, and other classes are almost never rhinoceros riders. AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is a very specialized class for a very specialized campaign.

Prerequisites

Feats: Mounted Combat, Animal Affinity.

Skills: Ride 12 ranks, Handle Animal 12 ranks.

Special: The character must be able to ride a rhinoceros, whether by animal companionship or exotic training.

Table: The Rhinoceros Rider

Hit Die: d8

Level	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Special	Spells per Day/Spells Known
1st	+0	+2	+0	+2	Summon Rhino	1st level 1/day
2nd	+1	+3	+0	+3	Keen Horn 2/day	1st level 1/day, 2nd level 0/day
3rd	+2	+3	+1	+3	Beast's Strength +2	1st level 1/day, 2nd level 0/day
4th	+3	+4	+1	+4	Magic Horn +2	1st level 2/day, 2nd level 1/day
5th	+3	+4	+1	+4	Keen Horn 3/day	1st level 2/day, 2nd level 1/day, 3rd level 1/day
6th	+4	+5	+2	+5		1st level 2/day, 2nd level 1/day, 3rd level 1/day, 4th level 0/day
7th	+5	+5	+2	+5	Beast's Strength +6	1st level 2/day, 2nd level 2/day, 3rd level 2/day, 4th level 0/day
8th	+6	+6	+2	+6	Keen Horn 4/day	1st level 3/day, 2nd level 2/day, 3rd level 2/day, 4th level 1/day
9th	+6	+6	+3	+6	Magic Horn +4	1st level 3/day, 2nd level 2/day, 3rd level 2/day, 4th level 1/day
10th	+7	+7	+3	+7	Rider Fusion	1st level 3/day, 2nd level 2/day, 3rd level 2/day, 4th level 2/day
Class Skills (4 + Int modifier per level) Climb (Str), Concentration (Con), Handle Animal (Cha), Heal (Wis), Hide (Dex), Jump (Str), Knowledge (dungeoneering) (Int), Knowledge (geography) (Int), Knowledge (nature) (Int), Listen (Wis), Move Silently (Dex), Profession (Wis), Ride (Dex), Search (Int), Spot (Wis), Survival (Wis), Use Rope (Dex).

Class Features

All the following are class features of the Rhinoceros Rider:

Spells: A rhinoceros rider has the ability to cast a small number of divine spells, which are drawn from the ranger spell list. A rhinoceros rider must choose and prepare his spells in advance (see below).

To prepare or cast a spell, a rhinoceros rider must have a Wisdom score equal to at least 10 + the spell level. The Difficulty Class for a saving throw against a rhinoceros rider’s spell is 10 + the spell level + the rhinoceros rider’s Wisdom modifier.

Like other spellcasters, a rhinoceros rider can cast only a certain number of spells of each spell level per day. His base daily spell allotment is given on Table: The rhinoceros rider. In addition, he receives bonus spells per day if he has a high Wisdom score. When Table: The rhinoceros rider indicates that the rhinoceros rider gets 0 spells per day of a given spell level, he gains only the bonus spells he would be entitled to based on his Wisdom score for that spell level. The rhinoceros rider does not have access to any domain spells or granted powers, as a cleric does.

A rhinoceros rider prepares and casts spells the way a cleric does, though he cannot lose a prepared spell to cast a cure spell in its place. A rhinoceros rider may prepare and cast any spell on the ranger spell list, provided that he can cast spells of that level, but he must choose which spells to prepare during his daily meditation.

A rhinoceros rider's caster level is 3/4 of her caster level, rounded up.

Summon Rhino (Ex): At 1st level, if the rhinoceros rider does not already have a rhinoceros companion, she may summon one, and it behaves as if the character's druid level was her character level. If she does already have a rhinoceros companion, her rhinoceros rider levels stack with her animal-companion-owning levels to determine abilities.

Keen Horn (Sp): At 2nd level, twice per day the rider may magically sharpen her mount's horn until it is twice as sharp. It is treated as though affected by the keen edge spell. At 5th level, the rhinoceros rider may use this ability 3 times per day, and at 8th level she may use it 4/day.

Beast's Strength (Su): Twice per day at 3rd level, the rhinoceros rider may give herself a +2 bonus to Strength for 1 round/2 character levels. At 7th level, this bonus increases to +6.

Magic Horn (Su): At 4th level, the rhinoceros rider may allocate any number of magical bonuses to her rhino's gore attack as long as the total bonus is not greater than two. For example, the rhinoceros rider could give her rhino a +2 gore, or a +1 frost gore. At 9th level the maximum bonus allowed rises to +4.

Rider Fusion (Su): At 10th level, once per week the rhinoceros rider may meld together the mind of her and her mount. The rider and rhinoceros are now treated as a single Large creature, with its ability scores calculated as the higher of the two, having all attacks and abilities of both forms, and other variables such as AC and initiative are recalculated. This state lasts for one minute, and after this time has elapsed the rhinoceros rider may make DC 15 Wisdom checks each round to extend it. When this state ends, all damage, negative levels, etc are split evenly between the two.

The Epic Rhinoceros Rider

Table: The Epic Rhinoceros Rider

Hit Die: d8

Level	Special
11th	Keen Horn 5/day
12th
13th
14th	Keen Horn 6/day, Magic Horn +6
15th
16th
17th	Keen Horn 7/day
18th	Magic Horn +8
19th
20th	Keen Horn 8/day, Rider Fusion 2/week
Skill Points Per Level 4 + Int modifier per level.

Class Features

All the following are class features of the Epic Rhinoceros Rider

Keen Horn: The rhinoceros rider's keen horn ability becomes usable once more per day evey 3 levels after 8th.

Magic Horn: Until 21st level, at which point this progression stops, the maximum bonus increases by +2 every 5 levels.

Rider Fusion: Every 10 levels after 10th, the rider fusion ability is usable one more time per week.

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