WARRIOR-CAVALIER KIT

Windrider

Description:  Windriders are essentially similar in outlook and temperament to 
standard Cavaliers, save that they belong to special orders that carry the glory 
and honor of battle into the heavens.  They disdain combat on the ground, 
believing it to be the purview of grubby peasants and both literally and 
figuratively beneath their dignity as warriors.  From the point of view of a 
Windrider, a truly genteel knight will rise above the huddled and dirty masses 
beneath not only in stature, elegance, and nobility but also by passing over 
their heads to strike at their leaders who cower behind walls of their own 
troops, disgracing both the leaders and those who allow their leaders to hide 
behind them.  Windriders are if anything even more effete and snooty than other 
Cavaliers, and they take themselves and the high-flying glamour of their chosen 
career path very seriously, brooking no insult or disparaging remarks about 
themselves or their mounts.  They can be very smug, superior, and abrasive to 
others, and as a result the very favorable first impression they make in their 
burnished mail astride their flying steeds is often ruined as soon as they open 
their mouths.  Whatever their personal feelings about them, no one doubts a 
Windrider's utility and skill on (or above) the field of battle.

Requirements:  Windriders may be of any alignment, though their alignment must 
be compatible with that of their particular mount species.  Windriders must be 
humans, elves, half-elves, aasimar, or tieflings, and they must have Wisdom and 
Dexterity scores of at least 15 and Strength, Constitution, and Charisma of at 
least 10.

Weapons & Armor:  Windriders can wear armor of most types (ring mail or heavier) 
and can use any type of shield.  A Windrider's Weapons of Choice are as follows:

	Primary  	lance (all)
	Secondary	bow (short or short composite), crossbow (light), javelin
	Tertiary	flail (any but great), mace (any but great), sword (broad, 
			bastard, or scimitar)

Only after all weapons listed here have been learned can a Windrider become 
proficient in weapons of other types.

Special Benefits:  Windriders are at their most confident when astride their 
glorious flying steeds, but at all times they present the perfect picture of a 
refined, elegant warrior of the nobility.  They gain most of the usual Cavalier 
abilities, plus several unique to their kit:

Aura of Bravery:  As a standard Cavalier.

Banner of Renown:  As a standard Cavalier.

Horsemanship:  As a standard Cavalier, as all Windriders begin their careers 
mastering warhorses as mounts in battle, which prepares them for the mounts they 
learn to ride later in their careers.

A Windrider who is knighted at 5th level learns to apply his or her Horsemanship 
skill to a single type of at least partially equine flying beast:  e.g., 
pegasus, asperii, hippogriff, nightmare (DM's option--this last might be 
considered an 'exotic' mount and can only be learned at 9th level).  All normal 
Horsemanship benefits apply normally when riding such a creature.

In addition, at 9th level a Windrider can choose to either become proficient in 
Horsemanship with all equine or quasi-equine flying beasts or else may select a 
single exotic flying beast to which to apply this skill, which can be anything 
from a griffon, lammasu, or roc to a wyvern or dragon.  Such creatures are often 
predatory in nature and may require special care and feeding, and they must 
usually be separated from mounts of other types.

It is important to note that a Windrider does not automatically acquire a flying 
steed simply by advancing in level.  He or she simply gains the knowledge and 
skill of how to handle such a creature.  There may be certain organized groups 
of Windriders in a DM's campaign that train Windriders in the use of particular 
flying beasts and provide them for the Windrider's use, but these should be 
fairly rare situations.  Even in such cases, the gift of such a mount should be 
considered similar to the gift of armor and mount that come from a Cavalier's 
Noble Lineage, with a similar loss of face should such a beast be lost, slain, 
or (worst of all) sold by the Windrider.  Thus, a Windrider who does receive a 
flying steed in this way will generally attempt to repay the giver of the steed 
at his or her earliest opportunity.

In most cases, a Windrider will need to acquire such a mount either by purchase, 
by raising the beast him- or herself, or by finding and taming a creature in the 
wild.  Some intelligent creatures (e.g., dragons) may be willing to serve as 
mounts for a Windrider, but they will certainly bargain dearly for their 
services, and except in very rare cases only a creature whose hit dice are less 
than or equal to the Windrider's level will accept an offer to serve as a mount.

A Windrider is skilled not only at riding but also at handling and training 
mounts of their chosen types.  Hence, a Windrider gains the Animal Handling, 
Animal Training, and Riding proficiencies for free with all species that they 
are capable of riding.

Knight's Challenge:  As a standard Cavalier, but a Windrider can only challenge 
a creature that is in flight or is capable of flight.  If the Windrider 
possesses a flying steed, the challenge must be to meet the creature in aerial 
combat.

Knightly Onslaught:  As a standard Cavalier, but for a Windrider this ability 
can only be used when he or she is astride a flying steed.

Noble Lineage:  As a standard Cavalier, but a Windrider's career is so glamorous 
and exciting to those of the upper classes that they gain an additional +2 bonus 
to reactions with upper class folk of all races.

Weapons of Choice:  As a standard Cavalier.  In addition, a Windrider always 
receives his or her total Weapon of Choice bonus (i.e., applied to attack rolls, 
damage rolls, and speed factor) when battling aerial creatures of all types, 
regardless of whether such an aerial creature is flying or on the ground and 
even if the Windrider is not mounted.

Windriders can select missile weapons as Weapons of Choice because they 
frequently must use missile weapons in aerial combat or combat against aerial 
foes, and they feel no compunctions about using missiles in such a context.  
When fighting ground-bound enemies, however, a Windrider will follow the usual 
Cavalier code in terms of advancing and engaging in melee (often using their 
superior mobility to avoid enemy troops and get at leaders in the back ranks).  
A Windrider's primary targets of choice will always be aerial creatures on the 
enemy side.

Special Hindrances:  A Windrider shares the usual hindrances and limitations of 
standard Cavaliers, but their snooty manner offends persons of lower station, 
incurring double the normal reaction penalty.  In addition, upper class 
characters of a different race than the Windrider also quickly tire of their 
superior airs, and a Windrider's normal reaction bonus with upper class 
characters will disappear after one day per level of experience of interacting 
with such characters.  Higher level Windriders, while just as haughty as low 
level Windriders, have sufficient reputation to keep the interest and extend the 
patience of NPCs with whom they must interact, but even their unending prattle 
about riding the wings of the sky will eventually annoy others enough to negate 
their reaction bonus.

Windriders love nothing better than soaring across the sky (or riding across the 
open spaces on horseback, if no appropriate flying steed is available).  They 
disdain relationships with 'ground-bound' characters or even being tied down to 
just one place, and they will never bother acquiring Retainers or building a 
Stronghold to attract men-at-arms to their banner.  

Finally, Windriders are just as concerned about appearances as other Cavaliers, 
and they must maintain all equipment in top condition and always purchase the 
highest quality goods and services possible.  Windriders have a view similar to 
that of Gallants in terms of the usual Cavalierly preference for heavy armor 
(though unlike Gallants they will never wear leather or hide armor).  With 
regard to non-magical armor, a Windrider's armor preference mirrors that of a 
standard Cavalier, including decorating and embellishing the armor they wear, 
though a Windrider also prefers new or pristine armor over used or well-worn 
armor and must thus acquire a new suit of armor at least after every 1d6 months 
of adventuring (time spent not adventuring does not count against this total).  
This does not apply if a Windrider wears magical armor, which tends not to show 
signs of everyday wear and tear, and a Windrider always considers magical armor 
superior to mundane armor, and a higher magical bonus is always more desirable; 
thus, ring mail +2 would be favored over full plate armor +1.  The exception to 
this rule is that elven chain mail is the most highly favored of all armor 
types, and magical elven chain the ultimate of that type.

Bonus Proficiency:  Animal Handling, Animal Training, Riding (see Horsemanship)
Required Proficiencies:  Etiquette, Heraldry
Preferred Proficiencies:  Ancient History, Armorer, Bowyer/Fletcher, 
Bureaucracy, Command, Dancing, Direction Sense, Distance Sense, Endurance, 
Excellent Vision, Law, Leatherworking, Local History, Musical Instrument, 
Navigation, Numeracy, Observation, Poetry, Public Speaking, Reading/Writing, 
Signaling, Singing, Strategy, Tactics, Weaponsmithing
Forbidden Proficiencies:  any General Craft, Rural, or Wilderness proficiencies