Tusker (3.5e Prestige Class)

Tusker

“	I've never seen a pair so thoroughly matched... and I've married people.	”
—Rini Malrana, Halfling Bard

Heavily mounted forces specially designed to blast through enemy lines, leaving little but death in destruction in it's wake. This is the province of a Boar Rider, the most feared of all mounted troops.

Tuskers, are a highly specialized and respected part of elite mounted forces. The extreme rarity of these individuals is a direct result of the ability that of a select few who learned how to domesticate and train actual dire boars.

The mounts of the Tuskers are trained from birth will accept only the rider who has trained with them. These mounts are trained not only to not only carry the weight of a fully armored rider, but heavy plating for themselves as well.

When prepared for battle, Tuskers usually put sharped shoes onto their mounts, so that when they are overrunning their opponents. These shoes, known a 'muckrakers' are highly prized by riders and are often magically enchanted in an effort to cause more damage to their foes.

While Druid and Ranger's are a rarity among Tuskers, some of the greatest started out in these classes. In game terms, Druids or Rangers MUST take a dire boar as their animal companion and by doing so they may bypass the standard 2 month training period most Tuskers must go through. The same can be said for Paladins, as well as game terms applying here as well. Tusker levels stack with Druid/Ranger levels when determining the power of their boar companion, and Paladin levels when determining the power of their special mount. A Tusker may never have another animal companion while his boar mount is alive.

Entry Requirements

Alignment:	Any Lawful
Base Attack Bonus:	+6
Skills:	Handle Animal 10, Ride 10
Feats:	Mounted Combat, Ride By Attack, Trample, Improved Overrun
Special:	The Boar Rider must rear and train his wild boar mount for 2 months. In the event that a Tuskers mount dies in battle he must rear a new mount again, a task which typically takes 2 months, until the boar reaches a innate level of trust.

Table: The Tusker

Hit Die: d10

Level	Base Attack Bonus	Saving Throws			Special
		Fort	Ref	Will
1st	+1	+2	+0	+0	Empathic Bond, Animal Devotion, Mounted Specialty
2nd	+2	+3	+0	+0	Gore
3rd	+3	+3	+1	+1	Quick Trample
4th	+4	+4	+1	+1	Superior Overrun
5th	+5	+5	+2	+2	Improved Mount
6th	+6	+5	+2	+2	Improved Trample
7th	+7	+5	+2	+2	Superior Trample
8th	+8	+6	+2	+2	Full Mounted Attack
9th	+9	+6	+3	+3	Crooked Charge
10th	+10	+7	+3	+3	Supreme Trample
Class Skills (2 + Int modifier per level) Balance (Dex), Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Handle Animal (Cha), Intimidate (Cha), Jump (Str), and Ride (Dex)

Class Features

All of the following are class features of the Tusker.

Empathic Bond: Tuskers have bonded with their mounts. They have limited empathy, the ability to convey basic thoughts and emotions to their mounts.

Animal Devotion: A Tusker's mount gains +4 morale bonus to will saves against enchantment spells and effects when within 50 ft of their rider

Mounted Specialty: A Tusker focuses solely on improving their harmony in battle with their mount. As a result, they receive a +1 to hit on all attacks while mounted (this bonus raises to +2 at 4th level and +3 at 7th level), as well as a -2 penalty to all attack rolls while unmounted.

Gore: At 2nd level a Tusker's mount may make a gore attack as usual at the end of a charge. This gore attack does double damage.

Quick Trample: At 3rd level when in combat, a Tusker can overrun multiple opponents with his mount, provided they are in line with his charge. As per the improved overrun feat, the Tusker's mount will get a hoof attack on any creature in which they successfully overrun. Unshod Hoof Attack: +10 Damage 1d3+8, Shod Hoof Attack: +10 Damage 1d6+8

Superior Overrun: At 4th level the Tusker has so trained his mount in the ways of battle that his strength bonus to overrun an opponent increase to +8 and he may overrun creatures

Improved Mount: At 5th level, a Tusker's Mount gains bonuses to hit dice, armor class and strength/dex. The mount gains the bonus HD, armor class and str/dex of a Paladin's Special Mount (although they do not gain additional tricks or special abilities as special mounts do). For purposes of advancement, the advancement chart of a Paladin should be used. A 5th level Tusker mount gains the stats noted about as if he were an animal companion of a 5th level Paladin.

Improved Trample: After successfully trampling and opponent, the Tusker's Mount makes an attack with 2 hoofs against his opponent rather than only one.

Superior Trample: A Tusker's Mount does double damage with a hoof attack, increasing damage to 2d3+8 (unshorn) and 2d6+8 (shorn)

Full Mounted Attack: At 8th level and higher, a Tusker may make a full attack when her mount moves more than 5 feet but no more than a single move action. The character cannot combine this full attack with a charge action.

Crooked Charge: At 9th level, the Tusker's Mounted charge need not be in a straight line.

Supreme Trample: At the pinnacle of a Tusker's training, he gains the ability to make attacks on each opponent in which his mount successfully tramples. This is in addition to the damage caused by the attack of this mount.

Ex-Tuskers

Playing a Tusker

Combat: A Tusker charges through battle leaving chaos, confusion, and discord where he and his mount have trod. Tuskers ride at the head of war parties ready to take the fight into the foes.

Advancement:

Resources: Since Tuskers are few and far between they rely mainly on their own resources, or the resources of their nation/tribe. Tuskers have a respect for their own, even those from other races. This respect will not stop them from clashing on the battlefield.

Nations/Armies that train or field Tuskers in large numbers will take care of any costs they might incur in damages, feed, and lodge them. They are treated as a large advantage and thus are taken of if supplies allow.

Muckrakers

Martial One-Handed Critical: 20/x2 Range Increment: — Type: Piercing Hardness: —
Size	Cost^1	Damage	Weight^1	hp
Fine	*	—	*	—
Diminutive	*	—	*	—
Tiny	*	—	*	—
Small	50sp	—	—	—
Medium	50sp	1d4	4lbs
Large	1gp	1d6	8lbs	—
Huge	10gp	1d8	16lbs	—
Gargantuan	*	—	*	—
Colossal	*	—	*	—
The SRD only gives a means to determine costs and weights of weapons for Large and Small versions based on the Medium weapons. Any other supplied values are the author's best determination.

These strange spiked shoes are created specifically for the dire boar mounts of the Tuskers, and they will fit no other mount. An opponent cannot use a disarm action to disarm a dire boar wearing Muckrakers. The cost and weight given are for a full set of four shoes, and for balance reasons a mount must wear all four.

Tuskers in the World

“	Break the line! Leave only uncertainty in your wake!	”
—Maddocson Blackjasper, Dwarven Tusker

NPC Reactions: In times of war most civilians and soldiers will recognize Tuskers as fearsome members of their military's vanguard. In times of longstanding peace they generate looks of confusion, and generate a bit of wariness due to their chosen mount.

Tusker Lore

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (History) can research Tuskers to learn more about them. When a character makes a skill check, read or paraphrase the following, including information from lower DCs.

Knowledge (History)

DC	Result
10	Tuskers are elite mounted units that sow chaos and destruction on the battlefield by bowling over their opponents.
15	Tuskers not only armor their fearsome boar companions, they also shod their hooves in weapons called "muckrakers."
20	"Muckrakers" can be enchanted with extraordinary abilities like most weapons.
25	Tuskers originated in wars between hobgoblins and dwarves, both sides looking for an advantage over the other and having access to local Dire Boars.

Tuskers in the Game

Adaptation:

Sample Encounter:

EL whatever:

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