[3.5] Goblin Caster - Ride

[Thurbane]

I asked a question in Q&A, but I honestly can't think of any way to get Ride as a class skill for a Goblin Beguiler 6 or Goblin Cleric 6, without losing casting levels. Any thoughts?

A 680 cont.

Unless I'm missing something, Ride is not a skill that can be gained through the Apprentice feat -

Craftsman: Appraise, Knowledge (architecture and engineering)
Criminal: Bluff, Gather Information
Entertainer: Diplomacy, Perform
Martial Artist: Concentration, Tumble
Philosopher: Knowledge (any one), Sense Motive
Soldier: Intimidate, Knowledge (local)
Spellcaster: Knowledge (any one), Use Magic Device
Woodsman: Knowledge (nature), Survival

So I guess there's no way to get Ride onto a class skill list (short of the usual dip + Able Learner, that achieves the same end result), or use of the Skill Knowledge feat (which is really only supposed to work with the alternate skill system in UA). Or Aereni Focus, but only for a specific race.
I'm guessing some kind of PrC is the answer? Preferably like to get it as a class skill early as possible.

Cheers - T

[Segev]

Prestige Paladin (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/prestigiousCharacterClasses.htm) would require that you spent max cross-class skills as a cleric on Ride, but would get you Ride as a class skill from sixth level on.

The 3.0 version of the Cosmopolitan feat in Forgotten Realms's core setting book allowed you to choose one skill that was always in-class for you, as well. Have to take it at first level, but it also gives you +2 to that skill.

Sorry I don't have more ideas right now. I can't think of a Domain that grants it.

What do you need it for?

[Maginomicon]

You could reverse-engineer a "rural" version of whatever class you want by getting Tumble as a class skill somehow and then converting it to Ride using the Cityscape "Skilled City-Dweller" variant (https://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/we/20070228a).

[weckar]

As far as I can tell, the only 'casting PrCs' to get Ride are both the Daggerspell varieties.... but they are 9/10 and require sneak attack to enter.

[Thurbane]

Hmm, OK, looking limited.

It's just to get as many ranks in Ride as I can onto a 6th level Goblin Beguiler or Cleric, for an NPC encounter.

[weckar]

Well, if it is an NPC encounter, is it really that important how they got the ranks? NPCs and PCs do tend to function under different rules..

[TuggyNE]

For that matter, is it really important that they have ranks as such? Surely just getting a good modifier is enough in most cases, barring a PrC entry that does not seem to be under consideration here.

[Fouredged Sword]

Silverwood Arcanist (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/re/20031209a) may be what you are looking for. It is a full casting PRC that takes 2 feats (mounted combat and wild cohort) to enter, but only 3 ranks in ride.

The best part is that you get a bonus to ride equal to the number of cross class ranks you bought and forever makes ride a class skill for you. This has the odd effect of actually giving you the ability to have a higher ride bonus than normal, as you still get the bonus "ranks" that make up for the cross class skill points if you later max the skill out to the class bonus maximum.

On top of that the 1st level allows you to direct your mount as a free action.

A goblin Beguiler should be able to enter at 7th level, or at 5th level with versatile spellcaster and a permissive DM.

Now, 1 level is all you need if you just want ride as a class skill, but all 5 levels will grant you mounted casting and the ability to share spells with it. Not bad for a 5 level PRC.

[Segev]

IF it's an NPC, just use 3.0 FR Cosmopolitan. It's a feat, taken at level 1, which makes Ride in-class and gives a +2 bonus to it.

Or just give him a magic item, if you don't need the ranks for prereqs to anything. Max ranks a 6th level character can have is 9. Have him spend 2 sp cross-class to make sure he's Trained in it, then buy him a +8 competence bonus magic item. 8*8*100 = 6400 gp, which is a bit high for an ECL 6, but you can tweak that down by adding more cross-class ranks if you like.

+1 bonus would be 100 gp
+2 bonus would be 400 gp
+3 bonus would be 900 gp
+4 bonus would be 1600 gp
+5 bonus would be 2500 gp