[3.5] Making a Wyvern Rider.

[D4rkh0rus]

I've always liked the Fire Emblem franchise, and inside of it, the whole Wyvern line (Rider, knight, lord, etc) Has always caught my eye.

How would I go about making one?

I can more or less think of how it would end up. a Character with the mounted feats, Spirited Charge with Lance and valorous + Dive for x5 to damage on a charge (Ubercharge?)

But, what would be my best bet of classes to take.

One would guess Paladin into Cavalier. Taking the Dragon steed feat and swapping images with that of the drakkensteed.

But, is there any method that doesn't involve Paladin levels? (I don't want to be bound by a code, especially with the DM's I get who think Paladins need to be Lawful Stupid or lose all their abilities.)

Only Caveats.

Needs to be Human, Elf, or Changeling (Other playable races are small sized, and I don't want to have a small rider)

Needs to have a Large (or bigger) Dragon subtyped Mount.

No Dragon Mag content (Dragon Compendium is allowed though)





On a side note, which of the other Combat 'tricks' Could be reasonably Included (Thicket of blade/Stand still, Trip/Knock-Down, AoO stuff, Etc.)

[Venger]

Anyone have any ideas?

(it usually helps to wait more than an hour)

ashworm dragoon from sandstorm is a popular mounted class. it can easily be refluffed as your thing.

what do you mean by 'tricks'? you're describing a disparate group of things there. if you want maneuvers, try warblade, it's probably the easiest of the martial adepts for learning the system, and can blend with dragoon if you want. maneuvers help with maneuverabiliy and stuff (especially tiger claw)

[atemu1234]

Wizard 17. Mind Rape your Wyvern. Invest cross-class in Ride, drop money for a magic saddle that grants you a bonus on Ride. Done.

[Almarck]

Wizard 17. Mind Rape your Wyvern. Invest cross-class in Ride, drop money for a magic saddle that grants you a bonus on Ride. Done.


This plan is massively impractical.



Anyways, for a real suggestion, try Paladin, but use a Wryvern as a mount. Draconomicon or Dragon Magic I think covered handling dragons as mounts. Most of the same rules will apply, except Wvyrens are not often magical, nor do I think they are as intelligent

[Ratatoskir]

Another option for paladin dropping the special mount for the Charging Smite variant and picking up your mount through the dragon cohort feat. Improves your Dpirited Charge damage a bit and your mount keeps improving even if you go Cavalier.

I'd second Warblade as a good base. Realistically you'll not use your Wyvern ad much as you'd like, dungeons aren't very big after all. Warblade gives you something to do outside of charging with a lance, and doesn't need the feats you won't have due to needing the spirited charge line.

[WeaselGuy]

If you were interested in any sort of spellcasting, you can gish it up with Zhentarim Skymage. You can pretty much have any mount you want, as long as it's HD is less than your Charisma modifier plus your Zhentarim Skymage level. It's Forgotten Realms content, found in Lords of Darkness, but it's one of my favorites.

[Prime32]

Windrider from Masters of the Wild is a nice PrC that grants scaling bonuses to any mount, regardless of how you got it (even if it's just something you bought or tamed rather than a class feature).