Skycutter (3.5e Class)

Skycutter
As the presence of draconic blood creates strange magical effects and produces sorcerers, sometimes the presence of elemental essence can change the abilities of other beings. Skycutters tap into their inner reserves which connect to the Plane of Air, producing amazing physical and magical feats and bending the skies to their will.

Making a Skycutter
Skycutters are a gish class, neither pure caster nor pure fighter. They take advantage of this by having the mobility and supernatural effects a fighter cannot pull off, while having the staying power a wizard cannot afford.

Abilities: Ability scores vary depending on the focus of the Skycutter, but Charisma fuels their spell-like abilities while Dexterity synergies well with their light armor and likely use of finessable weapons. Constitution is important to everyone, of course, and Intelligence grants more skills. Only Strength and Wisdom have less than important purpose.

Races: Any, though air gensai are very common.

Alignment: Any.

Starting Gold: 5d4&times;10 gp (125 gp).

Starting Age: As rogue.

Class Features
All of the following are class features of the Skycutter.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A skycutter is proficient with all simple and martial weapons, and with light armor and shields (except tower shields).

' :''' Skycutters can manipulate the air around them in small but useful ways, effectively granting them cantrips. Specifically they have the ability to duplicate the effect of mage hand, as well as create up to moderate wind (0-20 mph) in a 10 foot radius emanation from themselves. These effects have the duration of concentration, and may be used at will.

They gain Weapon Finesse as a bonus feat.

They gain a wind power at 1st and 2nd level, and then one every even level beyond (4th, 6th, and so on). They select abilities from the selection below. The saving throw for any wind powers is 10 + 1/2 HD + Charisma modifier.

 : You excel at attacking ground-based targets. If attacking a creature on the ground from the air, you gain a +1 bonus to attack and damage. This bonuses rises once every 4 class levels (4th, 8th, 12th, and so on) to a maximum of +6 at 20th level.

 : You gain a much stronger control over the wind than just your breezes. Your mage hand like effect from breezes now uses your Cha as its effective strength score, and may be concentrated on as a swift action. If used to wield a weapon it can make a single attack at your highest attack roll as if you were wielding it in melee. In addition you gain the ability to use control air at will once you reach 5th level.

  and  : You control the sounds in the air. The skycutter gains the ability to use control sound at will. She also gains a +5 bonus on Listen and Move Silently checks due to passive augmentation of the sounds around her. The latter is a supernatural ability.

 : The skycutter is sensitive to subtle changes in the air around her. You gain blindsense out to 5 feet every two levels (minimum 5 feet, maximum 50 feet at 20th level).

 : The skycutter gains a shield of wind which helps deflect blows, yet requires no hands to use. The skycutter gains a +2 shield bonus which applies to touch AC, and may enhance this "shield" as if it were a actual physical shield. This shield requires no hands to use.

 : You project a shockwave of air which attacks foes at range. You can effectively make melee attacks out to +5 feet every two levels (minimum +5 ft). You do not threaten into this extra area but you can make any melee abilities at range.

 : The weaponization of the air effects you less. You gain 2x your class level as energy resistance against electricity and sonic damage.

 : The skycutter can manipulate particular matter in the air, gaining several spell-like abilities. She gains their selection of any [Air], [Electricity], [Sonic] spell, or "cloud" effects such as fog cloud or cloudkill from 1st level to 9th level. They get one spell-like ability for each spell level, gaining the last one (9th level spell) at level 17th. Each SLA can be used 1/day.

 : Any weapon the skycutter wields deals an additional +1d6 points of sonic damage. They gain an additional +1d6 damage at 5th level and every five levels beyond (maximum 5d6 at 20th level).

 : You surround yourself with whipping winds, effectively granting you the Deflect Arrows feat, but you do not require a free hand. You are constantly under the effects of entropic shield as well.

 : The wind guides the skycutter along at high speed. The skycutter gains a +10 bonus to their base land speed. This bonus rises by +10 at 5th level and every five levels beyond.

 : The skycutter coaxes out electrical energy from the atmosphere itself. She duplicates the effect of lightning bolt at will, except limited to a range of 60 feet and with no damage cap. It is considered a spell of the highest level she would be able to cast (maximum 9th at 17th level).

 : At 2nd level or higher if a skycutter makes a successful Reflex saving throw against an attack that normally deals half damage on a successful save, she instead takes no damage. Evasion can be used only if a skycutter is wearing light armor or no armor. A helpless skycutter does not gain the benefit of evasion.

 : At 3rd level, a skycutter can surround herself with a protective skin of air which covers her body. She can breath underwater and in space, and is immune to the effect of gaseous inhaled poisons from the layer of refreshing air which surrounds her.

 : At 3rd level, a skycutter can levitate in the air as if using levitate at will, and gains a hover speed equal to her base land speed, average maneuverability. As a result, the skycutter also becomes immune to falling damage as they can stop themselves and hover over the ground.

 : At 3rd level, a skycutter gains her class level to saving throws against any weather effects such as heavy wind or rain.



 : A 5th level skycutter has learned to fly as easily as walking, bending the air around them to produce lift. They gain a fly speed of 60 ft. (average), flying through supernatural energy instead of wings.

At 9th level this ability improves to a flight maneuverability of good. At 13th the flight maneuverability becomes perfect. At 17th level, the skydancer's fly speed rises to 120 ft., and they gain the constant effect of freedom of movement, slipping out of the grasp of others as if they were nothing more than clouds and mist.

 : At 7th level, a skycutter's air bubble ability improves. They may expand the effect of their air bubble out to a 20 foot radius around themselves as a move action, and may maintain it as a move action each round. This grants the effects of air bubble to their surrounding allies as well.

 : At 9th level, a skycutter replaces her resist weather ability with weather immunity. She is now immune to any weather effects including the danger of being knocked prone by heavy wind, penalties to attack rolls in heavy wind, or the effects of extraordinary (but natural) extraplanar weather such as the shard storms in Archon. The skycutter is still affected by obscured vision from these weather effects.

' :' A 9th level skycutter can use wind walk'' as a spell-like ability Cha modifier/day (minimum 1).

Choose from the following:

 : You gain the ability to steal the breath out of others. As a 1 round action you draw the air out of a creature's lungs. They must make a Fortitude save or begin to suffocate. On the first round they drop to 0 hp, on the second round they drop to -1 and dying, and on the third round they die. They get a Fortitude save each round to negate the progression of suffocation. The creature must be able to breathe, and if they save they are immune to this effect for 24 hours. They may use this ability Charisma modifier/day.

 : Whenever the skycutter is on the move, she transforms into a thick mist. While moving you briefly gain swarm traits, as if a swarm made up of fine creatures. This grants immunity to critical hits, flanking, all weapon damage, and other swarm traits. You do not gain swarm attack or distraction, and the effect only lasts while moving (so it applies on attacks of opportunity). You must move at least 10 feet to use this ability, and thus cannot use it to escape a grapple.

 : The skycutter cannot easily be held, slipping out of the fingers like air. They gain the domain powers of the Travel domain as if they were a cleric of their class level.

 : The skycutter's voice is a powerful weapon. She can choose to amplify her voice so that she can be heard up to 1 mile per Cha modifier away (minimum 1 mile), and she gains a breath weapon. The breath weapon deals 1d6 sonic damage/HD in a 60 foot cone, with a Fortitude save for half damage. It can be used every 1d4 rounds. Requires Audiomancy.

 : The skycutter's blindsense improves. She now gains +5 feet of blindsense every level instead of every 2 levels, and has blindsight out to 5 feet every four levels. Requires Blindsense.

 : The skycutter's wind blades become dangerously lethal. You can make a attack against all creatures in a line, up to your maximum distance for kamitachi, and hit them all. This is an attack action. In addition your attacks become extremely sharp and good at breaking objects. You gain a +4 bonus on sunder checks and ignore up to your class level in hardness for dealing damage to objects. Requires Kamitachi.

 : The skycutter becomes immune to electricity and sonic damage. Requires Sky Resistance.

 : The skycutter's SLAs from Skycasting now become 3/day. This can be taken a second time to make them usable at will. Requires skycasting.

 : You can now deflect even siege weapons and magical projectiles such as ranged touch attacks and rays with your Wind Jacket. The entropic warding effect also rises to a 50% miss chance. Requires Wind Jacket.

 : The ability to fire lightning improves for a skycutter. The lightning bolt effect now extends out to 120 foot line, and you may choose it to deal half electric half sonic damage. On a failed save, the target is deafened for 1 round if you choose the option to deal sonic damage. Requires Zap Cannon.

 : Whenever you make a charge attack you arrive with a deafening bang! Before your charge attack hits your target must make a Fortitude save or be deafened for 1 minute and knocked prone. On a successful save they only take a -4 penalty to Listen checks for 1 round. In addition whenever performing a Run, Overrun, or Trample actions you can choose to have the deafening and prone effect happen to any adjacent creatures you pass by.

 : Once per day a skycutter may summon an air elemental as if using a summon monster spell appropriate for your level. The summoned creature(s) persist for 1 hour/level, or until slain. It can only summon elementals with the air subtype.

 : At 11th level, a skycutter's evasion ability improves. She still takes no damage on a successful Reflex saving throw against attacks, but henceforth she takes only half damage on a failed save. A helpless skycutter does not gain the benefit of improved evasion.

 : At 11th level, a skycutter's air bubble ability improves again. They no longer need to breath at all, and are immune to breath weapons (except breath weapons with no physical component, such as a blast of light, negative energy, or other non-corporeal substance). They are immune to pressure damage, as their own personal atmosphere is perfectly pressurized to their comfort. Air bubble becomes an extraordinary effect.

' :''' At 13th level, a skycutter's Wind Walk ability improves. They may now traverse to other planes as if they were using shadow walk, moving to any plane with an atmosphere in 1d4 hours. They may move to the Elemental Plane of Air and other Air-dominant planes is minimal time (only 1 hour), while they cannot shift to (but can leave) planes with no air (such as the energy planes or vacuum) or minimal atmosphere (such as the Earth and Water planes).

' :' At 15th level, a skycutter can use control weather'' as a spell-like ability Cha modifier/day (minimum 1).

 : At 19th level, a skycutter can duplicate the effect of fiery discorporation as an immediate action 1/week with the following changes; they turn into mist and clouds instead of flame, and they only need to be exposed to air instead of fire (their air bubble does not count). Treat this as if augmented up to your class level for determining the bonus to Will saves.

Her type changes to Elemental with the Air subtype, and may be treated as either an Elemental or a member of her original type and race, as beneficial. She gains DR 10/epic, and immunity to spells with the Air descriptor. Unlike other elementals, the monk can still be brought back from the dead as if she were a member of her previous creature type.

Add the following to the list of wind powers she may select:

 : The skycutter's body becomes as incorporeal as air. As a standard action they gain the incorporeal subtype, with all the benefits and penalties associated with it. Part of their body is transformed into air, and they take on a translucent appearance. She may stay in this form for up to 1 minute per class level per day.

 : You are constantly under the effects of call lightning storm. As a free action once per round, you may call down a bolt of lightning as if using the spell. The spell is amplified in stormy weather, as usual. This is a supernatural ability and thus ignores spell resistance.

 : The wind weaves to your will, throwing its weight around at your command. You have the ability to use telekinesis at will.

 : The blindsense and blindsight of the skycutter improves. Her blindsight now equals half her blindsense range. In addition she is never flatfooted in the first round of combat and may act in a surprise round, as she can detect movement in the air through time and space. Requires Improved Blindsense.

 : The kamitachi ability of the sky cutter improves. They may now attack all targets in a cone up to the range of their kamitachi ability. In addition the skycutter may make a single attack as a standard action. If it hits the creature must make a Fortitude save or treat it as a critical hit (even if they are immune to critical hits, or it is an object), and then make a second Fortitude save. If it fails, their head is removed as per a vorpal weapon. Weapons with a high critical multiplier recieve a bonus to the DC. Weapons with a x3 multiplier gain a +1 bonus and x4 weapons gain a +2 bonus to the DC. A successful save negates the critical hit and subsequent vorpal effect. Requires Improved Kamitachi.

 : The skycutter now absorbs 1/2 the damage that would normally be inflicted by an electrical or sonic effect and instead absorbs it as healing. Requires Improved Sky Resistance.

 : The skycutter is completely immune to ranged attacks of any sort that require an attack roll. In addition the powerful winds about them are so strong creatures attacking in melee must make a Fortitude save to avoid being knocked back by hurricane-strength winds (DC 20). They only need to make the saving throw once every round they are adjucent to the skycutter. Requires Improved Wind Jacket.

 : You may change the weather with your control weather spell-like ability within 1 round instead of 10 minutes, and you may use control weather at will.

Epic Skycutter
Skydancing: At 21st level and every four levels beyond, the skycutter increases her fly speed by +60 feet.

Final Wind Power: At every even level, the skycutter gains another ability from the final, improved, or normal wind powers. If she ever runs out of powers to select she may instead gain a bonus feat.

Lesser Aasimar Skycutter Starting Package
Weapons: Estoc.

Skill Selection: Pick a number of skills equal to 4 + Int modifier.

Feat: Improved Initiative.

Bonus Feats: Weapon Finesse.

Gear: Chain Shirt.

Gold: 5 gp.

Playing a Skycutter
Religion: Skycutters are tied to the Elemental Plane of Air and thus favor deities related to air, weather, and other heavenly effects. At the same time they are not particularly drawn towards the divine. Many settle on a more druidic approach to the world when it comes to the supernatural.

Other Classes: Other classes often see the skycutter as a talented magical fighter of sorts. They are not as good as sorcerers in pure magic, nor as effective as barbarians in melee, yet they have the versatility to fill either roll without much trouble.

Combat: The skycutter is a gish, and they excel at nimble fighting and fighting at range. Treat them as one might treat a ranger, able to duke it out at all ranges.

Advancement: Many skycutters, if they multiclass at all, head towards martial prestige classes including initiators who mesh well.

Skycutters in the World
"Look up in the sky! It's a bird, it's a plane, it's..."

Daily Life: Everyone has dreams where they wanted to fly, but skycutters make it reality. They are often free spirits who go where they wish. Their powers make them special, which can be a mark of merit or shame depending on their situation. Many become adventurers.

Notables: Sifa Belle is a know master swordswoman who works with protecting her land from supernatural dangers.

Organizations: Skycutters aren't common enough to have any organization dedicated to just themselves, but they are often found in the midst of planar groups who travel the inner and outer planes. The name actually has a double meaning, referring to both beings who cut (attack) from the sky or beings who cut WITH the sky (via wind blades), as well as being a planar cant cutter, a daring expert in the sky.

NPC Reactions: To the material plane residents the powers of a skycutter are mysterious, strange, and wondrous. It is less of a surprise off-plane, where their air elemental heritage is apparent and not shocking.

Skycutter Lore
Characters with ranks in Knowledge The Planes can research skycutters to learn more about them. When a character makes a skill check, read or paraphrase the following, including information from lower DCs.

Skycutters in the Game
Adaptation: Perhaps their powers originate from something else beyond air elementals.

Sample Encounter: The party managed to get themselves accused of being a danger to society, and they've sent the deadly hunter Sifa to collect their heads. Can they escape from one who controls the atmosphere itself?

EL 10: PENDING.