Dragoon, Variant (3.5e Prestige Class)

Dragoon
"You can fly?!?"

The Dragoons are a group of warriors dedicated to slaying large monsters. Of course, they are most famous for taking on dragons, to the point that many of them have a definite dragon motif to their armor. Armed with a spear to be able to reach vital points on barn-sized creatures with hides like rock, Dragoons leap fearlessly into battle. And I do mean leap.

Becoming a Dragoon
Generally, Dragoons are recruited and trained as a sort of public service; even Evil civilizations have a problem with big monsters, so Dragoons can hail from those places, too.

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

Weapon Proficiency: Dragoons are proficient with polearms of all types.

Overtrained: While not exactly a Code of Conduct, Dragoons do have a few things drilled into their head by their teacher: Defend the People From Monsters, Especially Big Monsters.

The majority of their training is concerned with finding ways to stab monsters in the face when it seems improbable that the Dragoon would be able to reach that high. Naturally, a Dragoon's first reaction upon seeing a monster chewing on a few cows in the street and hearing people scream, would be to heft his spear and then endeavor to stab the monster in the face. I'm not saying they must do it, but it will be their first, second, and third thoughts.

 : Really big creatures can often unleash really big blasts of fire or acid or some other unpleasantness. For this reason, Dragoons are trained in the arts of evasion. Should a Dragoon already have Evasion, this stacks to Improved Evasion.

 : At first level Dragoons learn a specialized mode of attack—one called 'death from above'. As long as one falls at least thirty feet and performs a standard-action attack at the end of the fall, he does double damage on a successful hit; if he's wielding a polearm or a lance of some kind, he does triple damage and ignores natural armor.

 : At 1st level, A Dragoon's Jump DCs are halved, and the formula for figuring vertical jump height is the same as for horizontal jump height (one foot per point on the check).

Dragoons jump extraordinarily quickly, letting them complete an entire jump, no matter how far it is, as a move action, and their Armor Check penalty does not apply to their Jump checks; they are always considered to benefit from a running start on Jump checks.

They also gain immunity to falling damage as long as they’re conscious and always land on their feet.

If they wish it, a Dragoon can treat any polearm as a weapon that deals 1d12 damage that threatens a critical on 20/x4.

 : If a Dragoon has learned anything about science by 3rd level, it’s that there is a huge amount of energy to be gained from falling.

Killer Jump is full-round action. It begins when the Dragoon makes a Jump check to land on a target. When he lands on the target, he makes a touch attack roll. It is like a normal Jump Attack but deals an additional d6 of damage for every 10 feet he fell, and this attack is considered a critical threat (the bonus falling damage is not multiplied). He may do this every 1d4 rounds.

 : A Dragoon who hits his stride will enter a euphoric state of mind. It's a good place for him, and a bad place for his enemies.

If a Dragoon succeeds on a saving throw or confirms a natural critical hit (the auto-threat from Killer Jump does not count, unless the attack roll was naturally in the threat range), Dragonheart activates as a free action. The Dragoon gains Fast Healing equal to 1/2 his character level + his Con modifier, and becomes immune to mind-affecting effects, ability damage or drain, and morale and fear effects. Dragonheart lasts for a number of rounds equal to his character level.

 : Nothing gets in the way of a leaping Dragoon. While jumping, the Dragoon automatically deals damage to unattended objects equal to his Killer Jump damage. This damage ignores hardness, and can destroy [Force] effects.

 : A Dragoon may make a full attack action at the end of a jump. The bonus damage from Killer Jump only applies to the first attack. This can be done only once per round.

Ex-Dragoons
Generally, Dragoons only retire when old age makes fighting giant monsters risky. Most of them, though, default to being Dragoons and, as such, seek out, recruit, and train suitable people to replace themselves in the ranks.

Campaign Information
Dragoons can be formal military units, formal organizations, or just a particular school of combat. Here's some suggestions for handling all three:


 * Military Unit: In this model, armies have small units of Dragoons, who serve as elite troops and commanders, as well as their duty to protect people from attack by big monsters. In this, even a level 1 Dragoon is considered fit to command a small amount of troops--and as Dragoons get higher-level, the amount of power they have in the military increases.

Given that at least a little aptitude for magic is required (or suggested, anyway) (DMs, it's suggested that if someone wants to play a Dragoon, they get to write 'Has latent magical talent' in their background and that satisfies the requirement) Dragoon numbers are few, and as soldiers, they're outfitted with good equipment by the army itself.


 * Organization: Rather like the knights of the round table, Dragoons are an organization in which membership is quite the resume buff. Their purpose is easy enough--protect civilized people from big monsters. Having a Dragoon responsible for an area or a city/town is a good way to do this.


 * Combat School: In this, there's no actual organization, just a bunch of people who learn, know, and teach the secrets to fighting like a Dragoon. Their numbers are relatively few, but they're still out there.

Playing a Dragoon
Combat: A Dragoon quickly becomes a high-mobility, high-damage combatant, whose survivability is supplemented by their use of armor.

Advancement: Fighter is a good choice. Some may go into Dragon Lancer so they also ride around on a big beast. In this case, it's suggested that DMs let both the player and mount move with a single Jump check.

Resources: Dragoons can count on the support of other Dragoons in the face of a big monster. Legend has it that a war was halted in mid-battle because of a dragon attack, and Dragoon units from the opposing armies cooperated flawlessly and without hesitation to slay the monsters.

Dragoons in the World
"That armor's heavy, isn't it? That's good. That weight will become your weapon. That'll keep you alive. When you can stand up, try jumping. You'll fall over when you land, but you'll get up. And when you do get back up, jump again. Fall down and get up a thousand times, until you can jump a thousand times without stopping. Then keep going until you can jump a thousand times and another thousand besides. Soon you won't even feel that armor on you when you jump."

NPC Reactions: In civilized regions, Dragoons get respect--they are known as the defense against monsters which, for whatever reason, decide to attack settlements and cities. In uncivilized regions, their impressive physical prowess and skill with spears earns them respect from local tribes.

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