Blade Dancer

Battle maidens are almost exclusively female members of the samurai character class . In Rokugan, they are drawn solely from the Unicorn clan, where they are trained in the Utaku school .

NPC battle maidens form the elite cavalry units of an army.

Hit Die : d10 .

REQUIREMENTS

To qualify to become a battle maiden, a character must fulfill all the following criteria.

Gender : Female .

Alignment : Any lawful .

Base Attack Bonus : +7.

Skills : Handle Animal 10 ranks, Ride 10 ranks .

Feats : Mounted Combat, Ride-by Attack, Spirited Charge .

CLASS SKILLS

The battle maiden's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Animal Empathy (Cha, exclusive skill), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Handle Animal (Cha), Profession (Wis), and Ride (Dex) . See Chapter 4: Skills in the Player's Handbook for skill descriptions .

Skill Points at Each Level: 2 + Int modifier .

CLASS FEATURES

The following are class features of the battle maiden .

Weapon and Armor Proficiency : Battle maidens are proficient with all simple and martial weapons and with light and medium armor.

Special Mount : A battle maiden's mount is no ordinary animal . In fact, it is not an animal at all, but a magical beast . This heavy warhorse shares the basic statistics of its kind, as described in the monster Manual, but also shares many qualities in common with a paladin's mount . It is superior to a normal mount of its kind and has special powers, as shown below.

Battle

Attack Maiden Natural Bonuses Level HD Armor Str Int Hoof Bite Special 1st-3rd 6d8+18 4 19 6 +7 +2 Improved evasion, empathic link, share saving throws 4th-6th 8d8+32 6 20 7 +10 +5 Speed 60 ft . 7th-9th 10d8+30 8 21 8 +11 +6 Command equines 10th 12d8+36 10 22 9 +14 +9 Speed 70 ft ., SR 20 Battle Maiden Level: The class level of the battle maiden . If the mount suffers a level drain, treat the mount as though it belonged to a battle maiden of one level lower . For example, if

TABLE 3-2 : THE BATTLE MAIDEN

Class Base Attack Bonus +1 +2 +3

4th +4 +5 +6 +7 +8 +9 +10 Fort Save +2 +3 +3 +4 +4 +5 +5 +6 +6 +7 Ref Save +0 +0 +1 +1 +1 +2 +2 +2 +3 +3 the mount of a 7th-level battle maiden is drained of one level, it effectively becomes the mount of a 6th-level battle maiden (reduced HD, armor, etc ., and no longer able to use command equines) until the level drain is negated . If the mount of a 1stlevel battle maiden is drained of one level, it becomes a normal heavy warhorse (no longer a magical beast) .

HD: The warhorse's Hit Dice .

Natural Armor : Abattle maiden's mount begins with the normal thick hide of its kind, but that natural armor value increases as the battle maiden goes up in level . A heavy warhorse's AC is 10, -1 for its size, +1 for its Dexterity, + the number listed in this column.

Sty : The mount's Strength score .

Int: The mount's Intelligence score .

Attack Bonuses: These melee attack numbers reflect the horse's Hit Dice, Strength score, and size (Large) . A warhorse gets two hoof attacks at the listed bonus and a bite attack at the listed bonus.

Improved Evasion (Ex) : If the mount is subjected to an attack that normally allows a Reflex saving throw for half damage, it takes no damage if it makes a successful saving throw and half damage even if the saving throw fails .

Empathic Link (Su) : The battle maiden has an empathic link with the mount out to a distance of up to one mile . The battle maiden cannot see through the horse's eyes, but they can communicate telepathically. Even intelligent mounts see the world differently from humans, so misunderstandings are always possible .

Because of the empathic link between the mount and the battle maiden, the battle maiden has the same connection to an item or place that the mount does .

Share Saving Throws : The mount uses its own base save bonuses or the battle maiden's, whichever are higher .

Speed : The mount's base speed increases as the battle maiden acquires more levels . A normal warhorse's speed is 50 feet .

Command Equines (Sp) : The mount can use this ability at will against other equines (including horses, donkeys, mules, and ponies) with fewer Hit Dice than it has itself . The mount can use this ability once per day per level of the battle maiden, andI the ability functions just like the spell command (for purposes of this spell, the mount can make itself be understood by any normal equine). Since this is a spell-like ability, the mount must,v make a Concentration check (DC 21) if it's being ridden at the time (as in combat) . If the check fails, the ability does not work that time, but it still counts against the mount's daily uses .

Spell Resistance (Ex) : To affect the mount with a spell, a spellcaster must make a caster level check (1d20 + caster level) at least equal to the mount's spell resistance of 20 .

Ride Bonus (Ex) : A battle maiden gets a +2 competence bonus on her Ride checks at 1st level . This bonus increases by +2 every four levels thereafter (+4 at 5th level, +6 at 9th level) . She can always take 10 on a Ride check, even if stress and distractions would normally prevent her from doing so .

Will Save +0 +0 +1 +1 +1 +2 +2 +2 +3 +3 Special Special mount, Ride bonus +2 Burst of speed Ride bonus (initiative) +2 Defensive riding Ride bonus (AC) +4

Ride bonus (attacks) +4 Heal mount Ride bonus +6