“Only the desert has a fascination: to ride alone—in the sun of the forever unpossessed country—away from man. That is a great temptation.”

—Nebkhas, an ashworm dragoon

Some of the sand-hardened folk who have lived in the desert for millennia have come to appreciate the qualities of the ashworm. The skill of training ashworms as mounts has become popular, but you have been able to form a bond with a single ashworm so strong that the ashworm serves almost as an extension of your will. You, and talented riders like you, are known as ashworm dragoons.

As an ashworm dragoon, you ride across the vast desert sands (and sometimes beneath or beyond). You choose your own path, whether that involves defending your people, taking service with a patron, or striking out in search of adventure.

BECOMING AN ASHWORM DRAGOON

Most ashworm dragoons are fighters, though some barbarians and rangers, and even a few rogues, might take a few levels in this class. The required Mounted Combat and Ride-By attack feats, as well as ranks in Ride and Handle Animal, are important to capitalize on the class’s abilities and show devotion to the path.

PLAYING AN ASHWORM DRAGOON

The aptitude, strength, and form of the ashworm, both in its ability to swim below earth and sand, as well as its lethal sting in conflict, are noble and even beautiful. The bond you form with your mount is in part dependent on this appreciation. The bond also relies upon the trust your ashworm mount places in you—it depends on you to provide adequate food, shelter, and care, and to use your skills to protect it in combat. In return, you trust your mount to bear you without complaint, to stand brave when danger threatens, and to fight with a fury that matches your own when conflict inevitably descends.

The life of the ashworm dragoon is that of a wanderer. As a result, you must often leave the desert sands behind from time to time. An ashworm, confident in its rider, will bear you equally well across packed earth, stone, or even cobbled city streets.

When you travel away from the heat and sands, you must perforce deal with those who have never seen an ashworm, let alone a dragoon. It is your burden to accept the gaping looks, the comments (some unkind), and other related behavior of the creatures you meet with dignified calm. Your dignity goes to show the narrow-minded how noble the ashworm can be.

While a common mount, no matter how well trained, still requires a touch of the whip, your ashworm needs only a subtle hint to know your desire. So, too, can you recognize the signs and postures of your ashworm, which lets you know when it is hungry, tired, or has a particular interest in some bit of the environment. Letting the ashworm have its head from time to time is as important as expecting its complete loyalty in desperate situations.

Combat

You are an accomplished warrior in your own right, but with your ashworm mount, you are an even more potent force. Merely riding your mount against nonmounted foes grants you a +1 attack bonus on all your melee attack rolls from higher ground (see page 157 of the Player’s Handbook for details on mounted combat), a boon that cannot be overlooked. Of course, you must keep your mount safe from reprisal attacks. To that end, it should always be in the front of your mind to use your Mounted Combat feat. This becomes all the easier when you reach 4th level and gain the relentless shield ability, and you can attempt to negate every attack against your mount, instead of just one attack per round.

At 3rd level, your bond with your ashworm mount becomes so refined that through clever use of the reins and positioning of your mount, the ashworm can make attacks boosted by your own base attack bonus. Energized by the heat of battle, the ashworm produces even more potent poison for these particular attacks.

At 6th level, you can use the sand rider ability to sneak up behind enemies, position yourself for a charge, and otherwise use terrain to your advantage.

Consider wielding a lance—a charging ashworm can cause even the strongest foe to tremble, especially if you’ve taken the Spirited Charge feat and reached 8th level, when you gain the spirited worm class feature.

Advancement

You fight from the exotic saddle of your ashworm. To this end, use the feats you gain every four levels, as well as the bonus feats offered by the dragoon class, to enhance your mounted fighting ability. Getting the Trample and Spirited Charge feats are good ways to leverage the abilities offered by the class, though of course you could just rely on getting them by way of the stamp into the sand and spirited worm class features, and use feat slots to build on another fighting strategy.

Socially, ashworm dragoons are considered somewhat akin to knights among desert people—they wander and take up quests, doing good (or evil), and otherwise engage in high adventure. Often, these adventures lead away from the desert, especially if you team up with a group of likeminded wanderers who hail from greener lands.

Resources

The obedient ashworm class feature assures that you will always be able to obtain a mount. However, your best bet for procuring custom harness and tack, barding, and other particulars associated with the ashworm is from the roving communities of desert people most strongly associated with ashworms: the painted elves. The painted elves can provide you with this equipment at the prices you would expect to pay for a horse’s accoutrements in a temperate region (roughly 60 gp).

ASHWORM DRAGOONS IN THE WORLD

Ashworm dragoons hail from the hot sands of desert regions, but many end up venturing far from where they first learned the art of husbanding an ashworm. Without the ashworm herders, an ashworm dragoon would lack someone to teach him his skills.

Organization

Several nomadic tribes, not all of them of the same race (but including some human tribes and several painted elf tribes), follow great herds of ashworms across the desert. While some desert nomads rely on raiding or hunting to survive, these “pastoralists” rely on the ashworm to meet all their needs. Ashworm herders follow the creatures’ seasonal migration patterns, which can vary from year to year. The timing and destinations of migrations are determined primarily by the needs of the herd for water and food. These nomadic societies do not create permanent settlements, but live in tents or other easily constructed dwellings year round. Herding nomads are self-sufficient in procuring most other necessities.

Ashworms are rarely killed for family use alone. Fresh meat is distributed throughout the community. The tribes usually do not have the capability of adequately preserving meat, making this practice the most efficient use of the animals. Not only does this tradition ensure that no spoilage takes place but also sets up numerous obligations to reciprocate within the community, promoting cooperation and solidarity. The slaughter of an ashworm has become a ritual occasion to feed both the deities and the people.

Ashworm herders have distinct personality traits: They tend to be cooperative with each other and aggressive toward outsiders. They make important decisions quickly and act on them independently. Most important, they have a profound attachment to their animals.

An ashworm herder leader is someone who can direct the movements of the herd and decide on an optimum strategy for using scarce resources without having to consult others. The leader aggressively defends the herd by expanding territory at the expense of other tribes.

Members of herder tribes often acquire prestige and power by being brave and successful in raids, as well as by accumulating large ashworm herds. As a result, there is often a great gap in status between a young man or woman and an elder of the herding tribe.

Unless bonding comes naturally, those interested in learning how to become an ashworm dragoon must travel awhile with a particular herding tribe to learn the secrets of ashworm bonding from a nomad elder.

NPC Reactions

Depending on the season, ashworm herders are either eagerly sought (during the trading season), or feared and fled from (during the raiding season). However, ashworm dragoons stay separate from any one nomadic community more often than not, and popular accounts ascribe ashworm dragoons as following personal codes of knightlike honor.

Because of the stories of personal bravery and supposed honor, those with troubles in need of resolution sometimes seek out ashworm dragoons. While not every dragoon follows a personal code of chivalry, most are happy to accept dangerous tasks in return for suitable recompense.

ASHWORM DRAGOON LORE

Characters with Knowledge (history), Knowledge (local), or Gather Information can research the ashworm dragoons to learn more about them. When a character makes a skill check, read or paraphrase the following, including the information from lower DCs when a higher result is rolled.

DC 10: Anyone can buy ashworms that are broken to the saddle, though they are somewhat skittish and their temperament suffers when their poisonous stinger is clipped.

DC 15: Some very skilled individuals learn how to ride wild ashworms with exceptional skill. These ashworm dragoons ride a better breed of ashworm, and do not fear their own mount’s sting.

DC 20: Those who seek to train as an ashworm dragoon must seek an elder of one of the nomadic herding tribes—an elder of the tribe is usually predisposed to train those who first offer a significant gift.

DC 30: The master ashworm dragoon can ride an ashworm below the sand without harm, and even through solid earth.

PCs trying to establish contact with an ashworm dragoon (for whatever reason) are best served by first finding one of the large tribes that herd ashworms. Someone in the tribe will have the skills of a dragoon, or know where dragoons can be found.

ASHWORM DRAGOONS IN THE GAME

Questing dragoons can spread forth from the desert, and are potentially found in all arid and temperate environments.

This prestige class is for those who like an honest, stand-up fight, and it is most suited to fighters. While the keeping and stabling of a mount might seem onerous to some, the benefits of a mount should not be dismissed lightly. Moreover, because an ashworm can climb even sheer walls, no dragoon should worry about bringing an ashworm into a dungeon environment because of potential obstacles.

Adaptation

The ashworm dragoon should fit into any campaign with little or no customization.